Chapter Seventeen: I'm Here, Trust Me, Thank You
Present Day
After speaking with Sai, he had tried to find her. Kakashi had gone to all of their usual places of haunt but she was nowhere to be found. If his hair had not already been silver, the panic and worry she had put him through would have been enough to grey him from hairline to the nape of his neck. By the time he returned to the heavens and found her safe and sound, as she happily participated in the festivities, he didn't know if he wanted to strangle her or hug her and never let go.
He had done neither.
Instead he watched her.
She seemed almost normal but there was something that did not quite reach her eyes. Her usually bright and carefree eyes seemed to hold a heavy weight within them, as if she had been given a burden that she had no idea what to do with. It was a look he could identify as a person who had been tasked with a similar thing. However it was not the burden she was bearing that bothered him the most, but whom had gifted her such a thing.
All through the night, as celebratory cheers rang out, Kakashi sat on the side lines, watching and musing. He needed to take action, but choosing the right one was the most difficult part of such a task.
He could go to Tsunade first. But that would only serve to punish Sakura. A consequence he did not believe she deserved, as none of this was her fault. She had not asked for any of this. However, if Sai was telling the truth, and Sasuke was aware of her existence, then Sakura was in grave danger. Or at least the potential of grave danger.
It seemed things were unraveling. And it was only a matter of time when everything would fall apart. He dreaded that day for what would happen. Not just to Sakura but to all of them, fallen or blessed, mortal or seraph. They would all be affected.
With his mind whirling with what was to come, Kakashi came to a decision. First, he needed to find confirmation. He had to be sure it was really Sasuke that Sai had met. Then the second thing would be to protect Sakura. She had all the physical training he and Tsunade had to offer, but physical skill was not always the best defense. Knowledge was.
There was darkness.
All around her, there was nothing but darkness. And not just any darkness caused by the night or the lack of a lit lamp. But a darkness caused by the absence of anything around her. How she knew this she wasn't sure, but what she did know was that if she even had a match, candlestick, or any light source, it would not matter. For there was nothing to be seen if there was nothing for the light to fall upon.
She felt a glimmer of fear ignite within herself and her breaths began to rapidly increase as panic began to set in. She was stranded in a void of nothing and darkness. She couldn't move for there was nothing to step on. And there was no need to call out for help. For who would come when there was no one there to hear her.
Was she dead? Was this where seraphim went after their lives came to an end? The gods had created the heavens and hells for mortals. For mortals are expected to die. But why would the gods bother to create such a resting place for seraphim? They were immortal, they were not meant to die. And what would be the point of creating a place that would just stay empty?
Wet tears began to seep from her face. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be alone.
"Sakura."
The deep voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. It surrounded her and entered her, filling her with a soothing comfort that she was not alone. But as her blind eyes looked around, there was no one to be seen.
"Sakura," came the voice again. "How can you think you are alone?"
Suddenly the light brushing of warm fingers moved up her legs. She could feel each individual finger grazing the lateral sides of her thighs, moving over her hips, then grasping her waist, just above her hip bones were her curvature began.
"Sakura," called the voice, this time coming from a distinct location. She looked down and the silhouette of a figure just barely stood out. It was the difference between a midnight black and black ink. But in a world of nothing, it made all the difference. He was knelt before her, like a man at the altar with his head bowed. "You are never alone. I will always be here, I will never let you go."
At those words, she made out the head of the silhouette lift. As his face tilted up to her, red eyes glowed in the darkness.
"Sasuke," she whispered, her tone coming out as one of relief and pleas.
She watched as his head moved forward, his forehead coming to lean just below her chest as he pressed his face into her navel. Automatically, her hands moved to his head where they burrowed into the silky locks and hugged him closer. She felt his mouth curl into a smile against her skin and she realized that she was fully naked. But she found herself unperturbed by such a discovery. She felt no indecency or shame, it was as naturally feeling as donning a favorite sweater or pair of jeans.
"Fear no more Sakura," Sasuke's voice whispered against her skin before giving her stomach a light kiss. "I will keep you from being lonely."
He spoke the words against her skin as his lips moved farther up. They grazed her stomach and abdomen before moving to her sternum. As his lips wandered up, the rest of his body rose. Between her breasts he gave a hot, open mouthed kiss as his hands left her hip bone and grazed her sides.
