AN: Thank you for all the feedback/comments!

A few have said this type of plot is reminiscent of around 2015-2016, and what do you know, that's when I started seriously getting into reading (both fanfiction and not fanfiction). I hope that doesn't mean this story seems completely unoriginal or cookie-cutter.

Either way, thanks so much for letting me know your thoughts!

Side note: I have finished writing this, and it will be eighteen chapters!

Enjoy!

Sakura cried freely for a long time, relieved she no longer had to hide it. Sasuke didn't say a word and just held her there while falling asleep.

The thing that had her so shaken up was a text message. When the woman moved to Oto, she changed her number in hopes no one from Konoha would be able to contact her. It seemed successful until her ex's name crossed the screen with the message, 'I love you,' and nothing else. It was like someone had thrown her into a bathtub full of icy water and held her down so she couldn't come up for air.

'What does it mean? Did he send it because he's found me, or is he just trying to scare me? But how did he get my new number? No one from back home has it. Not even Hinata!'

Hinata Hyuuga is the only one Sakura considered a friend, though they weren't all that close. It's just that she knows the softspoken woman doesn't have the heart to befriend someone with bad intentions.

The Haruno girl's fingers clenched handfuls of Sasuke's shirt more tightly than before, inching closer still and silently begging the comforting warmth he offered to chase away her anxious terror. It definitely helped.

In the morning, the Uchiha man surprised her by forcing her to ride to school in his car, which she'd refused since moving into the Akatsuki house. Now that they're getting along better, she wasn't as inclined to continue denying the favor. That doesn't mean that everything's fine between them, though.

'He still hasn't said a word about the fact that he's a fucking gangster, much less that he knowingly tricked me into becoming involved with multiple dangerous people. I've been surrounded by criminals for weeks without knowing it. He must see me as the biggest idiot in the world.'

She glared at her lap as the man in question drove turned into the college's student parking lot, 'And what was I thinking, letting him kiss me and hanging out with him all day yesterday like we're best friends?'

Needless to say, Sakura was back to being pissed off and scared because the heat of the moment had passed, and her mind had cleared. Now, the woman was even more uncomfortable because Sasuke thought she was over it when, in reality, she'd been too swept up in overwhelming emotions and the drama that'd occurred.

"Are you gonna sit there all damn day? C'mon."

Sasuke was an asshole a lot of the time, but especially in the morning. Frowning silently, Sakura got out of the car and pointedly ignored him as she walked toward the entrance. He didn't say anything. Hell, he might not have even followed her. She wasn't sure because she didn't look back to check.

"Good morning, Sakura! Fancy meeting you so early in the morning," Mr. Hatake's familiar voice met her ears, making her face pale as she recalled drunkenly flirting with the college professor.

'Oh great. He probably thinks I have some perverted student and teacher fantasy kink now. Should I apologize or just act like it never happened? I'll wait to see what he does.'

Sakura turned to offer a sheepish grin to the white-haired man, "Good morning, Sir. How are you?"

He grinned from behind his mask, tilting his head as the pair ambled through the crowded entry hall, "Better than you, I assume, since you weren't here yesterday. Did Saturday's party prove too draining?"

Blushing and humiliated since he didn't beat around the bush in the slightest, Sakura brought a palm to her forehead and groaned, "Can we pretend that night never happened? I'm so embarrassed."

Mr. Hatake chuckled warmly and lowered the volume of his voice as he said, "Why? I thought you were quite charming. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I was simply worried you'd gone overboard and become sick. It's a relief to see you looking normal today."

Before she could respond, he nodded toward the same cafe where they'd had coffee together last week, "Coffee? We don't have time to sit and chat, but I'll buy."

Sakura nodded, falling into step at his side, "Shouldn't I buy this time, since you did before?"

They got in line, and the teacher nodded, "Very well, but only if you agree it's my turn next."

It wasn't necessarily scary that her, albeit handsome, older professor was borderline flirting with her, but it was very uncomfortable. She wondered if maybe he was teasing her on purpose to see how flustered she'd get. The woman would feel better if so because that'd mean he wasn't being serious. After getting their coffee, the pair headed for the lecture hall.

Kakashi said, "I was wondering, by the way. Where are you from originally?"

'Oh, no. Should I lie? What if he asks me questions about where I say I'm from, and I don't know how to respond? If I tell the truth, though, what if…? It couldn't hurt to be honest about at least this much.'

