TUMBLR plus READERS equals INSPIRATION TO KITTY :D (I love tumblr and readers ewe).
HAPPY LATE VALENTINES DAY, WAFFLES! You are all waffles ._. ... and I love you all for that ;D I love all my waffles! Heyo people, I hope everyone is having a great time, ne? I've been a bit busy but I will have you know that I have looked at everyone's reviews and pms about the ideas and whatnot, and I just have to say...you dudes are just so cool -falls over- I really wish I had more time for all my stories TwT Damn writer's block! I'm sorry everyone.
I will admit that more things will be happening in Tasting Flesh now, and I really do hope that you all will enjoy it c: I'm working very hard on this story, and also with my other two that are just stuck in writer's block (and honestly, so is this one), but I do hope that we can make progress with this baby so it can grow up to be a ninja (because ninjas are goddamn sexy). Remember that you can ask any questions -even if I had answered it before, and you may have missed me answering- and I will gladly help you out! I know sometimes I will say that I can't answer it, but know it is for the good of the story uwu
NO TIME TO REPLY TO REVIEWS QwQ But you know that Kitty loves all her readers. And the hater readers..? I don't have time to party with them right now, since I'm partying with the lover readers c: I'll respond to ones who need answers next chapter, alright?
NEW SONG FOR YOU GUYS (because Kitty loves music). Ready up YT and allow 'Until We Bleed' by Andreas Keerup (feat. Lykke Li) and wait for Kitty's signal, okay? c: Another one of my favorite artists and the song, for me, says a lot about SasuSaku in general~! Hope you enjoy!
Everyone knows what makes a Kitty fuzzbally? Reviewing, Following, Favoriting or doing nothing will put me in a good mood of feeling all warm and fluffy on the inside C: I hope you will enjoy the chapter and will have a wonderful day! Kitty loves you!
=xxx=
.
.
.
Inside my mind is a voice.
.
.
.
This voice has harmed me to bring him to me...crying his name.
.
.
.
It is so odd to have this voice inside me; it makes me shake.
.
.
.
I don't know who this voice is, a Demon or what...
.
.
.
But please...please, please...
.
.
.
Don't hurt me.
.
.
.
Tasting Flesh
Chapter Ten
Sakura was lost.
She wasn't inside the Yamanaka kitchen anymore, but rather...an open field of dark green grass and soft soil underneath her bare feet; she dared to test it by digging her toes into the dirt, feeling the cooliness between her toes as she looked at her own hand -the one not touching the necklace- to see if she was transparent or faded. Maybe she was dreaming?
Her hand was solid as she pricked her own fingers with her thumbs carefully, feeling the pressure of her nail and had her emerald eyes stare up to the violet-watered sky: the clouds the purest white against the unknown terrain infront of her, behind her and both sides. She was in the middle of nowhere.
'Don't be scared,' the voice hushed into Sakura's little ear, making the pink haired girl to spin around, standing her ground on her bare feet as she dared to tighten her fists together to the point that her knuckles went white.
In the distance, Sakura saw the curving figure of a red cloaked woman, face hidden underneath the hood while the silky fabric clung to her skin so perfectly of a sculpture while the loose waved a red danced in the wind without shame for secrets. Sakura's eyes widened as she found the voice's frequency coming from the standing form in red.
"Who are you?" Sakura demanded with a shiver in her voice. She winced by the way she sounded so weak. "Who are you?"
'I am you,' the figure confessed with an unmoving mouth, her hand so porcelain-like, so much like Sakura's hand, raised up and touched the skin in between the collarbone and her small breasts. It was the same pose Sakura is doing at this point, as she was clinging to the necklace like it was a lifesupport.
"How are you me?" Sakura asked in a weak plead. "What are you doing...in my head?"
The figure's head looked down a bit. The sudden change in the wind that Sakura could not feel made her emerald eyes widen to hear the voice behind her again, making her jump again to turn to find them standing nose-to-nose.
Same height. Same skin tone.
Hidden by bloody red.
"Stop this!" Sakura demanded, finding her patience going slim instantly. "Where the hell am I?"
'The past... The present... The future...' the voice's mouth remained unmoving as she raised both hands and her palms faced upward. 'We are here inside you and me.'
"Who are you?" Sakura repeated. "How are you me?"
The body frowned, finding no pleasure in the reaction to the fact of where they currently are. It was a rather sad frown, and Sakura suddenly felt her body become numb...feeling sad as well when the skies shifted its pure clouds, swirling overhead like going fastforward in the day, yet the violet, watery tone never changed.
'We are so much the same, Sakura...' the voice confessed surely, soley confident in the feminine sweetness her voice gave off. 'I am the one before you, my dear...'
Very slowly, the form's hand moved to touch her abdomen, her long, delicate-looking fingers smoothed across the red fabric of the cloak until it found the opening of the cape. The wind's strength increased when Sakura followed its hand pulling a fold back, revealing much more soft skin.
'I am inside you,' it said softly, its voice matching the mood of the color. 'And...at one point in time, you were inside me, too...'
Pulling the red cloak's fold behind it's left hip, Sakura's eyes widened in pure shock as she stumbled back. The figure didn't move whatsoever to get near Sakura anymore as it let go of the restraint of the only cloth it wore, its lips forming into a very gentle smile.
So warm looking. So peaceful and gentle...
'I am a friend of Haruno Sakura,' it said, the head lowering to the exposed skin of its belly and hip. 'I am a friend... I am an ally...'
"Who are you?" Sakura pleaded, her throat becoming tight and dry. "Give me a name!"
'I am...
Darkness started to take over Sakura's vision, the distinct figure of the person in red still visible as black flames overtook the beautiful yet eerie scene...
'I am the Forbidden Flower...
Sakura felt herself being yanked by the shoulder, falling into the unknown pit of eternal darkness; cries of pain and sadness overtook the backround while the voice continued to say its last words to her.
'I am the Forbidden Flower...and I am your past, present and future, and so are you.'
Sakura gasped and choked on her air as her eyes snapped open, dropping the plate to shatter into millions of pieces. She gasped for air when she grabbed the pressure on her shoulder to see Chi holding her, not using any force of pulling or shaking. Chocolate brown eyes were wide and worried for the pink haired girl when she finally noticed the tears in the emerald gems. Unable to move her feet around the shattered ceramics, Sakura was frozen in face. Scared and confused.
