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pinkhairedlily · 3 years

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Chapter 10 - Student Council President Sakura

SCPS AO3 | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

To Sakura, world still revolved normally; nothing changed between them, nothing mattered enough for her to behave differently. To Sasuke, the world shifted in its axis, having revealed a glimpse of his true feelings to her however falsely convenient she deemed them to be; everything changed between them, everything mattered enough for him to behave differently.

Like flinching at her slight grazes on his skin or his ears picking up her voice in the middle of the crowd noises or his eyes following the trail of her rose hair tied up in a ponytail, bewitched by the sway of the strands as she tousled to get to the front of the fray, her fingers burning a hole through his sleeve.

“HOMERUN!” The announcer screamed through the microphone, the feedback running through ripples in the throng of people. “Uzumaki Naruto nails a clutch win in the last inning for his team in their first ever nationals!”

Screams erupted around them, and as others jumped and cursed and hugged each other, she stood there frozen in time, her hands on her mouth. “He won. He won, Sasuke.” Her voice quivered, and he knew then that she was crying.

“Yeah, the blonde idiot won.” He allowed himself to smile, picking the blonde among the ruckus that enfolded below.

An hour and lesser filled stadium after, the two went down to congratulate their friend with open arms despite the sweat and the grit. Sasuke went with the flow, jumping up and down and circling about in the middle of the pitcher’s mound. They broke away from each other’s hold after several minutes, breathless in the undertaking, and flushed with all the gleeful screaming.

Two firm pats on Naruto’s back and a ruffle on his porcupine hair. “You did well, idiot.”

“Ah I earned a compliment from grumpy. This truly is the best day of my life!” His teammates broke in laughter in the background.

“I’m so proud of you. I’m so glad we took the bullet train to watch your game,” Sakura said through tears. Perhaps it was the height of the celebration or the ride of her emotions; she reached for Naruto’s face and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Sasuke turned away just in time, thankful for the screams, hoots, and whistles that possessed the student body. In his aversion, he also saw another face who kept looking anywhere but at the two. Hyuga Hinata, his ironic comrade in heartbreak.

Haru was in the group of spectators earlier, a pseudo-coach and mood-raiser for the team, his undercut prominent against his cap. Sasuke guessed him and Hinata were civil enough to be enclosed in a common space. He walked towards her, hands in his pockets.

“I’m gonna confess to him in the cultural festival,” she told him before he could reach her side.

He leaned against the bleachers, shutting out the continuing noises from the student body. In the midst of it, he can hear Sakura scolding all of them for misunderstanding. “And you’re gonna get rejected.”

“At least I told him what I felt,” she replied. “Did you already?”

He shrugged, unsure himself whether he got the point across or not.

“You better make it clear. You berated me for giving mixed signals after all.”

“You don’t hold your punches, Ms. Hyuga.” Sasuke sighed. “I think she rejected me already.”

Hinata let out a small laugh, the first in his vicinity. “Well, I’m just giving back your advice. If you think it so, you should ask again.”

“A second heartbreak won’t do me good.”

“The future has a lot in store.” She finally landed her gaze on Naruto and Sakura who separated now and were engaged by Haru in some funny exchange. “Good luck to us, Uchiha. I’ll take my leave.”

Sasuke detached himself from the bleachers. “Without saying congratulations?”

But Hinata continued on her exit without giving him a reply. To his surprise, it was not only him who caught her leaving; a pair of blue eyes also followed after her, mouth agape, hesitant to call her name not when he was in the presence of her ex-boyfriend and ex-captain. Ah, we’re all stuck in this complex hell, aren’t we?

His phone vibrated against his pocket. On normal days, he would ignore the call, but today wasn’t normal and he had to act nice for the favor he asked.

“Did your best friend win?” Itachi’s voice greeted him.

Sasuke didn’t correct him on the terminology. He just grunted a small yes, and somehow, he can hear his brother smiling on the other end of the call.

“Glad my donation helped fund their team’s expenses. I take it you also spent some for the bullet train?”

Again, another small yes.

“That’s nice.” It was the first time he heard Itachi chuckle again after the accident. “I’m glad you have friends.”

They’re not my friends fell silent on Sasuke’s lips. All he wanted was to consistently rank first, have uninteresting interactions…but all of those foiled because of the two. “Yeah, something like that.”

He heard the beeping pager in the background. “Gotta run, little brother. See you.”

Little brother. Sasuke swallowed back an unfamiliar sound.

It was a sob.

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Sakura tried to look at anything but him – the titles of books on his shelves behind, the heads of other faculty members bobbing, the ticking of the second hand on the wall clock. Kakashi clucked upon seeing her career sheet.

“Haruno, you’ll be graduating salutatorian, just points away from Uchiha Sasuke and yet you haven’t listed a university or a job listing. It’s referral season, and you’ve done a lot of good in this school.” Kakashi held his eyes steady on her, a firm line on his lips. “Don’t you want help?”

She mustered a smile, if that was what they call it nowadays, and handed him a filled out form. Whether he could see that it was written with wavering hands, she’d never know. “I settled on fashion design. I’ve always wanted to be a seamstress myself.”

That was a lie, and she knew Kakashi knew judging by how the firm line stayed. He briefly nodded and let her go.

Sensing the bubbling anxiety, she traversed the noisy hallways and almost sprinted to what has also become her safe space – the hidden spot of the boys behind the library. It wasn’t lunch time yet so Sasuke and Naruto wouldn’t be here. She slumped against the wall, sobs racking throughout her body.

Aimless was what she would describe her direction, untethered her depth, and a black hole her emotions.

“I wish you would let me help you.” Kakashi’s voice made her jump. She scanned her surroundings but cannot find a telling strand of silver in the hedges. He was probably standing on the entrance, just before the canopy of vines. “I didn’t follow you. I just knew the three of you went here for lunch and after-school chats. I’m a faculty, Sakura.”

“Please go away.” She never heard her voice sounded so small…and vulnerable.

“Sometimes, talking it out would make the burden feel lighter.”

She didn’t respond, and he didn’t wait for it. His audible footsteps were an indication he was moving away so she took the bait. If this was one way to be near him, why couldn’t it be in the guise of her pain?

She emerged in the hedges, eyes bloodshot red and strained, only to find him leaning against the wall, waiting with a handkerchief for her.

In an ironic turn of events, he brought her to the program she initiated. When he turned to leave to give her the privacy she needed, she asked him to stay. And that simple silent gesture gave her the courage to face her reality.

That her parents were divorcing, and in a futile attempt to cope, she made herself scarce, almost invisible.

Perhaps she was too much work for a middle-class couple with a lot of bills and unemployed siblings to feed. Maybe if they didn’t have a child that hindered their defining career opportunities to relocate or get promoted to an overseas position. Her outstanding community work and numerous distinction medals just weren’t strong enough to warrant a reconsideration of their decision.

And maybe it was a wrong move to get a part time job and dissociate from the pink-haired, studious Sakura and be the adult black-haired, funky cashier Sakura because it only gave them the idea she can live just fine on her own without any of them worrying about her instead of seeing the whole thing as a call for help.

“If you’re ready, you should share your problem to the two,” her sensei said when they finished with her therapy consultation.

“They have heavier baggage,” she simply replied.

“They’re not comparable. Naruto has an empty baggage, a kid with no past, yet he drags it around. Sasuke has sand for load, it’s leaking at the seams but he refills it. And for you, it could be air or water. It’s because you’re compressing them all inside that they become heavier.” He laid a hand on her head, an action of a sensei to a student. “Thanks for sharing some of those with me, Sakura.”

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Cultural festival was an amalgamation of confessions, last clinchers, and stolen moments. Whoever snatched a dance with someone they liked would be blessed with good relationship – that was how the saying went among the ranks of students.

It was the reason why Sasuke and Naruto hid throughout the day in their spot, content to eat instant ramen, batches of onigiri, and packs of orange and tomato juices. Throngs of freshmen and second years were on the hunt for their feet as dance partner.

“If only they knew I have two left feet,” Naruto grumbled. “I can’t even enjoy the day with Sakura. It’s pathetic to think I’m stuck with you.”

“I second,” Sasuke said. “Do you think she’ll confess to Kakashi later?”

“She hasn’t made a move yet?”

Sasuke shook his head.

“Wait what do you mean you second?”

Minutes of silence ensued. Sasuke put a whole onigiri in his mouth, too flustered to say it right at his face. “I like Sakura.” The words were jumbled with his chewing, and he was sure Naruto didn’t catch it.

But the idiot grinned and laughed maniacally. “The great pretender finally admits! When did you realize it? Did you have the fireworks in your head too?” He even mimicked a rainbow with his hands.

“That’s a rainbow, you idiot.” Sasuke scratched the back of his head. “When she was busy looking at Kakashi playing the piano.”

“Ah, will we ever have the chance?” Naruto snickered. “Let’s confess tonight, grumpy.”

“Already thought of that and already prepared for it.” Despite the seemingly downfall trajectory of their common affections, Sasuke still managed a smirk.

Not to be one-upped, Naruto pulled out his phone and flashed a small bouquet of dahlias. “Ready to be picked up tonight.”

A Greek tragedy, that was them; two best friends falling in love with and being rejected by the same girl.

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Majority of the school population have gathered around the giant bonfire on the campus grounds, but Sakura knew Kakashi would be stuck in his cubicle in the faculty lounge, nose-deep in a novel, headphones in to drown out the noise, and feet propped up on his desk.

Tonight was the night she would bare her other truth naked to him.

But before she could even step foot in his space, she already heard the voice of his favorite book drifting across the nooks and partitions.

“You should be with your students.” Giggling and a sound she would only assume was a string of kisses.

“I don’t have much time with you. Let me be greedy just this time.” Hearing her sensei say that painted him in another light. So there was this very attached Kakashi, far from the laidback and chill professor she knew.

Sakura should turn her heels and join the rest of the student body. She should act like a good student model, ignore her teacher’s affairs, and pretend she was never here. Except she tripped while running, and that summoned the two of them to her aid.

“Sakura? Did you need something?”

She side-eyed Rin Nohara and shook her head, her one only good chance blown to bits by her own recklessness and stupidity. She muttered an apology and starts to walk away with limping feet when Rin stopped her.

“I’ll get a drink in the vending machine. I’ll be back in five minutes Kashi.”

Thank God for women intuition, Sakura thought.

But inevitably she was left alone in the corridor with her heartbeat far stronger than the noise of the band outside around the campfire and the unknowing subject of her admiration. She held tightly to his rubber tie around her wrist, the mark etched deeper by each day she leaves it there mangled with her pulse.

He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, a smile etched on his face, the soft moonlight falling on his features only to highlight his beauty mark. It was unfair seeing him like this only to have him break her heart.

She knew she didn’t stand a chance, but even then, she had to hear it clear and loud.

“I like you.”

Were three words ever enough to encapsulate the three years of affection she held for him? One word for each year she felt content with glimpses of him, may they only be passing shadows in the halls, an echoing voice in the adjacent room, the silent arbiter in council meetings or a silver strand she could easily pick out in a sea of black of white.

Kakashi looked at her, his smile still etched, his face still immaculate. “That wasn’t a question.”

“And that wasn’t a reply.” It was nature to look away when one was too scared to face truth, but for the many times he helped her, even without him fully realizing the extent, she owed it to him to be brave.

“But you already know the words.” A head pat, the same gesture that gave her comfort in the past was the same gesture that broke her heart just now. How easy it was for the breaker to give and take minute and mindless affections, but what right did she has to think they were special to begin with?

It was the end of an illusory conception.

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A bouquet of dahlias and a bouquet of daffodils were hidden behind Naruto and Sasuke. It was dark, already past seven, the bonfire in its final vestiges, its sputtering flames waiting for last-minute lovers to dance in their splendid light.

Within the shadows came the girl of their dreams, hair untangled and morose emerald irises dipped in pools. Sasuke first noticed the bare wrist, the rubber tie gone, and he knew then that she confessed, and she was heartbroken.

He didn’t need to say anything to the blonde beside him. Her stance was enough to convey her present state of being. What she needed right now were her friends, not aspiring lovers stupid enough to break the friendship label.

And so they hid the bouquets on their backs, safe in the clutches of the dark, and when she reached out to them, their free hands already grasped her trembling fingers in waiting.

There they were, three broken-hearted people, wallowing in their own respective pain, sitting on the dewy grass that would leave stains on their clothes the next morning. When the school band started the last song, Sasuke stood up, abandoning his bouquet on the side, and pulled the other two up.

“Would be a shame to end our last cultural festival like this.”

Ten steps later, they were in the middle of the crowd of couples, three awkward friends holding each other’s hands and stepping on each other’s foot.

“For the love of God, you really can’t dance Naruto. Can’t you do a simple turn to the right?” Sasuke complained.

“Why are you putting all the blame on me? You’re the one who can’t differentiate the right from left!” Naruto spat back.

She laughed, and it somehow stopped their bickering for a moment. Bent at her stomach and eyes clinched shut in crinkles, that was their Sakura.

AO3 LINK | NEXT CHAPTER | CHAPTER 11

#SCPS #student council president sakura #sasusaku #narusaku #kakasaku #uchiha sasuke #haruno sakura #uzumaki naruto #hatake kakashi #this did not feel heavy as i thought while planning it #is it a good or a bad thing? hehe #anime fanfic #fanfic #fic!pinkhairedlily #fic!pseudolily

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vasoula · 4 years

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The Peepshow

Summary: Two months after his redemption journey, Sasuke is back to Konoha and Sakura couldn’t be more happy about them spending a lot of time together. However, things take a hard turn when Sakura is assigned a special mission and she has to hide it from the rest of Team 7. Everything comes spiraling down when Sasuke finds out exactly what she has to do.

Tags: hard rated m, blank period, kinda AU-ish

Author’s notes: Please read, thank you!

Hello sasusaku fandom, it’s me ya girl, back after so many years to join the fandom once more. I have been missing this couple dearly and after going through a lot of fanarts, I stumbled upon my favorite girl and biggest inspiration strawberrycreampiefluff. She had made a mini doujinshi years ago, and I wanted to create a story about it so badly. So, I contracted her, got her blessings and created this mini monster fic you will read below (which she will hopefully recreate into a full fanart comic when she finds time - love you girl! - please support my friend’s art, it’s amazing!). This is a collab between us sort of. The first chapter is like a prologue - introduction to get the gist of things. This takes place after the last, but before sasusaku travels, kind of an alternate way of how sasusaku got together. I tried to keep the characters as close to canon as possible and this my first official full chaptered fic, so please be kind and leave comments and likes to show your opinion and support.

You can also read it on fanfiction and Ao3.

Next chapter

“Act one: Different mission objectives”

Haruno Sakura walks briskly towards the Hokage tower, her high-heeled shinobi sandals clanking against the pavement as she makes her presence known to the people who pass by. A few heads turn around, mostly males, to stare at her. She is known as one of the most beautiful women – if not the most – in Konoha. As the Fifth’s apprentice, she is working at the hospital as the top chief and she is well respected by shinobi villages all around the world for her talent in medical jutsu.

Sakura is currently dressed her hospital clothes, because her shift at the hospital just ended. She is wearing a button up white shirt that’s left slightly unbuttoned when it reaches her chest, a short black skirt and her white medical robe on top. She is heading to meet Tsunade who just asked for her to be present at her office immediately. The pink haired girl already knows what that means and what it entails.

It is a new mission.

That has to be it. It has been months since the last one, and her working hard as a medical ninja limited her chances of being sent into one. She is more than ready for it. However, she has a feeling this is only the start of bad news. Knowing her teacher, it has to be a special kind of mission. Being called so suddenly like that also gives her the heads up to guess the genre of it.

It must be a flower mission.

Yes, flower, Sakura thinks and nods to herself after waving at some people who greet her.

Flower mission is a term for female ninjas only. It is a code for a seduction mission.

Going and especially accepting a seduction mission is a big step for shinobi women. It is a very sensitive topic and it needs to be handled delicately and in secrecy. It is a powerful weapon which when used correctly, the mission will be done easily or quickly depending on the execution.

The three-man team pattern has most young girls create bonds or worse falling in love and it makes them attached in one way or another to their male teammates. That is why most ninja women have a difficulty seducing another man. The life of a ninja is usually short; you never know what could happen and the kunoichis value the idea of love. Still though, a woman’s power is strong and every kunoichi succeeds efficiently in their own little style.

The moment Sakura comes into the office, Tsunade’s head snaps up. The two women hold eye-contact for a few seconds before the younger medic closes the door behind her with a soft thud.

No one else is in the room, so Sakura guesses that whatever the fifth Hokage is about to tell her must be something of importance. She makes her way into the room and with elegant movements sits down on the chair that is positioned right in front of the desk. There are no formalities between apprentice and teacher when no one is around to watch, and since Tsunade made no sign to stop her, she also speaks first.

“Tsunade-sama, you called me.” It is not a question, but it is not a mere observation either.

The older woman sighs and puts her folded hands beneath her chin. Her eyes close for a moment and then she lifts her head upwards, giving Sakura a fond and soft look like a proud mother would give to her grown up child. A blonde strand escapes from her well-made and low ponytail and her red manicured fingers come forth to tag it back to place. An elegant move, and there is no wonder where Sakura took her beautiful ways from.

“Yes, I did,” Tsunade pauses for a second and then hastily continues, going straight to the point. There is no time for pleasantries. “I have a new mission for you.”

There is no surprise on Sakura’s face and Tsunade cannot tell if she already knew what her intentions are or she has simply masked her face with a facade of indifference. A true kunoichi right there, but then again…it could be the influence of a certain brooding male.

Before Sakura could ask more, Tsunade beat her into it and answers to her unspoken question. “It is a seduction mission.”

This time the girl reacts instantly and she blinks profusely, pink eyelashes fanning rosy cheeks repeatedly. “A-ah,” Sakura lets out a squeaky response, knowing the consequences of such mission.

So I was right! It is a flower mission, she thinks and curses mentally. Here come the arising problems and she has not even started yet.

“I know, but believe me, I have no choice,” Tsunade put her palms atop of the desk and she pushes her chair back slightly, “This mission is specifically made for you.”

The woman knows what she is doing to her student right now, but seriously the girl is one of the best out there. Her exotic looks and endless beauty draws men like magnets to her. Besides, with her alluring ways and witty personality, she can bend even iron willed males, for example, Sasuke Uchiha.

Sakura has already made a list of problems at the back of her mind and her inner self screams in horror.

This is her first official seduction mission. How the hell is she supposed to break the news to rest of Team 7? She cannot straight go up to them and tell them. Naruto will surely react instantly and whine about it until the next decade. She has a feeling Kakashi, being trained under Tsunade, might already know something about this mission and that leaves her with one last important person to tell.

The man her heart yearns for.

After coming back from his redemption journey, Sasuke was a changed man. He was everything she had hoped for. Some parts of his character still remained the same that go back to his genin days, but she saw a new side of him that has been hidden for years, buried deep within all the hatred he harbored for most of his life. The last Uchiha has always been a cool character with a calculating thought process. The difference now was that he was free from the hatred and sins that plagued most of his life.

That is where the healing took place – right at this heart.

While he was away he helped many people during his journey across all the lands. That in return helped him find himself. He learned to love himself again and he stopped being angry at the world. He saw life from a different perspective and by the time he returned the storm inside his mind was calm once more.

Sakura’s heart flourished when he came back two months ago.

The two have been spending time together more than ever. They hang out after Sakura’s shifts at the hospital during the day either alone or with the rest of Team 7, sometimes including Sai. Other days, when their schedules are not so busy, Naruto comes and collects each one of them so they can have dinner at Ichiraku just the three of them. On special occasions, when the Hokage in training feels extra giddy, he will bring Hinata along and they will have something akin to double dates as he likes to call them.

It is an unspoken secret that the relationship between Sasuke and Sakura is a complicated one. They are at the stage where sometimes they act like they are together or other times they are on the verge of being in a relationship. Sakura knows what she is feeling that is for sure. The pure, unwavering love she feels for him is rooted deep within her and grows everyday as she watches him be happier and calmer before her eyes. They have had their moments of intimacy together before. Instances where they became close - she remembers those intense feelings they shared through eye contact and hushed whispers when they were left alone.

The first one was after the war when Sasuke was in prison. The first time he expressed his feelings towards what had happened between them all those years. All the wrong and the ugly parts of himself he wanted to distinguish himself from.

In those quiet moments in the dark where he could not see, his eyes sealed like the criminal he was, he told her the truth. He trusted her now to reveal the ugly truth of Konoha and its elders. He divulged all the hardships his brother, Itachi Uchiha, had to endure to bring peace to the world. In a whisper, he confessed all about his clan like a dirty secret -like he was the sinner and she was the priest. And like the true healer she was, Sakura helped him see the good in him that she knew was still there and gave him disclosure. He accepted her kind words once more with a simple nod and a quiet thank you. But for Sakura, at the current time, it was more than enough. She saw the change in him. It was a small start but she would accept it. The young woman had endured harder things in the past after all.

Later that night, when she cried angry tears at the unfairness of the world, because now she knew finally about the Uchiha massacre, she knew all of them had to endure something hard in their lives and learn to live with it. But god if it did not hurt her that he was the one left suffering the most. And she just wished, she hoped, her love was enough to heal that part of himself that was trying to recover.

The second one was when he left for his redemption journey. While they had spend a few moments together before he left, nothing compares to that single experience. She knew she had to wait for him again, but this time it was not a tear jerking moment with her heart lurching in her throat. No, this time, it was her mind buzzing with all the implications his fingers left on her forehead and the fond look he was giving her.

The third one was when the Konoha 12 had their first night all together again. Of course Naruto had a hand in organizing once again. That little rascal, Sakura had thought then fondly. This guy was always trying his best to bring people together and he was doing a damn good job at it. The fact that he was able to persuade Sasuke into an outing like that was a feat itself.

Everything was going smoothly until the drinks started pouring in. Shots after shots of sake had Sakura feeling pleasantly tipsy that night, but she was not the only with that effect of alcohol on her. Somehow everyone had more than a little in their system and that did not exclude the moody male of Team 7. He was acting normal alright, Sakura would have told you, she was sure of it. But then, Ino Yamanaka, her notorious best friend was dragging her along the dance floor and she could not help but feel a hot stare at the back of her head. Goosebumps arising on her skin had her on edge. She knew then he was blatantly staring at her and he was not trying to hide it in the slightest. It was like then everyone knew what going on and her axis had sifted on its head. She could not fathom this would be the place where Sasuke would lose all his inhibitions, much less with everyone watching in anticipation his next moves. Naruto on the other hand, unbeknownst to her, was throwing just the right comments here and there, making Sasuke see Sakura from a different perspective. About time, if you had asked Naruto; he watched Sasuke analyze Sakura dancing as if she was a riddle ready to be solved.

Sasuke, at the hot age of twenty, was now a young man and finding a woman attractive was the natural course of life. However, for him these new profound feelings confused him. He did not know what he was feeling and all he wanted to do now was stare at Sakura until his eyes tired themselves out. He was ready to activate his sharingan just so he could commit that image to his memory.

That feeling in his chest was starting to bother him though and suddenly he felt all the stares on him from the intense chakra he was producing. Looking around he felt second hand embarrassment for himself, his ears getting red. Getting a shot of sake from the nearby table, Sasuke gulped down its contents and got ready to leave his position at the bar. He could not handle to keep his emotions in check any longer and this was bad. He was not ready to admit to himself what he was feeling and trying to suppress it any longer could do more harm than good. Better he left the situation right now before he put him and Sakura in a compromising position he was not ready to handle yet.

Right at that moment, Sakura decided to turn around, her dress sticking to her like a vice from all the sweat her intense dancing had caused. One look at Sasuke had time freezing. They held an intense eye contact for a few seconds, and her heart fluttered in her chest. She saw the change in him, she has seen that look before when other men had stared her way in the past. It was then she knew, tonight had been something more to him even though nothing has transpired between them yet. Maybe Sasuke was not ready to acknowledge these feelings yet, but Sakura had hope that this was the start of something new between them.

Feeling bold she started to approach him, confident in herself and brave enough thanks to the alcohol she had consumed. The moment she moved, she saw him flatter in his steps. He was about to leave and escape. The fearless Sasuke Uchiha was scared of what was transpiring between them, but she was not about to let him have his chance to escape this time. Sakura saw his jaw clenching and his hand flattering at his side from its place at the bar stool. He stared at her unblinkingly, waiting for her next move like they were about to have a fight at the training grounds.

Sakura then approached the bar like she owned the place and opened her mouth to say the most simple words known to existence.

“Hey, Sasuke”, she greeted in a whoosh, a breathless exclamation. She leaned against the bar stool and waited for the inevitable dismissal of denial.

Sakura found herself surprised however when he went rigid and leaned forward his towering body over her like he was about to whisper a dirty secret in her ear.

“You are different from the last time I remember you,” He confessed hotly, his mouth near her neck. If it was not for the obvious fact that she knew him well, any other person would have thought he was drunkenly leaning on her, but Sakura is not anybody and she understands this the way of him hiding his emotions from showing on his face in the shadows her neck provides.

What a weird way of seeking comfort from his own shyness, Sakura thought.

She idly recalled then that they were not in fact alone and Naruto was right behind them. When he started making obscene signs with his hands Sakura felt herself flush from head to toe, but the murderous glint in her eyes was apparently enough to stop Naruto’s crudeness.

“Eh, Sasuke-kun, what do you mean?”, she asked hesitantly, her hand raising and resting on Sasuke’s back in a sense of comfort. The soft material of his black shirt damp against her palm.

They were almost approaching the stage of hugging right in front of everybody.

Before they could complete the hug though, Sasuke’s head turned to the left, his cheek almost brushing against Sakura’s. The pink haired girl shyly turned her head slightly towards his direction, their faces almost touching. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the effect he still had on her and damn him if he he did not thrive on it.

He could think of all the nice things he could say to her, now it was the perfect time to take a step closer to approaching the inevitable connection they have. But his mind had other plans when the words slipped out of his mouth. In a teasing manner he was only capable of, he smirked and said, “More annoying than ever.”

He was sure she must have caught on his teasing by now. Using bitter words of the past to heal their wounds by putting another meaning to it. She was a smart woman and she could understand his actions better than anyone.

Sasuke knew she had caught on when he felt her fist punch lightly his stomach as if to punish him for insulting her.

“That is not a very nice way of complimenting someone, Sasuke-kun,” she whispered angrily, facing him completely. Any traces of wonder were gone from her emerald eyes replaced with mirth and she continued, smiling menacingly at him, “I thought I taught you better than that.”

“Hm,” Sasuke hummed in response and stood straight once again, looking down at her.

By now they had become a spectacle to their friends, the black haired male could feel Naruto almost bristling with excitement from behind him and he was not about to disappoint his friend who has been pestering him to get on with his feelings already.

“I guess we should spend more time together so I can get better at it.”

The double meaning behind his words was evident.

Sasuke Uchiha then patted Sakura Haruno’s head like it was the most natural thing in the world to do and smiled down at her gently.

His female teammate took a big breath through her nose, rosy cheeks glowing, and crossed her arms across her chest. She had him where she wanted him.

“Damn right we should!”

That was one week ago from her current position at the Hokage office. Just when she was making a great progress with seducing Sasuke, she has to go and approach another man for a mission. Talk about making matters weird between them. The worst part is the fact that she has to tell him. She wonders what his reaction is going to be considering they are not together yet. Is he going to act jealous or indifferent?

Who is she kidding? He is just going to glare her with this stupid scary look he gives in assassination missions to terrify people off the moment the words come out of her mouth and that is it.

“I haven’t finished yet,” Tsunade literally saw the thoughts displayed across Sakura’s face. It is like her life passed before her eyes, and her skin got a tad paler.

“Of course there is more,” the pink haired girl mumbles sadly while looking down, but the Hokage lets it slide.

“You will have back-up,” Tsunade says and sees with the corner of her eye Sakura sucking in a breath, “the rest of Team 7 will be with you,” and then next thing she knows the girl is chocking on air.

“W-what?” Sakura coughed out, giving her teacher a desperate look.

She feels like she is the center of the world and it is slowly closing up on her. Life suddenly looks less appealing, because good old Team 7 is back on track again with Sakura’s first seduction mission as a head start.