As if running his hands over an instrument, his fingers delicately ran up her ribs, playing her skin in a symphony of alluring touches. He made a trail of small nips at the top of her breast and over the surface of the skin where her heart was beating erratically beneath.
Her eyes closed when he reached her collarbone as she tried to reign in and concentrate. With seemingly every nerve buzzing with quivering anxiety to be touched, combined with the warmth within her belly that was quickly growing to wanting, it made for a difficult task.
His left hand grazed the side of her breast to her clavicle where it wrapped around the back of her neck in a gentle cradle. All the while, his right hand lingered at her side, his thumb drawing lazy circles as his left hand tilted her head to allow his lips better access to her neck.
His teeth grazed across a particularly sensitive spot and she took in a deep breath. The fresh air brought about a moment of clarity and Sakura's mind suddenly developed a thought.
"This isn't real," she whispered aloud, her voice caused him to pause in his actions.
With deliberately slow motions, he pulled his head back to look at her. She watched as his teeth bit onto his bottom lip, which shone from a wetness from his earlier ministrations. He released his lip with a motion that was far more seductive than such a simple action should be.
"What's not real?" he asked.
"This," Sakura whispered, her wide green eyes meeting his half lidded, lustful gaze. "It's a dream. It's not real, you're not real. This isn't you. I know of you. I know what you have done. What people have told me of you."
If her words bothered him he did well to hide it. An awfully wicked, but oh so promisingly good wicked smile began to curl on his lips, his teeth looking sharp in the dimness as he grinned down at her.
"Oh Sakura," he purred, his hands moving against her skin with burning touch. "I assure you, this is real, I will make it all feel real. Yes I have done wicked things, evil things, vile things. Others will tell you that this is not me. But none of them matter. All what matters is what you think, what you want." He leaned into her ear. "So tell me my little goddess. What can a simple servant of the gods do for you? How do you want to feel?"
Sakura shot up from her bed, her chest heaving with deep inhales. Her body felt overly warm, the source of the heat from the fire that burned in her lower belly. Her body grieved for and yearned for those sinful promises that had been offered, then abruptly cut short, before such promises could be fully delivered. She could feel it, her body fully prepared and stimulated for such activities. And oh how it yearned and mourned now that she was awake and alone.
Raking her hands through her hair, Sakura pushed the blankets from her body and stood up. The effects of the dream making her feel lightheaded as she stumbled her first few steps to the bathroom. Once confined to the washroom, she braced her hands on the side of the sink as she looked at herself in the mirror. She half expected red and purple bruises to trail from her neck down beneath the lacy trimmings of her silk nightgown but there was nothing but pale, blank skin.
Her green eyes moved from the reflection of her neck to meet their own green reflection as she stared back at herself. The moment she met her reflections eyes, the memory of what she had felt just before waking resurfaced to her mind. She caught her face becoming flushed as her mind began to finish the interrupted dream, imagining and vividly displaying, what could have been.
Catching herself, her eyes grew wide and she immediately turned the faucet on to the far right and began to cup the frigid water and splashed her face. It was not until the feeling of her fingers going numb that she shut off the tap.
With her eyes shut tightly, she blindly reached for the hand towel and brought it to her face. Her back straightened as she patted her face dry. Slowly, and hesitantly, she lowered the towel so she could look at herself again. The water had cooled her down, settled her electrified nerves, and doused the fire that had been ignited within her. However, she did not feel any better. There was still a tension within her that was gnawing at her insides.
What was wrong with her?
This was not the first time she had experienced such strange and vivid dreams. Nor was it her second or third. They were becoming more and more frequent, and with each, they were progressively more intense than the one before.
She let out a slow sigh as she tried to calm herself, and focus. It was then she noticed the daylight shining through the window that was reflected in the mirror. Her eyes widened. She had not realized it was even morning when she had first awoken. It felt as if she had just fallen asleep and immediately gone into her dream. Which made her wonder just how long her dream had been, or how far it had gone and what she had failed to remember.
At that thought she remembered another thing. Sasuke had asked her to come to him today and immediately, she began to regret the affirmation she had given him. She could just not show up, but that would mean she would break the promise she had given him. Then again, it wasn't as if he was a friend or close acquaintance, it would not be as bad if she broke a promise to him versus Naruto or Tsunade...would it?
