Chapter Twenty-One: To Corrupt is to Fall Yourself

Ancient Greece: 5 weeks later...

"Where is Sakura," Sasuke asked in a tone that was too casual. "I am not going to wait around all day for her to show up."

Naruto waved him off. "We don't need to wait for her, she's not coming," he filled in as he walked past Sasuke and began to go up the mountain.

He hadn't seen her in a week and she had been scarce the month before. He told himself it was what he wanted but his mind was treacherous. The less he saw her, the more his mind obsessed. He had taken to his old ways in stalking the house but it seemed Sakura had caught on, keeping her windows shut and staying indoors at night. He wanted to tell himself that is what he wanted. She was moving on. But the longer her absence went, the more and more agitated he became. Like an opioid addict who was in desperate need of a fix.

Sasuke's crossed arms dropped down in surprise. "What do you mean not coming?" he questioned doing his best to ignore the slight disappointment.

Naruto turned around and walked backwards, giving Sasuke a sly grin. "She has an engagement with a suitor," he said with a wink.

Sasuke came to a stop as he looked at Naruto with disbelief. "Suitor?" he parroted, as if the meaning of the word was foreign to him.

"You know, a person looking to seek out a marriage," he said in a bubbly tone as he turned back around to trudge up the hill. "A lad took a fancy to our Sakura and tossed an apple in her direction."

"I know what a suitor is," Sasuke growled in annoyance. "What I mean is, what do you mean by an engagement." Engagement could have several different meanings in such a situation. It could be as simple as a meeting or appointment but it could also mean something far more serious such as a betrothal. And Sasuke had to know which one. "And who is it with?"

"There is a festival in the town tonight," Naruto answered. "There is a new family that just recently moved to the island. The matriarch was ill when they arrived and Sakura has been tending to her.

"Anyways, it seems like their oldest son took a liking to her and asked her if she would accompany him to the festival. She seemed excited and wanted to spend the day preparing. He is a bit older than her, perhaps in his later twenties but I've seen these mortals marry men old enough to be their grandfathers. But the guy seems nice enough and he has a good soul too…"

Naruto's rambling feel upon deaf ears as Sasuke ceased walking. When Naruto turned around to see why Sasuke was being so quiet, he found it was because Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

Sakura smoothed out the new dress she had picked out with her mother the other day. Pristine fabric flowed around her with a braided golden belt that wrapped around her waist. Matching gold clasps on each of her shoulders held the chiton on her body while the emerald himation wrapped around her right shoulder. Nervously she checked her hair that her mother had carefully arranged her hair before placing fresh flowers into the weaving of her rosette locks.

Her mother had proclaimed her as beautiful as Persephone herself and when Sakura had looked at herself in the polished silver mirror, she could not even let her humbleness disagree. She felt beautiful and excited. She was a romantic but had never experienced anything that would fall under that category. That is unless she counted those special moments with Sasuke when she thought...

Sakura shook her head as she rid herself of such thoughts. No, she could not think about those moments. They no longer brought about a giddy excitement within her. Sasuke's rejection that had not just been a declining of her feelings but a mockery, had spoiled those precious moments. Now each time she thought of them they were tainted with a bitter realization that while they meant everything to her, they had meant nothing to him. It had all been in her head. With that conclusion, she focused again on a different man.

Atticus was a charming and handsome looking man. His family had been kind and lovely in her time with helping the matriarch a few weeks ago. His family was well off, managing and controlling a large portion of the trade ships and cargo ports within the area. They had just moved from the mainland as their mother was in want of a more quiet life, closer to what she had grown up with.

At first she did not think much of the Atticus. He had not been present for her first visit to check on his mother. And it was not until the end of the second visit that she had finally met the son that the woman of the house was constantly telling her of. The woman had six sons with an age span of twelve years between the oldest and the youngest. But Atticus was the one she spoke of most fondly and consistently. Sakura had been polite and humored the woman by listening to the man's praise. When she finally met him, it was but a brief passing and introduction before she headed home. Sakura had thought him friendly and attractive, just as his mother promised, but she had no other thoughts about him as soon as she was gone from his presence.

However after two weeks of daily visits, and his consistent attendance to each of those visits following, she found herself paying more attention to the man. It was not exactly the best of intentions, but Sakura found that he was a great distraction to a dark haired demon that haunted her constant thoughts. She had not even considered the effect of her actions until Atticus asked for her to join him at the festival. It was then that she realized the reason for his presence when she came to their house, as well as his constant offers to escort her home. She had always politely and obliviously declined, not wanting to be a nuisance, but now she knew why he continued to offer.