"Saku-chan?" Chi mewled in worry, her brows scrunched together. "Saku-chan okay?"
Sakura couldn't talk. She started to shiver in her hands and shoulders, facing away from Chi's concerned eyes. Her tongue felt inflamed and her jaws her numbed. The only thing she could feel properly was the necklace against her bare skin.
"Mommy! I heard something break," Ino's voice screeched past the curtain, Sakura didn't even move to the sound of her friend's voice. "Are you alright in there?"
Chi's gaze looked away from her little friend's shaking head. "Saku-chan made break," Chi called back to Ino in a childish wail, sounding more nervous then reassuring that the sound of a chair moving against the hardwood floor was heard next. Chi gently rubbed the back of Sakura's frozen form, trying to comfort as best as she could. "Saku-chan okay. Chi here. Chi here."
Everything started to become a blur to Sakura's vision. She wasn't going to pass out, but everything just went so slow and silent when the curtain was forced open and the blurry heads of blond and black covered over her face and she soon found herself being lifted from the ground.
"Mommy, can you get the first-aid kit, please?" Ino's voice was wary yet gentle by Sakura's head as it lolled to a curved shoulder of a female. She felt movement in Ino's arms of being carried through the kitchen -the sound of glass crunching under Ino's feet, too- and into the hallway where it would have lead to the bathroom on the first floor. The next thing Sakura knew, she was placed on the edge of the tub and Ino's hands holding her shoulders gently to keep her upright.
"Sakura-chan, can you look at me?" Ino whispered softly, her baby blue eyes looking into the unfocused emerald orbs with tears. "Sakura, what happened? Did something scare you..?"
Sakura didn't respond, finding no energy to talk. She still couldn't register everything that was happening, even when Ino took the idea to snap her fingers infront of her face to see if she would react. Sakura stayed mute and dead to the world, only thing moving upon her body was the tears falling out of her eyes and landing on her hands.
"Sakura-ch-?"
"Ino. Go help your mother with the broken plate," a silky voice of a male intrupted Ino, making her head snap back to prepare a growl, but soon stopped when she saw the kit in Sasuke's hands.
She simply narrowed her eyes and look one last look at Sakura before leaving the little bathroom. Sasuke let himself inside and knelt down to his knees where Sakura stayed empty as a doll, unknown to anything else that would be present in this enviroment. He set the kit by his side and looked up to Sakura's expressionless features with a single raised brow of concern.
"Sakura..." Sasuke spoke softly as he could, "you have some pieces of sharp glass on your feet and legs... I'm going to remove them, so please be still."
When Sakura didn't respond with anything, Sasuke became more concerned of what had happened to this poor soul inside the kitchen when Chi was singing. "I'll be gentle, Sakura..."
He gently lifted her ankle with one hand, and slowly began to pick the little shards of the ceramic material off of her skin; whether it was pricked into her very soft skin or just happened to be intop of her foot, he removed it carefully and placed it into the little trash bin that was by the tub. After removing all of the pieces, Sasuke found little cuts of the impact and decided to take the extra measure of applying disinfecting-ointment.
Finding the little bottle, Sasuke used small drops and rubbed gently into the little cuts with his thumb, surprised by the lack of reaction he was receiving from his patient. He remembered that she didn't have any high tolerance for pain, even if it was a light scratch.
As he was about to get up, he was suddenly stopped by a small hand gripping his raven-colored hair; fingers tangled tightly when a little whisper escaped the mouth of Sakura, a mere whimper of a sob she was trying so hard to hold back. Sasuke looked up to see her eyes shut tight, like she was in agony, and her other hand was clutching to her lower belly of her left hip. She was crying, and was more then afraid to open her eyes.
"Sakura," Sasuke spoke quietly, as if afraid to scare her anymore, "what hurts..? Can you show me where it hurts?"
The memory of the nightmare of being pulled away by invisible hands returned to Sakura, and she winced at the fear of being dragged away into darkness. Sasuke's shoulders stiffened when he saw this, and hesitated a little before placing both hands on either side of her waist, gripping her softly.
"I'm here..."
Sakura was still unable to speak. Her sobs echoed inside of the little bathroom as she leaned forward and pressed her nose into Sasuke's black hair. He was so confused by this behavior of hers', being willing to bring someone close that she once feared a few days ago. His eyes narrowed and stared at the hand that was literally clawing into her dress material, as if she had to rip something off.
"I'm here," Sasuke repeated and gripped himself more to Sakura's waist. His eyes softened when she tugged his hair a little bit and practicall buried her face into his hair to cry. "Tell me what is wrong..."
Sakura's voice was high-pitched and cracking, her tears falling at their own will into his locks. He didn't seem to mind it at all. "I-I...It...I-It has..! It h-ha...has the m-mark," she whimpered her sorrow out and held the back of Sasuke's head as her sobs racked throughout her whole body. "I-It has...the mark!"
Sasuke tried his best to take in this news as serious as he could, but he couldn't help but feel the confusion seep through his while system. He didn't force her to talk anymore as she became too focused on crying and letting all her negative energy out of her whole body, and he allowed this to happen as he looked at the hand clinging to her left hip. He tried to hard to think of what could have scared her so badly to the point she couldn't speak...
His eyes widening, Sasuke realized what was so scary of the left hip.
"It's your birthmark...isn't it?" Sasuke answered in a whisper, feeling Sakura's head nod against the top of his head, he closed his eyes in understanding. "You have a birthmark on your left hip..."
"I-It has it, t-too..!" Sakura sobbed. "I-I don't know wh-why..?"
"Don't speak, baby," Sasuke mumbled quietly, looking up and breaking the hold of his hair before she pulled it out with anymore of her pulling. He grabbed the wrist that was once holding his hair in a very gentle grip, being as gentle as he could to try and get her eyes to open for him. He wanted to see those emerald jewels through those tears, and try his best to get her to stop crying. "Here, look at me..."
He used his other hand to hold the side of her face gently, making her want to peek through the tiniest of cracks of her opening eyes. She still couldn't see through the tears all that well and she closed them again and shook her head. "What ha-happened, S-Sasuke-kun..?"