"Konoha," she also offered, just in case his next question was the reason for relocating, "I have a cousin who lives here."

"I thought your accent was familiar! I'm friends with many of the professors at Konoha University. Perhaps you met some of them?"

'Shit! I didn't expect him to say that!' "Oh, uh, no. I didn't attend K.U. Sorry!"

They arrived at their destination then, and the woman took the opportunity to excuse herself from the dangerous conversation and find a seat. The entire lesson, Sakura felt like eyes were on her, but she couldn't tell if it was just anxiety. The class after that, the same thing happened. By the end of the school day, she was convinced she was being followed.

The fear was so intense that when she realized Sasuke wasn't at his car yet, she couldn't find it in herself to wait around for him to arrive. No, she began walking home, peeking around each corner and constantly looking over her shoulder to verify that no one was there.

Maybe ten minutes after leaving the school, her phone went off in her pocket, drawing a small squeak of surprise from the poor girl. Sasuke's name crossed the screen, and she clicked the green icon to accept the call, only to hear something rustling behind her.

"Where the hell are you? I've got shit to do today, so hurry up."

When Sakura turned to inspect the sound's source, nothing was there, so she faced forward again, only for the sound to repeat itself. In an absolute panic, she hissed into the phone, "I can't talk right now," and hung up. Then, she pulled her pocketknife out of her coat pocket and held it tightly while walking more briskly.

'Is it him? Has he really found me? I won't let him get the jump on me.'

Once Sakura was within a block of the Akatsuki house, she realized that she'd lead the follower right to her home if she was being tailed. Even if it wasn't her ex, a stalker knowing her address would be bad, so she walked right past the giant house, pointedly not looking its way, just in case.

'What should I do? Do I call Sasuke and tell him what's going on? What if they overhear? What if there's no one, and I'm just being paranoid? He'll never let me live this down. He might not believe me in the future if there actually is trouble, too.'

So, the Haruno woman tried calling Ino and then Karin, only for both of them to be unable to answer because they were at work. If it wasn't for last night's text message, she'd just go home and tell Sasuke about it, but it was too risky now. She trembled but could only keep her head down and her feet moving.

Time passed until the sun had set, and the woman had no choice but to take a break because her legs felt like jelly from moving for over an hour straight. Stepping into a convenience store, she looked around one last time before facing forward. She bought a bottle of water but hesitated to leave after that.

'What if someone is really out there waiting? What if they have a car and they kidnap me?'

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

Sakura jumped, grinning tensely at the gangly checkout boy and quickly lying, "O-Oh, uh, I forgot to buy something. Sorry." The woman went back down one of the aisles, only to crouch and pretend to be browsing for something to eat, but in reality, she was blinking back tears and barely managing not to have a panic attack.

Suddenly, the doors to the store opened again, the employee up front greeting whoever entered as they had her. Only when footsteps could be heard coming her way did she realize someone might be coming in to get her since she didn't go outside.

'It's too late to run now. They're close enough to catch me.'

Sakura gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes closed as she prepared for whatever was about to happen, only to gasp when Itachi's voice met her ears, "Sakura? What're you doing here? Everyone's been looking for you."

The woman shakily rose to her full height, bursting into relieved tears when she turned around and saw the handsome man's concerned expression.

He grabbed her hands, looking over her appearance more attentively, "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Why didn't you come home?"

She could only shake her head, thinking, 'All I ever do is cry and run away. I don't think a day has passed in over a year that I haven't burst into tears over something,' she wiped at her eyes, allowing him to hold her hand as he guided her out of the store and to his car, where Tobi was waiting in the passenger seat.

The dark-haired Uchiha cousin tried to talk to her, but she just glanced around outside the vehicle's windows to check for anything suspicious while Itachi went back inside to buy whatever he'd initially come for.

All the while, she thought, 'Why am I even running anymore? I hate myself as it is. I should've just let him kill me.'

"Hey, we found her. I'll bring her home soon," Itachi's voice was music to Sasuke's ears.

He sighed, irritated because Sakura was obviously uninjured, or his brother would've said something about it first, "What's her problem?"

There was a pause before a response finally came, "I don't know. She's crying too hard to talk, but she doesn't have a mark on her. If you ask me, it looks like something spooked her, and she ran."

Earlier, when the Uchiha man called her, he could tell something was up by the tone of her voice, not to mention that she hung up on him. Since she was seen by so many people at the party on Saturday, everyone's initial thought was that someone nabbed her off the street for one of many possible reasons, each worse than the next.