“Tsunade-sama, please tell me you are joking.” The pink haired medic grabs the sides of the armchair and hopes it does not break and crumble along with her composure.

The young woman also hopes her teacher is having some kind of twisted pleasure out of this because she is certainly not feeling happy with the news.

Tsunade wants to reprimand her student for losing her temper, but she understands what the girl is going through and also knows she in no better position to talk when it comes to matters like this. Still though, ears and eyes are everywhere and they must keep a low profile when in the Hokage’s office.

“Sakura,” The curvy female looks at her seriously, “Team 7 will be the back-up of this mission and that’s final.”

I am doing it for your sake, Tsunade wants to say but keeps quiet instead.

Somehow, Sakura understands where her teacher is coming from. This will be a test for both sides. It is a test for her that is for sure. A test for patience, a test for her relationship, a test for her seduction abilities both on the target and Sasuke, because let’s be honest, who is going to calm down the last Uchiha other than her?

Sakura closes her eyes, takes a calming breath through her mouth and then controls the pattern as taught by Ino’s yoga lessons. She could do it this.

The young female opens her pretty green eyes once again and then stares at Tsunade straight in eye, a determined expression on her face. The will of fire is practically seeping through her and her fiery temper is burning up again but for another cause.

“That’s the spirit,” Tsunade says proudly and hands her the scroll that has been lying on the wooden desk the whole time. “This is your target, Misty Jade.”

The first thing Sakura does when she steps into the house is to check for a specific chakra signature around the area. Sasuke pays frequent visits to her house nowadays you would think he lived in there, having keys and all, but alas.

She lets out a long sigh of relief, glad that she did not detect Sasuke’s compelling presence. Thank heavens, cost is clear. The twenty year old girl suspects that the males of Team 7 had already been called to Tsunade’s office, the second she was out of the vicinity. She mentally praises her teacher and then she decides to prepare for battle. The kunoichi briefly wonders how the hell she is supposed to deal with this. She has no clue how to handle this.

Sakura runs upstairs, heading straight to the bedroom. She slams the door open, scroll still in hand, and starts rummaging through her things in order to pack. After a few minutes of checking everything, she put all the necessary items in her mission bag. From medical supplies to energy pills to scrolls to clothes to a sleeping bag and lastly to the money she will need for the seduction necessities she has to buy. Finally finished, she sits down on the bed, crumpling the blue silky sheets in the process. Then, Sakura unrolls the scroll and reads.

Mission #B039 Type: B-rank Specialist: F (female)

Stage: Pre Place: Village hidden in the Waterfalls

Target: Misao Takashi

Gender: Male

Age: 25 years old

Characteristics: Red hair, blue eyes and relatively tall.

Efficiency: Messenger

Information: Misao Takashi is an important messenger between two feud lords that control and lead illegal product transportations. Your mission is to seduce said messenger that has in his possession a folder with contract papers which contain info for the next meet up and also a pair of keys. This is the part one of the main ANBU mission that will follow after you succeed. Mission includes back-up. Good luck.

The kunoichi falls back on the bed with a flop, thinking how she should approach the mission. She idly scratches her scalp and tosses her body around from side to side, her long pink locks sprawled across the bed sheets moving along with her. Sakura knows what the village hidden in the Waterfalls is known for. And if her guesses are right, a guy like him would go to a special kind of place. The men of Team 7 will also go there.

“This is just great!” Sakura shouts even though no one is in the room.

She stares up at ceiling, her mind thinking of all the possibilities and scenarios. The pink haired girl knows what to do to succeed in this mission, however hiding from Sasuke is the main problem.

With huff she stands up and starts pacing around the room while babbling nonsense and muttering profanities out loud, until the idea hits her.

“Of course,” Sakura jumps on the bed, “Tsunade-shishou is the solution!”

She lies down, calm once again, and grabs a nearby pillow, squeezing it close to her chest. The warmth it provides calms her for a second, but she resists the urge to snuggle it closer. The girl can already imagine the Uchiha’s frown when she will tell him that she will be staying at Tsunade’s for a few days in order to work on some papers that have to do with the hospital.

Sakura just hopes he will believe it for her sake and for the sake of this mission.

❤︎

“It’s dirty and disgusting in here,” Sasuke mutters angrily, sitting uncomfortably on the animal print armchair, “Why do we even have to do this?”

The hot pink, soft and furry material irritates him even more as his elbow barely glides on it, making it difficult for him to nurse his drink. It is too warm, too velvety.

The last Uchiha almost growls out of sheer annoyance. This mission is far too low for his standards. He cannot believe he allowed himself to be dragged in here. His pride is hurt goddammit. Yes, he may be a man, but he has never set foot in a pleasure house. Or as his best friend and ex-sensei like to call it: a strip club.

The atmosphere is suffocating him, the lights are too dim. All kinds of different and hypnotizing aromas assault his senses, making his clear mind drunk and hazy. He cannot tell if it is his alcoholic beverage that is making him feel this way or it is the misty cloud of seduction and pleasure filled nights that surround this place.

The men of Team 7 have been assigned on a mission just yesterday as a backup to an ANBU specialist. Sasuke was definitely not pleased with the news, but he could not go against the fifth Hokage’s orders as much he wanted to, so he mildly complained until he was shushed by Tsunade. So, here they are today, in the place that their target and the other shinobi are supposed to be. Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake, being expert ninjas, have already detected the target sitting in the middle of the area, near the front. And now they have to wait. If something goes wrong, only then they are allowed to interfere.

“Focus, Sasuke.” Kakashi says calmly, a white hospital mask covering his face instead of his usual ninja attire. “A mission is a mission.”

The grey haired shinobi is collected as always, and Sasuke cannot help but scowl.

As if the ridiculous place is not enough problems, they were also forced to wear formal clothes. Supposedly, they are ordinary men looking for some fun and not ninjas who are capable of killing anyone in the room within seconds. Thus, the men of Team 7 have to make it believable by dressing up fancily to blend in with crowd and to stay undistinguished.

“Well, it’s not that bad in here.” Naruto tells them with a foxy grin on his face, clearly excited to be in a place like this. A slight blush is covering his cheeks since he has been consuming a few portions of alcohol for an hour now. The blond is pleasantly tipsy and happier than usual.

“Shut up Naruto,” Sasuke turns to his left and addresses his best friend, “If Hinata found out you’re here, she would dump you.”

Sasuke is very irritated, and that results to more insults and jibs than normal. He crosses his legs, right ankle meeting left knee, just to move and do something out of spite.

“T-That’s not true!” The man immediately tries to explain, “I told her it was a mission and she was okay with it!”

Naruto’s face visibly falls, and he looks at Sasuke with his puppy dog eyes. However, before the blonde could set off, being an emotional drunk and all, Sasuke just looks at other side, ready to ignore the impending whining.

Is he even allowed to be drinking on such mission? Kakashi better do something, Sasuke thinks, complaining inside his head instead.

“Don’t fight.” Their teacher interrupts, knowing how those two are and how bad they can get when Sakura is not around to stop them.

He has even given them just enough freedom, permitting them to drink, because he knows they are the back-up of this mission and not the main person. Kakashi strongly believes that intervention will not be needed, considering this an efficient ANBU specialist sent by the Hokage herself.

So, Kakashi just sits relaxed, waits and enjoys the show.

The oldest member of Team 7 is wearing a dark grey button-up shirt, the collar slightly open and a pair of black trousers. Naruto has a similar style, except he sports a nice pair of jeans with a light blue button-up shirt that makes his gorgeous eyes stand out more. Sasuke opts for a more classic style though, completing his look with black trousers, a white button-up shirt (with the first button undone) and an onyx suit jacket to top it off.

It is an extraordinary night today since the place is filled to the brim with men of all ages and from different villages, plus, the interior design of the club is full of pretty decorations. As the shining neon letters say outside on the wooden board above the club’s name, Hustler’s Ho, it promises a night of busty tricks and naughty chicks, and of course a special guest. Sasuke didn’t pay attention to the name, it is useless information anyways.

The waitresses are all beautiful women holding silver trays with glitter and fruity scented oils applied on their bodies and every time they move under the low dimmed lights to serve the customers, their smooth skins sparkle teasingly. The atmosphere is thick with cigarette smoke, but despite that, the room somehow smells good because of the enticing scents that come off from all the perfume the females of the club have put on.

Red velvet curtains hang from the ceiling at the left side of the club and make up for entrances to the changing rooms, while the bar and the bathrooms are at the right side of it. In the center of the room is the stage where the lights shine the most since the ceiling has a lot of spotlights in all kinds of colors there. The rest of the huge area is only provided with low dimmed lights and that makes the dancers at the stage stand out more. The walls are painted a dark pink color and it gives the room a sense of obscurity and raw sexuality.

Great amount of money gets thrown at the stage as the ladies entertain the crowd with their dancing skills either on the poles or on the floor. Excited shouts of more can be heard even from where the members of Team 7 are seated at the back of the club. The dancers are barely dressed in Sasuke’s opinion; too much skin is bared for the eyes to feast. He averts his eyes, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

A dark blonde girl is currently dancing, her back turned to the pole, her hands up in the air touching the steel above her head. She is moving her lower half sexily in fluid left and right motions, her hips rolling expertly. The girl is wearing purple lingerie with her hair up in a high ponytail, and money is stuck in all kind of places from the men who put it there. She keeps it professional, but her face still expresses the hidden erotic feelings she wants to convey.

Then, all of a sudden, the music slowly quiets down and a deep male voice comes from the speakers. “Thank you dear, you were amazing as always! Please, grab your money and clear the stage.”

Sasuke silently scoffs and rolls his eyes at this. He should really stop drinking, the alcohol is making him show his irritation and that is not a good thing when on a mission. He has to keep his face impassive, bring forth a cold facade. Especially when in that said mission, Sakura is not there to calm him down and Naruto only breathes to make it worse for him with his antics. Of course, Kakashi is nonchalant as always.

The crowd gets almost completely silent, only a few murmurs can be heard now, and the unknown voice continues. “Only today, we have a special guest dancing…”

Without warning, a swift sound gains the attention of everyone inside the room. It is a whoosh of air fluttering against hard yet soft and velvet material that signals that the curtains have just been opened. The whispers get a tad bit louder at this, but get lost when the raspy voice resonates through the room once again. “Now, gentlemen, prepare to meet tonight’s special guest, a beauty and an exotic flower among the ladies…”

The sound came from the left side of the club, near the back. Heels clanking against the floor in a steady rhythm and elegant manner are the only thing that can be heard. The steps are light and slow paced. It has a nice ring to it, the continuous clicking is pleasant to the ears and everyone is holding their breath in anticipation. The males of Team 7 hear loud gasps, watching as men are getting blown away by the mere sight of this special guest. Heads are turned, all the attention clearly diverted behind. The pace has a unique air of confidence that no one can quite put their finger on. The woman has a stealthy and powerful walking. A soft tune starts playing as an intro while the woman comes closer and closer to the stage.

The dancer narrows the distance between her and the stage as she takes painfully slow steps towards it or so it seems to the eager men. The shadow that still hovers near the area where Team 7 is –thanks to the somber and tricky lighting– hides her, until finally, a curvy form starts to appear as she comes forth to where the light is. Her silver, almost dark gray, stilettos are the first things that show. A few agonizingly and torturous seconds later, long legs and fair smooth skin come into view.

Naruto reacts first, an exclamation leaving his lips. It is not a sharp inhalation of amazement, but it is a loud gasp of shock. His blue eyes widen and there are hazy no more. Cold sweat forms on his forehead, and he is feeling like someone threw cold water on him to wake him up and bring him back to the harsh reality. It is definitely not an easy feat to astound the ninja who is known as the best at surprising people.

The voice resonates through the room once again and the male starts praising the newcomer dancer, “An exotic babe, outstanding with high class skills.” The announcement is over, and the music gets steadily louder while the special guest is one step away from the stage.

She just stands still with her back on the cheering crowd for a few seconds as if to bewitch the already elated men with her beauty. The young woman is posing sensually and it compliments her already perfect body. She is captivating in every sense. Her legs are long and toned while her tights are voluptuous and her rear is curvy. Her waist is slight bent and it makes her behind stand out even more. Her back sparkles teasingly thanks to the glittery substance that has been applied on her skin everywhere on her body. She lifts her left hand up to course it through her silky long locks while her right one is resting on her inner tight in a provocative pose.

That unmistakable pink hair belongs only to one person.

Kakashi feels his mouth hanging open inside his mask. This event took a very fast turn for the worst and he does not like the ending result at all. She is the last person he could think of going up there if you had asked him about it. He closes his eyes and hums quietly awaiting for the impeding doom waiting to happen.

Sasuke reacts not a second too late and his breath hitches. A flash of light blinds him and he blinks his eyes twice in response. The lighting must be playing tricks on him, because there is no fucking way this is Sakura ready to go up there. He freezes and his face goes rigid. His calculating yet beautiful onyx eyes widen and his naturally pouty lips part slightly in shock. A wave of cool air passes by him –probably someone activated a fan to create more special effects for such a unique guest– and it makes his soft black hair flutter in the wind. An intoxicating scent fills his senses and clouds every ounce of rationality within him.

The special guest goes up the stage, turns around and Sasuke can breathe no more.

“Please welcome, Misty Jade!”

Sasuke Uchiha, for the first time in years, sees red.

#sasusaku #sakura haruno #sasuke uchiha #ssfanfiction #ssfanfic #ssfic #sasusaku fanfiction #depending on the response i am going to get i am going to post the next chapter #this is a tease fic yall #my baby strawberrycreampiefluff is the bessst #my first after yeaaaars boi #yes i am 4everxd #vasoula writes

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kureikakashikaiba · 4 years

Text

Naruto Fanfiction - KakaxSaku: Three weeks later

Just an oneshot I wrote long time ago but I still like it a lot

Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto characters, they all belong to Kishimoto-sensei.

Characters: Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura

*************************************************

"Look who do we have here?"

A slurred girlish voice with a blatant hint of inebriation disrupts Kakashi's peaceful meditation over the sochu cup. So much for his determination to spend the night alone tonight. Of all people, she is the least he wants to bump into.

Inwardly sighing, the Copy Nin turns sideway to regard a soft-pink –hair framing face which is beaming at him with a lost but warm smile.

"Yo, Sakura-chan" - He returns her smile with his own vague one. His nose instantly picks up the strong tequila smell mixed up with her perfume and shampoo fragrance. He is not sure if he likes this combination but he has to admit that she looks just as disarming as ever.

Using the chandon bottle in her two hands as an anchor to keep her body steady, Sakura cranes her chin forward to regard the empty seat next to Kakashi:

"You're here alone Kakashi-sensei?"

Even though very tempted to say that he is waiting for someone else to shoo this intoxicated girl who smells like trouble away, Kakashi still cannot afford to be so blatantly rude:

"Yeah, as alone as I always am. You are here with friends? Nice choice" – He points promptly at the bottle of sparkling wine in her hand.

Sakura lifts the bottle up and mulls over it with a distant appreciation:

"This? A gift from my colleagues in the hospital for that. And No, I'm here alone too"

Great. No one drinks Tequila shots going to a pub alone without seeking trouble itself.

"How many shots have you drunk already, Sakura?" – Kakashi's voice turns stern, he doesn't mean it to sound that way but he can slip into his teacher mode faster than light speed around this girl.

Maybe subconsciously his self-defence mechanism has been activated to protect himself from things that he does not even fathom.

It's always better to draw the line between him and this girl

"Two or Three" – she holds up her fingers to indicate her answer, the drunk smile never leaves her face.

Tossing her winter coat on the stool's back, Sakura slips in the seat next to him without asking:

"So you're avoiding someone as well?"

Yes. From you.

"No, just want to be by myself" – Trying to ignore the sudden proximity between them, Kakashi takes another sip of the strong alcohol, the pungent taste burns his throat for one brief second before disappearing from within – "I'm surprised there is someone you want to avoid, aren't you supposed to go about celebrating now, it's only three more weeks, isn't it?"

"Let's not mention that, ok?" – the first time ever since she greeted him, her grin dissolves. His eyebrow slightly rises with her sudden mood swing. But as short as when it came, her mood swings back to the more cheery path almost instantly: "Well, it's a coincidence that we meet here, isn't it, let's make the most of it" – her voice turns jovial at her own suggestion.

Even when it is subtle, Kakashi can tell that she is certainly not happy with what is going to happen pretty soon in her life.

"How about I share with you my lovely Champaign and you give me some of that bitter, yucky shochu of yours" - The roseate head girl beckons to the bartender to bring her two more empty cups, and quickly shoves a 10 ryo note in his hand so he can pretend that he does not see her bringing her own alcohol in this bar. She even gives him a free wink after the cups arrive. Judging by his long enduring sigh, Kakashi can tell he is troubled with the mess this attractive gal may create later. But well, he will always have the security guard option, and this is his job and his work place anyway. They make money from troublesome people like his former student tonight. Her cheekiness sort of evokes a small smile from Kakashi nonetheless:

"Champaign and Sochu? Isn't it a weird combination"

"It is. But I feel like doing something that doesn't make sense today, why does everything have to make sense by the way? Can we just do meaningless thing once in a while?" – She shrugs and applies the smallest amount of chakra in her palm to suck the bottle cork out. The small exploding noise of the champagne bottle serves to punctuate her sentence.

Sensing a rather disheartened mood clumsily concealed by a fake jolly smile, Kakashi chooses to go along rather than digging other unwelcomed conversation up. He is never a nosey person in the first place:

"Of course we can do meaningless thing for a change" – he smiles at her only to receive a sceptical look:

"For a change? I've witnessed you doing so many meaningless things before" – she points out sharply, her mouth is trying to restrain quirky grin.

"Me? When did you see me doing unnecessary things?" – Kakashi counters the accusation calmly but a small smile is also playing on his lips

"Yes you do, so many silly things, like this" – poking at the small square-shaped swell from his pants' pocket, Sakura narrows her eyes then grins merrily when Kakashi levels her with a slightly menacing look:

"Insulting another's favourite hobby isn't nice, Sakura-chan"

"Oh, sorry, I don't know it is that meaningful to you" – She feigns a sincere sorry expression but the sarcasm in her voice is unmistaken, because she knows for sure that his ire is also an act: "It must be really hard to live amongst us - low-brow, uneducated people who could not appreciate porn written by an old peeping tom"

"I've never criticized your cheesy chic flicks and bednight story slash romance slash soft-core porn books you have in your kindles, haven't I?" – retorts Kakashi evenly after sipping another bit of sochu, his face as apathetic as ever.

Sakura's anger instantly rushes to flame up her cheeks:

"It's not soft core porn, it's well-written love story with logical development and wonderful characterisation that excites you to no end"

"Logical in a very incidental make-up situation that is completely unrealistic in real life? All are just to lead to a disappointing sex scene after a predictable life and dead scenario of some sorts, did I say soft-core porn for chicks – he carried on with ease, seemingly unaffected by the invisible daggers this rosy haired girl throws at him.

"They call it creating plot twists and climax, in case you don't know anything about creative writing. That's why the sexy bits are really sexy because they build up on emotion and suffering, not like the type of animal-like intercourses with weird positions that no one would try in real-life described in Jiraiya-sama's books."

Her voice starts to raise an octave and anger seeps through her glare. It is kinda lame of her to lose her cool head so fast in an argument when Kakashi just looks like he is having a good time there by succeeding in effotlessly provoking her. And shit, has she just slipped her tongue again? An amused smile creeps upon Kakashi's lips:

"So you do read Icha-icha"

"I…" – there's no point in denying after all – " errh, I means it's one of the best-selling series of all time right, I'm just curious…"– a deep blush taints the younger girl's cheeks as she has to lower her stare to the bar wooden top, momentarily unable to hold his scrutiny any further. This man has no shame when it takes very little to embarrass her.

Suddenly, a thought strikes her: "But hey, wait…when did you touch my kindles?" – She jerks her chin up immediately to face him accusingly, which makes the silver-haired man chuckles:

"I was bored in the hospital and you confiscated all of my reading materials, remember?"

It was a few months ago when Kakashi came back from a deadly mission with a serious injury on his back. Knowing this man's distaste towards staying in the hospital for intensive care and therapy, Sakura had to personally threaten to burn all of Kakashi's favourite series if he left the hospital before his treatment completed.

But no matter how badly wounded this man was, he was still Kakashi, proven by his intact stealth ability since when Sakura came back to the page where she left off in her Kindles, it was always the exact same page where she was reading before. But now come to think about it, the batteries did last slightly shorter than normal around that time.

"Remind me to check my credit card after meeting you, Kakashi-sensei" – Sakura says coldly with a frown while her hands finish pouring chandon into two cups. Pushing one towards her former teacher, the kunoichi puts on her smile again:

"This first, and then yours"

Reluctantly picking up the cup, Kakashi peers through the clear light golden liquid:

"Champagne in a cup, interesting?"

"Taste is all it matters, doesn't it, cup or glass is just the container" – picking up her own, Sakura breathes in the intoxicating smell.

"Oh, so you finally learn that beauty is only skin deep?" – Kakashi chances a glance at the former student's face teasingly but unexpectedly, these outwardly harmless words strikes up something deeper and more sensitive than he could realise as Sakura just goes still for brief moment and her stare becomes absent:

"Long time ago have I realised that…" – mutters Sakura, barely audible amongst the noise background of the bar's music and chattering.

"But it doesn't matter by the way, why don't we toast for something" – quickly recovers, Sakura raises her cup.

And a wise man like Kakashi always knows when he shouldn't pursue an awkward conversation:

"Good idea, how about a toast for you, Sakura-chan"

"No, a toast for us, Kakashi-sensei, when was the last time we talk like this?"

Probably nearly two years ago.

And it's all because he has been trying to avoid her since. They just got back to the normal level of their distant friendly term recently when that thing happened.

He remembers it was a similar night like this, the snowfall was a bit thicker, but she was still the same, disarmingly beautiful in her winter coat and slightly stunk of alcohol. Pink cheeks and glazed eyes that made normal men find it hard not to think of something else that could make her cheeks blushed deeper and her eyes glassier.

He should not think of her that way but it is impossible to ignore a gorgeous flower blooming by your side after all these years. Women are the strangest creatures. Their transformation can happen overnight. Still the same face, the same features, but one day, you suddenly realise how womanly their curves turn out, how charming their smiles are and how alluring their gaits exude when they move about. Just a simple tuck of their hair behind the ear could ask for your unconcerned eyes' attention without trying. Just a simple touch on your bicep when they check your injury could make your heart thump harder. Or maybe, it is just like this with Haruno Sakura. Someone who is totally off-limit.

But soon his agony of two years will end. Hopefully.

Raising his cup up to tap against hers with an audible clang, Kakashi smiles lightly:

"Ok, for us then, old teammate"

"and friend" – she finishes and they both gulp down the liquor in union. The sour, dry taste turning sweet when passing the oesophagus makes Sakura exclaims in delight:

"Sugoii, nice Champaign, not bad a present"

"You can't even wait for three more weeks to open it?" – Asks Kakashi, curious with Sakura's sudden yearning for alcohol.

"No, I feel like drinking anything I can get my hand on at the moment" – She bursts out laughing by how wrong it sounds for a professional medical practitioner as famous as her. Now she sounds like an alcoholic.

For some reasons, Kakashi cannot bring himself to share her humour. He knows something is up the moment she appears in this bar stunk of booze. As sensible and controlled as she is with her chakra, Sakura is never the type who has to depend on alcohol to avoid dealing with difficult situations in their life.

She is very much similar to Kakashi in this area. They drink for fun on occasions to celebrate with friends and when they feel like it. Unless, there is a serious problem that they feel at their dead end.

Considering, that will happen pretty soon, Kakashi finds it hard to believe it could be something else. Even if Sakura herself denies it. A small voice at the back of Kakashi's head immediately instigates him to stay out of the pink-haired trouble, and he is never the type who can comfort people in the first place but the other dominant part just keeps him glued to the seat next to her. He cannot explain it, but when she looks like this, smiles like this, he cannot abandon her no matter how much his pre-cautious nature tells him to.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" – placing his hand on her shoulder, Kakashi is surprised with how serious he actually sounds.

This catches Sakura off guard but she still manages to smile it away:

"Nothing" – that doesn't sound convincing in the least so she adds – "Just work, Tsunade-shishou just overwork me I guess"

"OK, as long as it's work, there's nothing worth worrying about" – He doesn't sound convinced but pressing people into confessing things is not Kakashi's style either. Reaching out to his own bottle of souchu, Kakashi pours the liquor into the two earlier Champaign-full cups:

"Here it is, don't spit it out on my face if you can't stand it. It costs money you know" – warns he.

Sakura snorts loudly: "What a cheap skate you are, Kakashi-sensei" and picking up the cup before tapping it against Kakashi's.

"Is this the first time you met me?" – clearly being amused by Sakura's frequent insults rather than getting riled up over it, Kakashi takes all of his strong booze down with two gulps and entertains himself with the suffering scowl of Sakura's face when the liquor literally burns her drinking pipe from the inside. At least she honours his words not spitting it out:

"Gosh, this is horrible"

"I didn't offer you to drink it in the first place" – Playing with the rim of his own cups, Kakashi grins merrily.

"So you can drink mine for free, no thank you" – Sakura quips – "It's not every day that someone can pry something off you, you know" – Sakura sticks her tongue out with a crunch of her nose bridge, unconsciously Kakashi finds it endearing but she should in any circumstance find out about this. This is his little secret.

Being with a sharp-tongued, highly intelligent and infuriatingly cute girl like this is always pleasant to a man who loves to silently challenge things like Kakashi. Maybe it's not too wrong to allow him this little luxury of being in her presence. Maybe, it's not too bad to be at the receiving end of her warm smiles even though they are fake. Because just three more weeks, these will soon become distant memories that he can only recollect in a lonely freezing night like this with just himself and a bottle of souchu. After all it is indeed too hard to deny himself of a lovely companion.

"So how is Tsunade-sama lately?"

"Still drunk and grumpy as ever, she said she couldn't wait until her retirement anymore. But Naruto is picking things up very quickly so I think she doesn't need to wait for long."

It's startling for Kakashi to see Naruto these days without realising how much of the likeness he has with his former sensei. Especially when the blonde shuts up and does not display that trademark foxy grin of his. His sensei up there must be so proud of this child.

"Is Hinata pregnant with the third child now?"

"Yes, seriously, knowing Naruto, he's very productive in every area I guess" – Sakura chortles while the third drink between them is poured from her Chandon bottle.

"I was surprised that you guys didn't hook up eventually" – words slip out of his tongue before he can stop himself, causing Sakura to pause her pouring and turn to eye him astoundingly:

"Naruto and I?"

"Yes, He was pretty much head over heel in love with you, wasn't he?"

"It's just a childhood infatuation, Kakashi-sensei, everyone has one and everyone grows out of it at some points" – Sakura points out – "you must've had one too, right sensei?"

"No, I was always too cool to take notice of no one" – Kakashi answers smoothly

"Liar" – for some reasons, she doesn't trust him – "you just don't want to admit that you were once young and stupid" – she laughs

"So you think Naruto was young and stupid when he liked you?" – the temptation to bait this feisty girl is always too much fun for Kakashi to reject.

"Well" – that gets her just right as Sakura is stammering to find a good come-back – "true love needs a bit of obstacles to overcome I guess, I was just a lovely and tempting obstacle that they need to make a detour around to find each other" – Sakura raises her shapely eyebrow to convey another proud and playful glint.

Clearly, she is lovely and tempting, but Kakashi still does not like her comparing herself with an obstacle. This honest and kind-hearted girl will never be an obstacle to anyone. He knows that she fell for Naruto briefly after Sasuke left for two and a half years. But she had stepped back after Hinata came into the scene. Maybe fighting over a boy was the very first important lesson his only female student had learnt in life that something is not worth pursuing. Or clearly, she never gets over her "silly and young" crush for someone else. He had thought that Naruto and Sakura could make the finest couple in Konoha just like his Sensei and Kushina-san. But life never turns out the way he thinks it should be.

"maybe I never notice Hinata much in the first place" – He concludes.

"I used to think that you hardly noticed anyone, Kakashi-sensei" – sneers Sakura with a hint of mischief.