When she realized his intentions she panicked. But after more thought, she recognized it as an opportunity. Sasuke had told her to move on, a task that at the moment seemed impossible. But that was the thing about the impossible, it will always be impossible if you do not try. With that determination in mind, she decided to give Atticus the best chance she could offer. So she had accepted and now she was making her way towards the small town that was at the closest port.

She had been attending this festival for as long as she could remember but today everything seemed new and special. The colorful flags that had been worn from the many years of use looked more vibrant and the foods that were always served during this time smelled more enticing than ever.

"Sakura," called her mother. "Your father and I will be down by the town square. Find Atticus and join us, we would like to meet this young man."

Sakura nodded and turned away to make her way down the busy streets as dancers and musicians gathered. Many of them called out to her in happy greetings, several of the men requesting dances later and women inquiring of her parents. Normally she would have stopped to take the time to tell them her family was well or make a promise to dance later. But tonight was different.

Her eyes danced around looking everywhere and after several wanderings of streets, she caught sight of his familiar curly head of hair, making its way through the crowd in the opposite direction of her. She called out but her voice was drowned out with the ruckus of the festival. So she pursued him, politely pushing past bodies with numerous apologies until she broke from the crowd. For a moment she thought she had lost him until she caught sight of him disappearing into an alleyway with a woman in tow.

When Sasuke came to the fields that morning, he was not the first to arrive. The sun had just barely climbed past the horizon, casting a golden light on the summer dried hay field. In the middle, beneath the lone tree that designated their meeting point, Naruto sat on the ground with his arms wrapped tightly around Sakura. Dressed in clothing that he knew was of a higher finery than she would normally wear, he could only conclude they were from the previous night's celebration.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, his tone unnaturally level as he took in the sight of Sakura, curled into the golden seraph as her shoulders shook slightly.

Naruto looked up as he ceased his whispered consolation to address Sasuke. "Turns out Sakura's suitor was not as respectable as I thought," Naruto growled as he looked back down to Sakura.

Sasuke raised a brow. "Oh?" he commented casually. "Seems his heart was not quite as pure as you thought...or maybe he was just weak and had never been tested."

At his remark, Naruto looked up at Sasuke. His hand stilled in the petting of Sakura's smooth hair as a look of suspicion morphed into disbelief as a realization dawned on him.

"Sakura," he said quietly as he pulled her away from his embrace. He looked down at the girl. "I will be right back. Don't go anywhere and remember, that man is not worth these tears, you hear me?"

Sakura gave him a small nod of her head then watched him as Naruto stood up and walked towards Sasuke. "I need to have a word with you," Naruto said lowly as he passed by and continued walking, not waiting for Sasuke to catch up.

As Naruto passed by him, Sasuke's eyes moved down to Sakura who was twisted around to look at him. Her eyes were red, and heavy dark circles showed the evidence of lack of sleep from the night before. However despite the saddened look in her eyes and the weary exhaustion, he couldn't help but take in the radiance of her sitting with the golden morning sunlight cascading upon her. The green himation around her shoulders brought out her emerald eyes as the smudged kohl that rimmed her eyes made them even more striking. The divinity of the image she made only solidified warrant for his actions from the night before.

The Previous Night…

Sasuke slipped through the town square with a stealth that made him no more than an added shadow in the darkening evening. His eyes searched the crowd with hawk-like precision until his attention fell on his prey. A man in his late twenties was standing at the edge of the town square as he moved nervously from foot to foot. In his hand he held a small bouquet of flowers that were tied with a ribbon that was nearly the same green as Sakura's eyes. Immediately Sasuke knew that this was the man Naruto had spoken of. And just as Naruto said, his aura certainly matched the label of a nice guy.

He watched as an older woman approached him who had similar eyes as the man. For a while she fussed over him before speaking a few words that seemed to make him calm down and give her a warm smile. When the woman left, another person approached him and Sasuke watched the interaction. As he watched the man he picked up on the polite way he interacted with everyone, old and young, male and female. It reminded him very much of how Sakura so easily interacted with others.

The more he observed the more he learned, and soon he found himself looking forward into the future. The image was so vivid, he found himself nearly watching it play before him. He and Sakura would wed. They would own a villa at the seaside in which they would have a small garden where Sakura would tend to when he was away with trade. Her belly would grow and soon there was a child in her arms. And soon another and another, until there were more children than hands between her and her mortal husband. As her husband tenderly held her, they watched their children run around the yard. All of them laughed and skipped as they donned their curly brown hair that was the same shade of their father while they all shared the green eyes of Sakura.