She shook her head and the movement brought the dull ache to her attention. It had been there when she had awoken but she had not registered it until now, her receptors having been too busy processing other things that had seemed far more in need of attention than pain.
Again her she felt a warmth beginning to build again and she let out a mournful groan.
How was she supposed to face Sasuke after what she had just dreamt. How was she to look him in the eye and not imagine what she had dreamt him doing. If dreamt was even the right word. It was more of a full experience than dream. She had dreams before, and that...that had been no simple dream.
Sasuke had never been one to frequent museums. They were nothing but reminders of past years he wanted to forget. That, and it was a depressing and sad display of what once was. To see what was once such rich cultures and thriving empires as nothing but broken pottery and sometimes misguided speculation of what present day mortals thought their ancestors did or believed. It was somewhat of a disgrace. Sasuke believed that their glory would have been best left in the past where they remained glorious, not ruble. However, when he had seen the advertisement for a popular modern art display taking place within one of the art museums, he knew he could make an exception.
He had it all planned out, the only problem was if she was going to show. She had left him with what he took as a promise, but as the morning drew on, he was beginning to doubt. However that was all washed away when something happened.
She showed up.
There was a part of her that felt like she had known Sasuke forever. But when it came down to the truth, he was still a stranger. She lacked a deep enough knowledge of him personally to be able to read him or even guess what he was thinking. When they first arrived to the museum he continued to keep her on her toes in trying to understand him. Sasuke had a complex soul and art certainly seemed to be the kind of thing that complicated individuals like him would enjoy.
However, modern luminism did not seem like the kind of medium that such a soul would choose to be an aesthete of. She pictured him admiring oils and watercolors from artists that had pioneered the concept of art with brushes and canvas, not the work of a group of fine arts majors currently attending NYU, who used electric lights to create abstract sculptures and scenes. And given the speed in which Sasuke seemed to be guiding them through the art show, Sakura could only assume that she was correct in the assumption that this was not his medium of art.
With each room they entered, Sakura had hardly enough time to even register that there was a piece of art before Sasuke was tugging her onto the next display. With each transition of one piece to another, Sasuke's head swiveled about the main atrium, as if looking for something.
The museum consisted of a main atrium with a large glass ceiling high above. Each floor had several show rooms in which patrons flowed easily from one room to the other as they made their way through the different levels of the gallery. However this was not what Sasuke had done. Instead, they had bounced from one floor to the other as they nearly sprinted through each display. On one occasion, Sasuke had merely stuck his head through the door before pulling her out and moving onto the next.
Sakura heard him let out an irritated growl before stomping over to where a map of the gallery was displayed. He inspected it as if he were planning out an elaborate siege. Sakura had just barely caught up to his side before his head paused on the outline of the sixth floor.
In a flash, before Sakura could even manage to see what was on display, he had grabbed her hand and was dragging her to the elevator. However when the doors did not automatically open the moment his finger moved from the button, he was dragging her towards the stairwell.
"Sasuke," she called out breathlessly as he pulled her up the stairs. He was taking two steps at a time which was an easy feat for someone of his height, as for her, she was beginning to feel the burn. "Can we slow down, what is the hurry? Wait! We haven't even looked at anything on the fifth floor," she commented as they passed a sign announcing the fifth floor without even a pause before continuing up the final flight.
When she stumbled on one of the steps, he finally looked back at her. She took advantage of the pause and breathed in deeply, trying to catch her breath as she looked up at him. "Trust me just a little bit longer, I promise it will be worth it."
There was something about the phrase that made her believe every word. And suddenly, her energy was restored as the eagerness to see the worth of his promise being paid off. They reached the top of the stairwell and before she knew it, they were standing in a line to enter the door of the final piece. One group at a time was being led into the display to enhance the viewers 'experience'. Each group being allocated five minutes to take it in. With twenty groups ahead, Sakura was not too enthused at standing in line for over an hour and a half. And it seemed Sasuke was not either.
