Part 9: Time

At 12:00 A.M., Sasuke was falling asleep in his apartment when he heard knocking at his door, Sasuke pulled his M1911 out of his bed-side table, disengaged the safety, and walked toward the door: Sasuke grabbed the door handle, and after he threw the door open, Sakura ran in, a suitcase in hand, and tears streaming down her face.

"Sakura," Sasuke asked as he slammed the door shut, and locked it, "What are you doing here?"

"Sasuke," Sakura cried as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck, and cried into his bare chest, "I didn't know where to go, I don't have anywhere else to turn."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sasuke said as he engaged the safety on his M1911, put his gun down, and pushed Sakura away from his chest, placed his left hand on her shoulder, his right on the side of her face, and then looked down at her, "Calm down Cherry Blossom, you're confusing me," he looked down at her, and wiped a tear off of Sakura's face with his thumb, "Now, start from the beginning."

"Alright," Sakura said as she looked up into Sasuke's face, "Laceration Larry's thugs came to my apartment building," she began, "They set it on fire, and told me to give you a warning," she then held out a small folded up piece of paper to Sasuke.

Sasuke took the folded piece of paper, and unfolded it, "Detective Uchiha," Sasuke read silently in his head when he saw the words written in pieces of news print that had been cut out of the morning paper, "It's been a month, and you've only made it one step towards finding me: I expected more. Many will die if you don't stop me, and if you don't then she will too. If you want to keep her breathing, finish this case, and since you haven't become any closer to finding me than when you went to talk to your street contact: I decided to give you a little help," Sasuke turned the page over, "Check the Channel Five news footage of the day of my trial, look closely, and you'll find something you didn't."

"They were very serious when he set my apartment on fire," Sakura said as she walked up to Sasuke who tore the paper in half, threw it away, and then turned to face her, "What am I going to do?"

"Well you did the right thing by coming to me," Sasuke said as he took Sakura's hands in his own, "You couldn't be safer with anyone else, or anywhere else in this whole city."

"But if his thugs come for me," Sakura began, "What will happen then?"

"I'll kill them," Sasuke said, "I'll kill every last fucking one of Larry's son-of-a-bitch thugs that come here with no intentions of surrender."

"But what if…" Sakura began, but was cut off when Sasuke pulled her close.

"You do realize you talk too much," Sasuke said as he Sakura rested her head in-between Sasuke's pectorals and inhaled deeply, getting a slight whiff of his cologne and Axe body soap, "You worry too much, I'll kill them all if they I to."

"What's safe anymore," Sakura asked as she pushed away from Sasuke to sit on the edge of the bed, "With Laceration Larry loose the homicide rate's gone up fifteen percent."

"You're more than safe here," Sasuke said as he took a seat next to Sakura, "I always keep a police radio that links directly to the precinct, if anyone comes in, I'll just grab it, and call for backup."

"The glass is always half full when you're around isn't it," Sakura asked as she looked up at Sasuke.

"Depends on wither you're talking about a glass of coke or a glass of beer," Sasuke said as he put his M1911 on his bed-side table, "But if you threaten my friends or family, I can make your life very difficult."

"What if I threatened your sister," Sakura asked as she put her hand against Sasuke's arm, feeling the muscles in his bicep which were built like a brick.

"I might make an exception for you," Sasuke said as he looked down at Sakura's face, "Because of the history of our friendship."

"Are you sure our friendship is the only reason you said that," Sakura asked as she and Sasuke were swept up in the heat of the moment.

"Maybe," Sasuke said as he leaned in close to Sakura.

Their lips met in the center, but the moment still had them by their hearts, Sasuke scooped Sakura's arm which locked around his neck along with her other arm, Sakura grabbed the sides of Sasuke's tank-top with her hands, tore it open, and then pushed the tattered pieces of fabric off of Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke's head was soon resting on his pillow, "You always make an engaging argument," Sakura said as Sasuke kissed the side of her neck.

"That's not the only thing I'm good at," Sasuke whispered into Sakura's ear as his hand moved off of Sakura's back. Sasuke reached down, and grabbed Sakura's ass, causing her jolt forward and gasp.

"I never took you for the bad-cop type," Sakura said as she looked down at Sasuke.

Sasuke flipped her over, and halfway ripped Sakura's pants off of her, then he did literally ripped Sakura's tee shirt off.

Sakura kicked Sasuke's pants off, and ran her hand down Sasuke's stomach, feeling every muscle as she went down.

The next second Sasuke halfway ripped Sakura's panties off, and entered her.

Sakura screamed in pain, Sasuke was surprised, he thought for sure Sakura wasn't virgin, but apparently she was.

