Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hey there!~

Thanks for clicking on my story! (The hard part's over, now keep them here, Girl!)

I'll be honest: I'm genuinely not the best writer, but I have so many ideas that I just have to get out there. Whether or not my work becomes popular won't stop me from posting it! (It'd be killer if something did get at least a little attention, though! *peeks at reader*)

Anyway, I'll put the extended Synopsis below and soon begin posting chapters!

I hope you stick around and read my story!

Thanks again!~

Sakura Haruno ran away from home.

She ran away from her abusive ex-boyfriend, her complacent parents, and friends that should've had her back but didn't.

Moving to Otogakure, the twenty-one-year-old woman transfers to the cheapest college in the area so she can continue schooling to become a doctor. With barely enough money for the deposit on the smallest apartment she's ever seen, the woman desperately needs a well-paying part-time job.

Luckily, her new friend Ino managed to get her on as a waitress at a bar, called Oasis, which pays almost double what she expected. When she arrives for her first day of work, she realizes why the wages are so high. Oasis is located on the sketchy side of town, yet expects their staff to be top-notch in presentation and execution of duties.

Since she'll be evicted and have to scurry back to Konoha without the job, Sakura grits her teeth and endures it.

Just a few days after she started working there, she meets a foul-mouthed, self-centered, unbelievably handsome man who works at her nerves until she can't take it anymore. Little did she know, that man was dangerous, and their fates had been intertwined the moment she dumped a glass of red wine directly onto his head.

(Modern/College AU)

(Akatsuki/Gangster Sasuke)

(Warning: contains violence, gore, language, abuse, smut, and more)

AN: Sometimes, when reading fanfiction, I'll cringe a little when things get overly dramatic. Now that I'm writing my own, though, I'm like, "F*CK IT BRING ON THE EXCITEMENT! Ha!"

(but really, though, I'll try to reign it in and not write a damn telenovela LOL)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter One and leave lots of reviews/comments because it makes me feel good!  *shameless*

Thanks!

The group of people around Sakura suddenly gasped and became quiet as she stood there, a wine glass upside down in her hand. She'd dumped its contents on the head of an unbelievably handsome man with black hair and even blacker eyes, though they were currently burning with the wildfire of rage.

When she did it, every part of her was irritated and offended, severely clouding her judgment. That said, this man had spent the past three hours tormenting the poor woman and in front of all his buddies, no less.

So when the angry fog in Sakura's mind began to clear, she didn't let the man's intimidating demeanor get to her and venomously spat, "I've never met someone so full of himself in my life. Maybe other women put up with this kind of treatment, but I refuse."

The black-haired man unfroze, lifting a brow while obviously struggling not to lose his temper. He snatched her wrist and squeezed it tightly enough that it wasn't possible to pull away, "What the fuck did you just say to me?"

Sakura swallowed her swiftly rising terror, attempting to free herself and failing, "You owe me an apology," she paused, anxiously glancing over to see Ino hurrying toward the manager's office, "…Right now."

Other patrons were beginning to gather around in the crowded Oasis bar, hushed chatter barely being masked by the loud music.

The man stood, towering over the slender woman with an aura of danger. Glaring down his nose at her, he pulled her closer by her arm, leaning in to hold her gaze, "You're going to regret what you just did."

-Five Days Prior/Monday Afternoon-

"You're new here, right? I don't recognize you." A drop-dead-gorgeous blonde woman approached a stunned Sakura Haruno. She came to sit beside her at the furthest back desk in the classroom, "I'm Ino Yamanaka. Let's get along well!"

'Is it really that easy? I haven't said a single word, and this pretty girl wants to be friends,' the awkward girl thought while nodding. "I'm Sakura. It's nice to meet you, and yes, I am new."

Ino grinned, flashing pearly white teeth while offering her phone, "Here, put your number in. Where are you from? I assume you've just moved to Oto since it's the middle of the school year."

Throughout Sakura's entire school career, from elementary to the college she's attended thus far, meeting and befriending new people has been a challenge. In fact, all the friends she left behind in Konoha only put up with her because they wanted to hang around her ex-boyfriend.

'Don't think about him. Give Ino your phone, too, or she'll think you don't want to be friends.'

"Here, put yours in mine, too!"

'God, it's obvious how fake my smile is. Get it together, Girl! If she finds out you're having a mini-panic attack, she'll realize you're a big loser.'

The twenty-one-year-old college student's social anxiety has always been a hindrance, but it's never been this debilitating. Maybe being in a strange new place with no familiar faces put her on edge, or perhaps it's fear that she will see someone she recognizes, someone she left Konoha to get away from.

"I'm from Konoha, originally. This is my first time leaving home, so if you have any pointers for surviving around here, I'd greatly appreciate it," she said while attempting to come off as calm, cool, and collected.

"No way! I was born in Konoha, but my parents moved us here before I was old enough to start school, so I don't remember it. Small world, huh?"

Class began as Sakura handed Ino's phone back, and Ino returned hers, as well. Throughout the two-hour lecture, the two girls learned a little more about one another. To the quieter one's relief, they hit it off quickly. The blonde woman was talkative and social, but she also didn't pressure the Haruno woman into responding more than she already did. It was nice and comfortable, a feeling the Konoha native hadn't experienced in years.

While leaving class, Ino asked, "By the way, you mentioned you're looking for a job. Do you want me to ask my boss if he'll hire you?"

"...Where do you work?" If the job required more than the average amount of small talk or grace, Sakura would be doomed to fail and embarrass her new friend.

"Oh, right! My bad. It's a bar on the east end of town called Oasis. I'm a waitress there. It's super easy. You just have to wear nice clothes and bring drinks to the tables. The pay is great, and you get lots of tips just for being cute, too!"

Though she was hesitant because a bar meant drunk people, drunk men in particular, Sakura nodded, "Sure. You'll text me, then?"

Ino gave her an incredulous look, "Oh, Honey, no. We're going to your place to get dressed, and I'm taking you to work with me tonight. My boss won't be able to say no once he sees you."

That's how Sakura Haruno ended up in a tight mini-skirt and a lowcut shirt, following her equally as scantily clad friend while being trained.

The moment the manager, a tall and bulky middle-aged man named Kakuzu, was introduced, he asked if she'd like a job there. When she pictured someone his age who hired college-aged women based on their appearance, she definitely didn't imagine a stone-faced, quiet man whose glare put a shiver up her spine.

'At least he's not some pervert who'd try to make a move on one of us. Well, I don't think he is, anyway.'

"If you're serving multiple people at once, you can use a tray like this one. I swear it's easier than it looks. Even if you end up dropping a few, it's not the end of the world," Ino spoke in honey-coated words while shooting a pale-skinned, dark-haired young man a wink and handing him a beer.

Sakura nodded with a tense smile, forcing herself to ignore the wandering gazes of the men in the area. Her blonde partner seemed to enjoy the attention. For the remainder of the night, she learned how the floor was divided into sections and worked on memorizing drink names and prices.

At two o'clock, the bar closed, and at two-thirty, Ino drove the woman back to her apartment, "Kakuzu said you'll get paid for tonight, too! Isn't that great? Now we can hang out at work."

The pink-haired one nodded and offered a tired grin, "Thank you for this again, Ino. You're a lifesaver."

Blue eyes winked at her as she got out of the little car and turned to wave goodbye. "Babe, I told you, it's no big deal. Want me to pick you up tomorrow, too? I don't mind carpooling. My dorm's nearby anyway."

After receiving confirmation, Ino pulled away from the curb, leaving Sakura to climb the steps up the side of the house where she was renting the top floor as an apartment. She was relieved she didn't have to go through the front door or the other tenant's home to get to hers.

She went inside, carefully looking out the door's window to ensure no one was secretly watching her before locking and deadbolting it. Once the thick curtain was in place, she turned around.