"Calm down first," Sasuke instructed. He wasn't going to speak to her until she calmed down, and he was going to allow her the time she needed to regain proper breathing and then he will explain things to her.
For now...her tears were too much.
=xxx=
Sakura spent hours in the little bathroom with Sasuke, tears falling down like a leaking faucet, and he just sat there and let her cry into his shoulder. Whenever he though it was necessary, he would occasionally pet the back of her head and try humming a little bit. Sasuke didn't leave her sight until Ino came in after knocking on the opened door, poking her head in to see Sasuke looking at her uncaringly.
"It's almost six, Sasuke," Ino informed. "Daddy and Mommy said that it would probably be best to take extra care and getting her back to the Shrine."
Sasuke nodded slowly in agreement and slowly stood up, not letting go of Sakura's waist as he leaned down to be in total eye-contact with the pink haired girl's emerald eyes, knowing that they were still unfocused on anything when the tears continued to fall out.
"Sakura, we're going to take you home now," Sasuke spoke gently. "Ino is going to carry you."
Sakura shook her head. "D-Dn... D-Don't go away, S-Sasuke-k-kun..."
"I will by next to you," Sasuke promised standing up. He turned around and gave Ino the signal to get close to her.
Ino didn't hesitate to walk past the tall and scary form of the Uchiha to get to the sweetheart still sitting on the edge of the tub, scooping her long arms under her knees and around her shoulders and hauled Sakura's light body. She was once against carrying the confused girl in her arms like a protecting mother, a soft smile gracing Ino's mouth when Sakura cuddled her head against her friend's shoulder.
"You're okay, cutie pants," Ino chirped assuringly into Sakura's little ear. "We're gonna take you home and get you into a cuddly bed."
Sakura made a noise, but didn't smile. That was alright with Ino. "You can cuddle in your bed and use Pakkun as a teddy bear; then, in the morning, I will make you a wonderful breakfast of grilled chicken and dumplings. I know you like my dumplings, Sakura."
Sasuke watched from his peripheral vision the whole conversation taking place between the two teenagers, finding Sakura's silence to be unwanted to him and such. He became a little worried of what Sakura saw when she was in the kitchen when Chi wasn't looking. He was unaware of the possibility of what she was shown, or whatever may have been clicking in her mind; her barriers seem the same as they were when he destroyed the useless ones...
Out of the blue, Sakura's emerald eyes shifted to look around, finally looking at Sasuke's side form and allowed her green jewels trail up, looking for his pale face contrasting from the black hair and clothes he had on. Sasuke became curious himself and moved his head to the side to see Sakura looking at him with eyes that sparkled naturally instead of tears. Her expression was still unreadable, but her eyes were so bright and beautiful to Sasuke. He found it more hypnotizing then anything else.
Blocking out the rambles of Ino's voice, Sasuke took the idea to whisper sentences to the pink haired girl who was being carried. "Are you alright?" he whispered barely above an inaudible whisper to Ino's distracted body.
When the darling girl nodded slowly, Sasuke became unaware of whoever was around them. He was so focused on her, as she was focused on him. He walked closer to the side, and her head simply followed up to follow his pale face, her emerald eyes sparkled slowly like stars; showing hints of different emotions spreading across her face, and the coat of tears began to happen again, yet it wasn't shedding.
"Don't be afraid," Sasuke mouthed. "Are you afraid of me..?"
Sakura simply shook her head before resting it on Ino's slim shoulder, her eyes never leaving his once they met with black orbs with a shiny light of the setting sun. His lips wanted to smirk at the message he got back, but knew now that the time was not right.
"Don't be afraid of anything," he mouthed again when Ino's voice pitched a note higher, starting to break the silence that Sasuke was wishing for in the first place. "I'm here..."
"Promise?" Sakura whispered aloud.
"Ne?" Ino's screechy voice made Sakura look away to her friend's baby-blue eyes to stare. "Are you two talking without me being involved? That's not fair, you two! Keep the lovey-dovey chat to later, got it? At least when I'm not in the room, so I don't have to amputated some male parts, if you get what I mean."
Sasuke scowled at the blonde girl and stared straight back.
"Saku-chan, what does Sasuke-bastard have to promise you? I'll make sure he keeps the promise," Ino sang devishly.
=xxx=
Sakura stood infront of her bedroom mirror in her red-silked pajamas that Ino picked out specifically for her to wear tonight. It wasn't anything seductive or gorgeous, but is brought out the little curves she had on her little waist toned her pale-ish skin into a doll-like hue to match her rosy lips and flower-pink cheeks.
Although, she wasn't smiling as she usually would in her pajamas infront of the mirror.
She glanced around the old mirror, being the one used to be in her parent's bedroom before they passed away. Sasori put it up by her shoji door so she could have looked at how nice she looked in her school uniform before she left. Now, with little dust and multiple lipstick marks from Ino's gloss and she allowed her to use it a few times to decorate it everytime they cleaned her room together. Her left hand slowly trailed up her thigh and rested on her left hip, touching the reddish silk that hung loosely on her whole body, only tight around her waist so the pants can stay on properly.
Gently, Sakura parted the silken fabric of her pajama-shirt, moving the left part to expose her left hip...
And reveal a heart-shaped birthmark settling right there.
Now, it wasn't a perfectly shaped heart -adding in the little smudge-looking spots and a little difformed- but it would look like a heart if you looked at it for the first time. Sakura remembered Chiyo telling her that she was blessed with such a birthmark from a kiss of an angel...
She understood now that the 'angel' was the Forbidden Flower's blood.
When Sakura first saw the mark on that...body's mark, Sakura wanted to say that the form in her head and the voice was her and only her. But, as Sakura pondered the memory of the bodyshape and tone of voice; while it was soft and soothing-like to hers', it was a different pitch and accent, and nowhere near Sakura's voice. The woman inside Sakura's head was not her conscience... Who was she?
Looking at the birthmark again, Sakura bit her upperlip worryingly and rubbed with her fingers over the peachy-colored skin that imprinted her boney hip. She didn't notice that tall form standing at her opened shouji door and looking at her observingly.