"Used to?" – for some mystifying reason, Kakashi turns to bore meaningfully into Sakura's face: "What makes you think of me otherwise" – another consequence of his loose tongue again. Well he can blame it on the booze later. Considering the history between them, he may more or less know the answer but he just feels like pressing the button a bit.

Raucous laughter suddenly erupts from the door of the bar as a group of around ten chuunins just make their not so quiet entrance. It is not that quiet in the bar before with all of the chatters and loud music, now it just gets worse. Maybe that is the reason why she suddenly needs to lean in very close to his ear, so close that he can feel the cool air coming out from her parting lips, causing his sensitive skin tingle treacherously:

"Ever since I find out that you're just clumsy with emotions, that's all" – she answers meaningfully.

"But I'm not that clumsy amongst other things, am I?" – now it's Kakashi's round to return the favour as he whispers back into her ear, so close that his lips nearly brush its rim. The effect cannot be missed as small shudder cannot lock itself from Sakura's petite frame. And her fluttered downward eyelashes are just another obvious pointer of his influence on her. The light in the bar is dim but Kakashi can still feel her cheeks' hue is darkened. Why does he do that? He has no idea. Her actions could be honestly unintentional because of the gaudy background noise but his? Apparently he is not that moral as he thinks he is in the first place.

She quietly retreats to her original place and raises the cup to her moist lips while sparing him a secretive smile that he knows for sure it is another effect of alcohol – limiting one's inhibition. Normal Sakura would be a lot shyer and more reserve. Normal Sakura would not be that tolerate of their improper innuendos. Should he care if they are acting that way? Flirting with each other is a wrong thing to do considering their current situations, isn't it?

"Clang" – the dry sound of glass on glass goes off against as Sakura taps her cup against his for the third time: "Sensei, don't forget your drink, we haven't finished them yet, have we? So tell me about your newest S-class mission in the Cloud country. Did the technique I told you last time help?"

Like magic, the tension in the air between them dissolves and the night rolls on with adventures of their own missions and ninjutsus and genjutsus that they learn on their own. Then they talked about politics, the pros and cons of banning the captures of tailed beast in each country. They debates and argues with each other but never gets angry even in a heated discussion. Sakura is amongst a few younger kunoichis whose interests do not just revolve around clothes and perfumes and jewelries. Her fierce intellectual is a great quality that Kakashi always highly appreciates. Or maybe, she is amongst the very little female population that he actually enjoys a conversation with.

Give it or take it, no matter how famous or powerful or gorgeous a person is, the Copy Nin does not feel obligated to converse with anyone unless they are truthfully an interesting person in the first place. After the third ninja war, they do not have many opportunities to meet and talk with each other because of their different scope of missions. But anytime they meet, the conversation will keep going on so naturally until they completely lose track of time.

Many cups of Champaign and Souchu and four cups of beer later, Sakura is giggling uncontrollably onto her folded arms on the bar table:

"So you just practically had to kiss and drag a naked Guy sensei out of that amazon kunoichi tribe to save his ass?"

"That idiot, even when I told him don't play around with any of them in the first place" – says an embarrassed and very much drunk older jounin.

"Gosh, this is the best story I've heard in years. But I'm curious…"

"Hmm?" – Kakashi sweeps his glance towards the glassy eyed girl:

"Was it a bare-lipped kiss with tongue or through the mask?"

He nearly chokes:

"Gosh, Sakura, through the mask of course, I shouldn't let you force me to relive one of the most horror second of my life"

She cannot help bursting into a whole-hearted mirth. The mental image is just too much for her to stand while Kakashi's lip corner just silently curves up into a humiliating smile. Clutching her belly with one hand and wiping away the tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes with another:

"But somehow, I feel relieved that you still have your mask on, Kakashi-sensei, I wouldn't want anyone to kiss your bare lips"

It is a wrong thing to say because as soon as words leave Sakura's lips, silence just rules over them as the former teacher and student rivet at each other. The bar's noise seems like retreating a few miles back and echoing from a very far far away place. After what seems like eternity, Kakashi is the first to find his voice and break their enthralled state by reverting his attention away from her pretty face:

"Uhm, it's very late already" – eyeing his half-full beer glass repentantly, Kakashi finishes it off with two large gulps and stands up: "I think I need some good rest now"

Fast on her feet as well, Sakura hastily brushes off her own discomfiture:

"Yes, you're right, it's very late. We should go home"

Putting on their respective winter coat and getting out of the bar door into the snow-filled street, the student and the teacher do not exchange a single word.

An awkward contrast with their non-stop chatter before. Both seem to be afraid that they may just end up saying the wrong things.

Soon the bar music ceases to exist after a few corner turns. The narrow alleyways start to turn wider and roomier as the pair strides to the main road. It must be at least two or three in the morning now.

Although living in two different sides of Konohagakure, Kakashi and Sakura still share the same long road over the bridge that connects this entertainment part of town with its residential areas. So as much as Kakashi wants to get home as soon as possible, it is just not that easy. The whole evening has been a rather perilous circumstance in Kakashi's opinion since they were pretty much dancing around forbidden topics which he has no intention to pursue at all time. It does not help with all the alcohol in his system but he would rather control himself than doing reckless things that will make him regret later.

Nonetheless he should know better that it is never easy to evade her. Even nature has a way to disturb him. Because Every now and then a winter breeze sweeps pass, casting the wonderful aroma that is so Sakura-like onto Kakashi'senses causing him to momentarily drunk in absence. Even though he has instigated their parting, the Copy Nin cannot help but reward himself with some deep inhales of that womanly fragrance into his nose. He wants to remember this scent no matter what. As long as she does not know about this, there is no harm, isn't it?

The road is long but short, soon they will go back to be two one-timed teammates again. Soon they will just wave at each other from distance and hurry to part way to go on with their life. Soon everything happened between them will just be remembered as a moment of weakness. Inattentively, Kakashi wants to slow down his long stride so that this road will last longer.

Suddenly as soon as they reach the bridge, Sakura jumps on top of the rail to walk on it instead of using the normal civilian route on the bridge's surface. Probably not a good idea when you are that drunk and the bridge is ten feet above the freezing water. But how she is balancing herself skilfully in her wobbling state gives Kakashi an idea that this is not the first time she's doing this:

"Don't try to show off your chakra controlling skill too much, Sakura-chan. I'm not marking you against anyone here, you know" – Kakashi chuckles a bit when Sakura turns to narrow her eyes at him:

"I don't show-off, everyone knows that I'm perfect at it, I'm even better than you Kakashi-sensei"

"Touche" – he smiles at her again, lenient and warm this time – "I'm glad that you all surpass me and find your happiness, Sakura-chan"

This time Sakura just stops dead on her track causing Kakashi to pause to eye at this deliberately troubled girl. As silent as the light snowflakes falling down on her cheeks, hair and shoulders, she stands there in utter stillness but somehow he can feel the mental struggle she has from within is not at all quiet. Ever so slowly her eyes are filled with unshed tears again, but this time it is not because of laughter or alcohol influence:

"Kakashi" – the silver-haired man's heart skips a beat when she drops the suffix: "I'm getting married in three weeks, is it wrong that I don't feel that happy when I'm supposed to?"

She holds his gaze expectantly as if his next answer will decide whatever it is between them that they have try desperately to evade this whole evening, or maybe for the last two years. But what does she expect of him? What are they? Sakura should know that their parting is for the best:

"Sakura, this is what you've wanted your whole life, isn't it? Getting married to Sasuke"

"I don't know anything anymore, Kakashi, I don't feel the same way when he comes back, I don't feel the same way around him when I'm around you, not after that kiss you gave me two years ago" – tears had flooded her eyes and rolled down her cheeks in a swift motion as Kakashi just looks like some lightning bolt has struck him dead on spot:

"Sakura…" – he manages but nothing can come out after that

"How can you pretend that there is nothing happened between us? How can you ignore me for the last two years? Why did you mess me up and then ran away like a coward?"

"It's just a kiss, Sakura" – he protests weakly, eyes cannot leave her face as his chest gets tighter every second observing that pained expression of hers.

"It's not JUST a kiss" – she shouts – "you know that damn well, considering it is us" – stepping down from the bridge rail, Sakura shoves herself towards the uncertain Copy Nin and violently whacks his chest with her fists:

"You're a bastard Kakashi, if you dare to kiss your own student, then have some courage to take responsibilities for it, don't deny yourself that you don't feel anything for me"

"Sakura" – his hands snatch up to her wrists to keep her in place so fast and firm that Sakura is left to glare at another pair of equally angry mismatched eyes. And just a heartbeat before that she knows what is going on, he violently leans in and kisses her.

At first, it is a clash of lips and teeth that will definitely leave bruises later on and because she is fighting back with a passion. But Kakashi doesn't give up on his hold of her as he keeps on kissing and kissing her while his whole body grabs on to her petit one to subdue this fiery little volcano.

He does not care if the taste of their kiss becomes salty and bloody because soon his tongue has found its way into her mouth and his lips have taken full control of her disagreeable ones. A throaty moan escapes her as he wrestles her tongue with his own. Even the alcohol is blatant in their oral caverns, she tastes just sweet as he remembers or even better. This unique smell of Sakura is what he has been dreaming about for the last two years. This saliva of hers is more syrupy than any forest honey he could ever taste. She has no idea how much he wants to drink dry her soul and her passion through this kiss, how much he wants to ravish her and make her orgasm multiple times until she cannot walk anymore for days. She just has no idea because she always makes him feel like Uchiha Sasuke is the only man that she can ever love.

And now she is just as responsive to his kiss as the first time he kissed her in a drunken night like this. Now she is just as passionate as he always knows she can be in love and in life and it breaks his heart seeing a bastard like Sasuke will never know how lucky he is to have such a girl. How he never can bring the best out of her.

They kiss and kiss while he nearly shatters her apart in a strangling embrace. She does not seem to mind if she disappears right there right now. She does not seem to care if he will break her apart because she does not seem to want him to stop. He knows it because Sasuke can never kiss her like this. Because Sasuke can never give her a kiss that makes her feel so alive.

But no matter how they want it last, the kiss finally breaks as their lungs are screaming for oxygen. Moulding her cheeks between his large hands, Kakashi's forehead touches hers as he says between ragged breaths, which are oddly in tune with the raising, and falling of Sakura's chest:

"We need to stop this Sakura, people will get hurt because of us"

"I don't want to…stop" – She sobs, eyes closed to contain the outburst of emotions.

"Please Sakura, everything is too late" – he pleads and pulls her into another embrace so her chin can rest on his shoulder: "I'm sorry"

And with one last squeeze, he lets go of her. His back turns against her before they can even make eye contact with each other, insinuating to Sakura that he wants her to be the one that walks away.

Silence ensues once again for what seems like eternity – the thick heavy silence that can suffocates anyone within it. He just stands there, refuses to budge or makes any move. Even though he doesn't look, he can feel her stare burning at him, making the tender hair at the back of his neck raised ever so slightly. Every second passes by heavily like a wounded animal trying to tumble its way through the thick snow. He waits and waits, unaware of his own breaths become shallower. Even with her silence, this girl can still insidiously kill him from inside.

Then the slanting shadow of his female student on the bridge floor starts to shift and running footsteps on wooden surface echoes around his ears in painful thud thud thud sounds. This time he cannot stop himself from following her running figure, which is soon swallowed by the darkness of the abysmal street.

"This is for the best, Sakura"

She does not know how long she has been running with a dead-tight chest and spicy, choked nose bridge filled with repressed emotions bubbling to burst open at any moment. She has told herself to let go when she agreed to Sasuke's proposal. She has told herself to give up on her silly feeling with a man who is unable to return it. What right does she have to cry? This is not the first time he turns her down…why does she still feel this agonizing because of something so predictable?

The familiar brown oak door of her apartment materialises in front of her like an emergency exit she needs so badly. She needs a shelter to vent out all of her pent-up emotions all alone but her shaky fingers do not seem to cooperate as she cannot seem to bring herself to calm them down to insert the key into its keyhole. Miraculously, it works at the n time when she is nearly about to throw the useless key chain down on the ground out of frustration.

Rushing inside her own home, the heartbroken kunoichi slams the door shut and with her back leaning heavily on the solid timber, she gradually slides off as her knees buckle down with the drainage of her muscle strength.

Touching her cold cheeks dampened with moisture, Sakura realises she has been crying all this time running back from the bridge. Away from Kakashi. Even when she has told herself not to cry, it still happens – a clear evident that she is absolutely useless around this man.

How can she be so stupid? Why did she walk up to him in that bar? Kakashi never wants to have anything to do with her in the first place and does he not make it all crystal clear by giving her a cold shoulder for the last two years?

Like he said, it's just a kiss. No matter how heart-melting it was and how passionately he seemed to give himself into it, it is not something worth to mesmerise for two years.

But anytime, they cross path, her heart never seems to be at peace. It has always gone on a roller-coaster ride with anything related to this man. She would hurry her steps to catch up with him if she just saw so much of a glimpse of silver spiky lock from afar. If it was really him, she would just pretend that she was accidentally going this way, and her heart would hammer so loud in her chest as if he was the only existence that mattered to it. If she does not catch up with him in time, she can feel the disappointment it experiences because it was like being fallen into a bottomless pit without anything or anyone to hold onto.

He never seems wanting to stay long when she appears, just a few casual greetings and he will be out at the door in a jiff. Sometimes Sakura doubts so much if their kiss is just a weird dream her bored mind came up with to tell her there is more to life than the sad relationship she is having with Sasuke now. But then the way her former teacher's eyes linger on her when he thinks she does not notice confirms her that it did happen that night, their first kiss – her first kiss.

Raising her fingers up to feel her abused lips, Sakura closes her eyes tightly to try to stop another torrent of unnecessary sentiments, though pointlessly, two more teardrops still escape in time to roll down her cheeks.

The feeling is still here vividly. His masculine, primitive smell is still here, besieging her keen sense. His overpowering warmth, his strong embrace, his lips, his tongue, everything she desires in so many dreams for the last two years is all here, coursing through her entire being like some atrociously addictive drugs. But worse than that, she does not think any narcotic can make her hurt for this long after ceasing to use them for two years. And this time, how long will it affect her life? She will be someone else's wife in three weeks and he gives her that kiss.

Unreasonably, hatred grows inside Sakura. She hates him. She hates how he unintentionally plays with her heart by pulling her in and pushing her away at the same time. She hates how he can easily ignore her and treat her like a stranger for the last two years but then when he kisses her, he can simply turn her whole world upside down.

Sasuke has kissed her so many times, but none of his is like Kakashi's. None of his kisses makes her feel that alive and hurt and happy at the same time like Kakashi's kisses. She knows even when he acts clumsy and carefree on the outside with his perpetual tardiness, on the inside, this man is the worst sticker for morality and honour. He would never be the third person in anyone's relationship let alone his students'. He chose to stay away then, she knows he will choose to stay away now.

She did not hope to change this or created a mess out of everything when she walked up to him in that bar because as he said it was too late. But when she saw him there, all alone in a crowded bar with just a bottle of souchu, with his mask down, her body moved on its own accord. Because she wants to see him so badly, wants to be able to talk with him, smile and laugh with him like a long long time ago before Sasuke decided to start everything over again with her. Because she is always attracted to Kakashi like a helpless moth to a deadly radiant light. He never knows how easy she can throw everything she has away for him if he wants her to…

A sudden knock on the door startles Sakura and instantly she can feel his chakra signature behind the door, her heart just stops.

It can't be…

She must be dreaming again:

"Who's that? " – she hears herself asking, trying her best to contain the quiet sobs from her ribcage, uncertainty filled the air around her thick.

A long long pause entails and finally:

"Kakashi"

Instantly feeling dizzy because of the neck-breaking movement to stand up, Sakura's hand pauses on the door knob for a few seconds.

This will change everything…

The small voice at the back of her head whispers….

But she does not want him to go. Not ever.

The door is swung open and Kakashi is there, slightly out of breath, apparently because of running after her. His mien is so different from the unperturbed person she always connects with. His eyes for a rare moment are no longer hooded and unconcerned as something so akin to passion seems to break free from the well-guarded prison of his own soul.

Kakashi will never be an open book to anyone no matter how close they are to him but at this moment, for the very first time, the younger kunoichi thinks she has caught a glimpse of the inside of this enigmatic man because in all honesty, he looks like he is about to do something he will regret later…

His large hands reach out to grab her face in a firm, decisive but oddly gentle motion to capture her lips in his hungry ones. In a heart-beat, she melts into it like snow carpets under hot morning sun.

She is backtracked by him into the house and the door snaps shut after them as if hurrying to preserve their special intimate moment on its own. Not wanting to break their kiss, their hands were fumbling in the dark to remove each other's outfit. First gone is Kakashi's jacket, then Sakura's. Then reluctantly, the kiss has to cease so Kakashi can help his petit lover get out of her knitwear to her tank top underneath. With a skilful tug of the zipper, Sakura's short skirt falls on the ground. By the time they get to the pink-haired girl's bebroom, many clothing items have been shredded and strewn in abandonment on the wooden floor.

In his strong hand, the silver-haired man scoops his former student up effortlessly so that his front torso is wedged between her long legs. His eyes bore into hers again for a few seconds to find any uncertainty. He finds none. If there is anything, it is just affection.

She leans in again until her soft tress tickles his forehead and his cheekbone; slowly she kisses him, deep and luxurious. This girl will never know how easily she can drive him to the brink of insanity. Perhaps somewhere amongst this mayhem, there is a small voice of reason still nagging him that what they are doing now is wrong, but he cannot care less. Because right now, there is only one sensation raging over his entire being, taking full control of his mind, pushing all the other trivial feelings of guiltiness away like a full-on tornado, sweeping clean everything on its wake – He has to take her. He has to make her his. Right here, right now.

He lays her down on the bed, then with his whole body looming over, effectively trapping her underneath, he gawks at her for the longest time. Starving eyes mesmerize every details of her features, every contours of her feminine curves dimly lit by the hazy winter moon outside the window of her bedroom. She is in nothing but her panties and bra, and she is heartbreakingly beautiful. Most importantly, from her large deep green eyes, she wants him just as much as he wants her.

Then he kisses her again on the forehead this time and she grasps for the sudden vulnerability it transfers to her whole body. She never knows her forehead could be so sensitive, or maybe it's just Kakashi.

He slowly rains down kisses on the tip of her nose, her cheeks, her chin and then her neck, leaving a trail of hot sensations along the way – the kind of sensation that makes her spine shiver with anticipation.

He spends time to lick and suck thoroughly at her neck while his hands roaming under her back to unclasp her bra and helping her get out of it. Then he fondles and sucks her breasts with the sheer intensity he hardly ever displays except in the battle field. The rough calluses in his palm excite the thin-skinned of her bosoms, forming a gooey feeling straight down to her lower belly in time with the licking of his tongue on her nipples.

Once again, he goes lower with his sweet torture on her stomach with his fingers consequentially tugging at the edge of her panties. He gazes up at her the whole time when he peels the small undergarment away from her leg, the sheer sexual intensity shies her but she finds it impossible to look away from his handsome face. The evident thirstiness in his pupils made her inside squirm nervously. And she likes it.

Then he places his hands under her thighs and hauls her forward until her sex was just centimetres away from his front torso so that he can nest perfectly between her legs. His intention is very much single-minded:

"Can I taste you?" – lowering his face ever so slowly down to hover above her womanhood, he asks with a smile, probably teasing her but she just seems too engrossed in the increasing tension he creates when his face inches closer and closer to her sex to respond back. Smirking to himself, Kakashi takes her silence as an "yes" by starting to suck and taste the skin of her inner thighs lavishly.

Mewls tear from her throat involuntarily, dampness gathering thicker around her vagina and her mind is blinded with excruciating anticipation when his tongue glazes higher and higher. She tries to peer through her heavy eyelashes to mesmerise the face of the Copy Nin whose pair of tightly closed eyes and slight scowls formed between his brows indicates his deep concentration. Oh, how she loves making the great Kakashi look this lust-filled with abandonment? Unknown to him, witnessing him like this makes her feel more aroused than aphrodisiac.

The heavenly heady smell of her sex enters his keen scent, tempting him to taste her right there to see if she tastes as sweet as her smell.

He probably wants to tease her more, lengthen her suffering but truth to be told, he himself cannot wait.

His mouth finally closes on where she wants it most as his tongue immediately started on a hysterical dance of passion. It strokes and twirls around her wet folds while his mouth drinks and sucks her juice, urging and coercing it to produce more dampness for his thirst. This completely knocks air out of her lungs. Sakura cries out earnestly as if thousands of tiny electric currents are assaulting her whole body all at once, making her spineless and utterly vulnerable.

His tongue plunges so deep inside her that she has to throw her head back trying to suppress the overwhelming pleasure. The tender flesh between her legs is pulsating spasmodically with the prodding rhythm of his unforgiving tongue. She feels so wet and ecstatic and the goddamned drenched noise that he makes is as shameful as it is rousing.

Her one hand is clutching so tight to the bed-sheet to keep herself from falling apart while the other kneading through his thick lock, undecidedly to whether it should push or pull him close.

His greedy mouth keeps building up the tension between her legs as an ever-growing pressure coils up in her stomach, tearing uncontrollable whimpers from her throat. As if knowing exactly what she needs, he inserts one long finger into her and she can feel how eagerly her vaginal walls clamp down on that intrusive digit and instantly take on the delicious plunging in and out cadence it creates while his tongue still massaging her clitoris in a frenzied fashion.

This is the just too much. His long finger touches herself further and deeper than she can touch herself, and the knowledge this is Kakashi giving head to her, this is his finger inside her body alone makes her heart consumed with burning desire. It hits her like a violent whirlwind as her woman flesh convulses helplessly around his finger while his tongue immediately picks up her coming, flicking skilfully around her wet folds, coercing her to reach her final release…

"Kakashi" – she screams as the upsurge of desire climaxes at the very core of her womanhood. Her fingers twisting so hard around the bed sheet that the knuckles turn white and her feet are lifted up in mid-air trying desperately to suppress the irrepressible pressure.

Her eyes wearily shut while her inner walls are still pulsating and throbbing in the aftermath of what can only be described as a wonderful orgasm. Her body goes limb in Kakashi arms and she can feel between her laboured breathings how he raises his upper body up and devours her form again with his intense scrutiny.

When she has enough courage and strength to crack her eyes open again to regard him, his face is already inches away from her as he leans in to demand another kiss:

"You are so beautiful" – he says when she cradles his face with her small hands and he with his much larger ones. His eyes are so gentle and warm and it makes her feel like crying again all of a sudden because why does it take them so long to be with each other like this? Why does it feel so right when it is so wrong?

Fortunately she is able to hold all those sentiments back. Sakura leans in to give another peck on his beautiful lips and whispers while deep red blushes form on her cheek again:

"Please let me make you happy too"

His eyes are widened for a brief moment as he instantly catches on what she means:

"Sakura, you don't have to…"

But she already wriggles out beneath him and in a move worthy of her jounin status, she pins him right down on the bed, straddling right beneath his incredibly bulging anatomy:

"But I want to… I want to make you feel good" – her voice is barely audible. He can tell by the way her stare going downward and her eyelashes touching her high cheeks that she is very shy offering something as such.

This is a bit too much for any self-respecting ninja like Kakashi. Sakura is as usual so oblivious about how adorably sly she is. How she is able to look that shy and provocative and bold at the same is a mystery to Kakashi. After offering to do something any man would dream for by easily straddling him with her sweet damp womanhood, she instantly put on that vulnerable, self-conscious look in the depth of her sea-green eyes and the slightly curves of her parted lips. If he did not know any better, he would just think that she was otherwise inviting him to ravish her thoroughly.

He doesn't remember since when this bubble gum haired girl has driven him crazy but he can totally understand why. She is all fierce and girlish, cute and sexy, logical and sentimental at the same time, a tigress and a pussy cat all rolled into one. This creates a woven series of never-ending excitements around her that Kakashi could never find from any other woman he had met in his life.

Unable to contain the warm feeling filling his chest caused by her selflessness, Kakashi lifts his hand up to touch her face to direct her eyes back to his:

"Sakura, it's very cute when you say that but you don't have to, you know"

"No, but…I want to taste you too" – a small embarrassing but cheeky smile forms at the corner of her lips as her hands stealthily creep up to rub against the undeniable indicator of his turn-on which is ineptly covered by the thin fabric of his boxer. Kakashi nearly beats back a groan when she grabs him and excites two-fold by her mischief.

Slowly, she peels his boxer down to reveal a proud member desperately wanting to be released. Her body seems to move on its own accord down the length of his body to accommodate comfortably between his legs. Her face now hovers just about his erect penis while her hair curtains around her visage as if containing a secret. He cannot see her eyes from here but the way she seems to observe it in silence as if in awe makes him a bit more confident. Not that he really cares about this since the Copy Nin always knows he is on the large scale but he definitely does not want to be a let-down to this breath-taking girl who he has been desiring for so long.

"Kami" – it's Kakashi's turn to grasp as a soft, wet and warm tongue flicks over the most sensitive part of his manhood.

Slowly she drags her tongue up and down his shaft and over his balls to nip in lightly the squishy delicate parts of his body. Then her moist warm mouth closes over his painfully hard cock while her tongue twirls around the tender head repeatedly as if he is literally the sweetest lollipopshe has ever tasted in life. Her right hand move vertically around his member, skilfully rhythmic with the sucking of her oral cavern and tongue around the tip while her left hand gently teasing his balls.

His head nearly falls back on her mattress as he tries his best not to let out a shameful groan – he shouldn't, a ninja of his calibre needs to have utter control in any situation (and he is not that unfamiliar with seducing and being seduced for countless top-secret missions) but this dawn vixen seems to know exactly what to break his self-control apart effortlessly.

She etches herself in his heart without trying, she tortures him so much for the last two years without knowing. She has no idea how hopeless he is inside when she is around, how hard it is for him to just disappear from wherever she is as soon as possible so that he can remain sane for the rest of his life. Speaking of that, sanity is a funny word at this very moment. Ever since their attraction started, there is no saneness existing anywhere near.

She always drives him over the edge and when she runs away, he just knows that there is no way back for him because he can lie to himself for many years to come but the line has already been crossed long time ago. He can never see her as his mere female student or the fiancé of his traitorous student anymore. Because when she is just Sakura – the woman who loves him and whom he loves.

He tries so hard to lift his head up a bit so that he can see her working magic between his legs. He wants to remember this beautiful scene, he wants to remember this feeling forever and instinctually, he records the scene with his activated sharingan. Almost immediately, the sensation receiving and emitting lobes' reaction in his brain intensifies by tenfold as an unbearable gigantic upsurge of pleasure washes over his entire body, in perfect sync with her lapping and slurping around his oversensitive penis.

"Dammit, Sakura" – he growls frustratingly and before the pink-haired girl can even fathom what is going on, he raises abruptly, causing her to release his cock from her sweet mouth. Then a pair of strong and decisive hands grabs her waists, hoisting her forward and flipping her whole body down in a swiftest movement which can only be pulled off by the infamous Copy Nin. He traps her again under his wide, leanly muscular frame. With just one look in his fiery eyes, his intention to her is as clear as daylight. She knows he wants it as much as she wants it but he still clings to a bit of sanity left within him to make sure that he can let her back out now. She just reaches out to his face, brings it down for another deep kiss, then whispering into his lips she sighs:

"Don't be silly, I'm yours"

He plunges himself fully into her with one smooth roll of his manhood and for one second they both groan in unison, feeling so fulfilled and fitting as if the hollow holes in their hearts for their whole life are filled up to the brim. Then they move frantically against each other, with every intention of relieving that painful ache deep within the centre of their being, milking the life energy, the sexual need out of each other. The wet noises of their intimate part slithering against each other are echoing in the quiet night air together with their groans and sighs and whimpers.

"This is….so good, Kakashi" – Sakura grunts with difficulties between the hammering of her hearts and the delicious thrusting in and pulling out of Kakashi's cock.

"Uhm" – whimpers Kakashi, possibly barely able to form any word.

