.
.
Covenant
.
.
Synopsis: Everyone is dead or hunted. The Allies lost. The war is over.
Treacherous seal marring her neck as a collar, Madara parades her like a victory trophy.
And though he gave her to his patriarch—betrayed her in the worst of ways—
Here, in The End, Sasuke Uchiha is all Sakura has left.
.
.
2:14. Lightning
.
.
THE TRAVEL camp was still empty when they returned. Sasuke dropped her onto her feet and held the tent open for her to duck into. The tight burlap walls and muted air of the small, enclosed space slowed her heartbeat.
When she turned to see if he'd followed her in, he was standing inside, holding a vial between them.
"...Calmative?"
"Aa."
Uncorking and downing it swiftly, Sakura sighed as it coated her insides. Its effects were swift: the thirst in the back of her throat subsided, her psyche lightened, an itch across her skin she hadn't noticed until it was gone eased away.
She shut her eyes, sinking into the numbness like a hot, drawn bath. It was bliss. Short-lived, fleeting bliss. Grinning slightly, she opened her eyes again to the ever-so-slightly warmed world.
Sasuke awaited her—observing her behavior with crossed arms and narrowed regard. Though he was an expert at hiding his mind, the downturn of his mouth said it all.
She'd given many patients that look in base medical. Patients who'd run out of ways to cope with the war—who came to medical sick from the withdrawal. Drying out by choice or for lack of supply. They'd shake in a cot for days or weeks, wracked with chills, scratching until they drew blood. Sometimes she'd see the same shinobi for the same problem over and over. Month after month, until the war took them one way or another.
Calmatives were commonly taken and innocuous in low quantities. Anyone could get their hands on them; the Kage didn't limit their usage, and medics turned the other way. Many shinobi took to brewing their own.
Suddenly, she was feeling strangely defensive. It wasn't like she didn't see the problem—but the thought of him lowering how much she took or taking it away completely made her adrenaline spike.
"You're the one who upped the dosage," she pointed out, handing the empty flask back to him. "You put it in my food in the first place."
"…I'm sorry."
The speed of his apology set her off-balance. Her mouth opened and closed, searching for words, as his fingers brushed hers in reclaiming the vial.
"Why are you sorry?"
"It was Orochimaru's recommendation. Its usage and the amounts."
"Of course it was." Her vision swept over his broad back when he bent down to vanish the flask into the unrolled scroll he'd pulled from. "Though I'm a little surprised to hear it... Doesn't my taking this much all the time affect you, too? He told me once that my heavy usage of soldier pills stimulated you through the seal. Coming from someone like him, it was as close to concern as I ever heard..."
Sasuke's shoulders froze on the end of her last sentence. Then he shot up, brow raised, gaze on the ground at his feet.
Odd. "Sasuke?"
"Aa, I feel it." He glanced at her, sights darting to her forehead. "Fogs my brain if I don't ward it out well."
Their only light was a small, portable oil lamp flickering in the tent's corner behind her, making it difficult to see him closely. A single sleeping mat lay flat beside him, two large sealing scrolls lay at its foot, a patch of grass they stood on filled the rest.
Being alone with him out in the world like this was strange. Only thin fabric separated them and the universe. She'd grown so accustomed to walls and rock, to the unnatural silence of underground.
The freedom lingering outside the tent reminded her again that Sasuke didn't have to be here. He didn't have to sleep in this cramped tent when he undoubtedly had space available for him in the base. He didn't have to pull her early from the feast, tote her around, or take her to the river to wash. He certainly didn't have to stand here and talk to her about medication and his late shishou.
He was Sasuke Uchiha. He could do anything he wanted at any moment.
In this moment, he was in this shoddy tent in the middle of nowhere, giving her a draught that he'd just admitted left him impaired.
She didn't know why—her body was vehemently against it—but she heard herself offering, "Should I wean off it some, then?"
That appeared to bring him out of his thoughts. With a frown, he refocused on her eyes.
"...The calmative's effects are easier for me to manage than the alternative," he said quietly. Slowly. "That's why Orochimaru suggested it in the first place. Although I didn't think about the side effects when I agreed…"
"What alterna—"
Laughter cut through the crickets in the distance. Sasuke stepped into her, covering her mouth with one palm while the other landed on her hip. Their closeness pierced into her immediately; a seed planted itself below her navel.
"Did you teach anyone else how to make your soldier pills?" he whispered.
Sakura nodded, staring up at him. Drinking in the shadows on half his face. It'd been less than a day, but her body already seemed keen to feel him once more. To see his expression as he came. To have his hands roam over her like she might slip away if he didn't keep hold.