"Hn." Sasuke's dark, rich voice made Sakura jump and let go of her shirt, shaking intensely when she pouted at him. He would have smirked, but she rubbed her head sorefully and yawned big enough to reveal her white teeth and pink tongue. "You're tired. You should get into bed now."
"I have noticed that I've been sleeping a lot...and passing out from weird stuff," Sakura muttered the last part rather sore, becoming a bit angry with herself with all this damsel-business going on with her and he gets to witness it all. "Why does that happen?"
Sasuke let his eyes wander around the room, noticing nothing different from when the time Sakura was only a child; simple and neatly cleaned and organized, Sasuke saw the dresser and bookshelf where it was filled with origami creations and books of fairytales and myths. He would've smiled at this, remembering her learning to read and she would practice by telling him stories of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. He continued to look around the room carefully and answered her little question.
"Forbidden Flowers use a lot of their energy sometimes," Sasuke explained. "Whenever she recieves messages from her past lives, she will eventually become tired... Past lives can do that, since they need your energy to communicate with you."
Sakura frowned at this a little deeper, looking back to the mirror to look over her face, just trying to find something else that would make sense. Sasuke's black eyes finally looked at the back of her pink head, not caring that she didn't notice him looking her way or just staring at her. He could tell that something else was on her mind, and it was starting to bother her more every minute.
"They all have the same birthmark," said Sasuke.
Sakura's emeralds blinked before turning her head to look at him. "What?"
"The Forbidden Flowers are always born with a heart-shaped birthmark on their left hips," Sasuke's eyes narrowed softly, as if he could see through the red pajamas of where the birthmark was placed. Sakura blushed angered and squirmed in her spot. "It was how we could figure out if you had the Forbidden Flower blood without actually biting you... Which, I would have not allowed that to happen when you were a newborn."
"Ah...alright," Sakura muttered lowly, shifting her weight to one leg to the other uncomfortably. "Did you need something?" She tucked a hair behind her little ear and looked down, refusing to meet those eyes that seem to put her in a trance. Sakura recalled her behavior hours before, as Ino puts it, she was clinging to Sasuke for support rather then Ino (not that she got an earfull about that, too); and she had yet to punish herself properly for acting so childish.
"I wanted to make sure you were alright," Sasuke twitched in annoyance. Before, he was enjoying Sakura looking at him nonstop and become nervous when he either moved away or flinched a muscle. Now, as he saw it, it looked like she didn't want him around. Again. He didn't like it at all. "Are you getting into bed now?"
Sakura scrunched her eyebrow together. "Uhm, I wasn't planning on it. I thought I slept enough."
Sasuke shook his head. "It is getting dark outside, and it would be best if you rest up for the rest of the night."
By this time, Pakkun wobbled into the room, exciting Sakura. She instantly knelt down and held her hands out for the pug to hurry over and recieve his well-deserved ear scratches; forgetting the tall and handsome man standing by the doorway and losing her retorting refusal to Sasuke's suggestion. Sakura giggled when Pakkun made a gurgly purr and picked him up from his front paws.
"Pakkun, where have you been?" Sakura cooed softly as she gently squeezed his paws. "I've missed you a lot, you know!"
Pakkun made a little snorting noise and closed his eyes. "I've been around."
. . .
"Pakkun..." Sakura's paling face went three shades lighter as she dropped the dog's paws from her shaking grip, "...talked."
"Oopsy, I guess they didn't tell you, huh?" Pakkun made a smile as he sat on his bottom, tail wagging. "So, they allow to explain about those bloodsucking noobs to you, yet they forget about the dog? What am I, a goldfish? I have more talent then a frickin' fish that has a memory of five seconds."
"You talked!" Sakura shrieked in fright as she crawled backwards into her futon bedding and held up her blanket for a shield. "How can you talk like a person, huh?" she asked in a squeal.
"Easy... It's like everyone else," Pakkun shrugged lazily and scratched the back of his ear with his back paw. "How babies say 'Mama' and 'Dada'. I was the smarted runt in the litter, if I do say so myself."
"Stop Pakkun," Sasuke drawled with a roll of his eyes. "You're becoming a nuisance."
"Is he a Demon?" Sakura pointed at him, asking more of Sasuke rather then the dog himself. "I didn't know Demons can be dogs, too! Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Sasuke shrugged. "It slipped my mind."
Sakura released a shrieking cry, pulling the covers over her head and shove her face into her pillow to muffle it from Ino and Chiyo downstairs. Sure, she could try and handle a hotty in her life, a ancient myth regarding her life, possibly eaten by Demons who want to eat her flesh and blood...but a talking dog? That was a little bit too much for her taste, thank you very much. Now she wanted to forget everything and go to bed, her head throbbing a bit from an upcoming headache of Pakkun's voice in general was making her want to cry!
"I can't believe you're so scared," Pakkun whimpered sadly. "After all these years of getting the ball when you threw it for me, eating the food you didn't want when you were full... This is the thanks I get?"
Sakura dared to peek out from her blanket, noticing the giant dog tears Pakkun was developing in his beady eyes. He looked very cute with that face, since he used to use it for begging of treats every once in a while. Sakura, too, pouted a little as she stuck her hand out and pat the top of his head with affectionate manner.
"You're a good boy," Sakura mumbled with a pouty smile. "You're a good boy, Pakkun..."
"Pakkun if a breed of dogs that relate to Demons," Sasuke explained while crossing his arms. "They perform spells and illusions to ward off predators, and they make simple pets to other Demons."
"Hey!" Pakkun snapped as he turned his head to snarl at Sasuke with his teeth bared. "I'm no one's pet, got it? The old fart downstairs may say I'm a pet, but no way in hell am I someone's bitch. I'm the guardian of the Haruno Shrine!"
Sasuke didn't say anything, just staring at the dog with an uninterested look.
Sakura smiled softly when Pakkun made a elderly grunt and rose to his stubby legs. "I'm off on guardian duty, if anyone cares!" he sniffed. He turned his head to Sakura and wagged his curly tail. "Sleep tight, Sakura. If you need me, just gimme a holler and I'll hurry to ya!" With that, the beloved pug hurried out of the room...not before grunting up to Sasuke and hurrying off into the shadows before Sasuke could react.
After a moment of silence, Sasuke turned his attention back to Sakura. "You took that rather well. You must've thought of something nice?"
