Hello my lovely friends!

It's been a few weeks, hasn't it? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my other fics, so just be patient ok?

Major Thank You to my good friend Longclaw1-6 for Beta Reading this for me!

As always, Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline. All characters belong to the creator of the Naruto Universe.

Let me know what you think about the story!

Much love,

BlackRose999

Break Me

Chapter One: A Glutton for Punishment

My Orders had been stupidly simple, even for a novice's standard.

Go in, kill the target at his own Gala, and waltz back out of the party like you owned the place to arouse no suspicious glances.

I had counted on him knowing he was a target, I had counted on him being surrounded by both civilians and 'guards'. What I had not counted on, however, was him hiring something other than armed pansies. He had hired another assassin. One from a rival company that more than likely dabbled primarily in unsavory clientele… And he'd been good. My presence had immediately gotten his attention, despite the meticulous care I'd taken to ensure I blended in perfectly to the surrounding crowd of wealthy socialites.

I'd even worn a wig to hide my dark pink hair under an extremely unflattering blonde color and put on dark brown contacts for god's sake! It was like he'd known what I would look like, what I'd be wearing, and where I'd likely appear. The implications that he'd been tipped off made me very suspicious and angry.

There were rules in our line of work, and one of them is that you don't fuck up someone else's Orders willingly. Even the darker, crueler Organizations followed that rule.

This one… This man ignored those rules. Given his Order was to defend his client, the rules state if your client is being hunted by another assassin, you deny the request. Plain and simple. Goddamn kindergarteners could've learned that shit in half a day! But he hadn't cared, he had taken great care to beat me into submission until I'd been forced to take a swan dive into the icy Sanguine River that twisted and surged below the balcony we'd been fighting on.

I held my breath for about a minute as the raging water ripped my shivering body down the current to a deserted spot in the Dread Forest, aptly named due to the reluctant townsfolk who dreaded entering these woods due to the bodies that tended to wash up here. Dragging myself to the shore, and wincing in pain as I was forced to use a limb I suddenly realized was likely dislocated, I forcefully pulled my aching and slightly-unresponsive body into the car and sped away.

I let my guards know I was inbound and they opened the gates when I pulled up, Gareth met me in the driveway and gingerly helped me out. Gareth was my butler/guardian when my adoptive father wasn't home, he was in his fifties but still, fit enough to spar with me no problem. He often wore an embroidered silver vest under a black jacket with a deep red ascot, he had silvering black hair and hazel eyes that were more green than brown, I often thought he could pass for my actual father…

I knew he couldn't be, he never had kids. He and his former wife had argued for years about the subject, and eventually, it had ended in divorce after he finally told her of his vasectomy after high school. She served him divorce papers two weeks later.

He helped me up the steps of the manor, which made me realize that one of my limbs, my shoulder apparently, was definitely dislocated. He sat me down on the couch of my suite and mentioned something about calling Sai and Naruto to help put it into place. I grimaced, they were good at it, but it meant a lot of pain. They arrived half an hour later, Naruto talking animatedly until they both opened the double doors of my suite and got a good look at me.

"Sakura! Guess who's back in town- Woah… The hell happened to you?!"

Ah, Naruto Uzumaki. Loudest and most flamboyant assassin of Konoha City and godson of the great Jiraiya, he was given the moniker 'The Samaritan' in his fifth year for his kindly nature and gentle killings. Naruto was the assassin they sent when they wanted a death made public. He was very skilled in guns, throwing knives, and advanced hand-to-hand combat. His partner, Sai, was the opposite. He wasn't good with knives or combat but put a rifle in his hand and he'll drop you at five hundred yards no problem. His moniker was 'The Artist', a nod to his hobby and his obsessive planning of his Orders.

"My apologies Sakura-san, I paused to view a new painting in the hallway, I was told you needed medical assistance?"

Sai's stoic and cold words brought me out of my reverie, and I nodded. "My Order is incomplete. They hired another merc to protect the target." Naruto and Sai stiffened, not at the mentioning of another merc, but at the knowledge that I'd failed my Order. See, there's one teensy little fact I'd forgotten to mention, I am the closest thing to an Elite Assassin that my year can achieve without drawing the ire of the Company. I have accepted, and completed, 180 missions in the last four years of varying difficulties. I have never once failed to complete the Order I'd been assigned. 'Until now…' I thought through gritted teeth.

Fingers prodding my arm reminded me of the present, and I let out a short shriek when Sai moved my arm to get a better look at my ribs. He looked at me, looked back at my arm, and grimaced at the shoulders location. "I hate to ask Sakura-san… But could you undress for me?" In any other circumstances, with any other acquaintance, I'd have punched him there and then even for asking. But this was Sai and Naruto, members of my Division and year-mates.