Encircling his large hands around her small waist, with one swift movement, Kakashi pulls his lover up to sit on his lap without breaking their connection so that she can slide up and down his shaft more needily while he captures her lips and once again glides his tongue against hers to intensify the tingling sensation between them. The fervent squeezing of Sakura's damp folds on Kakashi's manhood keeps pushing and pushing his tolerance over the edge as one wave of torturous pleasure does not even have time to fade then another already arises to take over. The skip between each wave becomes shorter and shorter with every plunge and thrash until the pink-haired girl's core completely tautens around the tip of her lover's penis and she faces with the ultimate outcome – a sexual explosion so unbearable. A loud scream breaks free from her throat, raw and wild.

Looking at her tightly shut eyes and pinched eyebrows, hearing her cry and knowing that he is the person who makes her feel this way shoves the very last bit of consciousness out of Kakashi's head as he grabs her hips harder to move her crazily up and down his cock. This lengthens her orgasm and leads him straight to his final release.

The explosive orgasm is so intense that he can feel himself violently burst out wet hot fluid inside her and jerky throbs pounding mercilessly along her vaginal walls. The ecstasy blurs his vision and paralyses his limbs. As muscle strength leaves his body, Kakashi collapses on top of the kunoichi's petite frame with heavy pants while she traps him in a huge embrace.

Then she says it…It just rolls off her tongue like it is the most natural thing to say.

"I love you too" – He responds evenly and easily. Because there is nothing else he wants to say. Just as simple as that.

….

"I'm sorry that I make you cry" – Touching her face so gently with his thumb and index finger, Kakashi looks sadder than Sakura has ever seen. His eyebrows are twisted in a deep scowl and his glint carrying so many emotions but mostly self-loathing and disappointment. She feels sad seeing him like this but deep down, a small bud of happiness is growing up in the depth of her chest because she knows of all the misery and heartache she feels for this man, he feels the same way. His natural lack of expression is all to make his suffering deeper and more enduring than anyone. It sounds sadistic of her to feel that way but she could not help a smile because she knows he only feels that way because there is so much love:

"It's ok, I won't be crying anymore if you are with me" – She says between her tears but these one are far from melancholy, they are the blissful ones.

Gently brushing away her tear, he smiles sadly again:

"People will talk…"

"I know"

"I know you'll care about what they say and it will hurt for a long time…"

"Yes, I do care about what they say, but I don't care as well, because if you're with me, it'll be bearable, I guess"

"How do you break this to him?"

"I don't know but this is what I should've done long time ago, even before this. Why did you follow me? I thought you've made up your mind"

"Because I'm weak, I guess. And you always know how to push my button"

"I do no such thing. If I knew how to do that, I wouldn't have to suffer your cold shoulder for the last two years"

"Of course you do, looking at me with these eyes, smiling at me with these lips, hitting me with these tiny but mean fists"

"Hey, I just want to know"

"Ok, because when you run away, I was just standing there without being able to walk away. I just realised that there was no way I could be right when you were that miserable and I was too. It couldn't be for the best. And I was just here before I could put my thoughts together, that was definitely the first for me"

"I know, I'm glad that you don't think for once in your life, if only it could happen sooner"

"What is wrong between you and him?"

"I don't know but after everything happened to him, He seems to be…unable to love. I know he cares about me in his cold way, and he's tried but it just doesn't work. We just fall into patterns and he thinks marriage may bond us better. I don't know if it works but I want to give it a try. But the closer it is to that day, the more wrong I know I am. And you…"

#kakashi hatake #kakashi x sakura #kakaxsaku #kakashi and sakura #hatake kakashi #kakashi #sakura haruno #haruno sakura #sakura #naruto fanart #naruto fandom #naruto fan character #naruto fanfiction

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a-damson-in-distress · 5 years

Text

The Protégé 4

Pairing: MadaSaku

Plot: In search of a new cellist for his prestigious orchestra, an infamously feared maestro stumbles upon a young rising star.

The Protégé 1

The Protégé 2

The Protégé 3

Edit: I almost forgot to add this super important note: A thousand thank yous to my regulars who have followed this story from the get-go. There are a few of you who never fail to show their appreciation and never forget to leave an encouraging comment. Don’t think I don’t notice you, you stalkers ;). I am immensly thankful for your feedback and your comments, they keep me so motivated and give me a sense of validation, like this isn’t just some sort of private thing that I only create for myself and nobody else gives a shit about it. If five hundred people read my story without leaving a comment or anything and I’ve only got the few reviews from you guys, it’s still enough to show me that my work is appreciated. So thank you!

Note: For those of you who are as confused about orchestral stage etiquette as I am and have no idea what’s going on with the whole handshake thing in this chapter, here’s what I found out about it while doing research for chapter four: The first violinist in an orchestra is also called the concert master, he represents the entire orchestra and functions as a sort of “team captain” if you will. So whenever the maestro invites a soloist, the soloist is supposed to shake hands with the maestro (thanking him for the invitation basically) as well as the concert master (though there are variations to this, some only shake hands before the performance, some before and after, etc.). By shaking the CM’s hand, the soloist essentially thanks all of the other musicians for their collaboration as solo concertos are usually a group effort, and you know the soloist can’t go around shaking the hands of a hundred people so they usually only shake hands with the CM *gasp* wow that was a long explanation. Aaaaaaanyway, here’s a video of the concerto Sakura is performing in this chapter: Camille Saint-Saën’s Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor.

Enjoy, have fun reading, let me know if you liked it, leave a comment, send a carrier pigeon, send a smoke signal, you know whatever floats your boat. You know the drill.

---------

“A little to the left. Chin up. Perfect, stay that way.”

Sakura had trouble not squinting her eyes when the photographer unleashed another onslaught of camera flashes upon her. She was currently in his studio doing a photo shoot for the orchestra’s and the theatre’s official websites. Her probation period was over, and they were only a week away from kicking off their tour after their first performance at home, so now the New National Theatre was going to officially announce her as the principal cellist of Maestro Uchiha’s ensemble complete with interviews, articles, videos of her rehearsals, and ridiculously over-the-top photographs.

The nickname the press had given her after her solo in Sapporo spread like wildfire, and the orchestra’s publicist decided to capitalise on her image as the Imperatrix Furiosa. So they put her in a majestic velvet evening gown dyed in a scandalous scarlet with a skirt wide enough to allow her to spread her legs to accommodate her cello on the throne-like chair she was currently sitting in. Her hair was tied up into an overly dramatic and intricate updo and fastened with fancy kanzashi hair pins that were sticking out in such a manner they made it look like she was wearing a crown.

The dress and accessories paired with the red lipstick and dramatic eye make-up made her look every bit the Furious Empress and the enticing femme fatale of Japan’s classical music scene the publicist wanted her to portray.

And Sakura hated every second of it.

“Do you think you have enough pictures now?” the young cellist asked tentatively while trying to hold her unnatural pose.

Deidara, the orchestra’s publicist, looked up from the laptop where her photographs appeared right after being snapped. “Just a few more, sweety. You’re doing great, though.” He gave her an encouraging thumbs-up and shot her an apologetic smile. Great, Sakura mused silently, she must have looked more uncomfortable than she thought. And here she was thinking she was good at hiding it.

“Seriously, though, we need to wrap this up. She’s got rehearsal in an hour, and Madara will chop off my head if his MVP is late,” Sakura heard the blonde publicist explain to the photographer. She sincerely hoped the heavy make-up was covering the deep blush she could feel spreading across her cheeks at his remark. Did her Maestro really tell the publicist she was his most valuable musician?

“No grinning, please,” came the photographer’s command from behind his lens.

Right. Stop daydreaming, Sakura reminded herself.

Straightening her back and schooling her features, the pink-haired cellist remained motionless on her make-shift throne. After a few more minutes of clicking, snapping, repositioning, and flashing, Sakura was finally free to get out of her dress and wash off all that make-up. She undid her complicated updo and gathered her hair into a high puffy ponytail. Putting on her pastel green boat neck dress with box pleats and slipping into her simple white ballerinas, she immediately felt more comfortable, like her young and goofy self and not the mature and seductive diva the photographer wanted her to be.

“Chop-chop, darling. Maestro Menacing is waiting for you.” Sakura was torn from her thoughts at the sound of Deidara calling out from the other side of the closed door. The young musician had to supress a smirk at the sound of the nickname she knew the publicist secretly used for her Maestro. He wasn’t entirely wrong, Mr Uchiha really could come across as menacing and unapproachable. But Sakura had gotten to know another side of him over the last weeks as well. There was a gentleness to him he only rarely showed, tiny little smiles of satisfaction and subtle gestures of encouragement. As much as she appreciated his constructive criticism, she loved his nods of approval and his well done, Ms Haruno’s even more.

And she couldn’t wait to prove herself to her Maestro during the upcoming tour and hope for a bit more of his praise she so selfishly craved.

After Deidara and Sakura left the photographer’s studio, they immediately headed back to the theatre where the rest of Maestro Uchiha’s ensemble was already preparing themselves for one of their last rehearsals before kicking off their tour. Sakura took her usual seat to the right of the conductor’s music stand. She was so busy tuning her cello, she didn’t even notice her Maestro approach his podium.

“Ms Haruno.” A deep voice made her look up in surprise and she was met with the sight of the raven-haired conductor casually leaning on the rail of his podium with his strong arms crossed in front of his broad chest, clad in a meticulous three-piece suit sans the jacket.

The young cellist prayed to God her blush wasn’t as visible as she thought it was.

“Yes, Maestro?” she answered in a small voice.

“How was the photoshoot?”

Sakura gave him a weak smile and chuckled softly. “Honestly? It was horrible. They dressed me up in this heavy, floor-length gown and backcombed my hair so much it looked like I had a bird’s nest on my head in the end. And I had so much make-up on I could literally feel my pores dying a horrible death by asphyxiation. Please don’t look at the photos once they upload them.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. But if it makes you feel any better, I will not go actively looking for your pictures. Though I have to admit, I would love to see a pink bird’s nest.” Her Maestro’s teasing grin made her giggle, and Sakura looked up at the raven-haired conductor with a huge smile on her face.

Just in that moment, she could hear the sound of a camera shutter from her left. Both her Maestro and Sakura turned around in surprise and spotted Deidara standing in the middle of the countless rows of seats with a camera in his hand.

“Finally. Do you know how difficult it is to get a photo of two people together who both hate to pose for pictures? You two are a publicist’s nightmare, but you’re lucky you’re so goddamn photogenic.”

Sakura turned to Maestro Uchiha and looked at him questioningly. With an annoyed eye roll, he explained, “Deidara said he needed a picture of the two of us together for our countless social media profiles. He wants to make a post about me welcoming you to the ensemble or whatever, and apparently, I cannot officially welcome you without a picture.”

His obvious annoyance with the blonde publicist elicited another laugh from the young cellist. Sakura watched her conductor narrow his eyes at her before his own lips spread into a tiny amused grin.

“Alright, that’s enough giggling now, Ms Haruno. If you keep enjoying my jokes like that, the other members of my orchestra might start to think I actually have a heart.”

Biting on her bottom lip to keep herself from chuckling at his quip and again hoping that her blush wouldn’t betray her, the young cellist focused her gaze on her sheet music and readied her instrument for the rehearsal. The other musicians took their seats as well, filling up the vacant space around Sakura, and fixed their eyes on the conductor.

Maestro Uchiha gave his final orders, raised his baton, and the musicians started playing.

---------

“I finally got Naruto to accept my karaoke challenge. He’s going to do Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love at the bar tonight, you gotta come with us!”

The pink-haired cellist looked up from her sheet music and was met with the face of her new roommate Ino, the principal clarinet of their ensemble. After her first rehearsal with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Temari had introduced her to some people she claimed were the only tolerable ones, and Sakura immediately hit it off with the blonde musician. Not long after getting to know each other, Ino offered her to move in with her after her previous roommate accepted another job in a different city. Though some of her newly found friends in the orchestra, who had all known Ino for a long time now, jokingly advised her against it with the explanation that she’s bi and you’re annoyingly adorable and totally her type, she’ll eat you up and spit you out, Sakura hadn’t regretted a single second of being the roommate of the exuberant and feisty clarinet player.

“Sure, I’ll be there. I just need a minute to talk to the Maestro,” Sakura answered with an amused grin.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ino bounce up and down with excitement. “Yay, it’s gonna be so great. We always go out the night before our first performance, without any alcohol of course,” the blonde musician added in a loud voice, pointedly looking in Maestro Uchiha’s direction before continuing, “but still, you’re gonna have so much fun with us. I’ll see you at home. And don’t be late, missy, I still need to do your makeup.”

Sakura was met with the end of Ino’s perfectly manicured index finger pointed accusingly at her face before the blonde turned on her heel and strutted off the stage as if it were her own personal catwalk.

Gathering her things, the pink-haired cellist made her way to the Maestro, who was currently busy berating his principal percussionist Naruto for goofing around with his timpani sticks during a break and pretending to have a swordfight with his fellow players. She decided to wait for them to finish and came to a halt in the middle of the string section when she realised that their orchestra’s concert master Kabuto was seemingly also waiting for a word with their conductor.

The grey-haired violinist was one of the musicians who hadn’t even spared her a glance on her first day. But while most of them seemed to have come around in the meantime or have at least started greeting their newest member, Kabuto was still adamantly giving her the cold shoulder. Whenever she tried talking to him, Sakura was met with nothing but haughty looks and condescending remarks. Though she had to admit, the moments of interaction between them were few and far between, because Sakura tried to keep them to a minimum. Their concert master was clearly of the highly competitive sort, and Sakura had no intention of letting him drag her into a musical pissing contest.

And still, manners were manners, so the cellist forced a tight smile and greeted him.

“Hey, Kabuto. Excited for our first concert tomorrow?”

The grey-haired violinist slowly turned his head and looked down his nose at her. He studied her for a second with narrowed eyes, as if trying to discern whether or not she was worthy of an answer, before opening his mouth, “I’m sure you are.”

Supressing the urge to roll her eyes at his usual cryptic answer, Sakura instead ignored his remark and cleared her throat. “So um, every CM seems to be handling stage etiquette a bit differently, so I wanted to ask you how you want to do the handshake tomorrow? Before and after, or just after or do you –“

“Honestly, Haruno, I couldn’t care less about the handshake or your solo. But if this really is so confusing to you, why don’t you go ask Daddy for help? It’s not like our Maestro has anything better to do than take his new little girl by the hand and show her how things work around here.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Sakura could feel her cheeks heating up at his embarrassing remark, and she stared at him open-mouthed, stunned into silence. Luckily, she didn’t have to come up with an answer, since Kabuto was approached by another violinist in that moment, asking him whether he wanted to go out tonight.

“No thanks, I’ll be staying at the theatre for a while longer. I’ve got other plans for later,” the concert master explained with a devious grin.

After the violinist left, Kabuto made no attempt to address Sakura again, and Maestro Uchiha was still not done chewing out Naruto. Since she felt so incredibly uncomfortable in Kabuto’s presence, the young musician decided to grab her cello case and leave. Not even the prospect of talking to Maestro Uchiha for a few minutes was worth it, if it meant she had to spend another second in awkward silence with the concert master who seemed to hate her guts.

---------

There was a ritual Madara had long formed a habit of going through before every concert he was going to conduct. It consisted of him mumbling every single articulation in chronological order of every piece of that night’s programme while he re-arranged the seats of his musicians on stage. Even though the stage crew of every theatre he ever worked at never failed to position everything correctly, the conductor still felt more at east when he could move every chair and every music stand to just the perfect spot.

Madara was currently contemplating whether to push a sax player’s seat half a centimetre to the left or to the right when he heard a commotion from backstage. He followed the noise to the labyrinth of dressing rooms where his eyes caught sight of three blonde musicians rushing from one room to the next, frantically looking for something.

“What do you mean, she can’t find it. It must be there!” Temari came rushing past him with a handbag before she promptly dumped its content on a table and started digging through it.

“I don’t know. When we got home last night, I asked her if all of her stuff was ready in the dressing room. She told me she checked everything three times, even tried on the shoes just to be safe, because she was afraid they gave her the wrong size.”

Madara watched his principal clarinet go through the countless makeup bags before she turned to another person in the hall. “Naruto, did you check the clothing racks in all the dressing rooms?” Madara’s gaze landed on the blonde percussionist who just entered the room with an apologetic shake of his head.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, the raven-haired conductor leaned against the door frame and let his gaze wander around the dressing room in which the three musicians were currently bustling about.

“Our concert starts in half an hour. I sincerely hope you’ll find whatever you’re so desperately looking for.”

Madara’s accusatory gaze met the desperate look of the blonde clarinet player before she approached him, grabbing his arm and tugging him down the hall.

“Maestro, you need to help us. It’s an emergency.”

Ino came to a halt in front of the closed door of another dressing room and knocked twice before letting herself in. Madara stayed behind, still unsure of what was really going on.

“Oh God, Ino, please tell me you have it, please! I need to be ready before anyone finds out, or before he finds out. Please, we need to hurry, Maestro Uchiha absolutely can’t know about this, or I’m screwed!”

Madara’s heart suddenly lurched in his chest at the sound of Sakura’s distraught voice so close to tears. He took a step forward and entered the room where he was met with the sight of his principal cellist dressed up in her concert outfit, a dark-green fitted pant suit, black patent leather Oxford’s, and a white blouse fully buttoned up – and missing a bow tie.

“Ms Haruno, what’s going on?”

She fixed her scared, wide eyes on him, and Madara was immediately hit with the urge to envelop her in his arms and assure her he’ll make everything right for her again.

The conductor couldn’t help but let his gaze be drawn to her beautiful mouth, invited by the sight of her teeth chewing on her bottom lip before releasing it to speak.

“Maestro, I’m so so sorry, but I … I can’t seem to find my bow tie. But I swear to God it was here. After the rehearsal and before I left the theatre yesterday, I checked if all of my stuff was ready like you told us and I swear to God my outfit was complete, I know I saw the bow tie with the rest of my clothes. But now it’s gone and we looked everywhere and I don’t know what to do. God, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry to disappoint you.” Her voice was shaky and on the verge of tears and Madara had to consciously restrain the urge in his feet to run to her.

He was just about to say something to comfort the distraught young cellist when he heard more voices approaching the dressing room. The maestro turned around to see a small crowd gathered outside the door, all asking and wondering what was going on with their youngest member.

“Nothing to see here, alright? Just looking for a lost bow tie. We’ll be ready any second now, so scram, got it?” The blonde clarinet player fixed the crowd with a stern gaze and waved her hands in front of her to signal the other musicians to disperse.

“Maybe we should help look? I’m sure we’ll find it faster that way. Then we can all get back to our preparations in peace.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Madara could see Sakura’s head shoot up and her eyes widen in surprise at the sound of his concert master’s suggestion. But before anybody could say anything, Kabuto had already turned around and left.

“I’m sorry for troubling you with this, Maestro. We actually promised Sakura not to tell you anything, but we really couldn’t find it anywhere after looking for so long, and now we’re kind of lost.” Ino’s apologetic gaze was shooting back and forth between the conductor and his principal cellist.

“It’s quite alright, Ms Yamanaka. I’m glad you told me. Now I can get to the bottom of this myself.”

When he saw Sakura’s worried expression turn even more desperate, Madara felt like slapping himself. That came out way more threatening than he intended it to. He was just about to clarify his statement when he heard a knock on the open door which made all their heads turn around.

Kabuto was standing in the doorway with his right hand raised, a bow tie dangling from the edge of his middle finger. “You’ll never guess where I found this,” he said in a casual tone, a barely visible smirk gracing his features.

Madara watched his principal clarinet cross her arms in front of her chest. “Oh I’m sure I will.”

Kabuto ignored her, instead stepping into the dressing room and approaching Sakura. “Somehow, it landed in a drawer of one of the dressing tables.” He slipped the bow tie off his middle finger, and Sakura barely had enough time to catch it. “Lucky for you I’m so thorough at everything I do.” He gave her what was probably meant to be a half-baked attempt at a sincere smile and then turned to face Madara, his fake grin widening, before he left the room.

The maestro’s eyes landed on the young cellist in front of him again, who was still staring after the concert master with a look of confusion. He glanced at his watch and cleared his throat.

“Everybody out. I need a minute with Ms Haruno.”

After her friends hesitantly left the room and closed the door behind them, Madara let his gaze rest on Sakura’s downcast head. It was then the maestro realised she was playing with the bow tie in her hand, tugging at it and turning it around between her fingers. She was nervous.

“Ms Haruno, look at me.”

At the sound of his soft command, Sakura slowly raised her head to meet his gaze. Madara had to supress a groan at the sight of her teeth chewing on her bottom lip again.

“Please don’t be mad at me,” her whispering voice pleaded with him.

“I’m not mad, Ms Haruno. I know none of this was your fault, trust me.” He closed his hands over her fidgeting ones and took the bow tie.

“Chin up.”

The young cellist just stared at him for a second, jade-green eyes wide with confusion.

Madara took a step closer to her, put a finger beneath her chin and forced her head up. He then proceeded to turn up her collar and fasten the bow tie around her neck.

“You’re not going to allow this incident to rattle you, you’re better than this and we both know it. Once I call you up on stage, you’re going to walk up there like you own the place, play your solo to perfection, and blow everyone away.” He gave her bow tie a final tug.

“Have I made myself understood, Ms Haruno?” Madara looked down at her with a strict gaze and a tiny amused smirk gracing his lips.

“Yes, Maestro,” Sakura nodded enthusiastically while smiling up at him with a look of pure determination.

“Good.” Madara grabbed her chin between his fingers and leaned closer to her face before murmuring, “I wouldn’t expect anything less form my protégé.”

He watched with satisfaction as a deep blush spread across her cheeks and her jade-green eyes widened in surprise, staring up at him with that look of wonder, reverence, and gratification she only seemed to have reserved for him, as if his praise was the only thing in the world giving her life meaning.

Unable to resist, Madara allowed his gaze to rest on her inviting lips for a split second before letting go off her chin and forcing himself to leave her dressing room.

His thoughts kept swirling around the young cellist even as he stepped onto the stage amidst tumultuous applause. The conductor had to admit that it was a good decision not to have Sakura join the ensemble for the entire programme but only for her solo in the last half hour; he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep his eyes from her. Though that wasn’t the original reason for not having her on stage for the entire performance. What Madara was really hoping to achieve with the late entrance of his principal cellist was to give her the grand introduction deserving of a musician of her calibre. After all, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra was one of the most prestigious ensembles in the world of classical music, and Sakura Haruno wasn’t just anybody. And a good maestro knows to save the best for last.

Despite his mind being distracted with the image of her inviting lips only centimetres away from his own, Madara was still able to focus on the musicians in front of him as he led his orchestra through the concert’s programme. After they finished their second to last piece and when it was time for Sakura’s solo, he signalled his ensemble to quiet down, turned around on his podium to face the audience and grabbed a microphone.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, as you may have heard the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra has signed on a new member. As of this April, our vacant spot of principal cellist was filled with an immensely talented young musician from Kyoto. Though she doesn’t need an introduction, she’s going to get one anyway. She is an award-winning cello prodigy who was the youngest ever recipient of the first Grand Prize at the Rostropovitch Cello Competition at the age of sixteen. She studied under Takanori Nakano, Stjepan Hauser, and Steven Isserlis, to mention but a few. After establishing herself as a world-renowned cellist in her previous orchestras, she will now join us for our tour as the newest and youngest member of my ensemble. Ladies and Gentlemen, you will now hear Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto number 1 in A minor with our new principal cellist Sakura Haruno as the soloist.”

Madara put down the microphone, stepped off his podium, and walked off the stage to where Sakura was waiting for him.

“Ready?” he asked with an encouraging smile.

She answered with a determined nod as her lips spread into an excited grin. “As I’ll ever be.”

The maestro signalled her to lead the way. As the cellist stepped onto the stage with her instrument in hand, the audience erupted into thunderous applause. Madara followed after her, clapping his hands like the rest of the guests and the musicians of his ensemble. He watched her bow deeply to the audience before turning to Kabuto and shaking his hand with a smug grin plastered on her face. She waited for Madara to step onto his podium before shaking his hand as well.

“Give ‘em hell, Ms Haruno.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another one of her blushes he liked so much taint her cheeks as she took a seat and readied herself with a subtle, sincere smile gracing her lips.

Madara raised his baton while Sakura steadied her bow above the strings of her cello. They shared one last look, the cellist looking up at her maestro for guidance and the maestro giving her a tiny smile of approval. He nodded to his entire ensemble.

As the music enveloped the large concert hall, Madara could see Sakura sway in her seat, eyes closed and completely surrendering herself to her instrument. He knew in that moment that she was gone now, transporting her mind into whatever utopia she conjured up whenever she let go and allowed her music to simply take her away.

As easy as it was for him to get and hold her attention, the maestro had to begrudgingly admit that music still seemed to be the only thing able to ensnare her in a way he could not. He was going to have to change that soon enough, he decided.

But for the time being, Madara let her be. His protégé was lost to the world now, anyway.

#naruto #naruto fanfiction #naruto fanfic #madasaku #madasaku fanfic #sakumada #madara uchiha #madara uchiha fanfic #Sakura Haruno #sakura haruno fanfic

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raendown · 5 years

Link

Commission for @white-crow-haruno, whom I cannot tag.

Pairing: KakashiSakura Rated: E Word count: 2572 Summary: Their date hadn't exactly gone to plan but that didn't mean the night wasn't salvageable.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Cherry Service

“You know”–Sakura tipped her head back to look up at the stars, weaving one arm around Kakashi’s to keep her going in the right direction–“that was an absolutely terrible date.” Her partner laughed and gave an easy shrug.

“Maa, hardly my fault. I had every planned out. I just, er, forgot to plan for Gai showing up.”

“He’s enthusiastic, I will give him that.”

“Oh, he’s something,” Kakashi said. “I did try to get him to go away. You are much prettier than any of the rocks he wanted me to go throw around with him, I’m sure.”

Sakura bit her lip softly to keep herself from making any commenting about guys getting their rocks off. Looking for a distraction, she lifted one hand to point out her favorite constellation and quickened their pace. Hopefully her mind would have turned to less juvenile thoughts by the time they got home.

As it turned out, by the time they were stepping through the front door and lining up their sandals in the genkan her thoughts had gone straight passed juvenile and descended in to dirty. Terrible or not it had still been a date with her absolute fox of a husband and Sakura counted her blessings yet again for the roads life had taken her down as she walked behind him down the hall, shamelessly admiring the way his hips shifted while he walked. It wasn’t so much of a walk as it was a prowl, even here at home where there were no enemies to hunt, and Sakura found that she was very much in the mood to be his prey.

Kakashi hummed as he stepped in to the kitchen, eyeing the dishes in the sink and clearly wondering if he had the energy to tackle them before settling down for the evening. After a minute or so he shrugged and turned away, apparently leaving them for tomorrow. Sakura pulled a glass down from the cupboard and ran it under the tap to fill it with water for her suddenly parched throat. Even after several years together there were still moments when she could hardly believe the catch she’d landed.

Setting her glass down in an empty spot among the growing mountain of dishes, Sakura had a single squeak of kitchen tiles to warm her before a warm body slid in to place at her back, Kakashi’s hands skimming around her waist to clasp over her belly and pull her back against his chest.

“Don’t think I don’t see the way you’re looking at me. Does someone have something on their mind?” One of his hands slid down to tease at her waistline. “Naughty, naughty. Whatever shall I do with you?”

“Whatever you want to,” she invited him in what she hoped was a sultry voice. Her husband told her often how sexy he found her but no matter how many years they spent together, no matter how many times they fell in to bed, Sakura couldn’t help but think her own sex voice just sounded funny. It was an effort sometimes not to flush at how ridiculous she thought she sounded.

Fingers traced around the button of her shorts and Sakura felt a different sort of flush rising on the back of her neck. Kakashi nipped at the skin just behind her ear before growling softly in to it, “You’re going to open this for me. Then you’re going to put both hands on the counter and you’re not allowed to let go until I say so. Do you understand?”

A shudder wracked her body as Sakura nodded frantically, already reaching down to open the button and almost tearing the fly out in her haste to unzip it. Then she gripped the counter so hard she was forced to remind herself of her own strength. It simply would not do to crack the marble and ruin the moment, not when it seemed she was about to get exactly what she wanted.