"Nice? Oh, a memory!" Sakura guessed with a little clap of her hands. "Uhm, I didn't have a real idea but...I have known Pakkun for a very long time, you know? He's been the family friend and all."
"Aa," Sasuke nodded approvingly. He looked up to see Sakura cuddling into her blankets once more, her face relaxing a bit as she shyly glanced up to Sasuke. "What?"
"You said that there were other Forbidden Flowers before me," Sakura tilted her head to the side a little while her hand touched her hip again. "And they also have the same birthmark as I do, are they still alive?"
"No." His answer was simple, but Sakura didn't feel satisfied by it with her eyes narrowing at him. "Only one Forbidden Flower at a time."
"Huh?"
Sasuke gruffed and sat on the floor of the opened doorway, not daring to go venture inside Sakura's bedroom without her consent. He crossed his arms and legs when he gave her a serious look, the kind that a student would get from its master in training. "Only one can be alive in a lifetime. That is what the rules are for your type of species; only one is alive, and when she dies, another will be born sometime later in the years... I suppose that what makes you forbidden."
Sakura's eyebrows creased a bit before she plopped herself against her pillow and turned to face the wall, totally ignoring the rest of Sasuke's words. She honestly didn't want to hear anymore of his so-called wisdom, even though he had answered a lot of her questions without complaining at her. But, as for today, with the events regarding her little head swimming in mud, she didn't want to hear anymore of the sad-sounding calls of what she is...
She understood that she was to be this man's bride. Whether she wanted to or not.
.
.
.
Give me your mind, your body, your soul.
.
.
.
I am the helpful ally that you seek, and I will sing the song you like...
.
.
.
Luring you into my territory before it is time to feast.
.
.
.
Sakura woke up the next morning to sunshine heating her body, like it did every morning inside her bedroom in the Haruno Shrine. She yawned and stretched before crawling out of her bed, where she noticed something out of place in her little sancturary; the black music box that she had left in Sasuke's cabin was under her little lamp on her bedside, just waiting for her to open up and listen to the pretty music once more. Sakura's eyes widened a little bit as she looked around her room, to see if anything else was odd, and also tried to figure out how her new favorite item had made it into her bedroom the night prior as she always wake up to someone walking past her room.
Looking back to the box, Sakura's heart thumped. 'Did...Sasuke-kun return it to me while I slept?'
Her fingers grazed over the beautiful designs, following the swirling vines and petals before she forced herself to stand up, her face peeking to her opened window, where the sun shone brightly and birds sang to their heart's content. Padding over in her barefeet, her porcelain skin reached the forest green windowsill as she inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet aroma of the cherry blossom trees and the mountainside air before reopening her eyes to look at the scene her wonderful home gave.
Green grass that overtook the rock edges of the mountains and the wooden cabins fit to house a family for a visit scattered all over the property; looking like it was meant to blend in with the scenery as catails and little budding flowers perked in long grasses that were not trimmed against the little wall of mountainous earth that would lead to the cherry trees in the distance. The most out-of-place item in the set was the pink flowers that actually sparkled in the sunlight and would take part in the wind. The very idea made Sakura smile wide as she sighed, her chin resting on her cupped hands on her cheeks, her eyes slowly drifting to draw the lines of nature into memory.
And the black figure of a man was sticking out against the pink.
Snapping her head back up, Sakura could easily pick out Sasuke from the little blob that was so far away, and yet her heart was starting to become a jackhammer against her ribcage that it was starting to hurt a little bit. Pressing her hand to her collarbone, Sakura also felt that the necklace made by Sasuke himself was still around her neck, as if it belonged there in the first place. Her face feeling warm, Sakura ducked her head down and curled into a ball underneath her window, biting her lip anxiously as she pounded it into her head.
She never took off the necklace!
Exhaling rather loud, Sakura suddenly realized that she, in fact, didn't want to take of the necklace now. As it seemed odd for her, Sakura couldn't even bear the idea of removing this tricket from her skin and place it on her dresser to collect dust. Holding the pendant again, Sakura's speeding heart eased a little bit when she softened her eyes.
"This is yours, Sakura," Sasuke informed softly, his voice relaxed for the first time in a while. He smirked amusingly when her fingers encircled around the pendant, as if she had to make sure it was real.
Blushing a bit deeper, Sakura understood a little bit on why she didn't take it off last night; this marvelous jewelry was hers, as Sasuke had told her and looked happy to see her react so sweetly to it. Closing her eyes, Sakura huddled the necklace to her chin and rocked a little bit before tilting her head back against the wall. She felt like those girls back in her school who would simply gush over a cute boy looking their way or apologized when they accidentally bumped into each other in the hallway; how they would gossip with their friends about how they would scribble their names by using the boy's last name in their notebook or hum the song they like in the bathroom as they prettied themselves to be noticed again.
Surely, Sakura wasn't going to doll herself up for him (although, how interesting would that be?) just to get his attention. No, Sakura was much, much smarter and more mature then that- and maybe Sasuke wouldn't have gone for that kind of behavior from her either. Have other girls tried it? Maybe he would noticed if she tried...
Shaking her head furiously, Sakura got on her knees and peeked over the window again to look at the handsome backside of Uchiha Sasuke. Mouthing his name to herself, Sakura started to enjoy saying Sasuke's name with the suffix he requested from her days prior. She outlined his body sitting at the small hill by the cherry blossom trees, looking nowhere in particular, as she guessed, but seeming to be enjoying himself in the sunlight as she would too.
'I want to know...' Sakura thought to herself, 'what it was like to be with him back then? Did I love him like he was mine only, or was I just living a fairytale of stupid things...'
Noticing from the corner of her eye, a silvery butterfly fluttered its own wings up and down in the frozen air, just over Sasuke's spikey hair. It suddenly dropped and landed on Sasuke's black, buffed shoulder and started to make a usual insect struggle to regain its posture. Sakura was lost when Sasuke simply turned his head to look at the butterfly, and slowly, as if treating it like a feather, raised his large hand to cup against his shirt for the bug to crawl into his palm willingly.
"Sakura," Sasuke cool voice called out to her childish self as she sprinted up to him with a joyful cheer. He smirked calmly and knelt down to her little height and was holding both of his hands together in a little cage-like pose until she drew near enough that she pressed her forehead against his. "Want to see what I caught?"