Her apartment was tiny but still looked bare because she could only bring her clothes, school supplies, and a few photos when leaving. With her saved-up money, she had just enough to buy a new bed and pay the deposit on this place. The landlord had some refurbished furniture delivered, saying it was just sitting in storage anyway, so there was also a nightstand, sofa, and a tiny dining table big enough for the two chairs that went with it.

Food would have to be scarce until she gets her first paycheck. Luckily, the college offers free lunches to all its students, so one meal a day was guaranteed every day except Sunday.

Sighing, Sakura trudged into the bathroom to shower, 'I just want to go to bed, but I don't want to get the sheets all dirty. I've been sweating in a bar for hours.' That's what she thought, but once she was under the hot water, all negative emotions on the act disappeared.

Laying in bed half an hour later, Sakura rested a hand on her stomach and stared at the ceiling while awaiting sleep to take over.

'Living alone in a new place is terrifying, but I prefer this to what's waiting for me back home.'

Rather than let her mind dwell on the nightmare fuel that was the past four years of her life, she forced her thoughts to focus on her new friend and job. 'I hope everything isn't as too good to be true as it feels. I need this to work out.'

If the pinkette loses this job and doesn't manage to find a new one ASAP, she'll be evicted from her apartment for not having rent. It's due in about four weeks. With that concern in mind, she drifted off to sleep.

-The Day "It" Happened-

Sakura felt as close to her true self as she had in years. Ino introduced her to another one of her friends, who also happened to work at Oasis. She was a sarcastic, short-tempered, yet still nice girl named Karin with blood-red hair and pretty dark eyes behind black cat-eye glasses.

Speaking of Oasis, she quickly got the hang of things in the week and a half following her hire date. Regular customers were beginning to recognize and call her by name; it no longer made her nervous to receive and deliver orders, and she'd even come to enjoy speaking to the more respectful patrons.

On this particular night, Saturday, the fourth waitress, a confident and beautiful woman named Guren, a couple of years older than the other three, called in sick. The fifth one, who wasn't scheduled to work, couldn't come in because she didn't have a babysitter for her little brother, who wasn't old enough to enter the bar. That meant Ino, Karin, and Sakura had to pick up the slack by taking turns with tables in Guren's section.

"We have a group coming in, Sakura. It's your turn," Ino chimed in while expertly powerwalking with a tray of beer glasses.

Karin piped up while also whizzing by to order a drink, "Be careful with those ones. They're pretty rowdy. Usually, Guren takes care of them."

'Oh, great. Just what I need. Troublemakers,' Sakura thought while turning to greet the group of customers in question, a smile plastered on her lips. Then, she froze in surprise.

Approaching were five men, each more beautiful than the next. Let's see, there was a quiet-looking one with long dark hair and stress lines under his eyes.

The next was taller and more muscular, with silver hair slicked back and a mischievous grin as he yelled across the bar to a woman who'd called out to him in greeting.

The following two talked to one another and seemed almost unaware that they were even in a bar. One was the shortest of the group with tan skin, red hair, and brown eyes, while the other had almost the exact same hair as Ino as well as eye color. He was so pretty that one might mistake him for a woman if it weren't for his athletic build and lower voice.

The one in the center, leading the group, had black hair, black eyes, and a smirk on his lips. His skin was clear and smooth looking, and it was evident he played some type of sport because attractive yet unimposing muscles were fighting the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt.

"Um, follow me, and I'll show you guys where to sit," Sakura managed to get out once they were close enough to hear.

A low whistle met her ears, making her tense up, and one of the guys remarked, "Looks like there's some new blood, huh? Hey, Sweetheart, go tell Guren Hidan's here."

The pinkette turned to gesture toward the den of seating large enough to appease their group and more should they have any friends arrive. She forced a smile once more, realizing it was the silver-haired one who'd called himself "Hidan" who'd spoken because he shamelessly checked her out, "Guren isn't here tonight, so you're stuck with me. Sorry!"

While the men took a seat, she nervously interlaced her fingers behind her back, "What can I get you? Anything with Gin in it is fifteen percent off tonight."

They ordered a few bottles of wine, which took Sakura off guard because college-aged men usually go for beer or hard liquor, but it wasn't her job to question them, so she turned to procure their drinks, only to freeze when an unfamiliar voice stopped her.

"What kind of waitress are you? You didn't even tell us your name."

Turning around to apologize, she stammered nervously when the one who appeared to be leading the group smirked confidently, "O-Oh, um, I'm Sakura. Sorry again."

When she left, he didn't stop her this time but called out, "That'd better be a joke, new girl!"

When Sakura arrived at the bar, she pouted while telling the bartender, another intimidating man with dark blue hair and the physique of a bodybuilder named Kisame, "Brevante Merlot. Three bottles, please."

Kisame grinned, "Ah, you poor girl. I know exactly who you're serving. If you need me to come over and whip those idiots into shape, just say the word."

Smiling gratefully, she accepted the expensive alcohol and placed it on a tray to bring to the five men, who'd attracted the attention of a few women who joined them in their area. "I'll be right back with glasses."

"Say, new girl. What's your real name?"

Sakura paused, taking a deep breath before neutralizing her irritated expression and facing the increasingly annoying dark-haired guy, "Sakura is my real name. Now, if you'll excuse me, I-" "What kind of stripper name is that? It's like a redhead calling herself Ginger."

The woman's composure faltered, a deadpan expression meeting her face before she shook her head, smiled, and wordlessly left to retrieve wine glasses.

Thankfully, when she returned, they were all too busy entertaining women or speaking to one another to taunt her, and she successfully slipped away to check on her other tables.

After serving refills, she leaned against the bar with a look of disdain angled toward the noisy group of men, now surrounded by at least a dozen attractive women. 'They're all beauty and no decency. I should've known.'

"So, how's it goin' with the boyband?" Ino asked, giggling while handing Kisame a piece of paper containing detailed drink orders because her friend had jumped in surprise, "I'm lucky enough to have never been assigned their table. Guren says they tip well, at least. Do your best!"

A while later, when Sakura had no choice but to check in on them, the man from before asked, "I've been thinking. Are you actually a stripper? Is that why you lied and gave us that corny name?"

The silver-haired one from before laughed loudly, pulling away from two women he'd been chatting with, "Yeah, dance for us, new girl!"

Heat met the unfortunate woman's cheeks as she did her best to ignore the inappropriate comments, "I'm just here to see if you need any more to drink. Can I get you anything?"

The long-haired man sighed, "Brother, don't-" "What do you like to drink, Pinky? Get me that and join us."

'It's official. I hate this guy. He's a total douchebag!'

For two and a half hours, Sakura endured comments that gradually became more sexual until the dark-haired mine finally crossed the line. He'd managed to fluster her enough that she couldn't turn him down when he asked her to personally pour his drink. The blush had long disappeared because she was only pissed off at this point.

She'd gotten so angry that she even asked them to stop a few times, but naturally, she was ignored.

"New girl, what time do you get off? I'll pick you up."

"I don't need a ride home. Thank you, anyway." There was only a tiny drop of customer service politeness in her response. These guys, particularly the one in the middle, had worn her down to her last nerve, yet he was still talking!

"Come on! Don't be like that! Let's get out of here and go to your place. I wanna see if pink's your natural color."

Hidan drunkenly chuckled, "Bro, that's awful! How can you say that to the poor girl! She's gonna-!" She did it.

Sakura turned to face the big-mouthed man in the center and poured an entire glass of top-shelf wine on his head.

After exchanging words and him rising to stare her down with a tight grip around her wrist, Kakuzu, Kisame, and Ino arrived, the blonde hiding behind Kisame like a scared child. The manager took in the scene, speaking firmly, "Release my employee. I will ensure she's properly reprimanded."