"Who?"
Who?
He tsked. "Soldier pills, Sakura. Who knew how to make yours?"
Her mind kicked and stalled before the question made sense. Most medics based with Konoha and Kumo.
"I'll go train a bit before I sleep. Don't leave the tent." He released her without backing away. The hand that'd shut her mouth moved her hair over her shoulder before it dropped to his side. "...Do you want Suigetsu to come in or stand outside?"
Anxiety prickled her throat. "You're leaving?"
Four distinct voices were headed their way. One was Suigetsu's. The others she didn't know well enough to name. Male, though—those of escorts she'd heard during the trip here.
With Sasuke present, they wouldn't try anything. How strongly his word held outside of his presence was another matter.
"Not for long. It'll be okay—Suigetsu can handle it. Lay down and try to sleep." Her seal hummed a second before he added, "If you want."
He turned on his heel and swept outside without another word. Sakura watched the tent flutter shut, stomach flipping. His blunt departure and lack of explaining anything with any substance should've been expected by now; irritation still burned the edges of her reason.
She had no reason to doubt Suigetsu would watch over her well, as he'd done in the past. However, no matter how she looked at it, three-on-one were terrible odds. If one of the three he was approaching with was Kajura, who outranked him, she wasn't sure how successfully he'd fend off any attacks.
But there was nothing she could do about it, regardless—and she was exhausted. She'd probably pass out the second she laid down, even with the worry.
If Sasuke thought leaving in this situation was fine, she'd trust his instincts.
She didn't know the exact nature of Sasuke's motives and feelings, but she at least believed he wouldn't leave her to these men if he suspected they'd try something. He'd consistently silenced even the suggestion.
Outside, the four voices quieted as they neared.
"I'm going to train," she heard Sasuke drawl. "Surely I don't need to warn any of you a second time what not to do while I'm gone?"
"No worries. I'll watch the prisoner, bossman," said Suigetsu. "By that, I mean I'll watch these dogs."
That garnered him a lone chuckle.
A breath later and the seal went cold. Sakura could only assume it meant that Sasuke left the camp's vicinity. She scrutinized the grassy ground, his absence slicing through her unnaturally. Painfully—like a limb severed.
He'd left her alone many times before; it hadn't ever felt like this.
"You're such a fucking kiss-ass." The speaker was right outside her tent. "You really gonna tell on us if we go in there?"
"Why are you surprised? The medic's under special watch by order, so yeah, I really will. Have you seen Sasuke fight? Or Madara?" Suigetsu scoffed. "I actually enjoy living. I'm not dying cuz I got stuck on this stupid mission with someone who can't find willing women to sleep with."
"He's right, Kajura. That one's not worth it. She's just a prisoner, anyway. There's tons of other kunoichi where we're headed that Madara doesn't give two shits about."
"Don't act like you weren't ready to do it on the way here, too. You know she's a real looker if she looks like that after being imprisoned this long, and any other kunoichi won't be the best medic in the world. When else can we bag that kind of trophy?"
"Damn. You're down bad—having no game and shit looks must suck, huh? I feel for ya. Can't relate, of course, but I do feel for ya. Just give this a rest, though." Suigetsu was closer now, sounding genuinely annoyed. "You'd only disappoint her now that Sasuke's had his go, anyway."
There was a pregnant pause, one in which Sakura settled into the sleeping mat and pulled the cover tightly to her chin.
Sasuke summoned her a fresh set of grey prisoner clothing by the river, freeing her from the oppressive qipao dress. Their familiar fabric was like a barrier from Kajura's words. While neither them nor the blankets would protect her if Kajura disregarded Sasuke's and Suigetsu's warning, the cacoon they formed soothed her nerves nonetheless.
Someone broke the silence outside with a bewildered, "That was a fucking weird thing to say, Suigetsu… On so many levels," inciting a new round of jeers and jokes.
Their conversation moved away from her tent as Sakura closed her eyes.
.
.
An insistent nudging woke her. The humming of their seal let her know it was Sasuke.
She rolled over with a yawn to face him. The lamp had died out, casting the tent into darkness. Morning birds sang outside—a soft glow leaked under the tent's edges.
It had to be nearly sunrise.
"You said you wouldn't be gone long," she grumbled.
"It was only a few hours." Sasuke was on a knee, hand out in a fist. As her gaze fell upon it, he unfurled his fingers, revealing five soldier pills. "Keep your voice down, the others are asleep… How many more would you need?"