Kakashi played with the hem of her shirt, slipping one hand up to trace the lines of her abdomen first before grazing down until he slid right inside her shorts and cupped her through her underwear. His fingers crooked and began to rub small circles against her entrance just to frustrate her with the thin barrier keeping him from dipping inside. Although she tried to resist the urge, tried her best to stay strong and not move, Sakura mentally rolled her eyes at her own weakness for his touch even as she groaned and rolled her hips, seeking more friction. The way this man could take her apart with just a few touches should have been worrisome in some ways. She found it equal parts annoying and enticing.

“Ah-ah,” her partner scolded her. His fingers stopped circling in punishment like she’d known they would.

“Please.” Sakura swallowed thickly when Kakashi’s hand cupped her again and ground the heel of his palm just above where she wanted it.

“Maa, now she remembers her manners. Did I tell you that you could move?”

As much as she would have loved to tell him to go stick his words up his own arse, Sakura forced her body in to stillness. These moments of absolute dominance when Kakashi told her in no uncertain terms what she was and wasn’t allowed to do were rare. No way was she wasting such a golden opportunity. He knew just how sexy she found it but, surprisingly, Kakashi was usually more of the soft touch sort. When they first got together she had been utterly surprised to find that his favorite position was plain old missionary and it wasn’t until he had shyly admitted that he preferred ‘making love’ over ‘fucking’ that she felt she truly understood where their relationship was going.

Every chance to see him throw softness out the window and get down on her level of filthy was a treat. Like right now as his teeth caught her earlobe and he slid his finger back down to edge around the silk of her panties, scraping his nail lightly against her shaven skin just to watch her shiver.

“You’re going to keep still for me,” Kakashi growled quietly. “You’re not going to cum until I say you can but you can scream if you need to.”

“Thank you,” Sakura breathed.

Then she quaked with the effort of staying still when she felt two digits tracing her entrance, skin against skin, sliding through the wetness already gathering. Had they really only gotten home a few minutes ago? Already she felt as though he’d been torturing her for an hour at least, impatient yet so very willing to wait on his pleasure.

He plunged inside without warning and Sakura cried out with shock, the muscles of her legs tensing with the effort to not rock down in to such glorious sensations. She thanked god he wasn’t feeling cruel enough to start with just one finger. Two was perfect. Two fingers was just enough for her to find pleasure in the fullness without that little bit of stretch that only made her yearn for more. Kakashi waited to see if she would move and when she didn’t he reward her good behavior by curling his fingers, rocking his hand back and forth to drag against that one spot inside that always drove her wild.

Knuckles going white with how hard she was gripping the counter, Sakura realized suddenly that she was panting. It was hard to believe he could get her this worked up in such a short time with barely any effort yet here she was writhing on the inside and with a moan spilling over the lip caught between her teeth.

“Maa, I like you like this. At my mercy. So well behaved.”

Sakura whimpered, unable to respond.

“Would you like more, love? Hm? You’re still not allowed to move. Be a good girl and stay very still for me.” Pulling away from her abused ear, Kakashi ducked his head to lay kisses across the top of her shoulder. The contrast between gentle affection and the insistence of his fingers made sparks electricity dance behind the eyelids she had squeezed tight and sent tingles shooting down her spine all the way to her toes where they were curling against the linoleum.

“Yes please,” she choked out. “I won’t move. More, please!”

“I suppose since you’re being so polite.”

She expected him to slip another finger in. Her knees almost folded with shock when her panties were shoved farther to the side for his thumb to find her clit and press hard. Then he began to make light circles in just the right way, brushing against the same spot again and again to drive her higher. It was definitely working. Each circle had her fighting back the urge to convulse with how good it was.

“Fuck,” she whimpered. “If you’re trying to kill me then you’re doing a good job of it.”

“Whatever would I do without you?” Kakashi’s laugh rumbled in her ear and Sakura ruthlessly shoved away her first instinct to elbow him in the gut for that stupid combination of sweet and sassy only he was ever able to pull off.

“You’d be – shit – you’d be doing this to yourself is what.”

“Hmm, should I?” His thumb paused in its delicious circling and Sakura cried out with loss.

It never occurred to her that she, too, could take things in to her own hands. When he got like this, telling her how to take her pleasure, it was almost a relief to give herself over to his demands. He’d told her not to come and she wouldn’t until he decided she was allowed to.

“Please,” she said. “Please, I’m being good! I haven’t moved! We had a deal, mister!” Following his commands didn’t mean she was ever very good at being completely submissive. Luckily her partner seemed to find this more amusing than off-putting.

“So we did,” Kakashi agreed.

His thumb went back to circling her clit and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. If she were allowed to move she would have rocked her hips in to the motion, riding the fingers inside of her to chase her own end. But she wasn’t and so she was left with nothing to do but remain still and feel the wave of endorphins crest higher and higher, helpless to the maddening build, and all the while knowing that this was only the beginning. Her partner hadn’t so much as brushed himself up against her yet there was no doubt in her mind that he was rock hard behind her and making plans for how to put her back together once he’d taken her apart.

Knowing her genius partner he already had three different plans of attacks for how to take her apart all over again after that. She could hardly wait, even if just thinking about a second orgasm after the one she could feel building now already had her legs shaking. Kakashi smirked in to her skin when he felt the trembling in her thighs.

“Do you need something?” he asked mildly.

“To come!” Sakura let her head fall forward to watch the shifting material hiding his filthy activities from view. “I’m right there, please let me come, please! Fuck, I’ll do anything you want if you just–ahhh!”

“More begging, hm? I suppose that does deserve a reward.”

In direct contrast to his words Kakashi removed his hand. Sakura nearly clawed him back in to place, only stopping herself at the last second from removing the grip she had on the counter. A mewl escaped when she felt her shorts being gently tugged down her legs and she docilely lifted each foot when he tapped her ankles to pull the garment away completely.

“You will turn around. You will sit on the counter. You will hold the counter like you are now.”

Sakura scrambled to follow his orders. The cold marble made her squirm once when she hopped up, shocking against her hot skin, but she regained control almost immediately and lowered her hands to take hold of the counter on either side of her thighs. Like this she was able to see Kakashi, mask hanging around his neck to frame a naughty grin, every line in his body screaming ‘predator’ as he stalked forward to part her knees with gentle hands.

“And you can still scream if you need to,” he whispered, lips brushing tantalizingly against hers before he knelt and Sakura dropped her head back against the counter when he slipped each of her legs over his shoulders.

The moment his tongue touched her she followed that advice. His fingers slid back in to place inside her and curled in just the right way, his tongue lapped at her clit in flickering circles just as his thumb had been doing before, and Sakura wondered if the world would miss her when she went mad from pleasure. Whatever slight calm she’d been able to gather between changing positions flew out the window in favor of clenching her fists once more and opening her mouth in a wordless scream.

Kakashi moaned against her and that was all she needed. Sakura toppled over the edge so quickly she could have sworn fireworks were going off right there in the kitchen with them. Sight and sound and the very fabric of reality ceased to exist, her whole world narrowed to the flickering tongue drawing out her peak until she was quaking and babbling senselessly for mercy.

When he finally let her come down from her high Sakura needed more than a full minute of just slumping back against the cupboards and gasping for breath before she realized that Kakashi was shaking very gently. Looking down, she saw that he was laughing.

“The hell?” she mumbled dazedly. Kakashi carefully slid his fingers out, waited for her shuddering to pass, then bit his lip on a giggle as he pointed one sticky digit at the space beside her.

Sakura looked down – and sighed. “I thought the sound was just in my head,” she said.

“Do you remember when I said there was no point in spending the money on marble countertops?” Kakashi chuckled, carefully prying her hand away from the shattered stone in her grip. “As much as I know saying ‘I told you so’ might ruin the moment…I absolutely told you so.”

“Ugh. I can’t deal with this right now.” Reaching her arms out, Sakura pouted as enticingly as she could. “Just take me to bed and fuck me, we can worry about replacing the counter tomorrow.”

“You know what? That is an excellent idea.” With a grin her partner stepped in between her legs and encouraged her to wrap them around his waist. Then he lifted her away from the carnage and turned for the hallway leading to their bedroom, whispering his plans to her as they went. By the time they reached the bed Sakura was already desperate for all the things he had laid out for the rest of their evening.

As it turned out, this hadn’t been nearly as bad of a date as she’d thought it was. She couldn’t wait for next week when it was her turn to plan their date night; this was going to be hard to top but Sakura was always up for a challenge.

#rae writes #commission #kakasaku #kakashi #sakura #fanfiction

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sun-summoning · 6 years

Text

summary: sakura and seven women. non-linear timeline. multi-genre. for sakura week.

i. iron will of determination

“are you going to do something you’ll regret, sakura?” shizune asks.

sakura’s jaw begins to ache from clenching it so tightly. no, she wants to say. i don’t know. maybe. yes. yes. sasuke’s fallen over the edge, naruto’s gone rogue, kakashi’s keeping her completely in the dark. oh, and they’re all out of the village. and tsunade is in a coma and about to replaced by that sketchy bastard danzo. yes. yes, yes, yes.

shizune looks at her, sadness in her dark eyes, and she draws sakura into her arms. one hand cups the back of her head, the other is wrapped around her body. shizune holds her despite sakura’s stiffness and after a moment, sakura considers crumbling. but she doesn’t. she wishes she could clutch at shizune, shake and cry because she’s scared and she’s lost and she feels terribly, terribly guilty, but sakura just tightens her jaw until it aches and the only proof of her determination to do something very, very bad is the way her eyes have glossed over.

“i’m not going to stop you,” shizune assures her, probably already knowing sakura’s plans. “whatever you choose to do, sakura, is entirely up to you.”

sakura nods once. “i know.”

“but you’ll have to live with that for the rest of your life. do you understand?”

“i understand,” sakura replies, not intending for that life to be very long.

shizune smiles at her sadly and hands her a scroll. sakura looks down at it, perplexed. “you’ve been so busy that we haven’t had a chance to work together in a long time.”

sakura’s eyes stay trained on the scroll, forest green and gilded with gold. sakura doesn’t shift in the slightest, so shizune reaches for her wrist and then presses it into her hand.

“we created this arsenal for a reason,” shizune reminds her, forcing sakura to recall all the nights she spent learning about what certain chemicals can do to a man when mixed with each other in what portions. she doesn’t smile, doesn’t frown, but there’s a sadness in her eyes that cannot penetrate the iron walls forged in sakura’s. “you and i are the only people in the world with access to these poisons. you and i are the only people who are immune. and you and i are the only people with the antidotes.”

sakura swallows thickly because using one of these will mean sasuke will, without a shadow of a doubt, die. her hands begin to tremble so she tightens her grip around the scroll.

“thank you,” sakura whispers.

shizune leaves sakura to the fate she’s chosen. “do with it what you will.”

ii. connections

the invitation is strange, but sakura still accepts, clearing time in her schedule to meet up with a young woman who claims she wants to write about her. when sakura sits across from her, the writer begins to shake.

“i’m sorry,” the writer says. “i don’t mean to be weird.”

sakura just smiles back. “don’t worry about it.”

“i know you’re a busy woman. former e.r. director, current head of the medical ninjutsu program, part-time practitioner, part-time researcher, weapons development consultant.” the writer raises a finger with every title. “i understand that you’re unofficially off the mission roster for jounin, but i imagine that has more to do with the fact that you have a toddler at home. i’m also going to gracefully not even consider what the next step tends to be for well-trained shinobi with a rare specialization such as yourself.” the writer clears her throat because sakura narrows her eyes in that subtle, suspicious way only the most trained of shinobi might. “i’m going to be direct with you. i want to write your story.”

“pardon me?”

“your story,” the writer repeats. “you are probably the finest kunoichi in this generation and i think it’s important the world knows that. or, at least, our village.”

sakura looks away, a flush forming on her cheeks. she begins to shake her head, wring her hands, and stutter incoherent things. the gestures all seem so strange, so foreign, so uncharacteristic of someone that holds all the titles the writer just mentioned. she finds it sad that haruno sakura can’t take this sort of compliment because this is a woman that can shatter the ground with one finger.

words should have nothing on her.

“i’m not saying there aren’t strong women out there,” the writer continues. “it takes one glance at the hokage mountain to remember that there are. but you...you’re just...” she shrugs. “simply put, you’re incredible. and i think decades from now someone is going to write a book about all the best kunoichi that ever existed and i want to make sure they have a proper source of reference when making sure that you’re on those pages.”

“why?” sakura asks.

the writer shrugs, but there’s a hopeful sort of smile stretched across her face. “every little girl needs a hero, don’t you think?”

“and you think that’s me?”

“i know that’s you.”

the writer leans back into her chair and a waitress arrives with the tea the writer had ordered earlier. she takes a sip and contemplates the steam. across from her, haruno sakura is quiet.

“why don’t i tell you my story first,” the writer says. sakura nods so the writer does as well. “i was eight-years-old when konoha was invaded years ago. my parents, both shinobi, were part of the efforts to the stave off the attack.

“to be clear, this isn’t a sad backstory. they’re both alive. retired, but alive.

“they left me with my grandmother in what they assumed was a safe place. but there were no safe places. not at that time. not with the akatsuki attacking and all the monsters they brought with them.

“did you know i used to be afraid of bugs? how irrational. they’re everywhere. but i used to be so frightened by them. and then after my parents left, a giant centipede came out of the ground. we were all running. i fell and i looked back and i saw it. a centipede as tall as a building that i was so certain was going to eat me. i couldn’t move. i was hurt and i was terrified and then all of a sudden i saw a girl leaping in front of me like every incredible manga heroine i’d ever read about. then she took it down with a single punch.

“the people around were marvelling at the dead monster and talking about how this girl took it down all by herself. but she--” the writer shakes her head. “but you--you didn’t even look at them. you came to me and checked on me and healed my wound while comforting me.

“you saved my life that day, saved more people, and not to be weird, but i’ve been following your accomplishments ever since then. you’re not lauded in the same way people like uzumaki naruto are. not at all. you’re not something flashy, something often spoken about. your influence runs deeper than that. your legacy runs deeper than that.

“no shinobi name, no blatant nepotism--no offence--you started off ordinary. and now you’re--” the writer falters, unable to find the right words to describe what haruno sakura has become. she shakes her head. she grins, something tight and rueful for her shortcoming. “you’re--”

“okay.”

the writer blinks. “what?”

“okay,” sakura agrees. there’s something in the way her posture loosens, in the way she rests an elbow on the table and cradles her chin in her palm. she’s relaxed enough, but the writer catches the way she braces herself for the inevitable onslaught of questions that will likely lead her down a few mental pathways she’s probably spent years ignoring.

haruno sakura smiles and the writer bites her lip when she remembers that this is her hero.

“what would you like to know?”

iii. from a bud to a blossom

her mother doesn’t look particularly impressed when she visits home with an indisputable baby bump and a wedding ring dangling from a chain around her neck. the wedding came first, sakura has the decency to clarify, but the lack of husband at her side leaves mebuki frowning.

“sasuke-kun and i can’t just--” sakura stops, pursing her lips and then looking away.

unlike her husband, mebuki has never once turned a blind eye to the bruises that used to dot their daughters skin, how limp limbs turned sturdy and powerful over time. perhaps he attributed it all to puberty, perhaps he refused to acknowledge the way her mouth had tightened with grim acceptance, how her gaze had sharpened. her daughter is one of the few from her class that was promoted to jounin, and it wouldn’t surprise mebuki to know that perhaps she was promoted even further.

sakura might pretend they’re on some sort of journey of redemption or whatnot, but her secrecy is telling enough.

“sasuke-kun couldn’t join me,” sakura says instead. “he had something he needed to do.”

“for kakashi?”

sakura dons a careful mask of pleasantness. “yes.”

mebuki almost laughs. sakura was never a good liar growing up, too quick to stutter and stumble. even after meeting ino and gaining the confidence only a best friend could provide, sakura couldn’t quite wear the right poker face. it was only after her team split up, after she learned from tsunade, that sakura figured out how to hide the important things a bit better.

“fine,” mebuki acquiesces. they fall silent, so she picks up the cup of tea before her, prompting sakura to do the same. there’s a tension between them that’s only felt when they bring up uchiha sasuke, so mebuki goes for the next best thing and nods to sakura’s midsection. “so.”

“so?”

mebuki raises an eyebrow. “are you not going to tell me about my grandchild?”

“um. you’re having one?”

“how soon?”

“well i’m due in april--”

“are you afraid?”

sakura looks startled. “what?”

“are you afraid, sakura?”

“i--” sakura swallows thickly. “i am.”

“don’t be.”

mebuki reaches across. she pulls sakura into her arms and almost laughs because she hasn’t held her little girl like this in years and now she’s just so big. she looks down at sakura’s growing belly and reaches out hesitantly. she might be her mother, but mebuki remembers all too well the invasion of hands on pregnant women. after sakura nods, mebuki smiles softly and rests her palm upon her grandchild.

“you’ve grown up, haven’t you,” mebuki murmurs. she looks up, meeting sakura’s eyes, and with her free hand, she cups her daughter’s cheek. “you’ve always been mature--probably more than you ever needed to be--but somehow seeing you like this, about to become a mother...”

sakura’s eyes, green just like hers, begin to water, and mebuki hopes against all statistically likeliness that this baby might inherit that trait.

“i love you,” sakura blurts out, her voice wavering over every word. “mommy, i--” she sniffs. “i love you so much.”

mebuki laughs. “hormones, huh?”

“mommy, they’re awful.”

she laughs again, shifting her hands to sakura’s shoulders and then pulling her into a hug. she pulls back and presses a kiss against sakura’s forehead like she did when her girl was growng up. “i love you too, sakura.”

iv. zodiac

one day sakura is cooking breakfast while sarada sits at the table reading a magazine. she looks so strange, dressed down in her pyjamas with her hair messy and her glasses askew. she yawns and then says, “hey, we have the same zodiac sign, mama.”

sakura glances at sarada with an eyebrow raised. “you’re thirteen. this is just occurring to you now?”

sarada sticks her tongue out at her. “i’m just saying!” she holds up a page with a ram on it. “aries women are passionate, enthusiastic, and determined.” then she winks at sakura. “they’re also short-tempered, moody, and aggressive.”

“what was that? you don’t want me to make you breakfast and you want to starve today?”

"see! short-tempered!”

sighing, sakura slides the cooked eggs out of the pan and onto a plate. she brings the food to the table and sets everything up for the two of them. sarada needs to eat up for her day preparing for the chuunin exams with her team, and sakura has work to do at the hospital.

“also,” sarada says, stuffing her mouth with a piece of fish, “we aries are optimistic.” she pauses, probably considering herself and considering her mother. “yeah, the both of us really are all of those things.” she nods. “it’s because we’re both aries.”

“that’s absurd.” sakura shakes her head, hardly one to believe in something like astrology. she rests her chin over her palm and stares at her daughter, a young woman full of confidence and drive. she reaches out with her free hand and musses sarada’s hair. “we’re alike because i raised you, not because of some stars.”

she leans forward, pressing a kiss against sarada’s forehead. when she draws back, sarada is beaming.

“you have all those amazing traits because you had an amazing mother to teach them to you,” sakura says with a wink

sarada laughs again. “and the negative ones? did i get my moodiness from you or from the stars?”

sakura steals a bit of sarada’s breakfast. “that we’ll blame on your father.”

v. japanese mythology

while sakura’s chakra control has always been superior to that of her peers, she still lacks the utter precision of people like tsunade and shizune. she’ll get there, and she’ll get there very soon, they often remind her, but there are still times when sakura’s control falters at the moment meant for release.

sometimes nothing will happen. sometimes she won’t exert properly, won’t protect herself either, resulting in a shattered fist and broken arm, and even worse depending on the intentions of her opponent.

and other times the opposite will take place. sakura will throw her punch, putting everything into a well-timed attack that results in much more damage than she could ever intend. sakura’s caused minor earthquakes, demolished buildings, shattered foundations, but not because she meant to.

she’s still learning, tsunade will tell her. it hasn’t even been a year, after all.

sakura tries not to use her chakra enhanced strength all too much, but sometimes it’s necessary.

she doesn’t know where her current team is. ever since her genin cell was split up, tsunade has put her on various squads. she’s mostly meant to heal, but she still needs to fight, and right now she’ll die if she doesn’t.

the kunoichi she’s up against is strong and comes at her with the intention to kill. she’s stronger, so much stronger, and sakura doesn’t know if she can beat her. she wishes she could be as powerful as this kunoichi, as sure of her own capabilities that she had no qualms with separating from her team. sakura scowls, jealous, and curses her old team and curses her current one. she tries to hide to get her bearings, but the yatsugatake mountains do not allow her this reprieve.

“do you intend to run away?” the kunoichi asks.

she’s much older than sakura, and judging by the scar by her eyebrow and the hardness of her face, she’s much more experienced as well. she moves with a confidence sakura can only wish to one day achieve, and strikes just as surely.

sakura is just fortunate that she’s much better at dodging.

"fight me!” the kunoichi yells.

the kunoichi slashes her side and sakura cries out and stumbles. the kunoichi moves to hit her again, but sakura rolls out of the way at the last second. she runs, unashamed by her cowardice. one hand holds her bleeding wound, unconsciously feeding it with healing chakra.

she has to do something.

sakura slides down against the jagged stone of the mountain and takes a deep breath to think. she can’t get in close. the kunoichi is better than her. sakura can evade, but she can’t do that forever. she can attack with the few long-range weapons she has on hand, but sakura doesn’t doubt the kunoichi will counter them with ease.

sakura takes a breath, looks down at her stained hands, and wonders is she can cause a rockslide.

“stop running--”

sakura concentrates her chakra into her fist. she draws her arm back, punches the mountainside, and release everything she has. she cries out as something breaks in her arm, but she gets the result that she wants. despite her pain, she catches the flicker of fear on the kunoichi’s face when the stone crumbles and immediately falls on top of her.

sakura herself barely dodges the boulders. she jumps as far back as possible and watches and waits and waits and waits. she waits for the mountain to settle once again, waits for the kunoichi to claw her way out of her grave, waits for the pain in her arm and on her side to turn numb.

finally, sakura moves forward. she takes careful steps, eyes and ears open to the sound of the kunoichi’s counterattack. when sakura hears the tortured groans of a survivor, she turns and finds her opponent. her entire body is covered by the broken mountainside, but half her face is visible. her mouth moves, and sakura can only imagine the pain that causes.

she considers what is left of this section of the yatsugatake mountains and considers how strong she’ll one day become.

“how pathetic,” the kunoichi says. she coughs, causing the boulder on top of her to shift. her eyes squeeze shut and despite the excruciating pain, she laughs. “i can’t believe i’ve been brought down by a child.”

“i’m fourteen,” sakura tells her. she doesn’t mean to take offence, but she does, and so she presses her foot down just so, making the kunoichi cry out once more. satisfied, sakura eases her stance. “i’m old enough that you decided to fight me. am i not old enough to kill you too?”

the kunoichi sneers at her, revealing red stained teeth. “i’m not dead yet, brat.”

“no,” sakura murmurs, slowly sinking to her knees. she considers pulling out a weapon, but her manipulation of chakra still needs practice. and shouldn’t she practice? as her bloody palm nears the kunoichi’s nervous face, sakura takes a deep breath. “but you will be.”

vi. acknowledgements

naturally, tsunade’s sudden retirement is a sore spot for sakura. sakura raves, sakura rages, and sakura doesn’t once back down. this is ridiculous. this is preposterous. this is terrible timing. this is not at all a wise political move. she’s cyclical and repetitive, so tsunade mostly tunes her out after the first few days of sakura’s screaming.

“i don’t see why you’re so against this,” tsunade drawls over a cup of tea. “one would think you might find this ideal, considering who my successor is.”

sakura’s scowl darkens at the reminder that kakashi will soon be taking over as hokage.

“after all, he’s the one who will be dealing with the age old question of what to do with uchiha sasuke.” tsunade leans back into her chair. she drums her fingers over the leather arm and cocks her head to the side. “surely you’re relieved that he won’t be on the receiving end of my brand of justice.”

sakura rolls her eyes. “there’s still the village council. and the other kages. and, well, konoha’s reputation. you’re one person--”

“listen here, you little--”

“--and i know you would never do that to naruto.”

“naruto?”

sakura shrugs. “he wouldn’t take anything less than a pardon just sitting down.”

“and you would?”

“this isn’t about me.”

“then i’m making it about you,” tsunade insists. “do you think i’d do that to you?”

“i--” sakura purses her lips to stop herself from talking.

tsunade might not be the best politician, but she plays the game better than any of her predecessors because she’s a woman and isn’t it just so easy to underestimate her? shizune sleuths just as well, acts and smiles on cue, and so sakura has picked up these skills too. little sakura knows who to smile at, who to butter up with her femininity, who to demolish with just a couple of words. the girl can argue and make it seem like your idea was never hers to begin with.

“yes?”

“it’s not about me.”

“i acknowledge that. i don’t care. answer my question.”

“i--” sakura grunts to herself. “no,” she admits. “i don’t think you’d do that to me. but your decision to pardon sasuke wouldn’t be about just me. it would be about sasuke. about naruto and kakashi, about inspiring hope, about--”

tsunade waves a hand. “you don’t have to do that.”

“do what?”

“convince me about hypotheticals. it’s not going to be my call considering i already have a successor.”

sakura flinches at the word and that gives tsunade pause. leaning back, tsunade considers a smile. instead she shakes her head. do i detect jealousy? she wants to ask. but sakura isn’t jealous. sakura is worried. sakura is upset. sakura is upset that kakashi would replace tsunade as sakura’s beacon and that he would replace her as tsunade’s legacy.

“as hokage,” tsunade clarifies. “all this means is that kakashi’s face will be carved into a mountain between mine and some other poor bastard. that’s the successor he is. do you understand?”

sakura frowns and tsunade laughs in her face.

“don’t be like that,” she says, smacking the back of sakura’s head the way she used to when sakura was young and naive and full of dumb answers despite her obvious intelligence. “kakashi? my new successor?” tsunade mimics with a laugh. she smiles softly, shakes her head, and picks up her box of things. “he might have my title, but you know better than that, sakura.”

vii. happy birthday, sakura!

for her twenty-second birthday, sakura and ino makes plans to meet up and celebrate. sasuke makes some excuses so he can lag behind, and while normally that might have annoyed sakura, she takes it with a stride and just goes on ahead.

she’s seeing ino again. she’s seeing ino again after so long apart and as she runs faster and faster, her heart races from the anticipation. when she finally catches sight of ino at their meeting place, sakura releases a stupid little squeal that ino reciprocates. they run for each, meeting with a hug and moving around with it.

“i missed you!”

“your hair is long,” ino says, playing with the locks of pink. “you look so pretty!”

sakura sniffs. “you look pretty.” she pokes ino’s bicep. “do you even lift?”

ino rolls her eyes. “not all of us can be ripped and use our chakra for additional strength.”

sakura laughs and ino laughs too and then they’re hugging once again.

eventually ino notices how sakura is alone. she peers over sakura’s shoulder as if expecting her partner might appear. “where’s sasuke?” she wonders.

sakura shrugs though. “he has some stuff to do.”

“he’s not joining us for your birthday celebration?” ino asks, sounding thoroughly unimpressed with the man her best friend had chosen to fall in love with.

“nope,” sakura responds with a grin. sasuke’s absence might irk ino like it irks her mother, but sakura knows him well enough to know that this is his gift to her: time alone with her best friend. sakura loops her arm around ino’s and they begin to move. “it’s just you and me, ino.”

it always was and it always will be. no marriage, no other friendships, no children -- nothing will change ino’s significance to sakura. ino, the friend who brought sakura out of her own shell, the one who gave her confidence and supported her through absolutely everything. sakura loves many people and will continue to do so, but sakura will never be able to replicate the sort of bond she has with her best friend.

“sounds like a perfect pair then.” ino presses a sloppy kiss upon sakura’s cheek. “happy birthday, sakura.”

fin

#fic #sakura haruno

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neraawritesxx · 6 years

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Garnet

Written for MultiSaku Month - Day 4

pairing: sasori x sakura prompt: soulmate au where you are colorblind to a specific color until you meet your soulmate genre: light angst // unrequited feelings // drama word count: 1,685

summary: “Deep down inside, don’t you want to be like me?” No. No, she did not want to be like him. She would never be like him.

a/n: I have no idea where this came from, but I am all about the angst right now and this pairing seemed perfect for it. This story is unbeta’d so any mistakes are my own. I hope you all enjoy!