'What's her fucking deal? The least she could do was send a text. God, she's annoying.'

The man was angry before all this, too, because she gave him the cold shoulder this morning, only to get all chummy with that white-haired teacher she'd been all over at the party. Sasuke swallowed his pride a dozen times over in order to get this close to Sakura, and now, after all that effort, it seemed she still wasn't focused solely on him.

'Who does she think she is? She told me to stay away from other women, yet she's all over that guy, and he's old as fuck, too.'

Sasuke's an extraordinarily possessive and jealous man and has been for as long as he can remember. As a child, he refused to share toys or school supplies. Though Sakura's a human and not an item, the same mindset applies to this situation.

He was set on going off on the woman when she got home, but his complaints evaporated upon seeing how drained she was upon arriving. She quietly apologized before going upstairs, leaving me to look at Tobi and Itachi for answers. They both shrugged, the former saying, "I think she was being followed. She kept looking around like she expected to see someone tailing us."

Itachi nodded, "I did check before coming here. Nothing seemed suspicious, but Sakura wouldn't act like this without a solid reason, right?"

Sighing, Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the hallway she'd disappeared to, "Fuck, I don't know. One second she's fine, and the next she's…this," he paused before shaking his head and walking that way with a hand raised in a lazy wave, "Send someone out to watch the place tonight."

Upon arriving upstairs, he realized the woman was sitting on the edge of his bed with a pillow in her arms as she stared ahead with glazed-over eyes. He shut the door behind him and leaned against the desk, "So?"

"I thought I was being followed, and I didn't want to lead them here, so I just kept walking," her voice was tired and monotone.

Sasuke scoffed, "Okay, and why didn't you tell anyone? Yahiko was about to send search parties to look for your body, you idiot."

She shrugged, saying nothing.

'...Something's off about her tonight. Did something actually happen that she's not telling me?' Usually, Sakura would bite back at him for calling her an idiot, no matter the severity of the situation.

For the next two days, Sakura was simultaneously on edge because that I'm-being-watched feeling refused to falter and felt numb to anything and everything. Receiving that text really messed her up. It was on Thursday night that Sasuke apparently had had enough. Just as she was about to go to bed, he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

'What's he doing? Is he mad I haven't slept in his room or talked to him? I have other things to worry about right now.'

"I'm at my fuckin' limit, Sakura. What the hell is wrong with you?"

The woman sat on the edge of the bed and glared at him with a frown but said nothing because she didn't know what to say. During school on Tuesday, she'd gone over what she'd like to yell at him when they inevitably talk about the fact that he works for Akatsuki, and, subsequently, so does she, but that was before the whole stalker issue.

'I already told him I think I'm being followed. There's nothing else that he needs to know.'

Dark eyes were alight with emotion, most of which were on the angry side, "I can't fix anything if you don't tell me the damn problem, so spit it out. Is it because you still think someone's following you around? I already told you that's not true. We've had guys keeping an eye on things."

Sakura bluntly said, "I don't care if I'm being followed anymore."

Over the past few days, her psyche had fallen further into a depressive slump. All she wanted to do was cry, which pissed her off even more because that's all she's been doing all this time.

"...Okay, then what…?" Sasuke was visibly confused by her uncharacteristic demeanor. It was surprising it took this long for him to say something.

'His patience has definitely improved since we first met. Good for him.'

The woman stood, uncrossing her arms and meeting his gaze, "Listen, I just…I don't care."

Understanding met the Uchiha's eyes before they narrowed, his voice lowering, "Since when do you not care? All you've done since I've met you is care too much about every little fucking thing."

She shook her head, mumbling, "And look where that's gotten me."

A long silence passed between the pair before Sasuke's voice took on an undeniable threatening tone, his glare smoldering, "Whatever funk you're in is annoying as hell. What's it gonna take for you to knock it off?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, turning to prepare to get into bed again, "Good night, Sasuke." Apparently, the man didn't like that because he grabbed her arm and forced her to face him again. A flare of fear came over the woman, but she swallowed it quickly, "Let go."

His brow furrowed, and he hissed, "God damn it," before roughly grabbing her jaw and kissing her. On instinct, the woman's hands jumped to his shirt, holding it loosely as his free hand snaked around to the small of her back, pulling her closer and preventing escape. Only when the man forced his tongue past her teeth did Sakura realize what he was doing.