Sakura stared at the pills in a daze, wondering whether or not she was dreaming. It'd been months since she'd seen the little things that once took up so much of her free time.
"Need for what?"
To fill your seal, he answered, simultaneously voicing, "Let me see your suppressors."
Obediently, she slid her legs out of the covers and towards him as she reached for the pills. He dropped them into her hand before releasing her anklets with a quick burst of chakra.
"Don't run," said Sakura under her breath, pitching her voice an octave lower—attempting to match his.
Hesitating, he peered at her. "What?"
"That's what you're about to say, right?" She rolled her eyes. "Don't run."
The corner of Sasuke's lip lifted. "...Seems you've already gotten the message."
The slight similarity pulled his smiling face under the moonlight to the front of her mind. Fighting a blush and an urge to grin, she cleared her throat and tucked herself back under the sheets.
"Well—I've decided to trust you for now, so you don't need to say it anymore. You know I've nowhere to go, anyway. As for how many…" Her sights dropped to her hand, studying the pills. The number he'd brought compared to the question he asked almost made her laugh. "Hundreds more than this."
"...Oh. I thought you were exaggerating." He sat in the grass under him and leaned back, placing both suppressors by the dead lamp. "How filled does it need to be before you can use it?"
She briefly considered whether disclosing information on her highest-ranked jutsu was a good idea. To a member of the enemy army, no less.
But it was Sasuke—if he wanted to know, he could probably pry it out of her brain. That he was asking meant he wasn't planning to do so, which ought to count for something. And—she'd decided to trust him for the time being.
If it meant he'd eventually let her go…
"Not very. How long I can hold it is proportional to how full it is, though. Five pills might buy me a few seconds."
"I see. I'll see what I can do."
"Not that I don't want these, but why do you want the byakugou filled, anyway?"
"...Didn't you just say you trusted me?"
She loured. That was true enough, but only to Sasuke would trust entail blind trust.
This request of his seemed off. Misplaced in context—both sudden and random. The only reason Sakura could think of needing access to her seal as a prisoner was if Madara ordered it. And despite what he might peddle to his followers in those ridiculous, performative speeches, Madara would only order such a thing for his own benefit.
He didn't care about using her to heal his army.
…Did Sasuke intend for her to work on Madara's body soon?
Why would Sasuke want to nurse a man he hated back to health?
Orochimaru made her swear on that useless piece of paper to follow his student's lead in such matters if he asked it of her; Sakura, however, was praying that he wouldn't. Just the idea of nursing Madara made her want to hurl. No jutsu bound her to that contract, so she was free to violate it if she wished. The only other party to it wouldn't know either way.
But Sakura had a feeling Sasuke would only order her to heal if Madara ordered him to do so. If she were to disobey Sasuke in front of Madara so blatantly…
"It's a simple question," she mumbled, hoping her suspicion was wrong. "Must you leave me in the dark on everything? If you have some sort of plan—"
Quiet down, he admonished. "How many hundred?"
By his tone, she wasn't getting any answers out of him.
His reply was disappointing, but for now, he hadn't asked. There was no use in riling herself over something that hadn't happened yet. Sighing, she let the issue go.
She'd taken over 200 soldier pills the first time she had the idea to use them. After that, she was on a daily stream to maintain it. Two hundred hadn't resupplied even half of the seal's potential—and her byakugou hadn't been empty that time, either.
"To fully replenish it? I think at least five." Sakura plopped one pill on her tongue and swallowed, relishing the way it buzzed through her pathways instantly. The speed of its release flagged her recipe. "Probably more… Where did you get these?"
Sasuke looked away. "As you've heard, Madara's found Allied hideouts."
"He's got my soldier pills?" The news brought a scowl to her face. To harbor stockpiles of soldier pills in safehouses and hidden bases was against protocol. It was against protocol to keep stocks of anything valuable in such places, for precisely this reason. The scowl swiftly dashed away—it didn't matter anymore. "...How much has he found?"
"How long will it take you to use those five?"
His changing the subject wasn't lost on her. She didn't care for the habit.
Now, however, after spending this much time with him, the quirk felt less intentionally cruel. She still hated it. But it was more like he got snagged on problems and blinders fell into place on anything beyond them—less like he simply believed her question worthless.
Any other night, she still might've skidded the conversation to a halt to address it, even if it didn't hurt like it used to.
But the mood was pleasant, the river was still fresh in her mind, and she didn't much feel like souring the air between them when the world was soured enough.
She pushed the new chakra into the empty basin of her seal, analyzing the speed of its progress. "I got pretty fast at it in Kumo, but my kneading is rusty… Ten minutes or so, maybe."