To Sakura's surprise, her wrist was immediately free, and she stepped away from the rude man with a glare still directed his way.

"I apologize for this incident. Please allow me to cover your bill to make up for it. I'll also-" The rest of Kakuzu's professional statement didn't reach the pink-haired woman's ears because Ino grabbed her wrist and pretty much dragged her into the manager's office.

She hissed with wide eyes, looking over her new friend's appearance for injuries, "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Now that her blood pressure was coming back down, Sakura's wrist tingled where he'd squeezed it so tightly, fear flooding her veins. In the moment, she was too worked up to pay attention to it. She would've fled the moment he tried to touch her if she hadn't been so overwhelmed. She shook her head, swallowing hard and in tears as she tried not to cry. What just happened out there was scarier than she realized.

'I was a huge idiot out there. What if that guy tries to get revenge? What if he follows me home and-!' Her thoughts were cut off by the office door opening, Kakuzu entering and fixing her with a glare, "Do you have any idea the mess you've caused? Those men are significantly more important than other customers, and you attacked one of them."

Sakura stood, Ino stepping out of the office to return to her tables, and attempted to defend herself while not coming off as insubordinate, "But, Sir, all night, they've been taunting me and saying rude things! I asked them to stop multiple times, but they wouldn't."

"If that's true, you should've come to me or Kisame and had us deal with the issue. If you'd done that, I wouldn't have to terminate your employment."

The woman's heart stopped, "...What? You're firing me?"

Kakuzu sighed, sitting heavily at his desk, "If you were more tenured, I wouldn't have to, but you're too new to make a mistake this large. I wish you well in your future endeavors. You may leave now or choose to finish the shift." He gestured to the door with one hand, the other on his temple as though nursing a headache, "Please step out of my office as I have an important phone call to make."

'I can't afford to leave without finishing my shift. I need the money.' She had no choice but to wash her face in the bathroom to hide that she'd been crying and get back to work. Karin took over the rowdy men's table and appeared to handle it much better than her.

That night, after Ino dropped her off, Sakura stayed up late applying to countless jobs, no matter what they were, because she needed to begin working within the next two days if she hoped to earn enough money in time for rent.

As the next two days passed, she followed up on the applications but either got turned down for the job, it didn't pay enough, or they wouldn't work around her school schedule. So, after returning to the apartment with no results on Monday night, she began packing her things.

'It feels terrible to fail so quickly after leaving home. I seriously don't want to go back there, but if I don't, I'll end up starving and on the streets.'

One thing she knew for sure was that it was all that handsome, dark-haired asshole's fault.

AN: You know what I love in stories like this? CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!

Ol' Sasu can't be a great guy right off the bat, or else things would be boring, right?

Right, guys?

…Guys?

Anyway, please keep that in mind for the first half of this story.

ALSO, I'll switch back and forth from Sasuke and Sakura's POV, so we can experience BOTH sides of the story.

Don't like that?

I wanna say tough titties because I should be confident and strong, but I want people to like me and this fic, so….uh….Please give it a chance? Ha!

Thanks for reading! :D

Sakura's spirits were lower than low as she allowed Ino to pull her toward the bar at some club one week after being fired from Oasis. She wasn't successful in procuring a job, even after her self-imposed deadline. So, after explaining the situation to her new friend, the woman was convinced to come out drinking before she left.

The bus ticket to Konoha was for next week, Monday, eight days away. All her belongings were packed and ready to go except her clothes.

"The drinks are on me tonight, Bestie! Let's get shit-faced!" Karin, who'd also tagged along, shared an excited grin with Ino as they flagged down the bartender and submitted a drink order.

She stood there, feeling uncomfortable and depressed in the otherwise lively environment. Music was playing so loudly that they had to almost yell to hear one another, and the bass vibrated her ribcage each time it hit.

It was like she saw herself in a third-person point of view as the trio of women took shots of tequila, following them up with the classic dash of salt and lime.

"Geez, you didn't even flinch, Saku. Lighten up a little. It'll be alright. We'll keep in touch, right Karin?"

It was apparent the two Otogakure women were trying to cheer her up by any means necessary, and if the situation wasn't as bleak as it was, Sakura might've teared up at that kindness.

"Sorry. I'm just going to miss you guys, is all."

"Well, if you mean that, let's make this the best night ever!"

Feeling guilty for not being completely honest about why she was so upset about returning home to Konoha, Sakura allowed them to pressure her into taking many more shots. Two hours later, just after midnight, all three women were thoroughly inebriated.

Karin was the first to abandon the group, having recognized a boy she'd gone to high school with who apparently had the glow-up of the century. She excused herself with a determination to seduce him. With a body and face akin to that of a lingerie model, Sakura didn't doubt the redhead would succeed, especially judging by the pink on the white-haired man's face when he noticed her approaching.

Ino and the pinkette danced and drank for half an hour before a familiar-looking man with black hair and pale skin approached, asking if the blonde would like to dance.

'Oh! I think that's the guy she was flirting with at Oasis! He was there on my first day and the Friday after that. Ino said he's hot. I should make sure she knows it's okay. I'd hate to ruin her chances,' Sakura covertly grinned with a slight nod when her drinking partner glanced uncertainly her way.

She mouthed, "Thank you," before allowing the man to take her hand and lead her back to the dance floor.

So, the Haruno woman was on her own, sipping some sort of mixed drink that burned the back of her throat, though she'd grown numb to the sensation since she was drunk. She turned to lean her back against the bar, searching the crowd for her two friends to see how they were fairing.

A knowing grin tugged at her lips when she saw Karin pulling her target through the crowd toward the exit with a triumphant expression. They were obviously going home together.

Ino was beaming as she danced excitedly with her crush, who looked at her like she was the most exciting thing on the planet. Either he was just as drunk as her or liked the blonde a lot. Maybe it was both reasons.

Sighing blissfully, Sakura turned back toward the counter and tossed back the rest of her drink. Her friends were right. The negative emotions weren't nearly as overwhelming in her inebriated state. She didn't feel as awkward as usual sitting alone at the bar in a packed dance club. Instead, she felt warm and happy.

"What's a beautiful woman like you doing alone up here?" Sakura's spine straightened when a low, attractive voice came behind her.

Turning in her seat, the breath in her throat became stuck when dark, expressive eyes locked onto hers. The rest of the man was just as stunning. His black hair had that naturally tousled look that came off as attractive rather than messy, his jawline was so sharp it could likely cut diamonds, and his lips looked soft as they turned up into a small, flirty grin. His high-end, dark clothing suited him to a tee, too.

On any other day, Sakura would've been terrified to be in the presence of a strange man, especially one this tall and fit, but she threw caution to the wind because she was determined to have a good night no matter what, "I was waiting for a handsome guy like you to come change that."

'Oh my God, Sakura Haruno. You totally just flirted, and it wasn't a complete failure! Maybe you've still got it after all these years!'

The man lifted a sleek eyebrow, placing a hand on the counter's edge and leaning in so she could hear him better, "Is that right? Allow me to end your suffering. Let's go."

A small smile met the woman's lips as he offered a hand, and she paused only for a moment to think about it before accepting and allowing him to guide her out to the floor. Once in a spot that he found appropriate, the pair danced.

Drunk and carefree, a song or two later, Sakura turned around, a wave of satisfaction and arousal rolling up her insides when his hands found her hips and guided her back against him, where they moved sensually to the beat.

That tantalizing voice met her right ear as his lips appeared beside it, his breath tickling her skin, "I didn't expect you to be so good at this."

Bravely, she ran a hand up into his hair on the back of his head, turning her neck slightly so he could lean further where his ear was toward her, "Really? Did you only ask me to dance because you pitied me sitting up there all alone?"

An attractive chuckle vibrated through his chest against her back, "You're not here alone, Baby. I saw you with your friends earlier. I just waited for the right time to come over."