It wasn't like they hadn't seen me naked before…

When an assassin is ready to enter into their Division, they have to go through a ritual called Blood and Sacrifice. During this mission, they must stand completely naked and unmoving while the Division Head painted their body with blood to symbolize their willingness to shed so much of it, this is done in full view of the rest of their also naked year-mates who are waiting for their turns. I had gone into the ritual chamber months before Naruto and Sai, making me their superior. Gingerly, I stripped off the now-ruined pale pink dress and matching heels I'd worn to the gala with Naruto and Sai's help, when I was down to naught but my black underthings and a simple gold bracelet, they eased me back onto the couch of my room.

"Do you consent to me resetting your shoulder?... It's going to hurt Sakura-san, a lot."

"It's ok, I know. And Sai?" He looked up and flinched at the icy look in my fake eyes. "Quit calling me 'san', I'm not any different than you. I catch you doing it again, I'll use you for target practice."

He grinned and winked at me in excitement, he always loved a good challenge. He nodded to the now-quiet Naruto, who was undoubtedly looking at him in abject terror at the realization that, out of the three of us, he'd have to be the one to hold me down when Sai stabilized my arm.

Naruto quickly sat behind me, locking his legs around mine and his arms across the right side of my chest. My breathing quickened, I remembered a touch like this… It wasn't Naruto's, he was far too gentle, but I remembered the feeling of his hands. I pushed that thought away quickly, no other man would make me feel the way he did, no other touch would make me shiver and beg for the pain the way his hands had. My reminiscing shattered when the sickening snap of my shoulder popping back into place jarred me back to reality. Naruto's grip tightened as I screamed, trying to twist away from Sai's grasp on my arm as if to remove the pain he was inflicting. Naruto did not let this happen, if he had, I might've lost a great deal of feeling in my nerves.

I felt hot tears drip down my face, and as the pain dissipated I tapped Naruto's arm, letting him know he could let go. He groaned as he moved, the bloodied indents of my nails in his arm leaving traces of his DNA under the polished and groomed manicure I always had. I grew vaguely aware of Naruto cursing Sai out about not warning him before setting my arm, and with pained eyes I walked toward the in-suite bathroom and plucked the contacts out of my eyes, revealing the emerald of my irises. I then gritted my teeth as I gingerly lifted my now relocated arm up to release the wig and pull off the coverlet, letting my hair tumble down my shoulders.

My hair was a deep pink color, and not because I'd dyed it mind you. It was my natural color, complete with the reddish-pink curls I got rid of every time I showered. Paired with my startling emerald eyes and hourglass figure, you can guess how many heads turn as I walk by, not that I pay any attention when he's on my mind all day…

I suddenly notice that they're getting rather heated, so I waltzed back into the room and threw on the long-sleeved white button-down he'd left last time he'd been here, covering the majority of my body as I buttoned a few in the middle to keep it feminine. "Naruto. Who's back?" The blond immediately stopped arguing and launched into his story. "'The Wraith' is back!" My lungs seized. "He's back for his next round of Orders from Tsunade. He was seen last night at 'The Desert Rose' drinking, people didn't believe it until he walked in this morning and went straight to Tsunade's office." Tunnel vision came, I could smell his cologne now. I could taste him on my tongue, feel his muscle under my fingers.

"Who is 'The Wraith'?" Sai asked, reminding us that he'd been initiated after us and had likely never heard of him before.

I spoke softly, not hearing myself at first. "'The Wraith' is his moniker, like 'The Artist' is yours and Naruto's is 'The Nuke'. Everyone is given a moniker that represents their personalities and skills, Naruto is flashy and loud, hence 'The Nuke'. I waste no effort and spin my own webs of deception, and when I hit you my bite is deadly. Thereby making me 'The Spider'". But for him… He takes pleasure in his moniker, let's it fuel his bloodthirst and his sadism."

I fingered the ring I always wore, a simplistic rose-gold band embedded with diamonds and featuring a small white 'pearl'. The pearl was real, but a front to its real purpose. Twist it in either direction on the hidden spindle embedded in the pearl and it alerts my guard that I need an escort or a rescue. I've never used it. It was my adoptive father's gift when he left five years ago on a series of Orders all over the world with his team when he'd learned I'd planned to follow in his footsteps instead of his first choice, my adoptive brother. My official full name is 'Sakura H. Hatake', my adoptive father was Kakashi Hatake, AKA 'The Stranger'.