She felt the influence emanate from him the moment he released it. Given the potency of it, it was not surprising when the effect was nearly instant. Moods darkened, couples began to argue, security took two men away for breaking out into a fist fight, and chaos ensued. Within five minutes, the rest of the line, including the workers, had all disappeared as they went off to complain and cause mayhem somewhere else. It was not something she would condone, then again, it did result in no wait and an unlimited time in the display.
Sakura moved forward to enter but stopped when Sasuke pulled her back. "What's wrong?" she questioned with a furrowed brow.
"Close your eyes," he instructed.
She gave him a quizzical look but when he said nothing else she slowly let her lids fall closed. She heard Sasuke step around her before his arms suddenly snaked around her. She startled but stilled when she realized he was doing it with a purpose. She felt him reach one arm forward to open the door then it was back to directing her.
"Step forward," he said into her ear.
Blindly, Sakura took a couple steps forward, the heat of Sasuke's hand at her back, giving her a warming comfort to trust him. When his hands left her, she stopped and listened as the sound of the door being shut echoed loudly. It was a strange and hollowed echo, making her wonder if there was anything even in the room. When she felt his hand return to her back and take her arm to guide her, she began moving again. Everything felt muted, and all she could hear was the shuffling of their feet.
"Are you ready?" Sasuke whispered into her ear. She nodded. "Then open your eyes."
Sakura had always been an admirer of nature, and it had saddened her with time as mortals seemed to destroy more and more of it. The one thing she held against mortals above all, was their mentality that something they created could be as beautiful or even as near beautiful than what the earth had created in that spot. And she had always felt that way, until now.
It was not better than nature, but the artist, whomever they were, had managed to recreate something that certainly made her question her beliefs that they were incomparable. She had been able to tell that there was hardly any lighting, the darkness against her eyelids had been an indicator of that. But when she opened them, it was surprisingly lighter than she would have expected.
Tiny blue-green lights hung down from the ceiling of the room. Contrasting brilliantly with the painted black walls and ceiling, it gave the illusion of being in a hollowed cavern. She stared up at the lights hanging over her head. They glowed with an iridescent hue that made them look alive. As the fiber optics transitioned from blue to teal, teal to green, then back to blue, it gave the illusion of something breathing in and out. Like a strange terrestrial firefly not found within the mortal realm. She could have sworn she had seen such a thing before but she could not recall when or where.
She took a few steps forward as she continued to lean her head back to stare up at the tiny lights. Her feet moved her to the middle of the room to bask in the fullness of the light. Finally, when she reached the center, she managed to pull her eyes from the ceiling to look down at herself. She had worn a plain white shirt and jeans but in the light of the display, her shirt glowed with a higher fashion and her skin took on an ethereal pigment. It was as she stared down at her arms that she noticed the floor.
What she had assumed was just a standard tiled floor was nothing what it seemed. Instead of individual tiles, small screens had been inlaid like flooring, there monitors just barely illuminated with a midnight blue hue. With each movement of her foot, the pressure triggered something on the screens. From where her foot stepped it was like a ripple effect, spreading out and alighting across the rest of the screens as the rings moved to the edges of the display. It was mesmerizing. Sakura took another steep and watched as another rippled simulation spread from beneath her other foot. It gave the illusion of one walking on or in very shallow water.
Intrigued, Sakura squatted down and pressed her fingertips against another screen. She let out a small giggle of glee as ringed circles spread from the light tap she had pressed. Thoroughly entertained, and lost to everything around her, she let her hand trail across several screens to experiment the effect.
She was not disappointed.
She watched the pixelated ripples disappear from the screen floor then turned to Sasuke, her mind buzzing with juvenile intrigue to see what he thought about the display.
"This is so…"
Her words drifted off when she looked at him. He was standing at the edge of the display. But Sasuke was not even taking in the exhibit. Instead his eyes where set directly on her. And there was something in his face, something about the blue green lighting being reflected on his pale skin, and something about the position in which she sat and looked up at him, it all seemed to align into a familiar combination. Familiar but obscured. Like a cracked mirror, the image was distorted. And then it morphed and suddenly she had been transported.
She was no longer in a museum in Manhattan. Instead she was standing in a cave, a cave that she had no idea where or how she had gotten there. Slowly, she stood, and the trickling sensation that came with it made her look down at herself. Gone was the tee shirt and blue jeans, gone where the black shoes she had been wearing. Instead she was barefoot and wearing a creamy white dress that clung to her body as water dripped from the hem into the shallow warm pool she was standing in.