Sakura's breath hitched when his hands moved slowly up from her hips to her waist, long fingers squeezing slightly as though trying to memorize the curves. Her eyes closed, head falling back slightly to rest against his shoulder with a knowing smirk, "What a stalker! Should I run?"

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, kissing it once before wooing into her damp skin, "If so, I'll chase you."

Not knowing what to say to such blatant flirting, Sakura just laughed, arching her neck a little so he'd have better access to it. Taking the hint, he kissed her again, lips brushing her skin as he moved them up to her ear, where he whispered, "Tell me your name. Mine is-"

Sakura sat up with a gasp, looking around in a panic only to realize she was in bed at her apartment. A swift breath sucked in past her lips when a throbbing headache suddenly hit. She lifted a hand to her temple, groaning. 'What happened last night? I was dancing with some guy, and then everything just goes blank.'

Green eyes widened, and the woman dropped her hand, lifting the blanket to verify she wasn't naked and becoming dizzy upon realizing she was wearing a man's dark blue button-up shirt and her undergarments, nothing else. Instantly, tears were rolling heavily down her cheeks.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I slept with that guy, didn't I? How could I be so stupid?' Pausing in her anxiety attack, she looked at the empty spot on the other side of the bed, 'Wait a minute…Where is he? Did he really leave without taking his shirt back? And did we use protection? I don't have enough money for emergency contraceptives right now!'

Her hectic thoughts went blank when she noticed a small piece of paper on her nightstand. Picking it up with trembling fingers, her pulse heightened further. It said, "Call me when you wake up. -Sasuke," followed by a phone number.

Sakura immediately grabbed her phone and dialed "Sasuke's" number. When she realized she should probably take a moment to calm down and gather herself, it was too late because a familiar voice came from the device, "Hello?"

"U-Um, hi. Is this Sasuke?" The girl covered her face with one hand, cursing herself for sounding so obviously upset and lame.

"Oh, hey. You're the girl from last night, right? Did you really call me the moment you woke up? I'm flattered."

She moved the device away to look at the screen and realized it wasn't even nine in the morning yet, which was very early after the night of partying the pair had done. Mortified, she stammered, deciding to get the information she needed and get off the phone because it wasn't like she'd ever see him again anyway, "Yes, I…. I want to ask you something. Did we, um…. Were we careful last night, or…?" Her voice betrayed her, wavering and cracking as she fell into tears again.

'I can't believe I let something like this happen. I've only ever slept with one other person in my life. This was too reckless.'

There was a long pause, "Careful? What're you talking about?"

Sniffling, Sakura squeezed her eyes closed and forced out, "Did you use a condom or not? Please just answer the question so if you didn't, I can…. You know…." A chuckle met her ears, making her frown deepen, "I-Is something funny?"

Sasuke sobered up, sighing amusedly before finally easing her gutwrenching worry, "We didn't fuck, you idiot. Stop crying."

The woman stammered, baffled, "But you were in my apartment, right? Your shirt…."

"Listen, I would've gone through with it if you hadn't passed out. I'm still offended, you know."

For some reason, the pinkette giggled, trying to muffle it with her hand before wiping at her slowing tears, "I fell asleep? How embarrassing…."

"You're embarrassed? How do you think I feel?"

"Sorry! I-I don't remember anything at all, but, um, thank you for making sure I got home safe."

Sakura's eyes widened when she realized she was smiling. Sasuke's unserious, casual responses comforted her somehow. It'd been a long time, four years to be exact since it was this easy to talk to a male.

He chuckled again, "I tell you what. Get dinner with me tonight, and I'll consider forgiving you."

The woman's grin fell. 'Does he want to meet up because we didn't sleep together last night, and he wants to try his luck again?'

"It'd be cool if we hooked up after; I know that's probably what you're worried about, and I won't say no if you offer, but I actually just want my shirt back. It was a gift from my brother; otherwise, I'd let you keep it. I just figured we could grab a bite while we're out."

Reassured, Sakura hesitantly agreed, "Um, okay then. Where should I meet you?"

'What's the harm in getting dinner with him? I'll be on a bus to Konoha next week anyway, and I won't have anything to eat today if I don't accept.'

So, she cleaned the shirt carefully, following the instructions on its tag, showered, dressed, and killed time until the afternoon when it was time to meet Sasuke.

Sakura was a few minutes late when arriving at the address she'd been given but received a text while approaching the restaurant building, saying he was also running behind. So, rather than awkwardly sit at a table by herself inside, she leaned against the side of the building and scrolled through apps on her phone while waiting. She also texted her date to let him know so he'd approach her when he arrived.

'I can't remember what his face looks like, but I do know he was handsome. Will I even recognize him when he gets here? Knowing me, I'm going to make a fool out of myself. I haven't gone on a date in years, after all. What kind of twenty-one-year-old am I?'

She knew why she was the way she was but refused to dwell on the reason, for it'd ruin her mood and make her want to abandon their plans.

"Hey, I'm here. Let's go in. It's freezing."

Sakura stood straight, gaze lifting from her phone to the familiar voice at her side, only to lay eyes on the dark-haired asshole that'd gotten her fired from Oasis. Fear flooded her entire body, the small bag containing the man's shirt falling to the ground as she shakily took a few steps away.

Sasuke lifted a brow, "What's wrong with you?"

'...He doesn't recognize me. Do I tell him? If I do, he might hurt me. He was pissed the last time I saw him, after all. Should I try to run? What if he chases me? I should just make an excuse and get out of here before he figures it out.'

"I-I….Something came up, so I can't stay. Goodbye!"

She turned and began walking quickly down the alleyway from the intimidating man, only for him to jog up and grab her wrist, "What's your problem?"

Terror locked the woman's limbs, and she tugged weakly at her wrist, remembering how tightly he'd squeezed it at the bar that night. She couldn't even turn to face him. "P-Please let go. I really need to get out of here."

"You might be the worst liar I've ever met. At least look me in the eye. Don't be fuckin' rude."

When she didn't obey his command, he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn, lightly shoving her against the alleyway wall and leering down at her with that dreadful glare. The act triggered memories of her ex-boyfriend doing the same thing, which brought tears to Sakura's eyes as she looked helplessly up at Sasuke.

It was like a rabbit staring a wolf in the mouth.

He didn't appear to care that she was scared and growled, "Tell me what your problem is. It can't be that you aren't attracted to me, so what is it?"

If she wasn't trembling like a leaf and fearing for her life, Sakura would've scoffed at his egotistical statement. 'He won't let me go until I tell him the truth. I just hope he doesn't cause too much damage. I can't afford to go to the hospital.'

"You really don't remember me?"

His glare faltered only slightly, "What?"

Sakura tried to shove his hand off her shoulder, failing, "We met before last night, about a week ago at Oasis. I-I, um, I poured-" "The new girl! Fuck, I knew you looked familiar! There aren't a lot of people walking around with pink hair."

His nonchalant attitude briefly triggered the woman's anger from that day, and she muttered, "Well, I got fired because of you, so if you'll kindly let go. I don't want to see your face for another second."

Sasuke scoffed, his grip tightening rather than releasing as he leered at her with a similar aura as when she'd freshly poured wine on his head, "You think I'm going to let you go after what you did? I told you I'd make you regret it, didn't I?"

"What did you expect? I repeatedly told you to stop, but you kept on! You're so-!" Sakura's statement was cut off when the man's other hand suddenly lifted to wrap around her neck, making the blood drain from her face.

He hissed, "Woman or not, this won't do. Should I teach you a lesson? Not only did you disrespect me, but you did it in front of others."

"Hey, yo, is that you, Sasuke? What's up, man!"

The pair looked toward the alleyway entrance where the restaurant entrance was. It was Hidan, the silver-haired man at the bar that night, too. A gorgeous woman with blueish-purple hair and a tall man with orange hair were beside him.

