"Are you hurt?"

(18+ - violence, gore, cursing)

Sakura tackled him to the ground, using her body to shield him from the barrage of bullets flying all around them while she pressed a button on her radio. "Where's the shooter?!"

A second later, above the roar of screams and shouts, she heard a response from her second-hand. "T-there's two of them, ma'am! One on the left, coming towards the stage! The other is guarding exit two!"

"Your fucking president is in danger, Shika! Get your shit together and take these bastards out!" She felt the person beneath her stir and she pressed down on him a little more roughly to hold him in place. "Stay down, sir! It's not safe," she huffed, slipping her left hand low to reach for the pistol attached to her hip.

She didn't relish the thought of killing someone else, but it was her job to protect and serve her country, her president and she would do whatever she had to do in order to keep their country's leader safe and well. Sakura lifted her head slowly, but because of the mounting chaos around her, she couldn't really see much, other than people scrabbling in a frantic way, in their haste to get away from the deadly men and weapons.

'Some fucking press conference this turned out to be.'

She managed to rise just enough to see over the rows of chairs placed around the stage and spotted a man wearing a mask approaching them slowly, aiming his loaded rifle at anyone in his way. Bodies of innocent bystanders began to drop like flies and she could only feel a brief pain of guilt in her chest at the loss, given they wouldn't have been here if it hadn't been for their desire to listen to their president's speech.

She would have time to mourn them later. Right now…she needed to form a plan. There was no way in hell she could get Sasuke past this assassin unnoticed…and exit number two was the closest one to them but it was still blocked off. So she would have to fight, it seemed at least long enough to stop the man until her backup could arrive. But her radio had grown silent, and she feared the absolute worst when she couldn't see her fellow's bodyguards (Shika included) amongst the crowd.

"Stay down, sir," she hissed; gave him one final command before rising on her knees. She lifted her pistol and aimed, firing off several shots, hitting the approaching gunman in various areas on his body but nothing seemed to remotely affect this guy, and he quickly turned his weapon towards her, firing off once. She managed to dodge a devastating blow, but was still nicked in the arm. She made a sound in the back of her throat, but clenched her teeth together to stop herself from shouting out.

"Are you hurt," Sasuke asked from beneath her, managing to maneuver his way from underneath her during her brief distraction. She gave him a look that said, I thought I gave you an order, but he ignored her and his gaze zeroed in on her bleeding arm. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, and she had to fight the shiver invoking chills it sent down her spine.

"Fine…," she growled, attempting to shove him back down but he was like a brick wall at this point as she was unable to move him. "You need to get down, Sasuke. It's not over. I can't do my job if you're dead." She didn't realize that she had broken protocol and used his real name until it was a little too late; but even if they weren't behind closed doors, he didn't seem to mind or notice the mistake.

"Give me the gun…," he stated, his tone level and void of any and all of the emotions she knew he was feeling. She managed to shake her head and gave him a lopsided-half smile.

"With all due respect, sir, it's not your job to protect me. It's mine to protect you." Sakura twisted around when a bullet grazed her ear and lifted her pistol without thinking, hitting the shooter directly in his shoulders, which caused his rifle to drop almost instantly while he shouted in pain and rage. This time, her mark had made an impact and she directed one more towards him, hitting him between the eyes and causing him to drop instantly to the ground; dead.

'One down, one to go.'

She hit the button on her radio once more. "Shika… I took down one shooter, the one next to the stage but I can't find the other one. Where is he?"

His response was immediate. "I've got him distracted. He's coming my way. Get the president out of here. Exit number two is now clear."

"Be careful, Shika," Sakura relayed before cutting off their conversation. Reaching behind her, she rose and began to pull Sasuke along behind her, ignoring the pain in her arm when the action tugged at her gaping wound. She spotted the other shooter on her way out, facing off with Shika and a few of her fellow bodyguards, and quickly placed herself between him and the president, in case he had any ideas. After making it to the exit, she quickly shuffled through the running crowd towards the presidential limo. She roughly shoved him inside once the door was open for him and he was quick to tug her along behind him, muffling the sounds of the chaos surrounding them when the door was quickly closed and locked.

She was panting, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off, but she remained on guard as her gaze shifted to and fro for any signs of danger. When none surfaced, and the crowd began to disperse, only then did she finally begin to relax a little. She pressed her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a deep sigh of relief at the close call. "That looks bad…," Sasuke said on her left and she rolled her head to the side to look at him through half-lidded eyes. "Your wound," he nodded his head in its direction and a frown pulled at his lips.

"I'll be fine. You should see the other guy," she teased him, trying her hardest to lighten the mood. But he only seemed to grow angrier at her blatant disregard for herself and her injuries and looked away with an angry pout. She reached over and touched his arm with the tips of her fingers; a tiny gesture that was meant to comfort him. He didn't react. "I'll go to the hospital later. We need to prioritize your safety… and make sure the shooters are both taken care of first."

He made a sound in the back of his throat and crossed his arms firmly over his chest, causing her to roll her eyes at his childishness. How is it that she was the one who had the injury, yet he was the one acting like a baby? He had to realize by now that while she was working… their jobs were reversed, and she would gladly take a bullet (or two) for him if that meant that he remained safe and well.

When she was off the clock however, that was a different matter entirely.

She spent most of her "free" time with him behind closed doors (beneath his body or sheets) and knew that if the roll was reversed then, he would be the one to take a bullet for her. Their love was a secret affair, but she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. She was truly happy, and nothing could ever change that. Her radio suddenly came to life in the silence that followed. "We got him. Both of the gunmen are now down. The president is safe."

"Thanks, Shika. I'll be sure he makes it back to the hotel safely. Amazing work out there today. Take a few days off to recover." When her radio connection severed, she saw a look cross over Sasuke's face that caused her heart to race and she tried to swallow back the nerves growing in the pit of her stomach. "We… we aren't going back to the hotel yet… are we?" Without missing a beat—

"Driver… to the hospital." The man gave him a sharp nod and a small smile tugged at his lips when he watched the two "secret" lovers lean in closer together.

"Yes, sir."

Author's Notes:

If any of these sound like your own writing or another you have read I apologize but I didn't copy anyone's work. This is entirely my own writing. As stated on Twitter, I'll be going at my own pace and not follow a daily upload schedule more than likely. I'll just post when they come to me. They'll probably be pretty short, and maybe a bit random, but I'll do my very best!