A breeze came from a part of the cavern that chilled her damp skin and made her body prickle and shiver as it reacted against the chill. Looking in the direction from where the draft had come, she found herself surprised that she was not alone.
Bare chested with only a pair of trousers, stood Sasuke. His sharp eyes stared at her with an awed expression, as if there was nothing else of interest to be found among the glowing phenomenon of the underground pond that reflected the lights above.
He too was wet, his hair weighed down against his temples and forehead with the exception of an untidy tuft of hair that stuck up where the cowlick was on the back of his head.
And then her eyes trailed lower. To his sculpted chest that was smooth as marble and sharp as granite. It shined in the light, small droplets of water that dripped from his hair onto his chest glistened as they trailed down his torso. She followed a drop as it curved down his pectoral and rolled over the definition of abs to where it was lost in the small patch of hair that began just below his navel. The weight of his water soaked pants pulled the waistline low, giving her a detailed display of definition.
As if in a trance, she walked towards him, her eyes unable to part from his body until she was standing before him. Her head lifted and tilted to see that he was still watching her. Watching her unashamedly admiring his anatomy and physique.
All the while, her surroundings and situation blinked in and out like a faulty light bulb. One moment she was standing in an air conditioned building, surrounded by a man made art display and the next, she was in a humid cavern with the echo of dripping water haunting her ears with an eerie sensation of nostalgia.
She wasn't sure where she was when she felt his fingertips graze the side of her face, in the cave or the building. But she did know that it was him who pushed her hair behind her ear. He was close when his head leaned forward. She felt the pulsing blood within her body everywhere. In the balls of her feet, within her chest, in her lower half. Like a percussion of drums it built until her whole body seemed to reverberate into a loud crescendo. It increased until even her head began to thunder at her temples and a blinding pain manifested within her skull. White light flashed across her closed eyelids as her whole body began to shake from the reverberations.
The moment her body collapsed he was at her side. He had been so entranced with the familiar scene that it had taken a delayed moment for his body to react. She hit the floor hard, her limbs haphazardly angled and hair sprawled out around her head. He moved to touch her then noticed she was twitching. The jerky movements and fluttering of her closed lashes sent his mind into a panic. When he regained his bearings, her body had stilled and her eyes snapped open, mouth parting to release ragged breaths.
Instantly he was helping her sit up as she dazedly stared forward. He supported her neck and grabbed an arm, he skin feeling cold and clammy against his warmth.
"Sakura," he called, his voice urgent when she seemed to not respond. "Sakura are you okay? Are you alright?"
She tilted her head back to look up to him. "Air," she whispered. "I need fresh air."
He nodded vigorously before looping his arm beneath her knees while supporting her back with the other. She was heavier than expected, dense from the muscles he felt beneath her shirt as he clutched her to him.
"Okay," he conceded, his fingers digging into her as he clung tightly to her. Fearing that she would disappear if he didn't. "Let's get you out of here."
He flashed stepped them out of the building and if she had been in her right mind, she may have found caution in just letting him take her away. But in this moment, as the receding headache faded into a soft pressure than the comparable thundering pain, she couldn't be bothered where he was taking her. She would let him take her to hell itself if it meant that this feeling would go away. The pain had subsided leaving her feel drained, dizzy, and nauseous. So instead of worrying about where they were headed, she buried her face into his chest and let her mind empty of everything that had been bothering her over the past several weeks.
When a hint of salty air was added to the smell of burning sandalwood, she knew exactly where they were. And when the light thudding of his steps against the plank wood gave out the occasional groan from his weight, it was confirmed. He had taken her to the familiar docks that had become their ritual meeting place. She kept her face buried in the softness of his shirt until the last moment when he lowered her onto something hard and cold before separating himself from her just enough to get her situated on the metal bench.
She opened her eyes, only to blink rapidly and hood them with her hands. It was bright out. After being in the dim light of the museum, then blocking out the light as her face was pressed into him, she wasn't prepared for the bright midday sunlight.
Hunching over she did her best to ignore Sasuke's hovering presence. She had wanted to be outside for fresh air, but his unrelenting close proximity was defeating that purpose.