Without wasting a moment, Sakura took advantage of the distraction and slipped out of Sasuke's grasp, taking off in a sprint and not looking back, even when the man yelled, "Hey, wait!"

She ran until her legs felt like jelly and her lungs were on fire. Thankfully, when she looked around, it was clear they hadn't followed her this far. 'What should I do? He knows where I live!' With no choice, the woman dialed up Ino, panickedly speaking, when the blonde answered, "Can I stay at your place for a few nights?"

"Holy shit! It's packed!" Hidan exclaimed as the group of men entered Rainism, the only respectable club on the east side of Otogakure.

Sasuke was in a foul mood, not bothering to respond as they headed to the bar.

A few guys there appeared to recognize them and vacated the area, leaving just the right amount of space for them to sit and order drinks. The Uchiha man was pissed because his crazy ex-girlfriend, one of many, had slit the tires on his car. Not only that, but the replacements had to be ordered, so he couldn't drive it for a few days.

"It's just a car, Bro. Get yourself some action tonight, and get over it," Akatsuki's resident loudmouth barked.

He bit back, "She's lucky she's with Kimimaru, or I'd kill that bitch."

'If I piss him off, he'll go to his boss and start shit between the families.'

"Yeah, that's fucked up. Tayuya has a new dude but still tries to mess around with you. What a slut," Sasori mused, fingering a strand of his boyfriend's long hair.

"That's rich, coming from you. Didn't you do something similar to Kankuro after you guys broke up? You're even the one who dumped him! Psychopath," Hidan laughed, pinkish-purple eyes surveying the establishment.

Deidara snickered, "That was my idea. Don't give him all the credit, hm."

"Ugh, whatever. Shut up so I can focus."

Sasuke sipped the bitter-tasting whisky in his glass, absently gazing around the large room since there was nothing else to do. He didn't even want to come here tonight, but the other three wouldn't leave him the hell alone until he agreed.

'I'm pretty sure, between Hidan and me, we've fucked every woman in this building. We might've even done a few together,' the man guessed, not feeling as amused as he normally would.

What could he say? Akatsuki members aren't shy about sex. Hell, he couldn't count on his fingers the number of times he'd walked into the kitchen or living room back home to see people shamelessly hooking up for any and all to watch.

"Yo, Sasuke. Look, three o'clock."

Snapped out of his daze, the man looked across the bar to his right to see a group of three women in the dimly lit club: one redhead and two blondes. If his mind served, they weren't in his little black book. His dark eyes trailed over each of them before smirking, "Dibs on the skinny one."

Hidan laughed, "Why her? I'll take the blonde with bigger tits."

As confidently as always, Sasuke lifted his glass and gestured toward the woman in question, "Look at her, Dumbass. It's the shy ones that're the craziest in bed." Though that's true, he added, thinking, 'Not to mention she's fucking sexy. Who gives a damn if she has small tits? Boobs are boobs.'

He was self-aware, so he knew how much of a douchebag he was most of the time. The thing is, he was also attractive and rich enough to get away with it, so why change? Either women like being talked down to and degraded, or they get angry by it, which makes the sex that much better. It's a win-win situation. To this day, he'd never once been rejected, even if they didn't like his personality.

So, Sasuke watched and waited. The redhead was the first to leave the group. When Hidan began making his way over to make a move on the one with bigger tits, another guy got there first, making Sasuke, Deidara, and Sasori laugh.

When the silver-haired man returned, he was pissed, "Laugh it up, shitheads. Let's see you do better."

Never one to turn down a challenge, he rose, "Watch and learn."

When he approached, he took in the curve of her turned back, feeling satisfied when he realized that she made up for what she lacked in bust in other places. "What's a beautiful woman like you doing alone up here?"

The woman turned, only to pause with wide eyes when she saw him. At first, Sasuke smirked knowingly because it was obvious she found him attractive, but then he was the one taken aback. Upon taking a closer look, the girl was even more gorgeous. The deep, emotional twinkle in her green eyes, the way the lights ever-so-slightly reflected off the lipgloss on her plump lips, and even the soft flush of her skin was attractive.

"Waiting for a handsome guy like you to come change that."

'And her voice isn't all high-pitched and nasally like most women try to make it when speaking to guys. Thank fuckin' God.'

Sasuke came closer, barely able to contain his pride, when it was apparent he made her nervous, "Is that so? Allow me to end your suffering. Let's go."

Now, Sasuke's notion that the woman was shy didn't change, but he was still completely taken aback by how naturally she moved with and against him. It made him think it was correct to assume she'd be an interesting lay, which upped his attraction. He said and did his usual thing, and she responded as expected.

After taking a cab to her place, the Uchiha man allowed her to pull him up the steps and into an unbelievably small apartment.

The moment the door was shut behind them, he grabbed her keys, phone, and purse, tossing them onto the counter before pulling her into a deep kiss, to which she responded smoothly. A soft sigh came from the woman when he slid his tongue past her lips.

'That's pretty. I wonder what other sounds she makes.'

The pair slowly made their way to the bed, where he reached around to unzip her dress while she unbuttoned his shirt with unsteady fingers. To his surprise, once she was in her bra and underwear, she slid his shirt off and expertly slid it onto her arms, gasping out between kisses, "You smell amazing."

He hadn't expected her to be so bold, at least not yet.

Chuckling, he picked her up and moved them further onto the bed until her hair fell messily about the pillows. She unbuckled his belt, moving to unbutton and unzip his pants as he tasted the skin of her neck and shoulder, small sounds of appreciation meeting the air that seemed as sweet as honey to Sasuke's ears.

Her body was as nice as he expected, her skin soft to the touch, and whatever shampoo or perfume she used was floral and pleasant. There wasn't anything the man hadn't encountered before. There was still something a little different about her, though. He couldn't put his finger on it and didn't intend to let her sleep tonight until he figured out what it was.

Her abdomen's firm, feminine muscles flexed under his fingers as she pressed up against him, her voice airy and sensual, "Your hands…."

He cooed into her skin, becoming more anxious to continue with each passing moment, "You like my hands, do you?"

She gasped when he pressed against her, between her legs, "They're scary."

Sasuke's eyes opened, and he slowed what he was doing, 'Scary? Why'd she say that right now? …Must be the alcohol.'

Suddenly, he realized she'd stopped responding to his stimulations and pulled back, only for his mouth to open slightly in disbelief, "Are you asleep?" One of her small hands was cupping his against her waist, the other falling from his shoulder to rest against the pillow.

'She is! What the fuck! Who just falls asleep in the middle of hooking up?'

He sat back on his knees, dark eyes taking in the incredibly sensual sight of her lying there in his open shirt, the dark color contrasting beautifully with her milky skin. Glancing down, his brow furrowed as he took in how her legs bent over his hips and how his dick begged to be released from his clothes.

For just a moment, he thought about it but shook his head, sighing defeatedly and climbing off the bed, 'That's a line even I won't cross.'

Turning the lamp atop the nightstand on, he studied the unconscious girl while fixing his pants and buckling his belt.

"...Pink…." She wasn't blonde. The lights in the club had masked the pastel hue of her long hair.

'Now that I'm really looking at her, she seems familiar. Have I met her somewhere before?' Sasuke pondered for a moment before giving up, sitting on the edge of the bed while writing a note on the small pad of paper beside the lamp, glancing at her defenseless face occasionally.

'She must play some kind of sport since she has a lot of scars. I didn't take her for the type.'

Finally, he gave up and summoned a cab. Shutting and locking the apartment door before stepping out, running a stressed hand through his messy hair. The driver gave him an odd look when he climbed, shirtless, into the backseat but didn't mention it.

'I'll use it as an excuse to see her again.'

"What do you want?"