'He's pushing me until I get pissed off or scared enough to fight him.'

She still didn't care, so she kissed him back calmly, very much not matching his irritated energy. The next thing Sakura knew, he reached behind them to absently search for the lightswitch before finding it, turning the lights off, and returning his hand to her jaw, only for it to slide back into her hair, where he tugged enough for it to sting, but not enough to truly hurt.

Her head fell back with a soft gasp, and Sasuke hungrily kissed her neck, whispering into her skin, "I won't stop."

Amidst the heated makeout session, the man rid himself of his shirt. Then, he tugged hers off, too. The pair fell onto the bed, him forcing himself between her legs so he could press against her. A spark of panic met Sakura's chest, and she tore her lips from his to stop further reactions.

Sasuke dipped to kiss her collarbone, hands dancing down to maneuver her pajama pants down her legs and off, tossing them away carelessly before coming down again. Large hands with calloused, long fingers greedily felt every inch of bare skin. The sensation was as pleasurable as it was scary.

'Wait…this is scary. This is exactly what he wanted, that prick.' That said, Sakura wasn't anywhere as nervous as she thought she'd be.

Her focus snapped when the man's voice met her ears again, hot breath dusting against the moist skin of her shoulder, "I'll fuckin' do it, Sakura. I'm serious."

For some reason, even though Sasuke had succeeded in getting her out of her numb funk by pushing her past her sober limits, the pink-haired woman didn't want him to stop.

The eager touches of his skin to hers and the rushed press of his lips made a heat pool between her legs that'd become a sensation she affiliated with terror because her ex-boyfriend had turned something as natural and cathartic as sex into an act solely used to show dominance. Sakura could mask her fear until then because she began to tremble, recalling the last few times she'd gone through with the act, whether by her own will or not.

The Uchiha man made a low sound deep in his chest, obviously having noticed, but he didn't stop, just like he said he wouldn't. No, he slid his tongue into her mouth, kissing her passionately while running a hand down the front of her body until it met the hem of her underwear.

Sakura's eyes squeezed closed more tightly when his fingers slid beneath the cloth to touch her intimately. He quickly found the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs, toying with and teasing her. She felt like a puppet on strings, the way he expertly made sharp bursts of lightning-hot pleasure shoot through her lower regions.

'Oh, fuck. What am I even doing? Why am I letting him touch me like this? It feels way too good. …I don't want him to stop.'

The point came that she could no longer keep her breathing steady, and an exasperated moan was muffled between their tongues as she finally gave in to the man's relentless technique. This entire time, she'd been keeping the responses to a minimum and showing no excitement, but now she's only reacting to the feelings and urges. Her back arched, and her head fell back.

Half-lidded green eyes met dark ones when Sasuke let the kiss end. He continued searching her face and quietly said, "I'll make it good. Don't stop me."

'He said it like a command, but really, he's asking if it's okay to keep going now that I'm back in my right mind.' Sakura nodded with a blush steadily rising to her cheeks.

The man's gaze was intense and unrelenting, as though he refused to miss a second. The fingers beneath her underwear disappeared because he reached beneath her to unhook her bra, tossing it aside once removed. Then, he sat back on his knees and slid her panties down her legs until Sakura lay naked with her legs bent over his hips.

She was able to hold his gaze for a moment but quickly buckled and covered her face with both hands. It was expected that Sasuke would either tease her or tear her hands away, but he did neither. Instead, he came down to kiss between her breasts, fondling her chest appreciatively before moving lower. His lips dusted against her stomach and lower abdomen before a wet and wild heat erupted between Sakura's legs.

Her hands immediately shot down to grip handfuls of the sheet, her back arching as she hissed, "A-Ah, not so-!" 'He wasn't lying. This is incredible. Has it ever felt this good? I don't think so. Jesus, fuck, he'll kill me.'

Sasuke wasn't wasting time teasing or edging the woman. He was determined to throw her recklessly over the edge as quickly as possible like it was his life's mission or something. Soon, Sakura was millimeters away from climax and began to panic because it'd been a long time since it happened, which scared her.

Tears in her eyes, she whispered, "S-Sasuke! Sasuke, stop, or I'll-!" It was too late. All the air left the woman's lungs, her insides shaking like an earthquake. Just as quickly as she'd gone silent did she gasp, an embarrassing and breathy moan escaping her mouth as her back further arched off the bed.