The image set his stomach rolling. It was sweet, happy, and all too probable. As Sasuke watched as a young boy who looked to be his brother leave the mortal man's side, an idea came to his mind when a young woman approached and began to speak with him. At first Sasuke thought nothing of it. While it was obvious that the woman was certainly looking for something more than conversation, Atticus only politely spoke with her, keeping a maintained distance even when the woman continuously encroached. It was then he sensed it. It was but a flicker of the mortals man's eyes and most would not blame him. But it was the smallest of desire he felt from the man that brought an idea to his mind. When the woman left after giving up on her advances, Sasuke took his turn to approach the man.

"She would have done anything you asked of her you know," Sasuke said casually.

Atticus jumped from the sudden voice behind him and turned to see a Sasuke leaning against the building behind him. He was examining his nails but when the mortal turned, Sasuke's eyes flickered to meet the soft amber eyes of the man. Startled, Atticus took a step back as he stared into Sasuke's red swirling irises.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he said.

Sasuke could sense his wish to depart but the weak mortal was too entranced by the swirling tomoes in his eyes to even blink. It was just another validation of his unworthiness to Sakura. She was far more above him.

He took a step closer. "I mean," Sasuke expanded, "that she would have laid on her back, bent over for you, kneeled for you. Anytime, anywhere. And I am sure she is not the only one. I can see it in your eyes, you desire more than just a simple coitus."

As his words were processed, Sasuke could sense the unease. He had seen it many times with mortals. There was something about another person knowing your deepest and darkest secrets that unsettled them, made them afraid. And they should be. For a man's desire was his greatest weakness. And Sasuke knew every man's desires, even his own. And right now, this human was interfering with them.

"I am sorry," Atticus said slowly. "I am new to these parts, I don't think we have met. My name is Atticus Andino."

Sasuke smirked at the mortals attempt of politeness to cover his unease. Pushing off from the adobe wall he leaned against, Sasuke closed the distance between them. With a strong hand, he grasped the hand Atticus offered and gave it a squeezed clasp.

"Greeting Atticus," Sasuke said sinisterly. "My name is not important, but what I am going to do for you is. I can see your darkest desires. You have done well to suppress them and ignore them all these years. No doubt a loving mother had taught you well. But life is short and with the specimen of a man you are, why would you waste that? Women desire you, and you desire them. So let me ask you, have you ever been tempted, even the slightest to let go of that restraint...just for one night."

Atticus moved to pull his hand away but Sasuke gripped it tighter. "I am sorry," Atticus said quickly as he tried to pull free again. "But I must be going. There is someone expecting to see me."

The man's natural draw to be self righteous and good stirred his annoyance. But he was not about to give up. He released a heavy influence and drew the man closer, wrapping an arm around his neck as he pulled their clasped hand between them. In a stiff, one armed embrace, Sasuke whispered into his ear. "I am sure you are, but there are many others around you that are wishing...begging for you to give them attention. Would it be such a sin to appease them? Is it not a far greater sin to ignore their heady needs?"

.

.

.

As Sasuke watched the mortal man disappear into the alley way he could not help but feel the smallest of smiles come to his face. Sasuke had never corrupted or even attempted to corrupt a person who was innocent and hardly blemished with sin. He had always avoided it because he felt he would not have the heart to go through with it. Yet, as Atticus pulled the woman into the darkness to satisfy his carnal desires and possibly more, he did not feel even the slightest of remorse. Instead something with him purred with content and accomplishment. Like a tiger who had successfully run an intruder from his territory.

"Tell me you didn't do what I think you did," Naruto demanded the moment they were out of earshot from Sakura.

His eyes were still trained on Sakura on the other side of the field. Observing her as her head bowed down and body pulled into herself, Sasuke stayed silent.

"Sasuke," Naruto snapped, causing the dark haired demon to finally look at him.

"I did not make him do anything that he would have not done on his own."

Naruto's eyes bugged. "Gods almighty Sasuke, did you really tempt him? Why would you do that! Do you have any idea how upset Sakura has been? How hurt she was because of what you did?"

"What he did," Sasuke corrected. "I merely got him to show his true colors. If anything I did her a favor."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "He had a clean soul, hardly discolored. How much influence did you use on him? What, did you have to use the Sharingan?" Sasuke remained silent, which was answer enough. Naruto gaped at him. "Sasuke why?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped to Naruto. "Because he wasn't good enough for her. She deserves better than that specimen."