Sakura squeezed her eyes closed. Her voice hadn't wavered, and for that, she was grateful. For the past three days, she slept on the floor at Ino and Karin's dorm. A call from the terrifying man seemed inevitable, but it hadn't come until now, her first night back at her own place. Upon arriving home, she realized someone had been inside because the deadbolt was no longer locked.

'I have a strong inkling who it was, too.' Obviously, it was Sasuke. It'd be too big of a coincidence if not.

The line remained silent, which threw the woman off because she expected Sasuke to immediately start yelling at her like he had in the alleyway on Sunday.

"Are you there? I'm going to hang up."

"Don't," his voice finally came, sounding just as irritated as it had last she heard it.

Trying to come off as brave, Sakura said, "Did you break into my apartment? I should call the police."

Sasuke scoffed, making her irritation flare, "Yeah, good luck with that. Listen," he paused for so long that she had to look at the screen to ensure the call hadn't dropped, "I…have a question."

Sakura was confused, for sure, because the man on the other side of the line wasn't anything like she'd experienced thus far. He almost seemed nervous or uncomfortable, but that couldn't be true. "Y-You can ask it, but I won't promise to answer it," she cringed when her attempt at masking fear came off as argumentative.

He bit, sounding more like himself, "Where do you get the audacity to talk to me like that? Keep pissing me off and see what happens."

'Damn it, Sakura! Stop digging the hole deeper!'

The man continued when she couldn't figure out how to respond, "Did you know it was me Saturday night?"

To say Sakura was bewildered would put it lightly, 'He all but threatened to kill me, and he's worried about whether or not I recognized him at the club? Is he insane?'

"Uh, no. No, I didn't, or I wouldn't have…."

"Are you telling the truth? If you're lying, I'll find you no matter where you run."

"Do you really have to threaten me every five minutes?" She bit her tongue at the end of her outburst, cursing inwardly because she'd, once again, lost her temper on the irritatingly gorgeous man.

"Are you at home right now?"

Sakura immediately panicked because she was sitting on her bed with a pillow on her lap, "J-Just tell me why you wanted to know. What does it matter if I recognized you or not?"

A long silence followed her question before Sasuke finally responded, voice severe and odd like when she first answered the phone, "The reason I acted the way I did was because I thought you did it on purpose."

Sakura gasped, "Of course not! Are you kidding?"

"Well, what the fuck do you expect me to think? You dumped wine all over me and then gave me blue balls a few days later. I thought you were trying to get back at me."

"I already told you I didn't mean to pass out! I get really sleepy when I drink a lot!"

Sasuke paused before calming down again, if only slightly, "So, if you hadn't fallen asleep, would you have gone through with it?"

The woman felt uncomfortable but reluctantly responded, "I don't even remember leaving the club with you, Sasuke, so I don't know. If I willingly let you in my apartment like you insinuate I did, then I guess I probably wouldn't have fought it."

"Why do you have to say it like that? It's not like I forced myself on you."

"That's not what I'm saying. Can you stop trying to argue every time I answer a question?"

Sasuke sighed, sounding irritated again, but a hint of something else coated his words, "Alright, look. I haven't met a woman that pisses me off as much as you, but I admit that I might've deserved to have wine dumped on me. I also jumped to conclusions the other day, so I'm fucking sorry, okay?"

Sakura's mouth fell open, 'Did he just apologize? What the hell! I thought he was calling to-' "So, do you forgive me or what?"

She wasn't overly familiar with the man's mannerisms, having spent a very short time in his presence, but it wasn't hard to picture the angry and embarrassed expression he must've been making. The last thing she expected him to do was swallow his pride and take responsibility for his actions.

"I-I, um, okay. Yes, I forgive you. Thank you for saying that. It means a lot to me."

Sasuke's character switched instantly, "So we're good then?" "...yes?" "Cool."

There was a long, awkward silence before Sakura swallowed nervously, "Well, I guess I'll get off of here then. Good night, Sasuke."

He seemed confused but didn't argue, "Right. Talk to you later."

Once the call ended, she stared at the screen in utter disbelief, talking aloud to herself, "What in the world just happened?" Shaking off her unease, Sakura sat her phone back on the nightstand and snuggled under the covers to attempt to go back to sleep.

The next day, during her first class of the day, the woman's phone vibrated with a text message. Clicking it open while half paying attention to the professor, Sakura did a double take when it was from Sasuke's unsaved number, 'You're in college, right?'

A little unsure, she responded, 'Yes. Why?'

A couple of minutes later, he responded, 'Which one?'

Negative, fearful emotions swept over her, 'I thought we wouldn't speak again after last night. Why does he want to know? He's not going to show up, is he?' Too uncomfortable to respond, Sakura simply left him on read. 'I'm leaving on Monday. I just have to avoid him for two more days.'

So, she ignored the second text message mid-day that consisted only of a question mark and didn't answer his call that night, either. The poor woman was so scared he'd show up at her apartment that she wedged a chair under the doorknob so it wouldn't open even if the locks were picked.

After their conversation Thursday night, she didn't feel he'd stalk or hurt her anymore, but she also didn't know him well enough to be entirely certain.

On Saturday, she was texted only once. It said, 'You're so annoying.'

Sakura scoffed, irritated as she walked home from her afternoon class and imagined what she'd say to Sasuke if he was in front of her, 'Yeah, so are you, Asshole. For some reason, I lose my temper whenever you open your mouth.'

Sunday, there were no calls or texts, to her relief.

Then, the day of Sakura's departure arrived. After visiting with Ino and Karin to say one last goodbye, she grabbed her backpack and duffle bag. The cab she took could only get within two blocks of the crowded bus station, so the woman walked sadly down the sidewalk, doing her best not to cry.

'What will he do to me when I get back to town? I know he's pissed, but how far will he take it?'

"Look who it is."

The woman jumped in fear, only to look over and see Sasuke walking by her side with his hands in his pockets. Frowning, she attempted to mask her mild fear and discomfort, "Hey."

"Aren't you a ray of fuckin' sunshine? What's with the bags?"

Sakura kept her eyes downward, picking up the pace of her steps so they'd get near other people sooner and wouldn't be alone together. "That's none of your business."

The man grabbed her arm, making her face him with wide, green eyes. He glared, "What's your problem this time? You said we were good, but you're still like this."

Brow furrowing, she tugged her arm from his grasp, and luckily, he allowed it, "Listen, Sasuke. I did forgive you, but with all due respect, that doesn't mean I want anything to do with you. Please leave me alone."

Dark, angry eyes burnt into hers for a silent moment, the man obviously not having expected to be turned down so bluntly. When he said nothing, she began walking again, "I'm going to be late. Bye."

'Don't look back. He's a walking red flag. Who cares if I hurt his pride just now?'

Sakura thought he'd finally given up but sighed when he jogged to match her step, "Are you serious? Do you know how many people would kill to be in your place right now?"

"Well, they can have it, then. I don't want it."

"Are you going to the station? If you give me a kiss, I'll drive you so you don't have to use the bus."

"Go away."

"It can even be on the cheek."

Having reached her limit since she was already an emotional wreck before his arrival, the woman stopped, clenched her fists, and turned to face the tall man, "You want to know where I'm going? Fine. I have to move back home because I can't afford to stay here anymore."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "What?"

With a lump in her throat, Sakura glared firmly, "If that's all you need to know, then excuse me, but I'll miss my bus if I waste any more time."

This time, she reached the corner of the station's block. Dozens of people were passing by on the wide sidewalk, both to and fro, before he snatched her duffle bag from her shoulder, "It's because I got you fired, right?"

Sakura made a grab for the bag, but he held it out of reach with an attractive frown on his lips, "I don't have time to point fingers and argue right now, Sasuke! Give it back!"

She jumped with an outreached arm, but he held her back with a hand on her shoulder, "Shut the hell up for a second! I'm trying to help."

