Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Past Midnight ❯ Kiss ( Chapter 7 )

(3-31-05) I put more on this chapter. I wasn't quite satisfied when I reread it this morning so I changed it a bit. Enjoy the new and revised version!

 

A/N: Confused? This chapter should clear it up. I must really like to confuse people…

 

InuKago thank you so much for your super duper review. It made my day. Same goes for Itonami and animEvivvErz. As for Sakura's little problem it's cleared up in this chapter. I had planed this out a long time a go, even before I started writing this story, so it's kinda weird and super confusing how I ended the previous chapter. (bonks head for doing so, pobre tonta) And as for recognizing Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura was able to guess by their chakra and voices.

 

I'd like to dedicate this little chapter to you, InuKago. I assure you this chapter will contain SasuSaku goodness! Lots and lots of SasuSaku goodness!! Yay!

 

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“How?” Tsunade pressed seriously.

 

Sakura swallowed hard, she could feel the blood in her body freeze and her hands quiver at revealing her shame. She did not want them to know that her weakness had led her to her current predicament and poor state. She cursed her venerability, her scars, her life, and the cruelty the world seemed to bestow upon her. She was weak. That's why she was slowly and painfully going blind. It was the same reason as to why she lost her baby girl.

 

She was weak.

 

Yet at the same time she found herself torn between grieving at losing her child and thankful she didn't have to carry the burden any longer. Had things turned out differently in the beginning she wouldn't have had to be ashamed for being pregnant at such a young age and the nasty rumors would have been replaced by words of praise. She wouldn't have had to hide behind Neji but instead stand proudly beside Sasuke.

 

She smiled bitterly and muttered rather darkly, “I'm not sure…I can't remember much. It will be a matter of months, even weeks before I go completely blind…I can only see outlines of shapes and colors, but its too blurry, although there're certain colors I can see very clearly…”

 

“Then there's still a possibility her eyesight can be recovered with an operation, right?” Neji spoke, his worried voice echoed in the quietness of the office.

 

Sakura shook her head slightly, brow furrowing as she spoke somberly, “I would have been able to heal it myself if it wasn't such a mess. My optic nerves are deteriorating slowly each day, there isn't much Tsunade-sensei can do to save my eyesight without actually having to perform an eye transplant on me, and I don't want that.”

 

Tsunade sighed, “All right, I think that's enough for today. We'll talk about everything else tomorrow. You must be tired Sakura,” she eyed Neji knowingly.

 

Neji stood from his chair hastily, quickly making his way towards Sakura as she gazed at everything but the occupants in the room. He grabbed her arm gently, lifting her from the seat as she continued to gaze outside the opened window. Sasuke watched angrily from afar as Neji carefully and tenderly held her.

 

“Come on, Sakura. I'll take you the Hyuuga compound.”

 

Sakura yanked her arm away from Neji's gentle grasp, “No,” she shook her head, “No. I will not go with you…”

 

“But—” the words died in his mouth as she turned around, ignored him and walked out of the office leaving behind his heart to shatter into millions of pieces as he watched her walk out of his life.

 

He clenched his fists in anger and frustration silently blaming himself for her pain. If only he had been with her during the battle with Orochimaru then she would have not gone missing. She wouldn't be suffering like this.

 

She wouldn't. And it was his entire fault.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

The night had come quickly, twinkling stars illuminating the dark sky as they surrounded the moon up in the high heavens. It was a bit cooler than the afternoon, unusually cool for the kind of weather Konoha usually had during the summer. Sasuke kept his pace slow as he walked amongst the crowd in the livelier part of town ignoring all the squeals and flirtatious comments the young women made as he passed. He walked until he found himself in the empty streets of his clan's home.

 

Sasuke walked silently in the empty streets of the Uchiha estate, the houses all dark and lonely radiated of haunted families who had yet to rest in peace. His brother still roamed the earth, his rage burning more brightly within him as he imagined Itachi living peacefully while he was left to suffer for his crimes. But if he kept thinking this way then there wasn't any probable chance that he'd get to live a happy life, demons and nightmares free. After all, it's not like his older brother actually cared what he did with his life nor did he even bother to check on his progress for power and the bull crap Itachi had fed him as a youth was only a sick way he amused himself.

 

So deep in his thoughts, Sasuke didn't notice he had taken a detour in his path that had ended in bringing him to the graveyard.