Sakura's pink head nodded against his black hair, her little hand coming up to nibble her knuckle. She usually did this action whenever she was curious about something - and she still did this today. Swaying her hips around, Sakura waited patiently as Sasuke removed the top of his hand to show a small silver butterfly creeping in his palm. It was the size of the pad of your thumb, and it fluttered its wings weakly.
"See how tiny it is?" Sasuke whispered quietly, and Sakura followed the same influence when she whispered with a single nod. "This is like you, darling. You are starting out very small...but someday, you will get bigger and fly even higher." Opening his palm more, the silver butterfly jumped and flew between their removing foreheads and up to the sky, when Sakura waved to it as it fluttered to the cherry trees and out of her sight.
"Where is is going, Sasu-kun?" Sakura asked as she kept waving her little hand.
"It's going to explore the unknown. Just like you will someday."
Watching Sasuke handle the butterfly, which is three times bigger then the memory, Sakura blushed a little harder when Sasuke allowed the insect crawl around his hand freely, yet his wrist would twist to keep an eye on it as his head tilted curiously in awe. The wings were silk-looking and shining, and the legs were long and slim. The perfect blossoming butterfly from years before. Sakura smiled before leaving her window.
Down to Sasuke's place in the grass, the butterfly flapped its glossy wings when it winded up on Sasuke's big thumb, as if finally greeting the Demon before taking off into the sun. Sasuke squinted his eyes at the brightness it gave off, but smirked a little bit to himself when he looked back down to his own hands resting on his lap. He had come outside earlier this morning when Ino and Chiyo started fussing with each other about which dumplings were better: pork or chicken dumplings, and he was not going to be part of that stupid arguement. He simply got up and left, and no one bothered him since.
It was nice. Being in the little world of silence and surrounded by good things Sasuke would tolerate made his stay here a bit better. If he could, he wouldn't go back through that door to where the annoying blond and that porn-addicted man wait for his return.
"Sasuke-kun!" the angelic voice made Sasuke forget the plan to terminate the Uzumaki erupted when he cooly turned his head to see Sakura approaching him wearing a thin-strapped dress that matched the red color of a rose. He inwardly smirked, thinking how well that color looked on this young woman to match with that pretty smile on her face.
Once she stood by him, Sakura looked down to his seating form and smiled a bit bigger. "Goodmorning, Sasuke-kun. How are you today?"
"Hn...I'm fine," Sasuke replied politely, yet he always has that smug-like tone. She didn't seem to mind it much, since she gave herself permission to sit on the grass right next to him. He swallowed silently and turned his head back to pay attention to the trees, yet his ears stayed open to the heartbeat and healthy breathing Sakura gave off so obviously; it made him wonder if those starving Demons could catch it somewhere...
Sakura tucked her legs beneath her dress and started to play with the grass shyly, glancing at Sasuke every now and then. She started to notice that his ears were starting to turn pink, and she quickly became confused by this. "Sasuke-kun...are you feeling ill?"
"Hn?" Sasuke looked at her through half-lidded eyes, trying so hard to be uninterested.
Sakura made a gesture to both of her ears in example. "Your ears are pink. Have you got an allergic reaction from something?"
Sasuke's face dropped. His ears only flush when he was hiding his freakin' blush. Oh, how Sasuke hated inheriting his father's damn ears that turn pink everytime his damn blush wouldn't emerge on his face! He could recall numerous occurances when Mikoto would openly flirt with her dearly beloved -mind you, Fugaku's only weakness was his wife- and he would suck all the pinkness down until it would come pouring out of his ears. Literally.
With a twitch of his brow, Sasuke made an annoyed growl at Sakura. This simply made her giggle wildly, just like Mikoto would do when Fugaku would deny about the ears.
Inside his head though, Sasuke was smirking with amusement. Her laughter always seemed something better then a well-played song, or a mockingbird singing a tune for Sasuke pleasure; it was something so much better, and Sasuke simply wanted to make her more happy as long as he could. With that idea in mind, Sasuke made a little pout with his lips and turned his head away from Sakura, slowly counting the three numbers before she-
"Sasuke-kun, are you trying to ignore me?" Sakura said a bit shocked with annoyance. "Hey, I wasn't the one teasing you. Look back here, please!"
Sasuke shook his head. "No."
"Don't be a baby, Sasuke-kun," Sakura grumbled darkly. "Fine. If you're going to be this way, I'll just leave you be to be in your corner, if that makes you hap-" Sakura didn't get the chance to finish, let alone stand up before Sasuke grabbed her ankle and pinned her down into the grass carpet beneath her. Her eyes wide as she stared back up to Sasuke's black ones, falling into the dark pits a oozy smoke that was distracting her from...what was she suppose to do again? "Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke didn't say anything, just looking down to the face that was the description of vunerability and sweetness; the kind that he wanted- that he craved for the past years of absence. For way too long he has been hiding everything inside of him, to the point that he would snap in the most violent way that women dreamed and men loathed the ability to do. Just looking at that doll face Sakura had, the big eyes, pale skin and adorable lips, he didn't want to hold back so much resistence to her. She was an adult now...
Slowly, he bent his head to inhale the scent she carried and to-
"Hey!" a woman's shriek tackled his plan and his body, too, to be removed from Sakura's pinned form on the ground and slammed into a tree. When he changed his attention from the flower, he found himself taken away from Sakura by a seriously-pissed off-and-totally-murderous-looking blonde woman. "If you think you can taint my girl so easily, think again! She's mine!"
Here we go.
Sasuke simply grunted before he grabbed Ino's wrist and hauled her off of him. Her flowering stench of soil minerals and seeds disgusted him and, without hesitation, he threw Ino's body like it was a twig; her long, blonde hair flying in the light until she landed on her feet gracefully by Sakura's rising form. She blabbed curses at the Uchiha, threatening his own manhood and something about making his mother cry, and he didn't seem bothered by any of it.
"Hn."
"See this, Saku-chan? This is the guy whos' suppose to be a gentleman," Ino pointed an accusing finger at him. "And, what does he do? He tried to take advantage of you like Jack the Ripper! Well, just you wait, you horny old fart, I'm not having any of it!"