Sasuke inspected quietly until she finished, eye occasionally flashing red as he studied her forehead. His focus on the process left her time to study him.
He'd always been impossibly hard to read.
Except he hadn't hidden anything from her in his room when he'd taken her like he couldn't wait another breath. Hadn't hidden from her the next morning when she was certain he'd fly away. Had opened himself like a gutted tuna in the river, allowing her a tiny glimpse of his closely-guarded inner world.
In those brief moments, Sasuke was an open book. One that only opened for her.
If she were still a teenager, she'd chalk it up to love.
What else could make a man like him do such things? What else but love could melt such a cold person's frosty exterior?
But she wasn't a teenager, and reality wasn't that simple.
Every human in the universe sought comfort—yearned for it. After everything he'd done, and everything he didn't do, she wouldn't delude herself into believing he was in love with her.
She wouldn't let that kind of hope break her. She couldn't. That kind of hope was the sort that kept people tethered to this miserable existence. Love was the chains in living's dungeon.
What he peered at her with now wasn't love.
It was something, though.
Of that, she was sure. He'd shown too much to pretend there wasn't something.
So when Sasuke laid down on the grass as she finished the last pill like he planned to sleep there, Sakura decided to lean into that something—whatever it was.
She'd always needed physical touch to stay grounded. Every human in the universe sought comfort.
"Really?" she intoned, eyeing him.
He propped his head up on an arm. "Hm?"
"You don't need to sleep there. Come lay next to me." Feeling emboldened, she scooted over and lifted the cover, pointing to the space beside her on the mat. "There's only one blanket and room for two."
After a pause, he shook his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. I'm fine without a blanket, anyway."
"Geez. Don't be difficult. Just come."
"People are right next to us, Sakura. These travel tents were made for summer weather."
Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
His brows creased to match hers. "They're made of thin fabric. Aren't you familiar with them? We used them as genin..."
In the confused silence, a thought dawned on her. Mouth falling open in a gasp, her cheeks flushed as she tried to smirk, wanting to tease him but embarrassed by it all the same.
"Sasuke… I said come sleep here. I meant come sleep here."
"..."
She snorted, staring at the tent's ceiling, giddy. "Wow, you sure are confident—"
"Sakura—"
"I mean, to assume after one time that I'd request such a thing—"
"One time?"
"And in a forest, of all places—"
"Shh, enough—"
"Your mind is really down in the gutter…"
Sasuke ducked his head, hair falling to cover his face as he pushed himself up and crawled over. She didn't manage to catch his expression before he fast slid in next to her, pulling the cover over them both. Despite just returning from hours of training, he still smelled as clean as when they'd left the river. The blanket fell gently, washing a wave of smoked hemlock over her.
She giggled. "I never pegged you as a pervert, Sasuke."
"Okay, okay, you've had your fun," he grumbled.
An arm wrapped around her waist the next second, tugging her to lie down, too. She settled on her side, leaning until her back met his chest.
The closeness was lovely. Sasuke was warm and solid and peaceful behind her, lying there mum. Fully clothed. Barely touching her. Doing nothing strange or sexual. It was a calming, peaceful moment—
The heat pooling between her legs and her eyes suddenly squeezing shut as his arm shifted on her hip was wildly misplaced.
Maybe it was how he'd so quickly misunderstood her offer or how his arm nestled around her so naturally. Maybe it was the dark, the birds outside, or his breath in her hair. Maybe it was how his blunder had her belatedly remembering how good it felt.
…And it'd felt really good.
"I could be quiet," Sakura whispered before she could stop herself.
As close as they were, she could feel his lungs catch. "...You've never once been quiet your whole life."
"Then I should practice, no?"
His hand snuck under the hem of her shirt and splayed flat over her stomach, pulling her firmly against him. The skin contact alone was enough to curl her toes. What would more do? Would the change in scenery change the feel of it? Could the threat of being heard make things exciting?
He was so close—so close—just a few inches lower, and—
"Go back to sleep. It's been a long day. We've only got a couple of hours before we set out… Tomorrow will be just as long."
From the lack of conviction in his tone and the shaft pressing into the back of her thigh, Sakura got the idea that she could convince him if she tried. His counteroffer hadn't really been a denial.
He didn't really want to sleep.
But she was tired; from the low drone on his end of the seal, so was he. And this sort of mostly-innocent embrace wasn't half terrible, either. Giving him time wouldn't be so bad if she could have this every night.
So Sakura set her mind to virtuous things, like water and the moon and his smile, and drifted off to sleep.
.
.
The following two weeks were a blur of red.