 

He squinted his eyes and noticed a petite body amongst the graves, hands reaching out and touching the tombstones desperately. The long pink hair, tangled in a thick braid behind a small back, gave it away as to whom was roaming the graves and Sasuke felt his heart tugging uncomfortably in his chest. He walked quietly towards her, stopping only when she turned around to look at him with her dull pale eyes. Her hand was still resting on the tombstone and he immediately realized she was searching for her parent's grave.

 

“Do you need help?”

 

She nodded slowly, hair falling around her face obscuring her pale eyes from his sight. He grabbed her hand gently and pulled her along the graves until he spotted what she desired; dropping to the ground she followed his lead as his hand grazed her parent's tombstone along with her trembling hand. She fingered every engraving on the cold stone, almost desperately wanting to memorize each and every single letter.

 

“I'm back, Kaachan, Touchan…” she whispered into the night and felt Sasuke's arm wrap around her trembling form, his grip tightened in a gentle way and Sakura found herself too tired to push him away.

 

Her hand searched for more, grasping onto the little tombstone that stood sadly next her parent's. The name was clearly carved elegantly on the middle with large letters, beautifully as she had remembered. Sasuke, confused as to why she was touching an undated grave as if it was her life, watched silently as glistering tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. When he couldn't stand the uncomfortable swell in his chest any longer of seeing her so upset he gently lifted her up to her feet and hugged her closely to his body as she cried her sorrows.

 

Sakura wrapped her arms around him awkwardly, grasping him tightly to her shaking form as she fought a losing battle with her emotions. Sasuke rubbed her back softly, laid his chin on her head and closed his eyes as her crying engulfed his hearing. When her crying subsided he led her away from the graves with a reassuring grip as she sniffled and hiccupped her tears away. He held her hand tightly, fingers interlocking, as they walked slowly to his house in silence, she being too tired and sad let him take her away.

 

His wooden floor creaked with their heavy footsteps, hollow hallways seeming more haunting than he'd remembered. They walked towards his room, surprised at seeing it somewhat clean and devoid of dust. He motioned her to sit on the bed while he rushed to the bathroom to turn the water on for a warm bath. When Sasuke returned back to his room he found Sakura hunched over and crying.

 

“Sakura,” he whispered.

 

She was shaking and mumbling incoherently under her breath as she cried. Sasuke kneeled in front of her and grasped her face tenderly, stroking her cheeks and wiping the tears away from her eyes. His tenderness startled her and she swore she wouldn't fall for it.

 

“I…I hate you,” her chest heaved, “I hate you, you know that right?”

 

His eyes softened as he whispered quietly against her lips, “Yeah…I know…”

 

His mouth descended upon her lips as he kissed her softly, Sakura whimpered and pulled away quickly from Sasuke who stood rooted to his spot slightly hurt by her rejection. He sighed, buried his face into her exposed neck before tugging her towards the bathroom. He sat her at the edge of the tub as he helped her undo the obi of her kimono.

 

Her small-scarred hands stopped his larger calloused ones when he tried to take the kimono off from her shoulders, she bit her lip as she waited for him to get the idea that she didn't need his help. His hands rested stubbornly on her shoulders, hers trembling in fear as he slowly slid his hands inside the kimono feeling her warmth beneath his fingers.

 

“D-don't,” she whimpered painfully, “I…I don't want you to see m-me…”

 

He ignored her plea, silencing her with a soft, breathless kiss while he continued to remove her clothing slowly. The kimono pooled around her feet on the floor, exposing her in all her naked glory in front of him. His eyes roamed her body, head to toe, absorbing all the soft flesh that lingered with ugly, healed wounds. Large scars adorned her chest and abdominal, some going as low to her hips. He felt her back and found only one solid scar running from between her shoulder blades to the middle of her back.

 

She cried again, her body trembling in shame, more so when he paid no heed to the scars that marred her body as he gently lifted her up, carefully setting her in the warm water. He washed her body and long luscious hair soothingly, large hands scrubbing her scalp softly while he talked about his time on the battlefield with Kakashi and Naruto. After the long, warm bath he dried her tenderly with the largest towel he found in his house, her hair taking more time to dry because of its length.

 

She didn't complain.

 

Sasuke somehow liked the feeling of being needed and having someone to take care of. He hoped Sakura would let him take care of her from now on.