"I wasn't doing anything I haven't done before," Sasuke retorted flatly as he dusted his chest off, causing Ino to shrill a deadly cry. He opened his eyes to look at Sakura, seeing her alabaster skin beat-red from embarassment and looked away from his eyes shyly. He smirked a little at this, thinking how much Sakura would have wanted something, too, to happen between them before the Demon intrupted them. He simply shrugged that off after a second. "Don't fuss, Yamanaka. It was not like Sakura was telling me to stop."
"But you were, weren't you, honey?" Ino begged to her knees as she cuddled against Sakura's still red face with her own. "You were going to tell him to back off, and tell him that you're taken by me, ne? Then, you would spray pepper-spray in his eyes- Oh wait, we need to get you that today! Ha, I'll tell Chiyo to add that to the shopping list!"
All in the while this was happening, Sakura's heart was hurting badly against her chest. Adrenaline and another hidden feeling in her bloodsystem emerged to her face, belly and...somewhere Sakura couldn't name right now, but that wasn't the point, was it? Her eyes watered up from a mixture wanting to cry because she was so confused and she wanted to cry and the other half of her wanted to cry because Ino refered the idea to spray him with that nasty-stuff into his eyes.
"Eh?" Sakura hissed confusingly, her head snapping towards her friend. "You wanted me to hurt Sasuke-kun? Inooo!"
"Bah, not like he wouldn't like it," Ino brushed off with a shrug of her shoulder. "I think he's a masochist anyway."
"That's still not nice, Ino!" Sakura stammered.
"Wheres' the -chan, Saku-chaaan? Are you leaving me now?" Ino whimpered lazily as she threw herself onto Sakura, cuddling her face into her friend's lap. "Don't leave me for that chicken-ass yet, okay? I still need to claim your virginity before he does, and your kisses, and your whole body for that matter...he can't touch you, okay?"
"Inooo!"
=xxx=
After a while of trying to get Ino's hands from prying into her dress, Sakura walked with her arms crossed beside Sasuke as they ventured down the trail of the cherry blossom trees. It was given the idea that Ino was going into detail of what she was going to do to Sasuke's limbs, shipping them off to god-knows-where, and laugh in triumph of claiming Sakura's left hand in the end of it all; Sakura was finally let go of Ino's 'love huggles' and demanded Sasuke to join her in a walk while she ordered Ino to do something else. Taken surprised by Sasuke's willing attitude, Sakura still couldn't get out of her mind that Ino behaved so oddly to Sasuke -demanding, and deadly- and Sasuke even daring to pin Sakura down to the grass and do nothing to her...
Was it nothing?
Still angered by it all, Sakura huffed through her mouth and stomped ahead of Sasuke's lazy strides on the dirt path in her sandals, knowing fully well that he was watching her every movement until she stopped a few feet ahead of him, turned her head to glare at Sasuke, then grumble something inaudible and flip her head away from him. Besides her heartwarming feelings to him this morning to the butterfly, Sakura was...confused.
"You used to do that," Sasuke's voice raked through the nature's soundtrack and catching Sakura's attention. Her eyes calmed a bit from anger as she looked back to Sasuke with a single raised brow. "You used to break Ino and I from fighting, and tell us to do something else like a bossy brat."
"So I'm a bossy brat now?" Sakura asked sourly, her shoulders stiffening.
"No, you were never a bossy brat, but you didn't take kindly to Ino and I fighting over you like that," Sasuke smirked a bit, causing her to fume again and look away from him. "I always though it was amusing. Ino never listened to anyone but you."
"Well, she should. Otherwise she would make the world burn down with her crazy ideas."
"And you thought it was cute when I told you about her threats..." Sasuke raised both eyebrows and his smirk stayed in place. He was teasing her, she just knew it!
Just about when Sakura was going to say something back, she turned her head to see his face changing in a snap: from the very seductive smirk and teasing gestures flipped into a stoic stare, his eyes flaming darkly to behind Sakura's head. She thought first it was directed at her, but then she heard a flip of the sound of water. Turning her head, Sakura found the setting of a little pond with a old-fashioned Japanese stone-structure embedded into the rock, the atmosphere calming and sweet with the cherry trees shedding a few petals from their branches.
To Sakura, it was a fuzzy thought. She didn't remember this thing being anywhere near her, yet she couldn't remember how long it has been since she waltzed this far into the cherry tree garden; she was taken into a whole other world, as it seemed, and she walked a little farther into the little clearing it gave off. Venturing closer to the pond, Sakura could take out the shapes and colors of koi fish swimming in the clear waters, overlapping their forms and turning around until one would flip, causing the noise Sakura heard moments prior.
"Koi!" Sakura gasped with a childish awe, her emerald eyes sparkling with excitement. She forgot how much she enjoyed koi fishes and their funny faces everytime she would stick her fingers into the water. Without hesitating, Sakura knelt down to her shins and leaned closer to hover over the water.
The fish seemed to notice the change in lighting over their sparkling bodies, since they started squirming in the water until their little heads popped up with hyperness, their suckling mouths opened to gasp at Sakura until she giggled. She whispered a little hello to them and slowly offered her finger to the tip of the water, where a orange koi fish swam up and began suckling her finger, trying to haul the digit down as it thought it was food. Giggling, Sakura retracted her finger and watched as the fish swam away into the back of the little herd of its friends to get another turn; repeating the finger action, Sakura lapped at the water with two fingers, a fish coming and becoming lost to which it should try and get.
(*Author- You may start the video now c:)
Sakura smiled amusingly, looking into the rippling reflection to see Sasuke standing behind her, looking into the water with a disgusted look, more like he was in his own pain on the inside; he looked like he wanted to lash out...but couldn't.
"You don't like koi fish, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura guessed with a smile as she pulled back her hand entirely and used her dry hand to tug on his pant leg. When he sat down, he didn't answer her and kept looking into the water, not minding the fishs' disperse and going back to swimming in their home. "I guess you don't like koi fish, ne?"
Sasuke didn't look at her. "I don't like this place."
Now that reply made Sakura freeze from her laughter and smiles. She frowned, examining the pained look he had in his eyes, how the darkness of his black orbs went even darker despite the sun sparkling reflection off the waters so perfectly. Swallowing her spit, Sakura shifted a bit closer to Sasuke's side until their knees barely touched.