"You mean you did this because he was a suitor? Sasuke you can't do that!" Naruto exclaimed. "Love matters are not our jurisdiction. We are seraphim, not matchmaking cherubs!"

Sasuke flashed his teeth at Naruto. "He would not have made her happy enough. She deserves better and this gods forsaken island sure as hell will not provide such a thing." He began pacing as he ran an agitated hand through his hair. "If she married him she would always be stuck on this island. Perhaps, if she was lucky enough, maybe she would see a few other port towns on the surrounding islands and mainlands. But her life would be monotonous. She was meant for a greater story than that. She deserves to see the world, to have it gifted to her with her wildest dreams. Find me a mortal that can do that and then I shall let them be, but until then, I will see to it that every single one of them is tried and failed."

Naruto stared at him as dawning came across his face. "You...you have feelings for her...don't you."

The declaration made Sasuke come to a halt and twist around to face him. "No," he denied, but he had hesitated too long.

Alarm came to Naruto's eyes. "Sasuke," he said in a hushed voice.

"It's not as if it's forbidden," Sasuke defended. "There are no laws against it."

"No, but it is tabooed," Naruto pointed.

"Tch." Sasuke waved him off with a careless hand. "Then I guess it's a good thing that I have no feelings for her then."

Naruto did not respond. He saw past the denial and he wondered if Sasuke was purposely denying it or blindly ignorant to his feelings. It was difficult to tell. Sasuke would not know love if it were dancing naked in front of him.

"Sasuke," Naruto began slowly. "All I am saying is that you cannot go chasing off mortals who show an interest in her. It is not fair. She should be able to choose, to live a normal human life. That involves choosing a suitor. She cannot do that if you go around tempting every single man that comes into it. What you did last night was wrong. You should have stayed away from Atticus."

"What did you just say?"

Both of them turned to see Sakura standing a small distance away from them. Her small hands were clenched to her chest as she stared at Sasuke.

"Ahh, Sakura I thought you were by the tree," Naruto said nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"You were taking a while and I was going to head home," she replied, not taking her eyes off of Sasuke. "I was just coming to say goodbye when…" She stopped speaking as her face crumpled into anguish. "Sasuke did you make him do that?"

"Listen Sakura," began Naruto. "It was not like Sasuke-"

"I want to hear it from him Naruto," she said in a hollow tone. "I want to hear Sasuke say it."

Naruto looked to Sasuke who was staring coolly back at Sakura with his hands in his pockets. After a long pause, he finally opened his mouth. "Well it seems you already know what I did. What's more to say?"

"Tell me," she demanded.

"What do you want me to say Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he pulled his hands out of his pockets. "Did you want me to tell you about how easily he gave in? Or maybe it's the details of how I did it that you want. How I looked into that golden boys soul and found it was truly and richly rotten inside? Do you want to know how many women he had gone through that night before you had even found him? Or maybe it's the deeds he did with each of them?" He gave her a cruel smile. "Who would have thought, innocent and pure Sakura would have such a keen ear for all the ways a person liked to fu-"

"Sasuke that's enough," Naruto cut him off harshly.

Sasuke fell silent as he looked closely at Sakura and realized there was a small tear that was making its way down her cheek. He wasn't exactly sure why he had elaborated so much. In reality, it was not how things had laid out. Atticus had proven himself quite resistant to Sasuke's temptations and it had taken a lot to finally get his resolve to stay loyal to Sakura to crumble. Even after the man had a taste of his desire he had given it up early. There had been only one girl and they had hardly even consummated his descent into a life of promiscuous liaisons. But there was something about seeing Sakura grieve the pathetic mortal that irritated him. It meant she cared.

Sakura quickly wiped away the tear and looked to Naruto with a reclaimed dignity. "Naruto, could you please leave us," Sakura requested quietly.

Naruto looked torn but after another simple plea from Sakura, he nodded and walked away. Sasuke watched him go, in a locked glare they stared at each other until Naruto took to the sky, leaving him alone at the edge of the wooded area with Sakura. Once Naruto disappeared, Sasuke turned his head towards the woman.

He was greeted with a sharp slap as her usually gentle hand came across his cheek. When he managed to recover and finally look back at her, he expected her to be glaring at him angrily, which she was. But mixed in with the anger was hurt and pain, its evidence in the form of the small tears that slowly escaped her eyes as she glared at him.

"Why," she said, her voice cracking as a sob escaped her lips.