Red blood of slain captives, red clouds of Akatsuki robes, the red of Sasuke's eye when he held her at night. Their travel party visited five other bases in Water Country—Suigetsu carrying her blindfolded between each one.
With every passing hour, she grew more numb. Not even Sasuke's gentleness at night could soothe it.
Madara was relentless. Each new base, he gave a different variation of his stump speech. Each new base, he turned to her with a reminder that, next time, she could stop this. Next time, if she cooperated, things might change. Then he'd summon a line of chained Allies and order them murdered in front of her and a thousand other witnesses.
Sakura tried not to see their faces. Tried not to look long enough to identify anyone. She'd grown talented at it, having been stationed in field medical so frequently. But no amount of talent could unhear someone shouting her name as they recognized her on the podium.
It was impossible not to recognize a voice. Not without the clamor of field medical to drown it out.
There appeared to be no rhyme or reason for the captives Madara chose to die. They were old, young, shinobi, civilians, those who looked fit to fight and those who looked a day from death.
Forty-seven people were killed over the five bases.
A wash in the war. Just like the first six.
But the war was over. Madara won. These deaths were pointless—meaningless savagery.
She couldn't swallow it—all because she wouldn't give up information…?! What couldn't Madara find in time? The world was his oyster now, this maniacal brutality didn't make any sense; this sudden rushed push to break her like demons chased him.
Yet he boasted of next time while never asking her a single question.
Sakura wasn't even sure what she was being punished for by the third base. Sins in a former life or all the Allies she'd let down over the last five years. The revenge of those she'd chosen to die—that long-dead legless Iwa man staring at her from a medical crypt.
The methods of killing grew more gruesome as they went—until an elderly civilian woman was disemboweled by a masked Akatsuki shoving his hand through her navel, and even some of Madara's troops in the crowd had to turn away. Sakura simply heaved stomach acid onto her own feet, no longer caring what the enemies may think of her for it. Sasuke sent a wave of warmth into her through their seal.
She was forced to sit through five feasts. Forced to spend hours upon hours with her escort party, the lone kunoichi decidedly ignoring her while three of the four unknown men whispered veiled threats at her when Sasuke or Suigetsu weren't paying attention.
Sakura grew quieter. She retreated into herself.
There was nothing left she could do. Sasuke wouldn't let her die; Madara wouldn't let her rest; her guards wouldn't let her break down. So her mind wandered into the past when the medication wasn't too thick, and the horror wasn't too consuming.
She went back to Konoha.
Back to her childhood neighborhood and the chipped blue door of her parent's house and her mother's warm curry. She met Ino in the fields outside the gates to pick flowers. She teased Naruto for his aim on the training ground. Kakashi was still on her side. Tsunade still smiled.
Sasuke was worried.
Though it wasn't written on his face, their seal buzzed with increasing unease each time she fell back into that place. She felt him probing into her with growing frequency—knew that he was poking around, curious about what was keeping her so leveled. Sensed his distaste for her choice of solace.
She also spent some time sifting through the information he gifted her—when he wasn't listening too closely.
He probably came to the Allies because of Izanami and his brother. Probably hated Madara for the same reason.
Neither speculation meant Sasuke ever supported the Allies or Konoha, however. In fact—Orochimaru, the man who'd known the most about Sasuke for years, explicitly stated that he didn't care for either side.
Coupled with what she already knew, the only thing she could reason for Sasuke's asking her for trust and more time was that he intended to take Madara's place. She was the perfect smokescreen for such a plan. If Madara stayed focused on breaking her, he couldn't focus on suspecting Sasuke. Sasuke needed her alive for a diversion and excuse until Madara was gone.
When the realization hit her, she wondered why it hadn't occurred sooner. In hindsight, it was obvious.
Not that it mattered. Madara, Sasuke—whoever ruled over this Hell was of no consequence to the dead.
Still, she smothered the idea beneath detached despondency, and calmative, and Konoha, and anything else available to fling over it when his mind drifted into hers. For whatever reason, she wasn't eager for him to grow wary over her discovery.
Especially now that he'd silently agreed to sleep in the same bed without a fuss. Whether he was using her for power or not, she no longer wanted to shoo him off.
Almost every night, Sasuke left to train. Most of the time, he returned with a handful of soldier pills and a mild order to use them. He'd skate in next to her after that, wrapping around her warm and solid like shelter.
And for about a week, that was all he did. His hands never ventured too low or too high. His mouth never dipped onto her skin. His thoughts were warded well and unknown to her.