'Last call for bus K-ONE!' The intercom announced, making Sakura look toward the station.

'I have to go now, or I'll miss it!' With no choice, she turned and sprinted into the station, leaving her bag with Sasuke while dodging and bumping into other people.

"Sakura, wait!"

The woman looked over her shoulder to see him trying to catch up in the thick crowd. Something hard smacked into her front, and she toppled onto her bottom. When she looked up, a massive redheaded man glared down at her.

Gasping, she scrambled to her feet, "I am so sor- "Watch where you're going, Bitch."

Mouth clamping shut, the woman stepped back, only for his dark eyes to lift above her head and widen.

"Who the fuck do you think you're calling a bitch? Apologize."

"She ran into me!"

Sasuke stepped around her, grabbing the front of the stranger's shirt and hissing with a terrifying look, "Apologize, or I'll cut out your tongue." He dropped Sakura's bag and reached into his pocket to pull out a pocketknife, flipping it open.

"S-Sasuke, what the hell? Put that away before you get arrested!"

"Sorry, Ma'am." Her green eyes turned, disbelieving, onto the now visibly frightened man. The black-haired man at her side put the knife away and released his shirt but followed him with a dangerous glare.

Snapping out of her stupor, Sakura grabbed her forgotten bag and gave her rescuer an apologetic look while glancing at the terminal she was supposed to use, "Thank you for that! I'm sorry, but I really have to go." Then she ran again, more careful not to run into anyone this time.

By the time she reached her destination, she was panting for breath. Strands of long pink hair fell from her loose ponytail around her shoulders and face. Just as she made it to the ticket booth and handed over her ticket to be processed, the doors shut, and the bus left the station. Tears in her eyes, her blood ran cold, and she whispered to herself, "...no…."

Trembling with panic, Sakura breathlessly asked the employee at the stand, "Can I exchange my ticket for the next available bus to Konoha?"

The young man shook his head, handing the item back to her, "Unfortunately, we have a no refund/no exchange policy. I apologize for the inconvenience. Would you like to purchase a new ticket instead? The next bus is at eight p.m."

Pale and entirely at a loss of what she should do, she shook her head and accepted the useless piece of paper, "A-Ah, no. Please excuse me."

'I'm stuck here. I have no money, no job, and nowhere to sleep. What the hell am I supposed to do now?'

Sakura numbly left the line so she wouldn't hold it up and walked until she reached outside the station, where she finally lost her composure. Covering her mouth with one hand, the poor girl burst into tears but tried to keep silent to not draw attention to herself.

Everything she'd done from the moment she ran away from home had been a complete and utter failure. No matter how hard she tried or how much she endured in an attempt to secure her own safety, it was all for nothing. Now, she couldn't even return to her awful past life, either.

'Why does this keep happening to me? Was I a criminal in my past life?'

"Sakura, wait!"

The woman's sniffles became sobs as Sasuke's voice met her ears.

'And now there's this dangerous guy following me around, too! Should I just off myself so I don't have to suffer like this anymore?'

As she heard him approach, she lifted her hand from her mouth to her eyes, turning her head away so he wouldn't see how awful she looked. His voice was unrecognizably soft, and he stepped in front of her with a hand on either of her shoulders so she'd stop walking, "Hey, what's wrong? Did you run into that asshole again?"

Sakura shook her head and tried to walk around him, but he held her still, "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's up."

Though the woman was heartbroken and mentally fried, she was still completely stunned when long fingers gently pulled her hand away from her face. Sasuke guided her jaw so she'd be forced to meet his eye.

'This is pathetic. I want to die under a rock right now.' That's what she thought, but her breath was taken away when she focused on his face.

An unexpected expression of concern looked otherworldly on his flawless features, "I have no damn clue what to do right now. Usually, I make women cry, so I've never tried cheering one up."

For some reason, the uncharacteristically honest statement made her laugh, and her fingers curled around Sasuke's hand as he still held it.

His smirk returned, though not as cocky as the usual one. He opened his mouth to say something, only for Sakura's stomach to growl loudly. She looked away, face burning hot with humiliation.

He snickered, "C'mon. I'll feed you."

That's how she ended up sitting across from him in a little, hole-in-the-wall diner. "What sounds good?" Sasuke desperately tried to keep the mood casual and unserious, filling the silence so things wouldn't get awkward while they looked at menus.

Sakura frowned down at the laminated paper, not really seeing it. The waterworks had stopped, but that didn't mean everything was alright now. Now, she just felt numb. Though she was so hungry that her stomach hurt, she was too panicked to think about eating.

'I don't know why I let him bring me here.'

"Sakura."

The woman blinked, looking up to see a waitress awaiting her order.

Glancing between the employee and Sasuke, Sakura felt overwhelmed all over again. She didn't want to tell him she couldn't afford to pay him back in front of the middle-aged woman, but she also couldn't just order something and then do it because she'd feel awful for the wasted food they'd prepare. Tears brimmed in her eyes again, and she looked down at her lap.

"She'll have the same as me." Thankfully, the employee didn't make any comments and left.

Sakura felt Sasuke's gaze again and clenched her fingers into fists on her lap while refusing to acknowledge it.

"Are you going to talk, or do I have to force it out of you?" When she couldn't bring herself to respond, he sighed, leaning forward to rest his chin on his palm, elbow on the table, "At least your crying face isn't ugly, I guess."

After the food arrived, Sakura hesitated to eat, averting her gaze out the window they were sat beside with gritted teeth. Her brow furrowed, 'It's snowing.'

"Listen, I'm trying to be fucking nice to you, but this is getting ridiculous. Just eat already."

Green eyes darted ahead to meet black ones, widening upon realizing Sasuke was glaring relentlessly. The irritation that he was, once again, bossing her around and cursing, Sakura grabbed a fork and absently poked at the eggs on her plate, blushing when she finally took a bite and looking away.

'He gets on my last damn nerve.'

It was a little refreshing, honestly. Since she began dating her ex-boyfriend, Sakura could barely converse with men without getting scared. Sure, Sasuke terrified her, but he also brought out her old, feistier personality. It was odd, and she didn't understand why it kept happening.

If it was anyone but Sasuke sitting there, she'd never mouth off or talk back.

"I think I can solve your problem if you'll hear me out." She met his eye again, nodding subtly. Sasuke searched her appearance over the coffee mug at his lips, speaking casually, "You need money and a place to live, right? My roommates and I just so happen to be looking for a housekeeper. What do you think?"

That snapped Sakura right out of her silent mood. She coughed, almost choking on her food. After taking a sip of water, she gave the gorgeous man an incredulous look, "By roommates, do you mean those jerks you were with at the bar? No thanks. I'd be safer sleeping on the streets."

"If you don't accept, that's where you'll be, right? Suit yourself." Sasuke's firm stare told the woman he wouldn't let her be stubborn.

Swallowing her pride, Sakura frowned, glaring with a blush, "...How much is the pay?"

He smirked triumphantly, "Let's see. After room and board," he paused, looking up as though doing equations before meeting her eye again, "How about a thousand a week? That's what most normal jobs pay, right?"

The table became silent.

'He's joking, right? Most jobs I'd be lucky enough to land would barely pay more than that in a month!' She took another sip of her water and studied Sasuke carefully, trying to figure out if he was testing her, 'Do I tell him? What if I do, and he lowers the number? I don't want that. …But what if I don't tell him and he finds out. He'll be pissed! What would he do to me, then?'

Eventually, she shook her head, deciding to play things smart, "Um, that's a lot of money, Sasuke, especially if I'm going to live there, too. It doesn't seem fair."

That smirk turned into a full-fledged grin, and he teased, "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see your reaction." He offered a hand across the table, "Do we have a deal?"

Sakura eyed it, hesitating, "Hold on. First, I want you to agree to some things."