Shaking my head, I watched a familiar shadow cross my balcony window, and I turned to my friends. "The bar's open and the girls are on their way, I'll be out as soon as I finish getting dressed and washing the muck off my face." Naruto grinned at me, "You tryna make us leave so he can come in?" I narrowed my eyes and stalked toward him, Naruto was no fool, my secret was mine. And his blabbering would get him killed. Dread filled his face and he bolted from the room with Sai in tow asking who 'he' was. Once the door was closed, I waited for a few moments before turning and unlocking the balcony doors, revealing his icy eyes and his glowering expression.

"You're late," I murmured softly, keeping an eye on him as he entered the room. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face, and he reached forward and caressed my cheek, letting me lean into the addiction-laced touch before his hand rushed forward and gripped the sweet spot of my hair. He pulled me against him, knowing I would never resist him. I smiled, "You're always late… Wraith." His eyes flashed and he ripped me around and slammed me down to the bed, pinning me beneath him. I grinned and leaned up to sneer at him "Did I hit a nerve?"

"You know damn well I forbade you from calling me that, not here, not with you."

"If I never did anything you forbade me from doing I'd never hold you for as long as I have... You live for the challenge, the domination of me. You live for the thrill I give you when I infuriate and arouse you at the same time… Sabaku no Gaara." I pulled him into a harsh kiss, consuming his rage and replacing it with the heat of my love. I belonged to him, I was made for him. I was made for the pain, the anger, and the uncertainty. He returned my kiss with fury, his hand gripping my throat and my wrist when I tugged at his hair, we were unforgiving as clothes were ripped away, I'd have bruises later with the way he gripped my hips and slammed into me, but that aroused me just as much as it hurt me.

In the aftermath of it all, I laid beside him and toyed with his hair, and smiled when he gave me the look of adoration he always gave me when we shared a moment like this. We lived for the fierceness and passion, but these moments of silence and calm made a bigger impression on our private life than anything else did. "You're going to kill me one day little girl…" I kissed his chest as he went to stand and dress, admiring the view of the love of my life. "Likewise, and you know what Gaara?"

He looked at me, his eyes challenging as I moved naked and cat-like toward him, "We'll die happy, loved, and fulfilled." He chuckled at the naughty tone of my voice and turned around to throw his shirt over his head, but as he did I caught the flash of something on the back of his neck. Standing and stalking over, I inspected his neck and gasped softly.

There, tattooed in white on the back of his neck, was my Sigil.

The rune I carved into those I've killed or claimed as mine. It was a simple design, a long straight line beginning in the center, a vaguely 'S' shaped marking along the right side that connected to the top of the line. At the top of the line was a sphere connecting another off-shoot line to the left with twin spiked ends, and above the sphere was a crooked line with the same ends at the other lines.

I smiled. I guess he was serious enough to stay. I traced the curve of the 'S' and watched him twitch in response to the stimulus. "Guess that means you're mine then… huh Gaara?" He pulled the shirt on with no response, but I know he's smirking when he pulls on his black leather jacket. He stands and waits for me to join him toward the doors of the balcony, he'd never be seen by anyone, not even the guards, leaving my house or being anywhere in my vicinity. He was so worried about losing her, so nervous about their relationship becoming common knowledge… He did anything and everything he could to help me stay hidden.

"You still haven't said it, Sakura."

I smiled and kissed his tattoo, gently shoving him toward the door. "If I told you, you'd never stick around. Would you Gaara?" He smirked and wrapped an arm around my waist before quickly whipping me up against the wall. "I might. But then again, you'll never know until you say it." He kissed my neck, nipping the flesh there hard enough to make me squeak in surprise.

"So say it, little girl… Say it." He growled softly in my ear.

I let out a breathy laugh, and leveled my own dark eyes to his, silently daring him to make me.

He grinned and shook his head, and let me go. I trailed my fingers over the biceps he had hidden away in his jacket and kissed him sweetly. "Go… before you're seen." He rolled his eyes but stepped outside into the now-storming night sky, vanishing as quickly as he'd appeared in the darkness. I smirked and headed to the shower, taking my time to wash the smell of him off my body and return my normal smell. If they asked I'd remind them of the dirt and grime I'd been covered in due to the other merc. It was logical to have a shower.

When I was done I stared at the myriad of bruises covering my body, including the new ones shaped like fingers on my hips and the ones on either side of my neck. It only made me smile. They said what we had was wrong, unhealthy, and sadistic. Fuck them. I'm happy, he's happy, that's all that matters. And besides, he's got my name tattooed on his neck, so I guess we're forever now. I forgo the impending smirks and knowing eyes of my friends, and instead climb under the rumpled silk sheets and stare at the space he'd laid in while we were in the midst of our lovemaking.

With the ghost of a smile, I whispered the same sentence I uttered every time he left.

"I'm in love with 'The Wraith'."

And then I turned toward the balcony and watched the storm until sleep took me into her sweet embrace, giving me memories of us instead of dreams.