And for almost a week, she was okay with letting their relationship cool into this innocent territory. She didn't want to think hard enough to feel any way about it, at least. Even this light attention from him was good.
But six days after their travels started, Sasuke nudged her awake in the middle of the night with 20 more soldier pills and a soft, "Happy birthday, Sakura."
She burst into tears. He murmured an apology, thumb slowly swiping under both her eyes.
It was her first birthday in ten years that she wouldn't receive a hug or letter from Naruto. She was 22, and everyone she loved was gone, and she was going to die in this wretched place with no one who cared except for the brooding man in front of her, who probably didn't love her, but was unhealthily attached to her anyway.
"Did Ino get out, Sasuke? Honestly?" she whispered through the tears. Because that's all that mattered—she'd gotten Ino out. The one thing in these five fucking years that she'd done right. If Ino was still alive, she could withstand this until Sasuke took power—until he let her go. "Tell me that she's safe."
"Aa, she's safe."
"With who? Where? How do you know? I don't—Sasuke, I don't know how much longer I can do this."
His Rinnegan shone in the dark. "If you truly want to know, I'll tell you."
That only made her sob harder, because she did want to know. She wanted to know so bad—wanted to put her mind at ease. Hold something more than him to keep her grounded.
And yet, it was so dangerous for her to know something like that.
She hadn't broken yet, but who knew how long she'd last? She had no hope of escape, and Madara had nothing but time.
Sasuke couldn't hide his apprehension; he didn't want to tell her. It was written all over his nearly-blank face. It thrummed in the seal. But the promise was there in his gaze: He'd answer if she asked him again.
She needed only to say the words.
Sakura leaned forward and kissed him instead. To stop the question she'd regret from spilling out. To calm the growing ache in her chest. Because she was 22. Because it was dark and they were alone. The desperate urge to escape the torture for a moment.
There were a hundred different reasons she could summon as to why.
Maybe she just wanted to kiss him.
This was all she had left. Him.
He responded immediately. For a handful of seconds, Sasuke kissed her back. His hands landed on both sides of her face, tipping her head, pulling her into it. He bent forward, driving her towards the sleeping mat behind her, tongue licking her bottom lip for entry.
Then he froze.
Sakura pressed another hopeful kiss on his lips, staring into his eyes as she did. Praying that he wouldn't push her away.
Blinking, he shifted back, hands falling to her shoulders. "Ah—we shouldn't."
"We already have. What's another time?" Throwing sense to the wind, Sakura reached forward and laid a hand on the inside of his thigh. She didn't miss how his fingers flinched or the flex of his jaw. "I'll be quiet."
There were sleeping bodies in tents not ten feet away, after all.
"You're crying."
"Tears of joy." She dug her fingers into his clothed skin. "That I'm here with you after all these years."
"Sakura…"
"Sasuke." Her hand inched towards his groin. "Must we have this conversation every time? It's tiring, and it's my birthday…"
His sights narrowed, but he didn't move to stop her as she brushed over his growing erection. He didn't back away as she tilted forward again, ducking to plant a kiss on his neck. She was certain the confidence she felt wasn't bred of anything healthy—it had her wrapping her fingers around him through his pants. Rubbing him slowly through the fabric.
She'd never done this before, but like kissing and sex: It wasn't brain surgery. In the night they'd spent together, she'd noticed that Sasuke was easily pleased. It wouldn't take much skill on her part even if it was more complicated than foreseen.
And this way, she could pour herself into someone else. Escape herself for a moment by concentrating on him. Busy her brain with his pleasure.
He was a vision of God's favorite when he was pleased.
Slanting her head up, she kissed him, noting the way he leaned down to meet her as she did. She trailed her hand up and under the waist of his pants, sliding down his hip, careful not to touch his member, until her fingertips grazed hair.
"Has anyone ever done this for you before?" she asked, watching him closely as she wrapped her hand around his cock.
"...No."
"Can I?"
His eye bled red. "If you want, go ahead."
She tugged him free of his pants, stroking him softly. The volatility of her emotions had her feeling bold.
It'd happened so fast the first time she hadn't gotten a look; then they'd been under the covers in the darkness of underground, and she hadn't been very focused on what anything looked like beyond his enraptured expression and the spin of his tomoe.
This time was happening fast, too. It was dark in this tent, also—but it was different. She was in control of it here.
The feel of it inside her had given her a good clue. It'd been her first time, though, so she couldn't be sure, and it'd felt so good that the whole memory was tainted with a satisfaction that could've made artwork of stick figures. Looking down at it now, however—it was indeed what she'd spent many private years imagining of Sasuke Uchiha's size.