When it passed, she panted for breath, tears running down the sides of her face to drip into her hair and eyes wide with shock. 'It was good. It was better than good, and we didn't even have sex.'

More than Sakura was impressed with Sasuke's skills, she was surprised she made it through the experience without having a panic attack. Maybe she felt grateful to him for helping her overcome one of her fears, or perhaps she was simply caught up in the mood again, something becoming more typical for the pair, but when Sasuke climbed over her, pressing chaste kisses up her body until they met her neck, she reached down and fumbled to unbuckle his belt.

He paused, but only momentarily, before returning to what he was doing.

Sakura's skin glistened with a thin sheen of sweat as she unzipped and unbuttoned his pants to slide a hand beneath the cloth and feel the hardened length begging to be released completely. 'It feels big….'

Slowly, the woman rolled over on top of him, switching their positions so she could sit between his legs, lower his pants enough to pull his sex free, and come forward to slide it into her mouth. The man watched her with an arm behind his head, the other hand keeping long strands of pink hair out of her face, and a hyper-focused expression. Sakura's face remained warm, only getting hotter, as she met his eye only to avert her gaze bashfully while continuing the sexual favor.

"Look at me." Sasuke's firm voice stunned the woman enough to follow the order, and when their eyes met, he said, "Don't look away," in the same tone.

'What the hell has gotten into her?!'

Sasuke's teeth gritted as he watched Sakura's bashful face turn one darker shade of red after another. Upon kissing her, he expected to be shoved away before they reached this point. Not only did she let him touch and taste her, but now she's returning the favor, and quite skillfully if he dared say so himself.

'She looks shy, but her mouth doesn't feel that way. Is it because I haven't had this done in a few weeks, or is she actually this good?' The man's muscles flexed as he got closer and closer to losing his composure, the fingers in her soft hair tightening as he guided the speed to increase, 'Damn it, this is dangerous.'

To communicate that he was close, Sasuke released her entirely. His dark eyes narrowed as hers widened with realization. Tears welled in them, and he realized she didn't know what to do.

"You don't have to swallow it," he said quietly, his voice strained as he clung to his self-control for as long as possible.

Sakura nodded, her brow furrowing. At the very last moment, she slid him out of her mouth and lowered her gaze to his cock as she adjusted her position so the white, cloudy substance splattered over her chest instead.

For a very long pause, the pair stared at one another with surprised expressions. Neither expected this to happen; that was a fact. Since his blood had begun to flow back into his brain rather than his manhood, Sasuke began to feel a little guilty. The pink-haired woman sat up, looking down at her chest in the dark room.

Still, he watched appreciatively, 'That's a sight for sore eyes.' A gorgeous woman sitting naked between his legs after giving him a blowjob was satisfying, 'She doesn't look all pure and innocent anymore.'

Wavy pink hair flowed around her shoulders and down her back. The blush on her face was visible even though there was very little light, as was the glisten of the substance he'd given to her chest. The woman was slender and covered in scars. Sasuke thought she looked gorgeous. Her curves were humble but elegant and pretty. She was the picture of femininity in his eyes.

"I-I, um…."

Upon hearing her shaky voice, he snapped out of his daze, sitting up and hesitantly lifting a hand. When Sakura didn't shy away, he gently brushed her hair behind her ear, "If you're pissed, I completely get it. Just hit me and tell me to leave if you want."

The woman's brow furrowed, but she shook her head, averting her gaze to his chest, "I would've told you no if I didn't want it," she closed her eyes, covering them with one hand, "I'm just…. I've only ever done this with one other person, so I probably didn't do that well. I'm really embarrassed."

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, his mouth opening slightly as he took in her words, 'What? One other person? That can't be true! Someone who looks like her had to have had men lining up!'

"You're probably used to more experienced and confident women. I'm sorry-" "Shut up," he cut her off. She slowly dropped her hand, meeting his eye nervously. He shook his head, glaring, "Don't be an idiot. If I didn't like it, I would've said something, so don't say some shit like that again, got it?"

Sakura quickly nodded, obviously taken aback by his irritation. He shook his head, nodding toward the abandoned clothes on the floor, "Go wipe that off so we can go to sleep." Again, she nodded, this time climbing off the bed to do as requested. Sasuke watched her slim figure with warmth in his chest, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Sighing, he fell back against the pillows with glazed-over eyes directed at the ceiling, 'That was fucking magnificent.'