Since the day Sakura Haruno was born, she cannot see the color red.

And it’s a pity, really, because despite being able to wear her family crest in any variation of shade, Ino insists that she compliment the Haruno emblem with red because absolutely nothing else would match her bottle green eyes and bubblegum pink hair.

So, Sakura puts all of the trust that her little ten-year-old body could muster into her best friend and they go to the store together, sifting through the clothing racks, pulling out different tunics and blouses that are nothing but boring, dull shades of gray in Sakura’s eyes.

But, it will work out in the end because eventually, she will meet her soulmate and as soon as she looks them in the eye, all the varying shades of crimson, red, and garnet will bleed back into her life, and it’ll be just perfect.

Because that’s what soulmates are: perfect.

And everything will be right in the world, just like in those stories that her mother tells her about.

…Right?

-o-

They learn about the history of soulmates in the academy.

Iruka-sensei shares with them a vague history of it all; too many adages about humanity and hubris. About how mankind was always too selfish for their own good and the greed that had festered over the years could have been the potential cause of it all.

The absurd thing is, not a single one of those proverbs or sayings could accurately describe why it happened or where it began. Did the gods craft this for them? Was this a punishment? A gift?

No one had the correct answers. Whatever is written in scrolls and textbooks over the last century are assumptions and attempts at categorization. They can only learn from the past and what is going on in the present, what happens in the here and now, and write their own version of the events in journals in hopes that it might help others in the future.

There are a few things that they do know for sure:

It is possible for one to never to find their soulmate.

If one soulmate dies, the other is not necessarily subject to the same fate.

And, it is different for everyone; how soulmates are discovered, found, and chosen. More often than not, it depends on the region that one is born into.

In Konoha, they are color blind to a specific hue.

In Iwagakure, they feel their soulmate’s pain, sometimes sharing the same scars of past missions and battles.

In Suna, there is a black spot marring the skin where their soulmate is supposed to touch them for the first time. After the initial contact, it fades back into their bodies as if it were never there in the first place.

When their introductory lessons are over, Sakura can’t help but feel a little relieved.

She doesn’t think that she would particularly like a physical mark maiming her skin or some ambiguous words etched into her arm that may or may not lead her to the person she would spend the rest of her life with.

She may be biased more towards her village for obvious reasons, but overall, she doesn’t mind being blind to shades of red because there will be no doubt when the time comes.

When those new colors dance into her vision, Sakura will know precisely who her soulmate is, and they can be together without any misgivings or uncertainties.

-o-

Over the years, things change. People, places, and settings. They all change.

Long gone were the academy days and her dreaming of the infinitely perfect meet-cute with her soulmate.

It’s not to say that Sakura hates the idea of soulmates. That’s the exact opposite, actually. She cares a little too much, and there are far too many instances throughout her childhood in which she had been so bitterly envious of those around her who found their soulmates easily.

TenTen and Neji have been together for years, even before the academy, and for Naruto, all it took was one quick look at the stuttering Hinata before his screeching of, “I finally know what color the sky is! Dattebayo!” was heard around the village.

She knew that people felt sorry for her – mostly her parents and Ino – and that was because, with the more time that passed, Sakura became increasingly aware that her soulmate was most likely not a member of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Though one’s soulmate didn’t necessarily have to be a member of the same village, it’s a commonality that occurs more often than not, and she can’t help but feel horribly cheated by the discovery.

Sakura puts a lot of time into becoming a strong shinobi after that. With Naruto’s departure for further training and Sasuke’s defection, it was time for her to put silly dreams aside and work on becoming stronger.

Though she tells herself she’s putting all of her time into drills, lessons, and hospital work to be able to hold her own – to show Naruto and Kakashi that she deserves to be a member of Team Seven, to bring Sasuke home – there is always that traitorous little voice in the back of her mind which whispers to her late at night.

It tells her that the stronger she becomes, the more missions she can take, and the further she can go.

And, maybe, just maybe, she can find her soulmate along the way.

-o-

She doesn’t sleep much over the course of those two and a half years.

If anyone asked, Sakura blamed it on her rigorous tutelage under Lady Tsunade and not on the gnawing loneliness that ached in her chest.

-o-

When Naruto comes home, things get easier.

Sakura breathes easier.

And though the desire to find her soulmate still weighs heavily on her shoulders, Sakura still has her friends, family, and her team.

Things just feel so overwhelmingly right when they complete that bell test for the second time that, if only just for a moment, Sakura believes even if she were to never meet her soulmate, she’ll turn out just fine.

-o-

It isn’t long after, that Gaara goes missing.

What starts off as a day filled with her reprimanding Naruto because he couldn’t and wouldn’t pick a mission for their team due to his stubbornness and desire for a sense of danger, turns into them running through the dry, arid Suna desert with such desperation that it’s almost painful.

And this…

This.

In a country that is not her own, amongst enemies that are trying to capture and kill a friend, is where she finds her soulmate.

Sakura doesn’t realize it at first, because when she and Lady Chiyo force themselves through walls made of rock and stone, he is hidden inside a puppet.

But after, when she smashes that same puppet down to splinters and slivers of wood, he emerges with nothing but a cold, cruel smirk on his face and contempt in those gray eyes.

Her world shifts on its axis.

Lady Chiyo is taken aback by the fact that he looks as if he hasn’t aged more than a day since she last saw him.

And Sakura…

Sakura is lost in the vivacity of his short, mousy red hair.

-o-

Sasori has no outward reaction to her and Sakura later finds out that is because he no longer has a human body.

“My heart is just like this body,” he tells them.

Emotionless. Cold. Hollow.

If Sakura felt embittered in her younger years, it’s nothing in comparison to the spitefulness she feels now. It is not fair. The chance of having a real relationship with her soulmate is stolen out from underneath her feet without her even realizing it.

Fleetingly, she wonders where his soulmark was on his original body. Just where had the black spot been that announced him as her own?

She doesn’t have time to ask, to divulge further into the madness that is Sasori of the Red Sand.

There is a fight to win and a Kazekage to save, and Sakura is nothing but a conundrum of animosity, resentment, and unhinged loathing.

She fights and defends and bleeds – has blood always been that dark? – and Sakura gives all that she has to give to keep herself and Lady Chiyo alive.

She can’t tell him; she won’t tell him because this was the path he chose. He is no longer human, and though she would like to believe that Sasori is capable of redemption, Sakura knows better than to let herself think that he wants to be redeemed.

“I’ve killed hundreds of people,” he sneers when they have him trapped, his core impaled. “She would be no different from the rest.”

And Sakura believes him, but she isn’t scared of him. Not like this.

“Deep down inside, don’t you want to be like me?”

No.

No, she did not want to be like him. She would never be like him.

-o-

As Sakura watches the last remnants of life drain from his emotionless eyes, a part of her dies along with him.

And silently, she weeps for herself, for Sasori, and for the injustice of it all.

But mostly, she just cries because she was never given the chance to get to know him.

-o-

Over the next few years, there are a few select people that she tells.

Her parents hold her close, worried for what is to become of their daughter.

Naruto and Kakashi both give her pitying glances, but they do not change their attitudes with the knowledge. They will always be her surrogate family and they silently vow to never leave her side.

And Ino...

Sakura and Ino huddle together late one night and just cry. Earth shattering sobs and broken, pain filled wails that leave them feeling empty, but content when they are finished.

Sakura will be alright.

She will pull through.

-o-

In hindsight, Sakura really should thank Ino for forcing her to go shopping all those years ago.

The blonde had been right.

Red became Sakura’s absolute favorite color.

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21tailsofwoe · 7 years

Text

why do I ship NaruSaku? (aka my narusaku megapost)

[My submission for the final day of the NARUSAKU AUGUST EVENT, 2017]

This post is dedicated to all my fellow NaruSaku shippers, the ones who have gone down with this ship and yet continue to hold on to it, submerged in a sea of our perfect fanon. Enjoy this extremely long post about the pairing of Naruto and Sakura :) x

You may want to sit down with a cup of coffee/tea, find a comfortable environment, and just fill yourselves with shipper feels in order to read this.

So, why do we ship NaruSaku when it isn’t even canon?

Because it’s about a relationship that involves two individuals harbouring healthy feelings for each other, showing great respect towards each other and putting great trust in each other, facing great adversities and only coming out stronger than ever before, having developed an even stronger connection.

It’s not just the big, flashy, seemingly-romantic moments between them that draws me to them. It is, in fact, the smaller but significant interactions that makes me admire whatever Naruto and Sakura share. Throughout the manga, there have been several moments signifying the development of their bond, paving the way to the depiction of a more grounded and realistic relationship (at least, with respect to the Narutoverse and its foundation of “bonds”).

Here’s a collection of some Naruto and Sakura moments from the manga, moments that make my shipper heart go squeee. Seeing them in a romantic light or not is up to you! I mean, NaruSaku as a BroTP is unbeatable, but this post will be more OTP-oriented. Feel free to keep these moments for yourselves ;)

The start of it all

okay maybe not the most perfect start

naruto’s (true) reason of having a crush on sakura

their support for each other in the chunin exams

some cute moments

some even cuter moments

even when they’re grown up, they’re grown up dorks

blushy blushy (while still being dorks)

“ooooh but narusaku is such a plain ship. there’s no angst!!!”

honey u sure about that

LOOK AT HIS FACE JHFSKDGKJLHGF

The POAL is nothing but angst for Naruto. How he chose to put aside his feelings for Sakura. If this doesn’t show you his maturity and the amount of respect he has for Sakura’s feelings, I don’t know what to tell you.

The moments preceding the POAL shows us the development of the respect Sakura has for Naruto. How she felt at first about him, and how she felt now. A beautiful contrast.

How ‘bout Sakura’s promise to Naruto?

:’)

Power CoupleTM

Here’s a panel of a Naruto in awe of his waifu

here have some more angst

Look how much she cares for him. Romantic or platonic, love is love and it’s very evident from these panels.

Also, Sakura invented the slapped-sense-into-Naruto thing before it was cool:

And whatever thing they have against Sai, it’s common:

“Sakura is so selfish!!! She used Naruto!!! She doesn’t care about him!!!”

ya lol.

“But NaruSaku in the manga is so one-sided!!”

Yamato would disagree...

Annnnnnndddd the dorks are back!

Which is then followed by the reunion with Sasuke, after which we were given one of the most beautifully tragic panels in the manga:

Not only is this one of the best Naruto-Sakura moment, but for me, this is one of the most powerful panels in the entire manga. After all these years, they finally find Sasuke only to have their hearts broken again. They’re both in a state of grieving, and Sakura, with her back towards him, tells him to stay strong even though she’s hurting herself.

Gosh, I absolutely love this scene.

Another scene similar to the above moment, after Pain’s defeat:

Sakura trying to console Naruto when she’s worried herself. Awww

Then moving on to these fan-favourite panels:

a moment ruined by non other than our beloved Sai

And then, of course, after Pain destroys the entire village. Sakura sees her home being reduced to nothing. Konoha is lost. There seems to be no hope. Sakura, in that very moment of shock and despair, calls out one name:

That’s how much she believes and trusts in Naruto. And this is then followed by Naruto’s iconic entry jdhkshj

Now, we come to my favourite NaruSaku moment in the entire series...

The Hug.

After one of the most important events in Naruto’s life, one of the most important people in his life thanks him for what he’s done (after giving him a piece of herself for his reckless of course :P). No words needed. Just a “thank you.”

(The people staring at them though. Relatable.)

Moving on to this, the purest representation of Naruto’s feelings for Sakura, observed by a third party (who happens to be none other than Sai, of course):

He loves her, but he can’t tell her because he feels that he has no right to do so. Because he couldn’t keep the promise he made to her all those years ago.

Which prompts our beloved Sai, to take this action:

Realisation hits Sakura, and she can do nothing but cry. Because Sai’s words make her believe that she herself is causing pain to Naruto because of the promise he made.

ouch

Which then brings us to the “bad” NaruSaku moment:

Having realised what she has caused, Sakura becomes desperate. She wants to save Naruto from burdening himself with saving Sasuke all alone. Everyone decides that Sasuke has to be dealt with once and for all and she does not want Naruto to bear this burden. In a desperate attempt, she “confesses” to Naruto, hoping to free him from the promise he made. She says she doesn’t want Sasuke back even though she knows that Naruto wants to save Sasuke regardless of anything. She’s willing to put aside her own happiness for Naruto.

And Naruto, being perceptive as he is and having known Sakura for so long, doesn’t buy any of it:

He knows that Sakura doesn’t love him. He can sense the lies in her words because he knows her a little too well.

Sakura, her desperation growing again, blurts out the true reason behind what she was doing and why she came all the way to talk to him:

Sakura had nothing but good intentions in the end, while her lies may not necessarily be called justified. She was only seeing what she wanted to see. She couldn’t see what implications it would have on both her and Naruto.

But it was all for him, and him only. So that he could stop hurting.

Not every relationship is perfect. Two people who happen to be close to each other don’t have to be on the same page. Misunderstandings occur, things happen. This was a significant hurdle for the relationship that they shared.

Later, we get this iconic moment:

The intensity in Naruto’s eyes. The way he holds her. The way he glares at Sasuke.

Perfection.

Oh, and how can I forget about this one?

oh wait sorry that’s a red herring. Because of course the last words of the protagonist’s mother have to be a red herring. (Pardon the salt.)

And then we get Minato’s approval too:

a herring drenched in blood

Our dorks manage to squeeze through some more dorkiness in the midst of war:

How can you not love them

Speaking of NaruSaku moments in the war...

Naruto, the very person for whom the war was being fought for, dies in battle...And guess who’s there to save him, to bring him back to life...

Sakura fucking Haruno. The girl who, literally, held Naruto’s heart in her hand, and brought him back to life.

While performing the surgery, she had one thought in mind:

His dream. She couldn’t let him die because she believed in his dream and cared for it too much to have him die on her.

Again, one of the most intense moments in the manga.

Of course, there are a lot more moments that I have missed out (like Heaven&Earth, Vs. Gaara, the lil moments in Part 1, etc.) but I’m confident I have made my point.

One of the biggest reasons for shipping NaruSaku is its development. Their story starts off with Naruto liking Sakura, but Sakura despising Naruto and treating him like garbage. But, as the story progresses, Sakura gets to see that Naruto is not just some brat spouting nonsense about some impossible dream he absolutely cannot achieve.

The manga suffers from a major problem of ‘telling, not showing.’ But at least with NaruSaku, we have everything.

Nothing has to be implied. It’s just there, on the manga pages. We see them grow together, we see them go through stuff together, we see them having common goals, we see them sharing each other’s grief. We see everything. We don’t just see some few big moments. We see a lot of smaller, yet significant moments as well. There are romantic-moments, there are not-so-romantic scenes, there are scenes that highlight the impact of their relationship on each other, there are scenes which make you cherish their friendship, there are certain parallels and hints to depict symbolism, a beautiful aspect of Kishimoto’s storytelling, and there is so much more that we ourselves can interpret with what we are shown.

Of course, we don’t have our happy ending for these two, but with all that the manga has provided us with, we already have a beautiful foundation for our fanon.

And that is what makes me ship NaruSaku.

Happy NaruSaku Event folks! I thoroughly enjoyed these past few days! Really loved interacting with all my shipmates. May we ship NaruSaku for life and beyond!

NaruSaku trash out.

#narusaku event #narusaku #sakunaru #NS event: free day #metalks #narusaku analysis #my analysis #this took a lot of time to make aha #but i loved every second of it :')#long post #long af post

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ombreecha · 7 years

Text

Disaronno and Milk

Series: Lifetimes Fandom: Naruto Pairing: SasuSaku Rated: T Prompt: A dark restaurant AU set in a post-apocalyptic world.

Pale fingers held a glass steady as he rubbed it dry. Those that came to this establishment did so with the intention to do wrong. The dirt and grim that came after the war was forever soaked within the populations skin. The establishment is lacking in care within the dark times of the world. The war that had brought them to this point but a whisper in the wind.

Criminals, and bandits were the normal patrons that frequented. They were cold, and bitter with their own stories to tell of the world beyond these doors. He did not judge—they didn't pay him to judge. The owner gave no care for the dealings that would be held within his establishment and so why should he?

He hears his name called, and the order to take food to the table hidden in the corner. The smallest of sighs falls from his lips as he sets the glass down upon the counter. His reactions are habitual—the rubbing of his hands within the washed out red apron, and the pulling of his washed out navy blue sleeves. No one bats an eye his way as he makes his way through the tables. It's standing in front of the table that has ordered the disgusting slop that comes from their kitchen that ends his task.

There is silence as he sets it before the patron. They are small within their dirty cream cloak. He assumes it to be a child or woman with such a small frame—their hood hides their face.

"Is there anything else we can get you?" his voice is smooth and even in the practiced lines.

"No. Thank you." the voice is soft, and feminine—delicate and cautious.

Brows pinch at hearing the woman before him. It gives way to hesitance and a thickened silence that makes him linger where he stands. The woman looks up to his figure looming at her table. The pale greenery of the eyes that capture his catches him off guard. They were not devoid of color like the world around him, and they glowed in their stare. Her brows have pinched—they're another color the world had long since forgotten, a pale pink—at his presence with what he gauges to be confusion.

He notes the smallest of shifts within her sitting figure, "Yes?"

She is looking at him now expectantly and he only gives way to a shake of his head. Removing himself from her table he pays her no more mind. He finds his pace back within his work, and it's only after he guesses she is long since gone that he goes to retrieve her plate. The woman was out of place within this restaurant of criminals and bandits. He does not expect to see her again.

It's only days later though that as he finishes serving another table that he sees that same dirt covered cream cloak of hers at the door way. He finds his eyes drawn to her as she makes her way to the table she had frequented before. The subtle curiosity that comes with her presence is there—it's not him who takes her order, but another among the staff. Ebony find themselves checking on her throughout the time she eats. She's a slow eater, and makes an almost bitter expression with each spoon she brings to her lips.

He notes that his coworker has ignored her long since depleted drink, and it's with the excuse of giving her a refill that he finds his way to her table. She tilts her head up to look upon him with those pale green of hers. His fingers pick the emptied glass from her table with ease as his other sets the newly filled glass upon the table. The bend in his frame lets his eyes run over her face, and note pale pink strands to go with those pale pink eyebrows of hers. They do not exchange words, and he does not hesitate this time making off with that in which he has replaced.

He feels her eyes upon him as he works, and he notes her continued slow pace as she drinks from the glass he has brought her. They still do not speak, and only occasionally share gazes before she removes herself from the table and leaves the restaurant. He finds himself leaning against the counter with arms crossed as he looks at her empty seat.

He wonders if she'll be back.

He gives up that thought seven days later. She has not come for the disgusting food as she had, and he thinks that she finally has realized that she should not frequent within the establishment. The pale green of her eyes are what he thinks of when he serves that table to someone other than her. The people that had come and gone had never made a lasting impression—none of them had held features that contrasted with the dull colors of their desolate world.

It's another week, and he has barely thought of her, and as if she knows this she is stepping within the door. Her steps lead her to the table she frequents, and it's with that, that she awaits her server. He's setting a plate in front of his customer when his coworker whispers that she has requested him. At first it makes his brows pinch in confusion, but then they relax not caring for the why.

He stands beside her table with his hand upon his waist, and it's partner holding his tray in a light grasp, "What can I get for you?"

She gives a light hum before words take form, "I'd like something mixed. No food today." he gives an eyebrow at her request.

There is only a second of hesitation before he gets to work at mixing her drink. The odd woman had made no specific request, and it's with only some thought that he pulls out the bottle of Disaronno. He is no master mixer, but he can do little things, and it's with that he makes her a cocktail of Disaronno and milk served in a rocks glass. The pale color he thinks compliments her—he thinks she isn't as dirty as the rest of them.

He sets the glass down in front of her, and stands beside her table waiting. She settles her head to rest upon her palm before it's partner takes the glass in hand. She is studying it before bringing it to her lips letting the pale liquid slip within her mouth. Her tongue slips from it's home to trail across her bottom lip, "It's good."

He cannot stop his eyebrow from arching as she takes another small sip, "I'm Sakura. Sakura Haruno." he does not remember asking for her name. He assumes she wants him to supply his own name. He does not before walking away.

The subtlest of smirks is on his lips as he leaves her sitting there. Her name he thinks matches her well, and there is the oddest humor behind that thought. She is an odd, and strange woman. She drinks what he has given her, but does not ask for another.

She does not return for a month.

She has requested him again, and it's with the slightest tilt upon his normally firm pressed lips that she calls him by his name, "Sasuke-kun, can I have what you gave me last time?" he assumes his coworker has told her.

He does as asked without second thought, but takes note of her affectionate suffix upon his name. There is an odd feeling at her intended affection, and his ego whispers she continues to come within the disgusting establishment for him. His fingers linger upon the table after he has set it down before her. She adjusts her hood to give her better view of him, and with the adjustment more of her pale pink is exposed. There's no excuse for why he lingers in his bent form over her table. There's no excuse for the expectant look he gives her as he stares within the pale greenery that gives up her curiosity so easily.

Those fingers of hers have wrapped them around the glass and bring it to her lips letting the pale liquid within them. She does not break the eye contact they have. The familiar reflex of her tongue slipping out to run across her bottom lip he assumes is habitual.

"It's delicious." she speaks in the softest of whispers with the smallest curve of her mouth.

He does not give way to a reply as he eases away from her table still keeping her eyes focused upon him. His fingers are the last to leave the wood of the table that had seen better days. The firm pressed line of his lips shifts for the briefest of seconds to give hint of a smirk at it's corners. There is the softest tiny upon her cheeks and it's with that he gives a nod and turns from her.

She does not ask for another, and he does not see her leave. It's fitting for them—whatever them was.

The hour is late as they close. His apron has been discarded within the back along with the others as he pulls down the sleeves of his dark shirt. They are saying their goodnights as he heads out the door into the cool night of dull colors and desolate outside. The ground is dirt, and debris and it's just the same as it is any other night except tonight was not any other night. She's standing with her back pressed against the restaurants wall next to the door he's exited.

"I'll be back in a week Sasuke-kun." her hood had been long since put back in it's rightful place upon her head only allowing him to see the small nose, and mouth that were her features.

"Ah." his voice is it's smooth practiced tone, and a nod follows with his words.

She has pushed off the wall at his response, and walked from him. There is a flash of amusement at her retreating form, and with it there is also the deep inhale of the cool air.

She keeps her word and is back in exactly a week.

The minute he spots the color of her cloak he is at her side at the door walking her to her table. She's mixed it up this time asking for the slop in the back along with the request of a shot. She wants it strong, and is seeking something cinnamon. He assumes it's to chase the cold from her.

Her eating pace is slow just as she always has done, but she shoots the dark liquid he has provided her back with force. Her tongue does as it always has and runs across her bottom lip. He does not hesitate in bringing the bottle to her to pour her another. It's as his fingers cup the corner of the table and he bends over that he takes the opportunity to see the pale greenery that glowed.

"I think you've bewitched me." she speaks with humor coating every word, "I continue to come here for you." she has given way to the smallest of giggles at her statement.

"Hn." he hums out as she swings the drink back.

She's amused by his reply it seems as she gives way to more giggles. His fingers tilt the bottle forward giving her another shot she has not asked her as if reflexive.

"What could coming here for me possibly give you?" his normal practiced tone is gone and replaced with curiosity.

She gives the shake of her head with her amusement still intact, "In this ugly yet beautiful world I like the company you give." she's throwing her head back to take the newly given shot.

The glass clinks against the wood, and those fingers of hers have wrapped around the spoon dipped within the disgusting mush they called food. The bottle has been set just above her plate beside her empty shot glass. He has taken to leaning against her table with his arms crossed against his chest. Work is slow this evening, and even with the prying stares of his coworkers he does not leave her side.

They don't exchange words as they always do. He watches her careful eating and the slight bitterness that crosses her face as she continues to eat, "If you do not like it why order it?" his voice is smooth.

"No food in our broken world tastes good." she responds before inserting the spoon into her mouth.

The response makes him give way to another hum. She not wrong, and he finds her honesty soothing. He pushes himself from her table leaving her side finally to resume his word. He takes a few more customers and occasionally catches her pouring her shots herself. The restaurant is nearing close, and he finds himself coming back to her finally. She hasn't left in the silence she always does. She is rising as he nears her and her fingers are coming up to her hood. It's as he stands before her that he sees her slip it farther than she ever had allowed previous. The pale pink that it is, is dusted with dirt and short that curls in towards her face. That mouth of hers has the warmest of smiles and her eyes add to the tenderness behind it.

"I'll be back in a few weeks. . . give or take." she whispers it as if it is a secret for his ears only.

He gives a nod before watching her pull her cloak upon her head once more. It feels completely natural walking her to the door and seeing her off. She tells him goodnight and he gives way to his own.

The weeks she claimed she'd be away are true. Her impression has never once left him this time. There is the occasional interest in him of where she goes when she is away. The pale pink of her hair, and the pale green of her eyes has only confirmed for him that she truly isn't as dirty as the rest of them. She is the smallest of colors in a world destroyed, and broken.

It's when he starts to expect her to come through the door that he shifts his eyes upon the door of every visitor. That dirty cloak of hers does not make it's appearance even still.

Another week goes by and he feels himself become restless at her disappearance.

She had told him give or take, and it's with that thought that his eyes linger upon the table she usually sat. It's empty tonight and he feels subtle disappointment.

His boss yells for him to get back to work, and he does so without any question. It's with his discarded apron and him pulling the seen-better-days cloak he's been sporting days after her last visit that he heads for the door. The owner stops him though before he heads out.

"That girl you keep looking for—Sakura Haruno" the older mans voice is rough, "She won't be coming back."

Ebony widen at the statement with confusion, and pinched brows. His fingers never leave the tarnished metal of the door knob. He's not sure at what point he had been caught looking for her, or when his boss had noticed. He's also not sure when his boss had noticed her presence within the establishment, and when he had learned her name.

"She died." the owners words halt him, and he is not longer showing confusion but startle at the statement. The older man has crossed his arms across his chest as he speaks again, "Word through the grapevine is she was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

His knuckles flex upon the door knob unsure of how to take the news. He feels the oddest of constrictions within his chest as his eyes fall from the man to the makeshift floor of rough wood.

"It seemed best to tell you since you seemed to be expecting her." his voice is deadpanned in its statement, and yet it only causes ebony to shift to look at the table in the hidden corner which she frequented. He's not sure if he ever responded to the man, and he's not sure when he had actually walked out of the restaurant. He does not know why he lingers within the front almost with hope that she would be waiting for him outside as she had. He does not know why he feels the attachment that he has for this woman so odd, and so unknown.

Sakura Haruno—this woman of pale pink, and pale greenery in a world diluted of color.

The whispers of her claims of liking his company within this ugly yet beautiful world make him feel colder then the air that comes with the winter. He had not know her from any other. She had not know him from any other. The walk home has him numb.

It's within his home as he slips off his shoes and settles into the dark of his broken down home that he pulls the bottle of Disaronno from the squeaking cupboard within the kitchen. He's slow in his making of the drink in which she had called delicious.

Fingers curl upon the dirty counter top covered in dust as he looks down at the simple drink. He was still no master of mixers. It's not a revolutionary concoction, and yet she seemed so pleased with it. He had know so very little of her and remembers thinking it had suited her well. She had claimed he had bewitched her, but it seemed that she was wrong. Some how this woman so unknown, and so odd had been the one bewitching him.

Fingers trail across the counter to take hold of the cup. Before bring it closer to his lips letting the liquid slide within his mouth. He thinks of her habitual reflex to slide her tongue along the bottom of her lip. He feels it slide down his throat, and with it comes the constriction of his chest. She had given way to her name, and he had not replied. He gives a smirk with a tint of with the cup pressed against his lip before taking another sip.

"Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha." he replies little to late—she already knew it after all.

His eyes hold their gaze upon his drink of Disaronno and milk.

It wasn't as dirty as other drinks—just like she wasn't as dirty as the rest of them.