Sasuke kissed the tears away from Sakura's eyes, and slowly began thrusting into her.

Three minutes later, Sakura couldn't take it anymore, a wave of pleasure caused her to release which then triggered Sasuke's own release.

They collapsed next to each other on the bed, Sasuke looked at Sakura, and smiled.

"I love you." Sakura said.

"I love you too, Sakura Belle Haruno." Sasuke said.

The next morning, Sasuke awoke with Sakura asleep next to him, "What the hell are you doing Sasuke," he thought to himself as he looked at Sakura, she looked so peaceful while she slept, but at the same time, the guilt of knowing what they did last night was gnawing at him.

Sakura awoke alone: as she smelled the scent of some kind of scented candle, she shot up, and saw Sasuke dressed only in a pair of jeans, standing in front of the window, Sakura grabbed a robe off of the floor, put it on underneath the covers, and as she fastened it on, she walked over to Sasuke, and put her hand on his arm, "Good morning," she said as she put her other hand on the other side of Sasuke's arm.

"Morning," Sasuke said as he focused on the traffic moving on the streets below, "You sleep well?"

"Very," Sakura said as she leaned on Sasuke's shoulder, "Is there something wrong?"

"No," Sasuke said, "Nothing's wrong."

"Cut the bullshit Sasuke," Sakura said as she slapped Sasuke on the arm, "I know when you're lying."

"Nothing's wrong," Sasuke chuckled, "We've just made 'us' official."

"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy last night," Sakura said, "I know you can't."

"I can't and I won't say I didn't," Sasuke said, "I need to finish this," Sasuke turned around to face Sakura, "I need the footage you took on the day of the trial, the note that psychopath's thugs gave you says to look at the footage."

"I'll give you whatever you need," Sakura said, "Anything."

"Alright," Sasuke said, "Alright, there's one more thing," Sasuke walked over to his bed-side table, opened the top cabinet, and pulled out a Zastava M88 (the Zastava M88 owes its legacy to the Tokarev semi-automatic pistol series of Soviet Russia debuting during the 1930s), "The only one that knows about us for now is you and me. The only one who knows my address is me, Naruto, and Lee: if I send anyone here I'll call ahead, and give you a password they will know when I send them, if they don't say the password, use this," he handed her the gun, "Keep this with you," he then handed Sakura a carry permit, "If anyone approaches you without that day's password, use it: only one squeeze of the trigger."

Sasuke and Sakura walked out to the garage, climbed into Sasuke's Ferrari, and drove off towards Sakura's office, "You know the procedure?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Sakura said as she looked over at Sasuke, "I get a text from you that reads nine eleven I call Naruto, he'll take me to the train station, and I head off to Seattle."

"Very good," Sasuke said as he looked over at Sakura, "I'll come up and get you when you're done with your day, and I'll take you back to the apartment."

"Alright," Sakura said, "Love you," she then leaned over the center arm rest, and gave Sasuke a small peck on the lips.

"I love you too Sakura," Sasuke said as Sakura pulled away, "I've got to go save everyone who's been ruined by Laceration Larry."

After Sakura stepped out of the Ferrari, and shut the door behind her, Sasuke watched her walk up to the front steps of the Channel Five office, "For the love of god please tell me I didn't get her pregnant," Sasuke thought, "This puts one life that hasn't even started yet at risk."

Sasuke drove his 458 to the precinct where his team was waiting, "Hey," Sasuke said as he entered, "Sorry I'm late."

"That's not like you to be late," Hinata said, "You were with someone were you?"

"How could you possibly…," Sasuke started before he realized, "Oh, right: woman's intuition."

"Hold on, let me guess," Naruto said, "You were with Sakura weren't you?"

"Well, I was with Sakura," Sasuke said, "But I was only dropping her off at her office."

"What happened," Lee asked, "Tell us."

"Very well," Sasuke said, "She came to me last night and said that Laceration Larry's thugs set fire to her apartment: if you would have seen the amount of fear in her eyes, you would have given her the same comfort I gave her."

"Did you… you… oh my god, you did," Hinata said, "You with my best-friend, oh my god."

"Yes," Sasuke said, "Yes I did."

"You know you're a major jackass right?" Naruto asked.

"I know," Sasuke said, "If I got her pregnant, then not only is her life at risk, but so is another's."

"Is she," Lee began, "You know… pregnant?"

"I don't know," Sasuke said, "There's been no test yet."

"Please tell me that when this is over, and if she is pregnant you're going to claim responsibility for the baby." Hinata said.

"I will," Sasuke said, "Don't worry."