"How many was that?"
Her hand paused as she caught his gaze. "...You're infuriating."
"Aa. And you're too gentle… I like it rougher." His fingers laced around hers, tightening her grip and speeding her pace. He smirked as he guided her up and down his length. "Let me show you how."
Then he did.
He held her stare as he stroked himself using her hand. She swiftly memorized the pace and strength demonstrated, soon moving over him without much of his assistance. His head dropped onto her shoulder with a groan, fingers loosening on hers.
The next hard pump on his cock made him shudder.
"That's it," he muttered, voice a deep timbre. "Good girl..."
Her mouth went dry as fire flared through her.
It hadn't been difficult to convince him—she hadn't expected it to be. She'd let him cozy up next to her every night without trying anything more, but that didn't mean she was ignorant of his erection as they fell asleep and woke up.
There was something beneath the calm exterior Sasuke tried to portray. Something he was hiding from her. Something that had him pitching up to kiss her when her thumb rubbed over his tip on her up-stroke.
The kiss was searing. Like breathing in a burning building or surfacing after too long underwater. Suffocating in a way that would destroy her if she let it.
Like this was all that he had left. Her.
He groaned against her lips, grabbing her hand again to stop her movements.
"You can stay quiet?" he questioned, herding her back towards the mat behind her, almost lifting her hips and setting her back down where he wanted. His hands dragged up her sides, pulling her shirt with them as they traveled.
"Yes," promised Sakura when her back hit the mat, uncertain how true that was.
She sensed that was the answer he needed to hear, though.
He yanked her shirt over her head with that, then made swift work of her pants and panties. Shoved his pants off. Lifted the cover over both of them.
Before she could blink, his hand found her folds. She was already soaked—she knew. She didn't need the sensation of his fingers gliding over her to tell. Between the kissing, his arousal through their seal, and the length of him that'd soon be inside her—
His stare was smoldering. "Excited?"
"Don't tease…" His thumb grazed her clit and her head fell back. "It—it'll be morning—soon."
"You warmed me up. Don't want me to return the favor?" His middle finger sunk into her.
"No, Sasuke, I'm ready. Please—"
His hand vanished. "Gods…" Abruptly, her legs were spread, and Sasuke dove into her with one hard push. Sakura bit back a cry, raising her wrist to bite into it. "You're going to be the death of me, Sakura..."
She didn't know what that meant. She hardly heard him at all.
With him inside of her, she felt whole. Complete. Wanted, worth something, desirable, needed. She'd never lost anything, never wanted more, didn't need to cry. The world outside this tent was an illusion.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, his hands were under her ass, raising her up. He fit so well. He felt so fucking good. How could she ever go against him?
How had Tsunade presumed this beneficial leverage for her?
Then he lowered himself over her, mouth connecting with hers, and every thought that wasn't Sasuke flew from her mind. He was motionless inside her, cock pulsing as it sheathed a centimeter away from pain. One of his hands raised to cup her cheek. The kiss was slow as time, deep as the earth. His thumb brushed under her lashes again.
This time, his kiss felt like he might burn the continent down if she told him to.
He thrust shallowly, hardly at all, as she writhed with want of more. An inch in, an inch out. His tongue was claiming in her mouth. She quivered under him, praying he'd speed up.
Turning her face to escape him, she urged, "Sasuke… Move." Her nails clawed into the taut skin on his back.
His lips simply traveled across her jaw, down to her neck. Sucking the skin there slowly, he drove into her with more vigor until it hit the wall that made her knees lock around him. Sakura moaned his name louder than the tent could hope to hide.
The hand on her cheek pushed her head straight to face him. There was a bead of sweat on his temple. Crimson in his eye. Struggling breath in his chest.
"I'll go slow," he countered, propping up on his elbows and dipping his mouth to hers lightly, like a promise. His hips rocked with barely-contained strength. "So you won't wake up our party."
.
.
That was the start of yet another routine between them. Sasuke didn't put up any further fight. She didn't even need to ask. Most nights he'd bend in to kiss her as he fell under the blankets, his hands gliding down her body to part her legs without any encouragement on her part. Without her needing to touch him at all.
She was vigilant not to think too deeply about that.
It felt good. They were both trapped in this seal by a person they loathed, and fucking each other felt fucking good. Maybe the only thing left on the planet that did.
Thinking too deeply might ruin it, so she wouldn't. She just let herself feel—carefully, though.
She tried her best to be careful about what she let sex with Sasuke make her feel.