#ssfanfiction #sasusaku fanfiction #sasusaku fanfic #ssfanfic #sasusaku #ombree:fics #ombree:lifetimes

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theclosetpoet7 · 7 years

Text

For the Love of the Amaryllis Flower

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, Kishimoto has given me a way to always be happy. Just thinking of the ending brings a huge grin to my face. :) This is rated M for a reason.

Summary: With them, it has always been like this, him doing whatever he wants and her patiently waiting for his return.

Rating: MA

Haruno Sakura doesn't see him again until three years later, covered in torn up dirty clothes, looking every bit the person that he was. A wanderer. Yet somehow, still managing to be as flawless and handsome as when she last saw him.

Maybe even more godly as a man.

She remembers the exact time and day he finally walked back into the gates of Konoha for it was a day she had been patiently waiting for. Their blonde teammate had immediately sensed the dark-haired nin's chakra and had excitedly barged into her office, grabbed her hand and pulled her with him without so much as a clue as to where they were going. When they finally reached their destination, her heart swelled at the sight of their long lost comrade. Filled with a sense of joy that was far too big to contain, she had launched herself into his arms without hesitation.

Realizing her forwardness, her body warmed and pulled away, expecting to see an annoyed expression on his face. Shyly, she tucked a strand of hair away from her own only to be surprised when pale fingers lifted and planted itself on her most hated feature. Too stunned to respond or even understand the meaning behind the action, she sheepishly smiled at him and uttered the words she had dreamt of saying for years.

"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."

______________

At first, there was an air of awkwardness whenever she found herself in the same room as Uchiha Sasuke. Aside from the fact that she had loved him for so long, she just didn't know who she was in his life.

It didn't heal in a snap, their friendship, because they had spent a significant part of their lives growing without each other's presence. It wasn't as easy as the raven-haired's relationship with Uzumaki Naruto which seemed to have deepened all the more. Both men shared a bond that she never would understand even if she tried to, even when she so desperately wanted to.

He had promised that he would come see her when he returned hadn't he?

It didn't feel like anything had changed between them. Sure he was kinder and less cruel. He had finally begun to show bits of the person he truly was. Yet…

A part of her felt like she didn't know this person who looked like her first love.

"You've been avoiding me."

Emerald eyes sparkled with shock when he pointed out the obvious. But she refused to admit it.

"I'm not."

"Hn."

Curious as to why he didn't deny her claim, she chanced a glance at him. It still unnerved her, the change in his hairstyle. Of course, it suited him as expected, and he was getting more and more admirers because of the hint of mystery it brought by covering one of his eyes.

It bothered her.

Because it reminded her that he was changing. Little by little he was changing. Sasuke was moving forward.

And she should be happy for him.

______________

Bam!

Strong hands pinned pale, dainty wrists against the wall of the dark side of the bar. A small and smooth body dressed in a little white dress and red high heels struggled to break the hold, only to fail because all she could feel was hard muscle and a vice-like grip that refused to let her go. She knew that she could get him off her if she used her chakra but this wasn't the right place to start a fight with her teammate.

"What do you want Sasuke-kun?"

The sound of his honorific laced with the bitterness struck a nerve in him. He stared at this feisty kunoichi. She looked hot as hell. And of course she already knew that, if the hooting and the cheering of the men in the establishment didn't give her any indication that she was attractive then he didn't know what would.

And when she started dancing.

Kami, he swore he almost broke the table.

"What the hell are you wearing?"

She raised an eyebrow at this.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you asking to be fucked?"

Her pretty face immediately reddened at the vulgarity of the sentence and she almost cringed because the words he uttered felt more like a slap. It made her feel cheap, like he thought her a whore.

"So what if I was?"

Onyx eyes narrowed at the challenge that he saw in her green irises. She was basically telling him to leave her alone. But letting her go back to the crowd was the last thing he was going to let her do. Holding both her hands up over her head, he stepped closer into her personal space and pushed his hips to her soft one. Bending down to look at the expression on her, he smirked at the medic's astonishment when he claimed her lips.

Haruno Sakura had changed. He didn't know what she wanted from him anymore.

But he sure as hell knew what he wanted from her.

______________

She calls out to him the second time that day and he finds himself unable to avoid her any longer. It had been a while since he stole that kiss from her.

He turns around to regard her petite form, hands on her knees, trying to take in oxygen for she was out of breath. She lifts her head and he is suddenly overwhelmed by the determination that is set in her eyes.

"Stop running Sasuke."

He almost tells her that he isn't running from anything, when she wraps her arms around him and pulls him in.

______________

"Sasuke-kun!"

Her gasps encourage him to continue what he was doing. Eager digits reached out to untie her emerald green bikini top. He pulls away to stare into her eyes as she removes the flimsy piece of clothing away from her. His mouth immediately goes dry at the sight of her creamy, perk mounds.

Reaching out to test how they would feel in his hands he takes in her disheveled hair and parted lips, eyes pleading for him to do something he knew she wasn't ready for.

His control almost snaps.

Sasuke grits his teeth as she pulled at his dark tresses.

He looks up to stare at her ethereal beauty, lost in the throes of pleasure. Sakura catches his gaze and instantly reddens at the sight of him bent over her, taking her to the edge. She briefly wonders if he has ever done this before but the thought is lost when she feels his wet appendage continue its torture.

It felt like coming home. Being inside her.

He loses himself in the feel of Haruno Sakura stretched around him, damp and moist, making it easy for him to thrust as hard and as fast as he wanted. Gripping her thighs enough to bruise, he pumps in and out, fighting for the release he had been waiting for months since they started whatever this was they were doing.

______________

She blushes at the feel of his fingers laced in hers. Aside from when she had first woken up to find herself in Uchiha Sasuke's bed, she has never felt happier.

______________

Her eyes sparkle at the sight of the elegant pendant dangling in front of her. There is a hint of a blush and an annoyed expression on his face as she stares dumbfounded at the item. Then a sigh of relief when she turns around, gathers her hair to one side and eagerly demands that he put it around her neck.

Later that night, the shiny jewel catches his eye as he pounds into her from behind.

______________

Every now and then, she questions if the happiness she is feeling is going to last forever. And every now and then she notices the hint of longing in his obsidian depths as he stares at the gates.

She knows that he won't be staying long.

But her arm goes around his and his attention is pulled to her again.

______________

There is a tint of desperation in him as he claims her tonight. His kisses are hungry, his hands are impatient and he pulls her to him as if he doesn't want to be separated from her.

She feels it in his touch, could sense it in the air.

He is leaving.

Sakura receives him, allows him to take her in whatever way he can.

Against the door.

In the shower.

On the kitchen counter.

At the edge of the bed as he looms over her, wrapping her legs around his waist, thrusting hard and deep.

Her room is filled with grunts, moans, gasps and sounds of flesh slapping against each other as they express their feelings for one another physically.

When he empties into her and lifts his head, panting at the mind-blowing ecstasy…

"Sakura."

…she places a hand to his cheek and looks at him with eyes filled with emotion.

"I love you Sasuke-kun."

She wakes up to an empty bed with nothing but the scent of him etched into her memory.

His departure does not surprise her at all.

______________

She doesn't hear from him again until seven months later.

He stumbles into her room, waking her up from her peaceful sleep, refusing to say or do anything other than feel her welcoming warmth and hiss her name as she makes him see all the things he is missing by being away from her.

______________

"You knew."

She glares accusingly at her former teacher.

"Sakura."

"You knew where he was, what he was doing, yet you hid it from me."

"He told me to."

"Since when has Sasuke been the boss of you?" she raises her voice a little, because despite being furious with the hokage, she still had respect for him.

"We can't stop him either way. He needs this. You should try to under..."

"Don't you dare tell me to understand!" she screams at him.

He gets up from his table and approaches her.

"I've been trying to since I found out that he was not contented to simply be by my side. For months before he left, I knew that he was going to leave again because for some reason, I alone, cannot make him happy! And I understand! I fucking get it!"

The copy nin wraps his arms around her as she lets out her tears, body shaking with her emotions.

"I don't know why I love a man who isn't even whole to begin with."

______________

He finds her in the middle of a date, chatting happily with a civilian who looked like that actor she once had a crush on. His hands fisted as he watches them leave the restaurant, and he narrows his eyes as the guy's hand goes to hold hers. Jealousy fills him as he notices the subtle blush on her cheeks.

When her date drops her off, he follows her into her apartment, concealing his presence.

"Seriously Sasuke-kun, do you really think so little of my ability that I wouldn't notice you following me?"

"Who is he?"

"A friend."

"Do you love him?"

She blinks at the question and almost laughs in his face.

"Being away for two years, do you think you have the right to ask that question?"

He notices the same hint of challenge in her eyes before and he finds himself rising up to it. Deciding to do the first thing he wanted to do the moment he saw Haruno Sakura again.

He simply says.

"You are mine."

And closes their distance.

______________

She considers these past few weeks their halcyon days. A time, where they didn't care about anything except for how long it would be before he feels the need to continue his path on redemption again.

The night after Naruto and Hinata's wedding, they find themselves locked in passionate embrace again. Bodies moving so painfully slow that she almost wanted to tell him to just fuck her. However, there was gentleness in the sensual way he was caressing her, as he plunged in and out, that told Sakura to treasure this moment.

After what seemed like an hour to her, his thrusts become more animalistic as he finally gives in to his instinct. In a matter of seconds she reaches sweet bliss.

"You're leaving again."

She points out as they catch their breaths. He turns to her and pulls her closer to his form. The pinkette starts to feel the sting of tears but tries to hold it back.

"I love you."

"Sakura."

"I love you."

His grip tightens.

"I love you."

"I know."

She bites her lip to stop herself from crying.

"But you're leaving anyway."

"Aa."

She pushes herself off him and starts to gather her clothes. She had to get out of his room, get out of his apartment, but he stops her before she even reaches the door, arms pulling her back to him.

"Just wait a little while longer."

Her eyes widen. This is the first time Uchiha Sasuke has ever given her a reason to hope for a future with him.

She puts a hand to his forearm and nods her head.

______________

Sixteen days later, he sends her a ring.

Sasuke finds himself in Ame when he receives a letter from Haruno Sakura. It is the first letter she has ever written him. This time he had given her his location.

A smile makes its way to his face as he makes out her message.

"Yes."

fin

______________

Author's Note:

Legend has it that the Amaryllis, a stunning red flower, began as a shy, timid nymph. Amaryllis fell deeply in love with Alteo, a shepherd with the strength that rivaled Hercules' and the beauty equal to that of Apollo. However, her affections were unrequited. Hoping that she could win him over by bestowing upon him the thing he desired most- a flower so unique, it had never existed in the world before, she heeded an oracle's advice. For thirty nights, Amaryllis draped herself in maiden's white and appeared at her beloved's door, each time piercing her heart with a golden arrow. When at last, Alteo opened his door, there before him was a striking crimson flower, sprung from the blood of Amaryllis' heart.

This romantic-albeit tragic- tale has defined the Amaryllis flower as a symbol of pride, determination and radiant beauty further given the meaning of victory after a great time of struggle, much like Sakura's love for Sasuke. The story of Amaryllis struck a cord inside me as it was heart-wrenching and oh so beautiful. It made me see its positivity despite being a story of unrequited love especially when, after years of hoping and praying, my beloved pairing has finally become Canon.

My fingers have been dying to type a one-shot like this ever since the manga ended. Sorry for the long hiatus. I know what happens next in both my stories (Sore ga ai deshou and Revolution) but I simply cannot find the inspiration nor the time to type up one chapter.

Hope you like this one-shot. R&R

#sasusaku #ss #sasusakufanfic #sasusakufanfiction #sasusakufic

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daily-dose-of-naruto · 7 years

Note

team 7 birthday surprise party headcanons?

Team 7 surprise birthday party headcanons

Hey! I went ahead and assumed you meant their reactions to being thrown a surprise party, at least that’s what I think would be the most fun to write. I threw in context too, I hope this is what you wanted. I wrote it during the timeline where Sasuke was away from the village, except for his own birthday. I also included Sai bc I love that boy

Naruto Uzumaki

Sakura takes Naruto out for ramen while everyone hides in his apartment. Although he’s a little suspicious (after all, Sakura never goes out for ramen with him), he’s soon slurping back noodle bowls like nobody’s business. Sakura pays, making Naruto think that this was his whole birthday treat. After all, everyone in the village already nodded at him and gave him birthday wishes. Sakura walks him back up to his room, and he thanks her for the nice time. Although he’s very happy he got to spend time with Sakura eating his favorite food, he’s a little sad. The night is still young and his apartment is so quiet at night.

He opens the door and wonders why Sakura hasn’t left yet. But before Naruto can put two and two together, the lights flip on all at once and EVERYONE jumps out from around every corner and piece of furniture yelling “SURPRISE” loud enough to shake the building. Naruto jumps out of his socks; he’s shocked seeing to many familiar faces crammed into his tiny room. A warm feeling spreads from his fingertips to his toes and he can’t stop smiling. His eyes are watering, but no one mentions it. From the corner, Iruka’s eyes are wet too. He, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Gai are the only adults there, but they all feel a sense of family and pride, surrounded by their students.

There’s a cake waiting on the table in the kitchen that Choji can’t stop eyeing. Everyone huddles around as Kakashi cuts the cake. Naruto can’t stop talking a mile a minute, he hugs everyone at least twice (even Shino, who goes stiff but doesn’t resist) and eats a LIBERAL amount of cake. Everyone’s playing cards and talking and laughing and Naruto’s right in the middle of that warm glow. The party goes late into the night until the neighbours file a noise complaint, and even then the fun continues in a whisper. It’s not until the morning birds start chirping that people start to trickle out, starting with Rock Lee and Gai, who are devoted to their training regiments and have already sacrificed four and a half hours for Naruto’s birthday. Shikamaru claps Naruto on the back, Kiba gives him a big ol’ hug, and Hinata works up the nerve to squeeze his hand on her way out. Every touch is special, and it’s written on Naruto’s face for everyone to read how much this means to him.

Iruka is last to leave. Naruto thanks him; he can’t put into words the swelling feeling in his chest. The whole evening was a soak of acceptance, validation, and love from the village that was his home, the stuff he’d been hungry for since he was a very small child. Suddenly, Naruto hugs Iruka. Iruka’s surprised, but accepts. They stand there like that for a minute, both silent. Then Naruto steps back with his usual cheeky grin, and waves. “See ya tomorrow, Iruka-sensei!” After the door closes, Naruto flops into bed, floating on cloud nine. Still, he can’t escape the niggling wish that Sasuke had been there to celebrate too.

Sakura Haruno

It’s not really a surprise, she’s pretty slick to catch on when someone’s acting weirdly around her, and Naruto cannot stop fidgeting and stumbling over his words. After the day is over, training or a mission or whatever, he keeps interrupting Sai and shooting him dirty looks whenever Sai brings up “the secret”. Sai’s a bit confused on the whole concept of keeping a secret for a positive reason. “Why should they hide the surprise party from Sakura? She’s going to enjoy it anyways.” – Sai, 2017. Poor boy really doesn’t understand, and it’s not long before Sakura’s sniffed something out. She’s pleasantly surprised that her two teammates were so considerate to plan something for her birthday, but seeing as it’s Naruto and Sai, she figures the big surprise surmounts to a coupon off one bowl at Ichiraku’s.

And honestly, Naruto and Sai did have that as a part of the plan. Everyone enjoys a steaming bowl of good thick ramen, and Sakura finds it adorable how thoughtful her teammates turned out to be. They chat, but Naruto still seems to be on the edge of his seat. He’s glancing at Sai and sweating like a pig in August. Sai’s mouth is full of ramen, and for a moment Sakura relaxes, but then he looks at Naruto and says, “When are we going to go to Sakura’s h-”. Dropping his chopsticks, Naruto clamps a hand over Sai’s mouth, who looks bewildered. Naruto musters an awkward laugh, “Haha, oh Sai, always saying the weirdest things. Aren’t ya?” He gives Sai a friendly punch, but from the way Sai winces, Sakura can guess he’d revealed something he wasn’t supposed to. She lets it go, suppressing a giggle as she drinks her tea.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto and Sai offer to walk Sakura to her house. Now, she knows something is planned, but she’s not sure as to exactly what Naruto and Sai have up their sleeves. When she opens the door, she notices how Naruto can’t manage to hide the grin on his face. With a sigh and a small smile, she flips on the light and steps inside.

Of course, all her ninja colleagues are waiting inside, throwing their hands up and shouting “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA” at the top of their lungs. Although she had guessed so much would happen, Sakura still laughs and hides her face. “You guys are so sweet!” she gushes to Naruto and Sai, giving them a bear hug with an iron grip. There’s laughing and talking and cake-eating, and most of the presents Sakura receives are well-thought out, medicine-related tools that could prove invaluable to her practice, her favorite being an incredibly powerful microscope that fixes to the eye like a monocle, courtesy of Shino Aburame and his clan’s detailed knowledge of insect eye lenses. Sai gives her a portrait of herself; it’s beautiful and realistic, and he assures her several times not to worry, it won’t come to life. At one point in the night, Sakura and Ino find themselves giggling and sharing a piece of cake much like they might have before they were even genin.

At the end of the party Sakura is glowing with light, but exhausted. She’s about to wave Naruto and Sai out when they reveal they have one last present for her. Sai hands Sakura a slim piece of paper. Sakura feels a rush of affection when she sees it’s a free soak at the hot spring. Naruto beams. “You deserve a break, you’ve been working so hard!” Sai nods seriously. “I can’t imagine how stressful it must be, being our teammate.” Naruto shoots him a looks, but Sakura laughs and hugs the two of them. She can’t think of a better way to end the day than with a private soak by herself.

Sasuke Uchiha

Naruto and Sakura are the only ones to plan it, because they know Sasuke isn’t a fan of big social gatherings. He finds them annoying and draining, and when he voices his mind about it, everyone just gets offended. So Naruto and Sakura devise a plan where in perfect tandem they’ll split up and give Sasuke one of the best birthday’s he could possibly ask for.

Sakura goes in first. She finds Sasuke by the dock where his clan used to live and sits down beside him. They make small talk until Sakura asks Sasuke if he’d like to walk her home. He complies, still distant, but Sakura can sense how grateful he is for the company. She can’t imagine how lonely his previous birthdays must have been. The sun is already setting in the sky, and the village is calm.

Along the way, Sakura feigns forgetting an errand she was supposed to run for Lady Tsunade. She tells Sasuke “it’ll only be a small detour, I’m so sorry for the inconvenience”. Sasuke replies that it’s fine, it’s not a problem. But he does frown when he realizes the path Sakura is leading him down tingles with old nostalgia. Something strange surmounts in Sasuke’s chest, but he still follows Sakura as eventually she leads him to the old training grounds, the first place ever where Team Kakashi worked together. Naruto’s perched at the top of the old wooden post, the very same one Kakashi had tied him to as punishment back when they were all genin. The memory is faded and frayed at the edges, and Sasuke can hardly believe it had happened only a handful of years ago.

Naruto leaps down to greet him, beaming. He holds out a bento box full of omosubi with okaka and tomatoes, Sasuke’s favorites. In the middle of the center omosubi is a single burning candle stuck in the rice. “Since you don’t like sweet stuff,” Naruto explains as Sasuke takes the bento box. He hasn’t said anything, and Naruto and Sakura exchange nervous glances. Naruto scratches his head. “We figured you wouldn’t want cake, since it’s sweet, y’know, so we did this instead.”

Sasuke doesn’t move, and Sakura and Naruto are terrified for a moment that they did the wrong thing, that something like this was too soon after everything that had happened. Then Sasuke takes a breath and blows out the candle. Pale smoke trails in the air, and Sasuke wears the barest hint of a grin. Naruto immediately protests, “You didn’t even make wish!” “Actually I did,” Sasuke replies, taking a bite of one of the omosubi. “Well, what was it?” asks Sakura. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” says Sasuke with a smirk. Sakura looks about to protest, but Naruto laughs and she joins in. In that moment she could almost trick herself into believing Sasuke had never even left the village.

The rest of the evening is calm and quiet. It’s just the three of them, and Sasuke cannot believe how lucky he is, after everything, to still have these two friends by his side. They stoke the long burnt out coals deep in him, encouraging the smallest of embers to catch. He knows one day, it’ll grow strong enough to melt the ice.

Sai (as a bonus)

You KNOW baby boy Sai hasn’t had so much as a birthday wish, let alone a full-scale surprise party. Naruto and Sakura know this full well and plan to take complete advantage of his innocence. They plan the most elaborate out-the-ass party they can think of, recruiting everyone they can find to help. Choji bakes this MASSIVE cake comprised of seventeen different flavours, including (but not limited to) chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, red velvet, coconut, marble, lemon, and confetti. Hinata, Lee, and Tenten spend hours hanging streamers and blowing up balloons, fucking Lee’s face turns red he’s huffing and puffing so much and the balloons turn out to be the size of watermelons he’s so over-zealous about it.

So they’re all crouched in position (party’s at Naruto’s, I’m not sure where Sai lives and Naruto isn’t either, so they decide it’s easier) waiting for Naruto, Sakura and Sai to walk through the door. Naruto and Sakura ask Sai to come over for cake, which he agrees. Sai is surprised to find that he actually feels warm, but he wonders if it’s just his body’s natural reaction in expecting to consume a ton of sugar. So he awkwardly agrees, trying to show his teammates he appreciates the gesture. It’s obvious to Naruto and Sakura that Sai has no idea what’s in store.

Sai steps through the door and everyone pops out shrieking “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” like the fucking apocalypse is about to go down.

Immediately Sai flies into the air like a fuckin’ startled cat, you can practically see the ears laid flat, fur puffed, fangs bared. He goes for his shuriken until he hears Naruto absolutely losing it next to him. Seriously, the boy is laughing so hard he’s wheezing.

Then he notices the familiar faces, Shikamaru, Lee, Tenten, every other ninja his age is there. Poor boy’s completely confused.

“Why…are they here?” “For your birthday!” “…Why?” “….uh…”

It charms the fuck out of everyone how confused Sai is, but he brightens up as soon as the cake’s brought out. There’s the regular party noises, chatting and laughing and eating, and Sai stands in the middle of it all holding a piece of cake on a paper plate. He turns out the sound and takes a bite of cake. The flavour is unfamiliar, but Sai finds he really enjoys it. He takes another bite.

Sai forgets to say goodbye to everyone until he’s prompted by Naruto, but he takes the initiative to ask Choji if he might be able to take home the rest of the cake for later. After everything is done, he decides he didn’t mind surprise parties. But if Naruto and Sakura ever throw him another one, he wants them to tell him first.

#Anonymous #admin song #uzumaki naruto #haruno sakura #uchiha sasuke #sai #team 7 #naruto fandom #naruto fanfiction #naruto imagines #naruto headcanon #naruto headcanons #naruto imagine #sasuke sfw #sasuke headcanons #sai naruto

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byakugcu · 7 years

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In Defense of Haruno Sakura:

Refuting Anti-Sakura Arguments

Ok. So these anti-Sakura arguments literally make me laugh. Read the manga! Guys seriously, this character is literally so misunderstood due to the anime studio’s disgusting misinterpretation and bias against her. I will be refuting the following using canon source material (ie the manga, databooks and hiden novels. The anime, I do not care for, it is mostly filler containing ooc moments so no, I won’t even be discussing anime only content)

More under the cut!

Usefulness

I don’t understand why we’re still arguing this. It’s like the anti’s ignore all her feats because they know their fave can’t even compare. Well here are her feats

Gathered intel on Sasuke and Kabuto (Akatsuki spy)

Defeated Sasori with Chiyo

Healed your faves including, but not limited to Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Kankuro, Chiyo, everyone in the Shinobi Alliance

Not just healed, but kept Naruto alive long enough for him to get to Minato

Gathered intel on Obito’s Kamui, White Zetsu’s technique

Motivated the whole shinobi alliance

Summoned, Katsuyu, the slug summon, a feat only shown by her and Tsunade

Dimension hopped with Obito, using her byakugou chakra to get Sasuke back

Punched Kaguya, the rabbit goddess and progenitor of Chakra on Earth and broke the horn off her head, allowing Naruto and Sasuke to seal her

Opened a children’s mental health clinic, establishing the shinobi world mental health system

Also, Sakura is a medic-nin. Are we forgetting the amount of lives that she saved? Are we forgetting that medics had a guideline they were meant to follow issued by Tsunade?

First clause (第一項, Daiikkō): “No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end.” (「医療忍者は決して隊員の命尽きるまで治療を諦めてはならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite taiin no inochi tsukeru made chiryō o akiramete wa naranai.”)

Second clause (第二項, Dainikō): “No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines.” (「医療忍者は決して最前線に立ってはならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite saizensen ni tatte wa naranai.”)

Third clause (第三項, Daisankō): “No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon.” (「医療忍者は決して小隊の中で最後まで死んではならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite shōtai no naka de saigo made shinde wa naranai.”)

Fourth clause (第四項, Daiyonkō): “Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.” (「忍法創造再生の百豪の術を極めし医療忍者のみ上記の掟を破棄できる」, “Ninpō Sōzō Saisei no Byakugō no Jutsu o kiwameshi iryō ninja nomi, jōki no okite o haki dekiru.”)

It’s literally stated in the second clause that medic ninja were not supposed to be on the frontlines in battle, they could only disregard the system if they mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique. It wasn’t until the war that Sakura unlocked the yin seal.

Compared to the other kunoichi in the Naruto series, Sakura has achieved so much more than the kunoichi in her generation, surpassing her own master in her teens.

“Sakura hasn’t shown anything different from her master? Hinata developed her own jutsu.” Well, put it this way. Sakura is a 17 year old in the middle of war, is she really going to be spending time developing new techniques or will she use techniques her master taught her, that she knows she can master and will work in combat. Also, when has Hinata’s lion fist ever done any serious damage? She defeated one juubi fodder? So have all the rookies in her gen. Sakura’s fist may not be anything new but it does work (multiple juubi fodder and Kaguya’s horn say hi), and in combat you have to be able to utilise your skill-set fully rather than have techniques that cannot be optimised.

“Sakura doesn’t have a tragic backstory/She’s too plain to be in the main cast.” Not everyone in this series needs a tragic backstory. Her lack of tragic backstory was evened out by her lack of skill in the beginning of the series.

Sakura was meant to be the girl who didn’t have a tragic backstory, didn’t come from a highly revered clan, or have any special circumstances. Her character is meant to show that just because you are ordinary, does not mean you can’t become extraordinary. She defied the odds and rose up to become a significant kunoichi. Sakura’s character was always about development throughout the story, she was meant to be someone who you watched grow despite her disadvantages.

“Sakura is selfish”

When has this ever been shown in the manga? Sakura’s motivations throughout the manga are never shown to be selfish. She has always been shown with good intentions.

“Sakura broke her friendship off with Ino for Sasuke” No. If you read the manga and have basic comprehension skills, Sakura broke off her friendship with Ino in order to step out of Ino’s shadow and become her own person. Ino literally degraded her own friend by calling her a bud after she revealed her insecurities. Sakura breaking off her friendship with Ino sparked a rivalry to become the better kunoichi which Ino agreed was a good idea. Sakura putting her forehead protector in the ribbon’s spot should tell you that.

Her confession to Naruto? Her trying to kill Sasuke? Do not forget that the entire Rookie 9 guilt-tripped her. They straight up ganged up on her, Shikamaru told her that a war may start in Sasuke’s name. Add on top of that, Sai, told her, to her face that she was hurting Naruto with her promise. Her wanting to kill Sasuke herself was to prevent Kakashi from killing his own beloved student. So excuse her for trying to prevent conflict as quick as possible. Although her actions weren’t the greatest, her intention was to prevent Naruto from getting hurt, and to prevent the war from happening because of Sasuke.

Her hugging Naruto in front of Hinata even though she knew she loved him? Sakura doesn’t owe Hinata anything. Let’s keep in mind that the two have barely interacted and that Naruto and Sakura have been through thick and thin together at this point in Part II. Her close friend just saved the village whose inhabitants include their friends, her mentor, her parents, her colleagues so it’s easy to see why she was thankful. Also, she called him rash before she hugged him, meaning that he had worried her and she was relieved he was okay from his fight. Why should she feel sorry for a platonic hug she gave to her close friend in front of someone she barely even interacted with.