"Why don't you like it, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in a whisper, as if she was afraid to disturb him into a snapping anger. "Doesn't this place look peaceful to you..?"
"I almost lost you here."
"Mn?" Sakura's eyes widened a bit when his eyes shifted to look at her. His eyes were cementing into memory of hers', taking in the intensity it gave off as Sasuke's frowned face lifted to look at her properly, not holding anything back anymore. She was a little startled by this. "W-what do you mean?"
Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke shook his head in rejecting that answer. Her lips forming to a small 'o', Sakura took it as something Sasuke didn't want to bring up...because it hurt him too much. Her eyes softening, Sakura felt some tears forming in her eyes at the pained look Sasuke had when turned his attention back to the pond.
"I almost lost you..." he repeated quietly, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. "You were so little, and I thought you were going to die infront of me..."
"I'm still here, Sasuke-kun. I'm not dead," Sakura tried to help him. The more as he spoke about the bad, the farther away he seemed from her, and she didn't want that. She didn't want to be far away from him anymore.
He swallowed a lump. "It was such a bad night..." His eyes closed and his fingers dug into the soft dirt by the pond. "I almost lost you."
Without stopping herself to think, Sakura reached over and gripped his black shirt with her delicate fingers, her other arms curling across his back as she leaned her upper body closer to his. She buried her nose into fabric, inhaling the masculine scent of him; it was sweet and spice at the same time, and her head unconciously cuddled against his biceped chest and shoulder. She could head his heart beat- pounding strongly against her little ear as she closed her eyes, taking in him and him only.
The sound of his lungs, she heard him inhale sharplu, as if collecting himself and felt his muscles move for his head to look down to the top of her head. She didn't move at all, just gripping herself a bit more tightly to him when his large hand moved to touch her hair. She didn't feel any emotions or ideas to move away from him, to leave his side, to be shy around him. No, no more of that. His hand crept upward, his finger entangling into her pink locks until it rested on the back of her neck, his thumb lightly pressing to her pulsepoint.
"I'm here, Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispered, her eyes not opening and her muscles not letting go of him. "I'm here and you didn't lose me... I'm just lost in my mind right now, but I will get better soon."
'I won't leave you. I won't run away from you, Sasuke-kun,' Sakura's thoughts emerged the unspoken words in her head. The kind of comforting words that she can't say right now, but maybe someday. 'I won't let you lose me, because...I think I like you, Sasuke-kun...
Do you like me?' Sakura's closed eyes scrunched at this idea.
As if his own head read her thoughts, Sakura suddenly felt a careful weight ontop of her head. She realized that Sasuke had rest his own cheek on the top of her fragile head, and his nose was buried into her hair; feeling and hearing every inhale and exhale that created warmth onto her scalp, sending sweet shivers down her spine. She didn't feel cold until now, and only Sasuke was warming her inside and out. She gradually accepted this, as she smushed her face into his chest and hugged him a bit tighter at the feeling of his lips against her hair whispering more possitive words like 'you're here' and 'you're safe'.
Feeling her heart thumping approvingly, Sakura allowed herself to give her weight against him, which he accepted as the arm around her tightened around her back and shoulders. His face became hidden into the secrets of her pastel hair as the koi fish went back to their own duties, leaving these two opposites alone.
From this day forward, as Sakura itched into her mind, she would make herself believe that Sasuke, in fact, loves her whole being. For now, she must work to find the idea to love him that much back.
Feeling her soft skin and hair against him, Sasuke wished he could take her into his whole life right now and never look back into the past. The past was something he couldn't return to, feeling the water's own energy seep into his side as he buried his face into her sweet-smelling hair and his fingers gazed the alabaster skin of this mortal he had grown to adore and worship... He pushed back his negative emotions and tightened his hold around her a little bit, just enough to feel her heartbeat against him.
Peeking through the strands of beautiful pink, Sasuke stared at the water as if it was a enemy, a rival at war and Sasuke was in the front lines. His memory shaking like an earthquake as the bits and pieces of pain wracked through him.
"SAKURA!"
Her little body standing in the frozen land, bare to the world as ice stuck to her skin as if to preserve her horrored expression; emerald eyes and messed pink chops worked wildly in the winter wind as the actions continued to separate the two inch-by-inch. Despite her being covered with the crimson spots and streaks...red looked so beautiful on her.
"...she's mine."
Sasuke's black eyes narrowed to the voice in his memory. His fingers smoothed over Sakura's scalp and she sighed under his caressed touch, startling Sasuke by the pleasing noise she gave off unknowingly through her nose. He instantly calmed down from the nightmare and put his attention back to the one who ever deserved it so then anyone else in the world. She was his everything now, and he wasn't going to let her go for anything.
He was going to risk it all for her sake, and keep her in his arms until his dying breath.
'No...' Sasuke thought with dominance, '...she's mine.'
.
.
.
And so the little fairytale begins...
.
.
.
Of the story of a girl who is falling for the monster, letting herself tremble under his touch.
.
.
.
And no more shall time keep them apart, or the barriers within the mortal's soul...
.
.
.
Because the bride of the Demon God is now and forever in his hold.
=xxx=
AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE- I think I deserve some love in this chapter? ;D Nah, I'm just joking. I don't need anything besides happy readers! I hope you all enjoyed the song for this chapter, since I have been meaning to use that particular song for SOMETHING SasuSaku before I went crazy, you know? I, for one, think it blended in very well with the SasuSakuness at the end, don't you agree? The music was just perfect for the mood (and maybe the lyrics, too?).
This is my late Valentines Day present to you c: Since I was stuck inside my classes on that holiday writing Gothic Romance inspired by Edgar Allen Poe...how romantic was that? That guy is such an inspiration to Kitty, by the way, even though no one else understands that form of literature. Oh well, can't expect from the unexpected, can you?
You want to give Kitty a happy feeling? Review, Follow, Favorite or do nothing will make this crazy nut verrry fuzzbally (because it's STILL snowing where Kitty lives) and ready to snuggle with her cat at night and sleep. You all know that you're awesome and Kitty can't thank you all enough C: And she promises a better chapter next time! Byebye, loves!