She did her damnedest to stay quiet, too. But sometimes, he'd lift one of her legs over his shoulders and was too impossibly deep not to cry out. Other times he'd position her onto her knees and shove her chest into the ground at the same time and it felt like heaven birthed inside her. Once, he kissed his way down her stomach and sucked her clit with his fingers buried in her to his knuckles and she'd seen God.
Suigetsu greeted them in the morning with a huge grin and a perverted joke the first night she hadn't kept hushed enough. The others hadn't the nerve to be so bold, as Sasuke's icy cruelty had grown as the travel wore on; it didn't stop them from sniggering along with Suigetsu.
One of Sasuke's veiled threats to fuck off took care of it, however. The travel party pretended not to know of hers and Sasuke's nightly activity after that—even Suigetsu.
At first, she thought it strange how easily they accepted their general's exceptionally close relationship with a prisoner of war. Then she realized it wasn't the least bit strange to them, since it was exactly the sort of thing Madara wanted. Exactly what everyone believed was already happening—though, perhaps not so frequently.
Sakura tried to forget that. Tried not to think too deeply about that, too, when she couldn't put it out of mind.
When he was pulsing inside her, shuddering against her skin, whispering how tight she was and how good she felt around him, it was easy to forget anything. When he came inside her with her name on his lips—it was impossible to think of anything else.
They traveled into Lightning.
The trip between the two countries took their party over three days. Blindfolded except in the evenings when they set up camp, Sakura couldn't tell which route they were traveling. But if she had to guess, they'd jumped to the mainland to trek up the coast. It was the most visible route to anyone spying. If Madara wanted her spotted, there was no logic in crossing over the sea and hopping through mostly abandoned islands.
Mid-morning on the almost-fourth day, Suigetsu untied her blindfold early with the warning, "Madara will be here in a few minutes."
Dense Lightning jungle greeted her when the cloth fell away. The flashbacks hit her immediately—snow, blood, screams, crunching, crumpled orange, a deathly-still kake kanji.
Her seal warmed as soon as the panic swamped her.
It's just a forest, Sasuke reminded her. Stay calm.
She repeated, Just a forest, and stepped closer behind Suigetsu. His back offered a tiny buffer from the smothering nature surrounding them.
They'd stalled their movement; the atmosphere was tense. Her guards were fanned out in the trees while Suigetsu and Sasuke remained on the forest floor with her. Sasuke leaned back on a trunk, arms crossed and eyes closed. Suigetsu stood a few feet away, playing with his sword, sighing with boredom that sounded real enough.
Typically, Sasuke and Suigetsu met alone with Madara after they arrived at a new base. They'd drop her off somewhere inside with Kahyo until it was time for the speech—usually hours later.
This was a strange departure from routine.
Before she could ponder what called for the change, Madara flickered into existence by Sasuke's side. Sasuke's response was immediate: He blinked and straightened, facing his patriarch with a raised chin—haughty palm parked on his hip.
"Madara."
"Sasuke. Welcome. You all made good time, I see."
"Does that explain why the base isn't opening for us?"
With that, the angered whispers Sakura overheard Sasuke having with one of the male guards earlier made sense. They huddled out here because they couldn't get inside.
"No, that was by my order, although I did think you'd arrive a little later. But not a problem—we can start earlier." Madara glanced at her; she shifted further behind Suigetsu, hiding as much of herself as possible. "Which works out perfectly. We needed to commence the base-wide meeting a bit earlier than planned, anyway."
Sasuke shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. Where should we go, then?"
"Due south. You'll see the clearing in roughly six miles. Some are probably gathered there already if you scan for them."
Nodding, Sasuke raised his hand in the air. The other guards fell from the trees to his side.
"Send word before we arrive next time," he commented. "It's an inconvenience to get stuck out here."
"Of course, nephew. How dare I inconvenience you in your journeys, hm?" Madara handed Sasuke a scroll with a smile. "I'll gather the base and meet you in a few minutes on the podium."
Sasuke turned the scroll over in his hands. "What's this?" Without opening it, he tapped it on his wrist, sealing it away.
"Some new plans moving forward. For your convenience," Madara quipped. "Read it later. There's no rush. But once you find the podium, send a hawk to someone you trust on your base with directives to set a port tag for us."
"...My base. Back in Water," intoned Sasuke. "Where we just left."
"That's right. It's about time to test how competently you've trained the medic, don't you think?" Madara's eyes glinted in the shaded sun. "After the evening feast, we'll see how good both of you are at following orders."
Thought I'd be a bit late on this chapter, but I wasn't as late as I thought :)
.
thanks for reading, as always.
and thanks to Leech for beta-reading