"I'm fine," she mumbled into her hands. "I just need a moment."
Sasuke kneeled down in front of her to look at her shielded face. Her eyes were extremely dilated as she blinked against the light of the outdoors. As they adjusted, the blinking slowed until she finally let her hands slide down her face and fall into her lap. She was still pale as a ghost but he was relieved to see that her breathing had somewhat subsided to a regular pattern of inhales and exhales.
Slowly, he rose from his crouched position and straddled the bench as he sat next to her. Grabbing onto her body, he turned her to face him. Her body stiffened when he grasp either side of her face while he appraised her under masked eyes.
"What happened," he said, his tone serious and lacking in the earlier tenderness that he had been showing.
Sakura raised her hand to grasp his hands and tried to pull her face free. She was not keen on being so close, nor by being in contact with him now that she was finally with a clear mind. His touch...did things to her. It stirred something within her that she would rather not be stirred. Not here, not like this.
"It was nothing."
His brow narrowed as he searched her face. "It did not look like nothing," he said with a stern tone. "I will take you to a hospital or better yet, a seraph healer," he said thinking of Karin. He was not sure if the woman would be keen on helping Sakura, but she would not have a choice. Sasuke would see to that. "She can examine you and would be more proficient than any mortal doctor."
"No!" Sakura quickly protested.
It was one thing to already be with him, but to go to someone that he associated with would be truly stupid. She had heard of the 'healing' that had been done under Orochimaru's command and she could only assume this healer he spoke of would be one of them. And as for a mortal doctor, there would be nothing they could do for her. She had already released the smallest amount of chakra throughout her body and everything seemed fine.
She just didn't feel fine.
Sasuke stared at her for a long moment then finally let out a small breath. As the air escaped his lungs his head fell forward against hers. He felt her head and neck go rigid but he ignored it. He needed to feel her, just for a moment. He needed to feel the warmth coming back to her cheeks and the steady beat of her heart where his left hand had slid down to her neck to feel her pulse.
"Thank you," he whispered. He felt her try to shift her head but he held her still, keeping them connected, forehead to forehead. "Thank you," he uttered again.
"Sasuke," Sakura began, feeling awkward and trapped. "I don-"
She cut herself off as he tilted his head up to let his lips press against her forehead. Right in the center, in the same spot she had felt his fingers press multiple times now, he kissed her. Wide eyed she did not dare move a single muscle or a single eyelash as his lips lingered against her brow.
He pulled back slightly, his eyes lowering to meet hers as he looked at her. She had but a moment to glance back at him before he was leaning forward again, this time his lips meeting her cheek. She did not even have a chance to recover before he had moved onto her other cheek and as quickly as his lips brushed against the apple of her cheek, he was pulling away.
Her mouth parted as she stared at him, and her brow crumpled as she tried to understand his actions. The movement of her mouth seemed to catch his eyes and he stared down at her lips. With genuine and curious contemplation on his face, he raised one hand and let his thumb trace her mouth. He stopped in the middle of her lips and slowly drew his thumb down, pulling her lip down into a small pout as her wide eyes watched him.
She watched his eyes linger on her lips then flicker up to meet hers. He held her gaze for one, two, three breaths. And then he leaned in. Closer and closer, she watched him draw near. Cautious, but she could see the anticipation. The hunger in his eyes and the way his tongue flicked out to wet his own lips.
And then they were on hers. Slow moving and light, he moved his lips against hers.
Sakura's eyes stared wide eyed as her body went rigid. And then, she melted and moved, her eyes falling closed as she began to reciprocate.
Happy belated storyversary! I cannot believe it has already been a year! Thank you all for supporting and sticking with this story for so long to those who gave it a chance since just the prologue! And any new people as well! A big thank you and welcome! Hope y'all enjoyed this and I apologize for any mistakes, I moved and internet had yet to be set up so I edited this story on my phone and in a world of auto correct it is a nightmare to do it but I really wanted to get this chapter up!
I did bump up the rating because I was reading over the guidelines and technically according to FF this is already an M rating story so to be on the safe side I made it M. For the one guest that I cannot reply back to who was against the rating going up, I hear you and understand but there are elements to this story that are needed that would exceed a PG rating as you requested. I would say though this will be a soft M nothing truly explicit. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss it further.