 

With one of his oversized shirt resting on her small figure he brought her to his bed where he gently laid her to rest. His arm snaked possessively around her, bringing her closer to his body as he whispered soothing words into her ear to calm her fears.

 

She fell asleep before hearing the words `I love you' coming from his lips.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

She almost choked on the water she was drinking.

 

The predatory look she was receiving from Sasuke, who sat across from her, was a bit unsettling and might she dare to say a little exciting. She was brought back from her questioning thoughts with one of Kakashi's pats to the head. He commented on something about the unfinished food on her plate and she zoned him out as soon as Naruto started to yell.

 

His gaze was still burning her and she wasn't sure if he was either glaring at her for doing something wrong or just glaring at her because he felt like it. She thought back to their training, trying to recollect anything she might have done or said to upset him.

 

Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. She couldn't come up with anything that might have caused him to be upset. Unless he wasn't upset at all…

 

Sakura looked up and blushed wildly as he stared at her while he ate his meal suggestively. The little smirk he gave her did not go unnoticed by Kakashi who gave a shake to his wild silver mane.

 

“Ehh?!” Naruto pointed to her neck, “Sakura-chan when did you get that bruise? I don't remember any of us hitting you there!”

 

His finger pointed to the obvious love bite left behind on her milk white complexion, “It-it's just a mosquito bi-bite. You should have seen the size of that thing!”

 

Naruto being the poor gullible fool he was when it came to Sakura believed her little lie and thought nothing more of it except that the mosquito must have been really big. Kakashi on the other hand peered at Sasuke from behind his book to give him a deadly glare.

 

She laughed nervously hitching her collar up a little higher and she was certain she heard Sasuke cover up his laughter by coughing.

 

Sakura woke to a hard chest planted against her back, a warm hand underneath the oversized shirt resting innocently on her lower abdominal. His fingers twitched as they stroked her softly and Sakura had to keep herself from jumping out of bed at the sudden closeness. Sasuke's slow and even breathing grazing her scalp had begun to stir bottled up feelings within her body, as she lay awake in bed. The sensation of having him near coiled warmth within her tummy before it spread down lower.

 

She moved slightly in his embrace causing him to murmur her name sleepily and move around until he was in a more comfortable position with his strong arms crushing her to his chest. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest and she moved again to get away from the unbearable heat that was radiating from his body to her body.

 

“Sakura?”

 

She hummed, biting her lower lip as she tried to cool off with the wall's ice-cold surface. Sasuke reached out, grabbed her thin arm and pulled her clumsily from the edge of the bed, forcing her back into his warm arms. She gave a slight groan of frustration that was muffled against his chest as she struggled in his grasp, desperately wanting to be out of his embrace before doing something she knew she'd regret in the morning.

 

His hand traced lazy circles on her lower back causing delightful shivers to run up and down her spine. She tried to move again, but Sasuke tightened his hold on her not quite wanting her out of his arms just yet. She cursed under her breath, raised her arms up and wrapped them around Sasuke's neck before jerking his face down to crush her plump lips to his.

 

A slight moment of shock was all Sasuke needed and he wasn't quite sure if he was still sleeping, although a sudden squeeze from Sakura was enough to shake him awake completely. He managed to react lively, deepening the kiss as his hands roamed her small body feverishly while her hands grabbed and tugged his hair playfully. He rolled her onto her back, nipping and kissing everything that was exposed to his hungry mouth, but hard to do more by the offending clothing she wore. She leaned into him; half moaning, half praising that his hands were so gentle as he gave her pleasure she thought she'd never receive from him. Although in the back of her mind she knew he had been wanting her as much as she had been wanting him since their encounter after so many years.

 

A fleeting thought about how positively different he was from his brother flashed through her mind, and she would have thought more of it if it weren't for the distracting swirls of his tongue on her skin.

 

A quick desperate tug had the oversized shirt off her body and on the floor along with his pants that quickly followed. The bareness of their heated bodies alerted Sakura and she was beginning to have second thoughts, “Sa-Sasuke?”

 

He buried his face in her chest whispering quietly against her heated flesh, “I promise I won't hurt you…I promise,” he lifted himself up to kiss her deeply, “I won't run away…”

 

She gave in.

 

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A/N: animEvivvErz I love you! I just had to get it off my chest. (giggle)

 

Thanks to all the awesome people who have been reviewing.

 

InuKago: Soy Latina. Me crié en Jalisco y viví allí por ocho años.