Sasuke had no reply. All the rational, all the validation he had before cracked just like her voice when he realized she was crying because of him. But cracked, was not broken. Naruto was right, he had hurt her, but even now as the guilt tried to emerge it failed to bring regret. If he was given the opportunity, he would not have changed anything he had done.

"Why would you do that!" she shouted.

"It's what I do," Sasuke replied in monotone. "I am a demon, remember."

She glared at him. "And since when did you start corrupting people who were good natured?"

"Good natured?" Sasuke scoffed. "You saw what he did."

"Because you made him!"

Sasuke stepped before her. "He made the choice, I do not force anyone to do that they were not already capable of," he defended. "Besides, you should be thanking me that you found out what kind of a man he was before you connected yourself with him in a bond that was undoable."

Her brows furrowed before disbelief came to her expression. "And why would you care?" she demanded. "You're the one who told me to move on, to stay out of seraphim business. So why can you not give the same courtesy for me? Stay out of my mortal business, let me make my mistakes and deal with the consequences alone. You had no right Sasuke."

"He was not good enough for you," Sasuke sneered. "How can you not see that?"

"Then who is?" she demanded. "If you have not noticed, I do not have many choices. I don't know how things are in your world, but this is my future, my reality. I am a woman, that means when I am of age I am to be wedded, if not to him, then to someone else. An arrangement will be made by someone else with nothing of love and happiness in mind but advantage and prestige.

"At least with him he was someone who I could have possibly grown to love." Sasuke's lip involuntarily sneered at her words but it went unnoticed as she continued to rant. "Now that I have no options, I have no say. My aunt and uncle on the mainland have already written to my parents telling them of several proposals. If I do not begin a courtship soon, my parents will agree to one of them someday. And I will be shipped off to the mainland to marry a stranger. Yes, he could be sweet, and young, and handsome as I hope, but it is like you say, those are just frivolous daydreams. Most likely he will be older and I will be nothing but an object in his home, whose purpose is to bare and raise his children by day and bring him pleasure in his bedchamber at night. That is my future, that is my reality, that is all I will ever be destinー"

She was cut off when his lips collided with hers. The force of his body caused her to step back which he followed in pursuit as he guided her until she was pressed up against a tree. His hands, which had grasped her face and pulled her towards him initially, gently moved to caress her cheeks as he pulled away fractionally.

"That will not be your destiny," he said quietly against her lips. "You are worth so much more than this world could ever pay."

He moved to kiss her again but her head pulled back as her hands came up to his chest to stop him. He looked into her eyes which moved searchingly back and forth. "I don't understand?" she whispered quietly. "You said-"

She was stopped when he pressed a finger to her lips. "Demons are allowed to lie, Sakura," he said in a jesterly tone before his face became more serious. "And we are also selfish. I don't want you with him because the thought of you with anyone detests me. You consume my every thought both in my waking moments and my dreams. I don't want you to know of my world because I want you to be my world."

He let his hand drop down and with a small tilt of his head, he kissed her forehead, then her cheek, and the other. As he pulled away, her lids flickered up to gaze up at him with a brightness that he had yet to see. And as much as he wanted to continue to bask in that glow, he wanted to taste her as well.

He started slow but when her hands moved up from his chest to run through his hair he lost it. Hunger consumed him and it only developed a bigger appetite when she kept up with him. He had dreamed of this many times and thought of it constantly. Not just this, but more. And as his hands ran up her sides and she pressed herself closer to him he knew that this would lead to far more enticing things. But right now was not that moment, she was exhausted from the night before as was he. And he did not want this to go any further when Naruto or Kakashi could easily come across them.

So it was great reluctance that he pulled away from her. The moan of protest upon their separation that came from her lips sent a thrill through his body. Oh how that moan would be satisfied. That was a promise he would not let go unfulfilled. But not here, not now, later. Many times he would do it later.

As promised I updated. Next chapter we are back to the present. Hopefully I will continue to get things written quickly. I just drafted the next several chapters for both Ancient Greece and present day and I am excited. We are almost to the end of Part I this story will be in two parts. Love you guys and have an amazing weekend!

Fun fact: In ancient Greece throwing an apple to someone was considered a marriage proposal. If the woman caught it, it meant she accepted the proposal. That is why Naruto said someone took a fancy to Sakura and tossed an apple in her direction. To get the specifics look up the myth about the wedding of Thetis.

chilD-of-NeVeRLand thank you so much for your kind and sweet words they it was truly heartwarming