“Sakura gets too emotional”

So we’re gonna hate on a character for expressing genuine human emotions. They may be strong 2D characters who can kick anyone in this world’s ass any day, these characters are meant to be representations of actual human beings. To me, Sakura being emotional makes her relatable. Her emotion in each situation is understandable. Let’s also not forget that throughout most of Part II, her and Naruto were under immense pain and stress from Sasuke’s defection and actions. Also, many other Naruto characters such as Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru and Hinata have cried on the battlefield. Are we hating on those characters too for crying?

“Sakura is abusive”

What the heck. Seriously. Her punching Naruto? It only happened like what? Two times. Her punching him in the anime is part of filler, therefore non-canon. The times in the manga, he literally said something stupid. Most friends tend to playfully hit each other. And this is a manga series, anything that happens in real life, is exaggerated upon. Honestly though, have you ever considered that if Naruto felt as if he were being abused he would’ve said/done something about it ages ago? He literally has no problem calling her out. They’re friends. Let’s also not forget that Naruto has been punched by other females including his own mother.

“Sakura is a fangirl”

Ok. But this was when she was twelve years old. Everyone in her class was a fangirl. One of them was even a stalker. So I don’t see how this argument is a valid one when literally every single girl introduced in the beginning of the series had fangirl tendencies.

Also, Sakura grew out of her “fangirl phase” in the Chunin Exams/Forest of Death arc, where she was willing to allow her team to get eliminated so that Naruto could retake the exams because she believed in his dream of becoming hokage. She also called Sasuke out for being a coward for not doing anything while Naruto had risked his life.

“Sakura guilt-tripped Sasuke into a relationship”

It’s been stated in the manga by Kakashi twice that Sakura’s love for Sasuke was pure and she didn’t even need him to reciprocate her feelings. She only wanted to save him from the darkness and for the real Sasuke to come back. Also, this is Sasuke we are talking about. It would be out of character for him to be guilt-tripped much less a relationship/marriage with someone he doesn’t love. Sasuke literally calls her his wife and states that Sarada is a child born out of their love.

“Sakura is a bad parent”

Sakura was a single mother for majority of Sarada’s life. She was balancing being a mother while also working so she can financially support her daughter. Parenting skills are often reflected on the child, and so far Sarada has been shown to be kind, polite, ambitious and mature. Things that would have to be taught by the parent. Compared to majority of those in her generation, it is clear that Sarada has been well raised by her mother as the others have been shown to be bratty, lazy or rude. In flashbacks during Gaiden, we saw a loving and affectionate Sakura as a mother, nurturing Sarada and looking after her while sick, while keeping a joyful atmosphere in their home.

“Sakura covered up Karin/Taka.” Given that Sasuke left for his mission early, they either did not get the chance to take a family photo at the time, or, they are all with Sasuke. Sakura obviously wanted to show her daughter her father and so she had to make do with the photo from the Bingo book. Sakura probably covered up Taka as seeing them may lead Sarada to questioning her about Sasuke’s past, something that should be told by Sasuke, not Sakura.

“Sakura is a doormat”

This, to me is hilarious. Where? Sakura has been known to not take anyone’s crap. Whether it be from Naruto, Sai or Sasuke. “Sasuke you say, when has she ever-”

As previously stated during the Chunin Exams arc, she literally called Sasuke a coward for freezing up, and refusing to fight, while Naruto had taken the enemy head on, risking his life. In Chapter 699, while healing the boys, Sakura gets Sasuke to be quiet so she can concentrate as well as, contrary to what anti’s believe, got him to specify his apology.

“Sakura is flat-chested/ugly”

Now this, is ridiculous. Are we reading the same manga? Sakura is meant to embody feminine qualities as her namesake is the cherry blossom which in Chinese culture is meant to represent female dominance and power. As well as this, Sakura has been called beautiful by multiple male characters throughout the series.

Also, first of all, Sakura is not flat-chested. She has repeatedly been shown to have curves in multiple drawings by Kishimoto, her being flat-chested is something the anime studio made up and cannot let go of.

Second, what does a flat chest have anything to do with a character’s beauty? On the other side of the spectrum, for comparison’s sake, we have Hinata. She has a chest, but canonically she is not beautiful. Kishimoto has stated in the databooks that Hinata is meant to be “frumpy-looking” or plain in every sense. So obviously in the Naruto world, chest size does not correlate with beauty.

Conclusion

So as you can see, many anti-Sakura arguments are heavily flawed and can be voided just by doing some research. Please guys, be like your faves who have good eyes or glasses (not too much though, don’t want you guys going to jail)

#Sakura Haruno #pro sakura #naruto #sick and tired of all the wanking in this fandom #rants

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s-asuke · 7 years

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Naruto FemSlash Week Day 3 - Unrequited - SakuHina

Warnings; angst, Neji is alive, onesided SakuHina, mentions of SasuSaku and NaruHina, NejiTen. It was always like this. The hangouts of Konoha 13 were bland, making Hinata enjoy them even less when Sasuke actually showed up. She didn't have anything about the last survivor of the Uchiha clan, she only bore a great sadness, because there was no way that Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't sit without someone pestering him. That 'someone' was Haruno Sakura. Hinata's sadness and dissapointment were imminent as she noticed her life long crush once again talk excitedly with Sasuke, her vivid pools crinkling at the edges and revealing the small wrinkles that begun to form from overworking and stressing out. Hinata had an urge to smooth them out, and even, if she possessed the bravery, kiss her nose, that scrunched up when Sasuke said something particularly unpleasant or sarcastic. She wondered which stars coupled to make the amount of beauty that resulted in her creation. Stark beauty of her smile and laughter made Hinata's face heat up to abnormal levels. People mistakened her love for the medic for affection directed towards the Jinchuuriki, and they couldn't be more wrong. Only Neji sensed otherwise. And when he did so, he would have an excuse for the two Byakugan users having to take their leave immediately. Naruto and Ino would call them party poopers, but the other Doujutsu user would 'hn', along with Tenten, who would just have more reason to sulk for her boyfriend leaving. When they walk out of the barbeque, it is safe territorry to ask. Neji is particularly gentle on such occassions. Weirdly so, but Hinata cherishes it with every cell of hers. "Hinata-sama, do you... still feel heartbroken over Sakura?" when he speaks these words, his Byakugan, white and bland as always actually shows a sprinkle of silver. Unlike Hinata's, whose was sparkling with unshed tears. "Neji-nii... yes... it does very much so... I, I don't know if I'm alive or not some days." "I see." He frowns, as if in deep thought, and his Byakugan activates, Hinata feeling invaded. "Your chakra is akin to the one of a sick man. I deduce further from this that you shoud tell her how you feel, before it all becomes meaningless and you cannot change her mind anymore. A mere, 'I will think about it', from the younger Hyuuga, and they part their ways. Hinata's legs feel like they are made of marble – she must carry it but never damage in any way. Why was it that her emotions revolved so strongly around the brave young woman so much after the war? During, she had kept her cool and remained flat-faced, emptying her heart for anything else other than fighting White Zetsu at the time. Her existence wasn't certain, her life perhaps ending in a few hours, or even before the next sunrise. So she endured. But when she seen the Team 7 emerge afterwards, after they defeated the famed ancestor of both Hyuuga, Uchiha and Senju, Hinata's heart burst with joy, unbeliavably so. Pride was intermingled with – her treasured soul perhaps wanting to merge with Sakura's, for them to feel the same. But life was cruel to the young heiress. Not a lot could be done at this point, so all Hinata looked forward too was the next morning, and her training with Neji. She had mastered her Twin Lion fists, the ones with whom she saved both Naruto and Neji with. She has made unbelievable progress and chosen to prove herself to her clan, reclaiming the supposed place of the heiress of the clan head. She had beaten Hanabi and made Jounin, clearly showing that she wanted to change the Hyuuga. Together with Neji, that is. Hearing about all of her achievements, Sakura beamed proudly at the darker haired female, hugging her in solidarity, the hug platonic, but everything Hinata needed at the moment – somewhat of a madness it was, loving someone who didn't love you back and allowing the fact to hurt you. So Hinata wept that night, because tomorrow, she will have the strength to confess. 0===0 Quiet morning was a familiar thing at the Hyuuga residence. Hinata wondered what Sakura's mornings were filled with. Did she wake up in a warm bed or with her back hurting at some hospital chair. She would bring her breakfast, perhaps even prompt her to go out, and take a brief walk. Then she would return to her residence and train. Train her heart out, just like she planned to do now. The training was taxing, but she needed the exaustion to tether her to the Earth before she ran to Sakura's apartment and confessed, particularly poured her soul out. And the evening when she would go and confess came. It looks like things run past all too well and all to quick when one keeps themselves busy. Hinata didn't want to think about the negative results, nor get her hopes up. She pretended she was going for a rapport, something fact-based and clinical. As Hinata passed Hanabi and her father, who smiled curtly (ever since grandfather died he has become more pleasant) and nearly ran to the still bustling streets of Konoha. While walking to the apartment of the pinkette, she actually shook in her tracks – her arms giving up, but she clenched – both her fists and her heart. The Hokage tower was near her apartment, so Tsunade-sama could call upon her greatest student when needed. The brown building rose up, and up, but Hinata couldn't be bothered with admiring Konoha's architecture. She entered the building nimbly, concealing her chakra. She felt a bile rise up her throat – but she decided, today is the day. The day that I leave it all behind, or make an unbreakable vow. The one set of stairs that led to Sakura Haruno's apartment was the longest flight of stairs Hyuuga Hinata ever had to pass. She even counted them – just to move her lips and occupy her brain. She noticed the cracks that were inflicted by the tooth of time, even if Konoha was rebuild years ago, there were tainted surfaces and slight cracks; she counted those, too. Reaching the door and cupping her own cheek, she knocked loudly, three curt times. There was a shout of, 'I'm coming!' and the lily-haired kunoichi towered over Hinata in no time. "Oh, Hina-chan!" She had that wide smile on, the one thing in this world that sometimes kept Hinata going. Her cheeks would puff out real nice, so the softness would seem to spill over the rims of her soft face, and crow's feet would form. Adoration that would spell out a shy, dorky smile on the Doujutsu user's face, as she entered, the exaustion dissolving from her feet and bones immediately. "So, what brings you here? I didn't expect you to come over." Hinata remembers that she jus tinvited herself over, and wanted to slap herself. "I-I'm sorry if I interrupted you in anything, I didn't mean to-" "Hinata," Sakura shook her head once more, "it's alright. Now what do you need?" Hinata blushed furiously, taken aback by the kindred soul across her. "I-well I..." she knew this would be tough. Actually saying it out loud – she had practiced many times with Neji, more than the Revolving Heaven these days, to say, 'Sakura-san, I harbor these feelings of love and affection towards you! Please accept them!', but nothing could prepare her for the actual moment of truth. "Hinata, please. If you'd-" "The truth is Sakura, that I don't know what to say." Tears fall. Gush. Tremble. Are reborn and die on her mouth – cheeks – neck. The subconcious drawing of the fucked up universe. "I know that I love you, first of all. I would die for you. And I said these words so many times in front of a mirror, it was insane. So, so even if you never love me back, I will always be by your side! 'Till the day I die! Because you are so strong, brave, intelligent, and you never stop amazing me, and I am proud of your achievements and development! Haruno Sakura, I love you very much and I hope you will give me a shot!" Silence. All except for the steady trickle of Hinata's tears down her pale cheeks – hollow eyes searching for an answer. Sakura looks as if she had been pierced by a Chidori – a thing likely to never happen, but the expression of amazement and horror was etched deeply into Hinata's mind from then. Eternities passed. Sakura gathered her hands in her lap, slightly trembling. Hinata waited for her lips to form an answer – and then, heavier than the Sun, Sakura speaks, "I can't." Hinata sinks. Everything in her burns – then rots – then slowly dies. What? Somehow everyhthing in Hinata sinks and darkens, blasting sanity away for a hundred feet. She doesn't know how she gets out, she doesn't know where she's going or where she's been, all she knows is that she is far away from home, perhaps even from Konoha, and that she is so weak. She spends the night in a nightmare. 0===0 Neji carried her, as it turns out. He had been caring for her for three days – and deceived the rest of the Hyuuga well. Hinata thinks the rehabilitation period is disgusting. Sakura was already in a relationship with Uchiha Sasuke, and Hinata's heart broke finally at its seams. Her Byakugan wouldn't activate, since there was no clarity of heart. Just a voidal hole in her chest – all consuming and inherently familiar. She thinks that it will come to pass, but it never does. Not even when she marries Naruto, just because. Not when she watches the renewed Uchiha Clan, its greatness shunning both Uzumaki and Hyuuga, which changed from the root. But Hinata watches from a distance. She and Sakura don't talk nearly as much, their connections and comunnications limited. So Hinata enjoys the heartbreak. Arises again. Repeats.

#narutofemslashweek2017 #sakuhina #my writing #sakura haruno #hinata hyuuga

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thefreckledone · 7 years

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shadow of your heart

a sequel to [falling star]

“Quit that incessant pacing girl. The delegation won’t get here any faster with you paving a path in the carpet,” Tsunade says, smile belying her words.

Sakura pauses, looks around, and flushes, ducking her head. “Sorry shishou,” she says quietly, unable to keep from curling her toes with worry. “It’s just…we haven’t seen each other in years.”

“You exchange letters every week, oftentimes on a daily basis,” Tsunade says, standing from her desk and pulling her anxious student into a warm embrace. “You know each other just fine.”

“But, but—”

“New D-ranked mission for you,” Tsunade says, railroading Sakura’s spiking apprehension. “Join Izumo and Kotetsu at the gate for watch.” She smiles and her eyes are pure wickedness. “The Sunagakure delegation will need a guide.”

Sakura barely has a moment to open her mouth in protest before she finds herself maneuvered outside, staring at Tsunade’s closed and sealed door. Sakura pouts for a moment and crosses her arms. “See if I help you with the Council next week,” she mutters as she meanders her way toward the gate.

Despite her best efforts, Sakura finds her gut begin to churn with a mixture of excitement and fear. She hasn’t felt this way since the Forest of Death and she doesn’t appreciate it in the least. It’s just…they haven’t seen each other face to face in two years. True, they’ve written letters but Sakura finds it a paltry substitute for flesh and bone.

What if he’s changed?

What if she’s changed?

What if he doesn’t want to be friends anymore?

Sakura pushes this thought away, stuffing down into that dark place her mind wanders late at night. It’s the place that questions her worth, her career, her very being. It’s the place that knows how unworthy she is of her friends, that tells her to hide, hide, hide. Sakura swallows back against the bitter taste in her mouth, focusing instead on the last letter she received.

He’s excited to be coming. He wants to see the greenhouse she planted and see the constellations that hang differently over Konoha.

He wants to be here.

“Ah Sakura-chan, here to relieve us?” Kotetsu asks, perking up in his seat.

“Join you, more like,” Sakura replies as she slides into the open seat beside Izumo. “Tsunade-shishou has tasked me with guiding the Suna delegation to the Tower.”

Sakura misses the way Izumo and Kotetsu exchange knowing glances.

“Ah yes, quite the task,” Izumo says in a lilting tone.

“It is a well-hidden building,” Kotetsu says.

Sakura squints at the two of them, trying to figure out their angle. Finally, she shrugs it off, deciding that it really isn’t worth her time. She zones out for a while, watching the tree line move in the breeze as Izumo and Kotetsu’s banter washes over her like white noise. She startles when a flare of chakra pierces her senses. Her eyes snap in the direction of the chakra signature, though no one is in sight.

She knows that signature.

Sakura stands, heedless of Kotetsu and Izumo as she makes her way past the gates, following the beacon that she is certain is just for her. Sakura crests the hill and sees the entourage splayed out before her.

One thing is for certain, Suna knows how to travel in style.

The group is dressed resplendently in long, billowy robes done up in deep, rich tones. At the helm of the group is Temari, moving along in confident, swaggering strides. Behind her though…

Sakura’s breath catches in her chest.

Gaara is swamped by green robes that trail a bit behind him. The Kage hat is tilted precariously upon his head and it is apparent how out of his depth he feels in the trappings and prestige of his newly minted position.

Still, he is Gaara and Sakura cannot contain the smile that breaks across her face.

He looks up and Sakura can breathe again as their eyes connect.

“Sakura,” he says and he is smiling and he is real and suddenly he is right in front of her, the slithering sound of sand telling her how he got to her so quickly. There is something warm and liquid in his eyes as he looks at her and Sakura realizes with a jolt that they are of a height now. He sticks out his hand, determination written on his face. “Hello. It is good to see you.”

The words are practiced, Sakura can tell, yet still so stilted. Sakura feels something squeeze in her chest as she takes in the furrow between his brows and the rigidity of his offered hand.

He is trying so hard for her.

Sakura grabs his hand and shakes it for a moment, smiling so hard that her face aches. She uses her momentum to pull him in for a hug, grunting when her forehead collides with his hat.

Sakura pulls away, still holding his hand and looks at him. Gaara glares up at his hat with such consternation that Sakura cannot keep from giggling. “I’ve missed you,” she says, intending it to sound light. Instead it comes out raw and true and it doesn’t even make sense because they’ve only been face-to-face for two weeks’ time and only a smattering of days spent together as friends. Yet, it is the soul-searing, bone-aching truth. He knows her, perhaps as well as or even better than Ino at this point.

His eyes lighten. “I’ve missed you too. Letters are nice, but I find I like your physical presence more.”

“Smooth, Gaara.”

Sakura nearly jumps out of her skin, dropping Gaara’s hand and looking to the interloper. Kankuro stands before them and the entourage, a smirk lighting his face. Considering that he once feared his brother with good reason, Sakura finds this a massive improvement.

“I apologize,” Sakura says, face warm. “Tsunade-shishou sent me ahead to greet you all and lead you to the Tower. If you’d follow me?”

“So you work for the Hokage?” one of the group asks, who, by the looks of him, must be a council member.

Sakura sketches a slight bow. “I am Haruno Sakura, apprentice to the Fifth Hokage, Senju Tsunade. I sincerely apologize for my unprofessionalism.”

The man regards her with keen interest in a way that makes her uncomfortable.

“It’s fine!” Temari exclaims, effectively deflating the tension as she claps Sakura on the shoulder. “You mentioned leading us to the Tower? Gaara told us that there is a barbeque restaurant in Konoha that you consider a must for any visitor. Any chance you’ll take us by later?”

“Of course,” Sakura replies, thanking Temari with her eyes for the efficient distraction. Truly, Temari would make a wonderful diplomat if she chose that route. “Follow me, please.”

Sakura feels awkward and unwieldy as she guides the train through the gates, finding herself uncertain of how she should walk or how she should move her hands. She certainly feels her age, a mere handful of years, as she guides the prestigious group to the Tower. Her neck and face are warm, but she manages to lead the group into Tsunade’s office.

Tsunade nods at her, indicating that she should take her place behind her. Sakura folds her arms behind her back, listening with half an ear as the proceedings begin. She’s heard it all already, hell, she was part of the drafting and revising of the new treaty. After the disastrous chunin exams, their last treaty was broken and, in the chaos of losing so many people including the Hokage, a new one hadn’t been drafted.

They survived on grace and unspoken rules but now that there is an established Kazekage, it is time to renew their written treaty.

Which leads to today and Gaara’s visit.

Sakura glances over the group, flushing as she meets Gaara’s eyes. His lips quirk up at the corners and Sakura hastily looks away, praying her face isn’t as red as it feels.

As she waits for her face to cool, the talk ceases and Sakura snaps to attention.

“Sakura,” Tsunade says and her voice is full of amusement. “Will you lead the delegates to the ambassador suites? Staff will be able to provide amenities from there. We will reconvene in the morning to begin discussions.” She stands and her eyes are whiskey warm. “I thank you all for traveling so far. This venture is pivotal to the future of both our countries.”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama,” Gaara says. Sakura blinks. His voice is strong and confident in a way she hasn’t yet heard. “I am grateful for your forgiveness of our past follies. Our countries will emerge from this stronger and safer.”

Pride fills Sakura’s chest as the Kages bow to one another, certain that their alliance will come out of this stronger than before. Sakura quietly takes a position by the door and waits as the politicians prance and preen and prattle a bit, knowing it is all part of the game they play.

Sakura is relieved to see a slight furrow between Gaara’s brows. At least he hasn’t changed too much.

When the posturing becomes too much for both Kages, Sakura and Temari begin subtly maneuvering the envoys out the door and Sakura again marvels at Temari’s skills. They manage to make the walk through Konoha without too much hassle, though at the end Sakura is exhausted. Directing councilors is like herding cats, which were aptly chosen as the Uchiha familiar.

“Thank you,” Sakura says, slumping against the post outside the embassy.

“Don’t worry about it,” Temari replies. “I picked up the skill running around on dad’s coattails through the years. He always enjoyed watching me maneuver the councilors. Always said I’d make a good—” She cuts off, expression pained.

Sakura files that bit of information away, knowing that Temari didn’t intend to share that much. “I’m sure you’re in the mood to rest,” Sakura says, graciously avoiding the inadvertent confession. “Were your quarters satisfactory?”

“They were great,” Temari says. “I actually was wondering if you could provide me with some information. I’m looking for someone.”

“Oh?” Sakura replies, taking in the flush on Temari’s cheeks. “Do you have a name?”

“It’s the girl I fought in the chunin exams,” Temari replies, fidgeting slightly. “Tenten, I think?”

Sakura’s eyes go wide. Oh. “Of course,” she says, recovering quickly. “You aren’t planning on demanding a rematch, are you?”

“No, no,” Temari says. “I just wanted to…apologize for my actions during the exam and thank her for what she said…after.” There’s a story there but Sakura doubts she’ll hear it today. “She’s really kind and I wanted to follow up with her.” She looks at Sakura and there’s something vulnerable in her gaze. “Do you think she’ll be angry?”

Sakura thinks on that, on Tenten’s almost unending pool of patience when dealing with her teammates. She smiles. “I think it’ll be fine. Her team trains at Training Ground Eleven. If you hurry you’ll catch them before they break for the evening.”

Temari’s smile is a breathtaking thing as she sweeps Sakura up in a hug before bounding off down the road.

“That was kind.”

Sakura jumps, looking up into Gaara’s expressionless face. She honestly cannot tell if he is happy or upset with her. “Gaara, what’s wrong?”

His lips pull down momentarily before he says, “You still haven’t hugged me.”

Sakura swallows a laugh, instead straightening up and grabbing his hand. “Well I should rectify that then, shouldn’t I?”

She pulls his hat away and wraps her arms around him. He has grown and his shoulder is now the perfect perch for her chin. Something is off, however. Sakura frowns, pulling away slightly. Gaara’s arms hang limply at his sides, though his fingers twitch as if he wishes to return her hug. Sakura grabs his hands and tugs them to rest at her back. She’s sure they look like a pair of fools and damn if she can’t keep grinning like one.

Still, as she sinks back into the hug, she finds it offers a shelter, a haven, she never expected.

“I missed you, Gaara,” Sakura says against his ear.

He stiffens slightly but his breath is warm against the shell of her ear as he says, “I missed you too.”

They stand there for a long time, just basking in each other’s presence. Sakura finally breaks the hug, realizing Gaara will not. “So,” she says, clapping her hands together. “How about we grab some dinner?”

Gaara nods and there is a lost look about him that draws Sakura in She scrutinizes him for a moment. “Actually, it may be smart for you to change first. Don’t want you getting mobbed on your first day here.”

“My sand is more than enough defense for any attack against you or myself,” Gaara says and his expression is thunderous.

“It’s an expression!” Sakura replies. “No one is going to mob you though they may crowd around you because they want to know more about you. People are curious about the Kages. Haven’t you experienced something similar in Suna?”

He shakes his head, still tense and Sakura’s heart breaks anew for him. “Well,” she says, “tonight we’re going to have fun. Grab some dinner, stop by the greenhouse, and watch the stars. Sound good?”

“Amazing,” he replies and his gaze is intent as he stares at her.

“Go get ready,” Sakura says, glad when he turns away so she can press her cold hands to her cheeks.

A few minutes later Gaara returns, dressed in dark attire. The gourd is still firmly attached to his back and, after her offhand comment about mobs, she doubts he’ll part with it all night.

“Have you heard of a place called Ichiraku?”

“Just a little further,” Sakura says, leading Gaara by the hand. “Our greenhouses aren’t as nice as Suna’s. Tsunade-shishou put me in charge of the development. She and Shizune are in charge of the one at the hospital but this one is my personal project.”

“It is wonderful.” His tone brooks no argument.

“You haven’t even seen it yet!” Sakura says through a fit of giggles. She hasn’t felt this light and carefree in quite some time. Gaara brings out the child in her.

“Regardless,” he says, hand curling more firmly around hers.

“Here it is,” Sakura says, tapping her free hand against the door.

Her chakra streams free from her hand in veins along the glass panes. In the moonlight, it appears ethereal. With a soft push, the door to the greenhouse is open and they are submerged in a veritable forest.

Sakura lets go of his hand, moving to groom her bonsai plants, knowing that they are the fussiest of her plants. She works at them as she watches Gaara move through the greenhouse, his face soft and open. There’s something magical between the silence and the full moon bearing down upon them and Sakura doesn’t wish to be the first to break it.

Still, as she finishes tending the bonsais, Sakura sidles up beside Gaara and guides him over to her succulents. “These are the ones you sent me,” Sakura says, voice barely more than a whisper. “They’re crossbreeding magnificently.” She brushes the top of one covered in fuchsia flowers.

“Sakura, have you kissed?”

Sakura jumps, barely feeling the sting as her hand clenches around the cactus. Gaara makes a noise, pulling her hand away from the cactus and meticulously removing the prickles from her hand. Her hand lights with chakra and the cuts fade away.

“W-what’d you ask?” Sakura says, flustered. She sets the cactus down, petting it apologetically.

“Have you kissed?” He is calm and his gaze is steady as he watches her. His expression puckers in confusion. “Kankuro said it is something you do with someone you like.”

“I haven’t kissed,” Sakura replies, glad for the lack of adequate lighting. Her face is hot. “H-have you?”

“I haven’t,” Gaara says. “There is no one I like except you.”

Sakura swallows. “Are you asking to kiss me, Gaara?”

He is silent for a few, painfully long moments. “Yes.” His voice is so quiet, Sakura must lean closer. “Do you wish to kiss me?”

Sakura ponders for a moment, biting at her lip. Does she? Her heart pounds and her hands are clammy. “Yes.” Her voice is equally as quiet and tentative.

Gaara exhales and it rattles free of his chest in such a way that Sakura realizes he has been holding his breath expectantly. Something in her relaxes and she says, “Yes,” once more, confident now.

Sakura moves closer to him, balancing a hand against his shoulder. She cannot really make out his features well in the moonlight but his eyes shine an almost otherworldly green. They lean in at the same time and Sakura can feel his breath on her lips. Her lips part just as they bump foreheads. They pull apart, eyes wide and mouths agape. Sakura isn’t sure which of them starts but they begin to laugh, the nervousness and anxiety fleeing in the face of their humor.

Sakura presses her head into his shoulder, breathless from all the giggles. Sakura catches her breath and stands up straight. Their eyes lock and Sakura finds her breath has fled her once more and her anxiety remains absent as well. This time Gaara leans in, shifting his head slightly, and then his lips are pressed against hers.

It is an interesting sensation. His lips are dry and warm over hers, but something about the kiss feels awkward. Sakura adjusts her head, startled as his lips move pliantly along with hers. A frisson of giddiness travels down her spine as Sakura presses into the kiss, taking her time to enjoy the sensations.

They pull away from each other, breathless and panting as they stare at one another with wide eyes.

“That was…” she begins, before shaking her head.

“Much better than Kankuro described,” Gaara says and his smile is warm and inviting.

They contemplate each other for a moment and Sakura is relieved to find that their relationship isn’t irrevocably altered. He is still her friend. Sakura takes his hand in hers and starts heading for the exit.

“You ready to see the stars?” she asks.

“As long as I’m with you,” he replies as they head out into the night.

#my fic #gaasaku #sabaku no gaara #gaara #Sakura Haruno

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