The man rolled his eyes, sitting back in the booth with an impatient scowl, "You're the one receiving help, and you have demands? That's fucking brave."

"I want you to promise not to mess with me like you did at Oasis," she ignored his childish attitude.

He nodded, "Cut back on the flirting. Got it. Anything else?"

Sakura hesitated, unsure how to word things, but eventually said, "And if any of your roommates try anything, you have to deal with them."

'I think that was okay. He probably won't make any assumptions.'

Sasuke nodded, waving a hand, "Yeah, yeah. Okay." He waited for her to continue.

Feeling better since he agreed to protect her from the other guys, Sakura reached across the table and offered her hand, "Then, I guess we're good, then."

He shook it firmly. When he released it, he tilted his head and spoke around the food in his mouth, a hand covering it so as not to be too rude, "Since I'm paying so much, do you think I can convince you to wear a maid costume?"

"I am so going to regret this," she sighed, shaking her head.

I appreciate all the feedback I've been given so far! I wanted to let everyone know that I'll be posting one or two chapters a week going forward. Please continue to show your support.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

Sasuke wanted to curse and pull his hair out.

'Why the hell did I do all that?'

Currently, he was driving his newly hired housekeeper back into town toward Akatsuki's main house. He was walking the few blocks back to his car after handling some business for Yahiko when he saw familiar pink hair. How he acted for the next hour was so out of character; he was concerned Sakura would expect him to always be so kind.

'She's sadly mistaken if so.'

"Don't tell anyone what happened today, got it?" He felt her big green eyes turn onto him but kept his gaze on the road.

"Afraid your buddies will make fun of you for treating me like a human being?" The woman's constant sarcasm ground his nerves to the bone, and now that she no longer looked like the crying protagonist in a television drama, it wasn't as easy to overlook.

"I'm fucking serious. Keep your mouth shut, Sakura."

She went silent, so he glanced over to see her nod with mild fear on her pretty features.

'It's too easy to scare her, and she's so bad at hiding it. The guys are going to eat her alive. I should've thought about that before offering to take her in.'

More than he was angry at himself for acting without thinking, he was confused because no person, male or female, had ever made him panic like that. They talked on the phone the other day, and then she began ignoring his calls and texts, so Sasuke knew Sakura wanted nothing to do with him. She was wise to feel that way, too.

Sure, he's never been rejected in his life, but if it was anyone else doing the ghosting, he'd have simply moved on rather than waste more time. No, the Uchiha man had a handful of Akatsuki's lower-ranking members searching Otogakure's colleges for pink-haired girls, only to come up empty-handed. If he hadn't run into her on the street earlier, he likely would've stopped by her place sometime today.

'And none of that is something I'd do. If anyone finds out, she may be targeted as a hostage.'

Again, the fact that he's only worried about her well-being when it's him who may be in trouble with Yahiko and Konan for hiring an unknown woman felt insane.

The man glanced at Sakura again, admiring how her messy ponytail somehow looked feminine and attractive, before quickly averting his gaze back to the road. Sasuke Uchiha feared he'd developed an obsession. Through the years, he experienced short-lived hyper-fixations on hobbies, music, or belongings, but never with a human being.

Before calling her the other day, he planned to determine if Konan's theory that the woman had been assaulted in the past was true but somehow found himself getting over everything she'd done within the few minutes of conversation they had.

'Whether it's true or not doesn't matter. I need to figure out what makes her different from other women before I go fucking crazy.'

"When we get there, keep your head down and don't speak. Got it?"

Sakura mumbled, "Why?"

He couldn't just come out and say that she'd agreed to work for one of the two most significant gangs in Otogakure, could he? "I'm paying you more than double what someone else would, so just shut up and do as I say."

A barely audible huff met his ears, and he gritted his teeth but didn't comment on it because she'd wordlessly agreed.

When they arrived, he grabbed her duffle bag and firmly held her hand in his while leading her up the steps to the massive house's porch.

"...Sasuke?"

He ignored her uncomfortable tone, "Quiet."

When they stepped into the house, he thought they might've lucked out because no one was in the den, but upon leading her up the stairs, they ran into Hidan, who was leaving his bedroom with nothing but a pair of boxers on.

'That's just great.'

His friend's eyes landed on her, then jumped up to him in disbelief. He hissed, staring at Sakura again, "What the hell is she doing here? Do you have a fucking death wish?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed when he felt the woman unconsciously move slightly behind him. The unfamiliar protective emotion that swept over him wasn't welcome, but it also wouldn't go away just because of that.

"Mind your own damn business."

He opened the door across the hall from Hidan's room, glancing at the woman and ordering, "Wait in there." She nodded, accepting her duffle bag and silently entering the room, closing the door once inside.

Turning to face Hidan again, Sasuke threatened him, "Keep your mouth shut until I get a chance to tell Yahiko."

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to, Pretty Boy?" The men came chest to chest, both glaring and brimming with inflated egos.

Eventually, the Uchiha sighed, stepping back to run a stressed hand through his tousled hair, "Just let me talk to him first, okay?"

Hidan leaned against his own bedroom door, arms crossed as he tilted his head with narrowed eyes. In case Sakura was trying to eavesdrop, he whispered, "What's going on? First, you pissed Kakuzu off by starting a fight with the bitch. Then, you were mad she tried to fuck you and stalked her. Now, you're trying to move her in? This isn't like you, Man."

Sasuke's brow twitched, glare flaring up again, "She's the first one to put up a fight, so I want to take my time and have fun with her."

It was a half-lie.

It was true that he didn't intend to give up trying to bed the gorgeous woman, but he didn't ask her to come home with him solely for that reason. Honestly, he didn't plan ahead and acted recklessly. If he didn't tell everyone she was just a plaything, things would become much more complicated than they already would be.

Hidan sighed, rolling his eyes, "Well, good luck. If Yahiko doesn't kill you, then Itachi will."

The door he leaned against opened, and a slender hand grabbed his wrist. A distinctly feminine voice spoke, "What's taking so long? Come back to bed."

The silver-haired man smirked at whatever woman was inside before glancing at Sasuke again, "See you later if you survive." Then he disappeared into his room again, the sound of a woman's surprised squeal barely muffled by the thick wooden door.

Sasuke turned to face his own bedroom door, closing his eyes and taking a calming breath before going inside. Sakura didn't even set her bags down, standing in the middle of the room and surveying the dark space. She looked his way when he shut the door behind him, still not speaking.

'And she looks like a shivering little bunny again.'

"I need to run an errand, so just hang out in here til I get back," he took his watch off, tossing it onto the messy desk by the dresser before nodding at her, "Quit being so damn awkward, will you? You're putting me on edge."

Sakura swallowed nervously, looking around the room again, her face pale, "...Should I be worried?"

'Why's she asking? There's no way she hasn't picked that up on her own.' He wanted to scoff and chastise her for asking such a stupid question, but his mouth went dry when she met his eye again.

Looking away, he rubbed the back of his head and glared at the floor, "You'll be fine; just don't leave the room while I'm gone." Without another word or glance her way, he turned and left the room.

While descending the steps, his hands clenched into fists, jaw clenching angrily, 'It happened again. It was a mistake to bring her here, but I can't take it back now. Hidan already saw her, and if I sneak her out and suddenly change the plan, she'll want to know why.'

Yahiko, Konan, and Kakuzu were in the kitchen, the latter cooking something and the other two sitting at the dining table looking at something on the leader's laptop screen.

No one bothered looking up or greeting him, but he had no choice but to get the uncomfortable conversation out of the way. Grabbing two beers from the fridge, he looked down at them before returning them and opting for the tall bottle of whiskey from the shelf above the appliance.

Then, he leaned against the kitchen counter, eyes trained on the couple that leads Akatsuki, "So, Konan, remember how you and a few of the others said it'd be nice to have a maid a while back?"

All eyes in the room turned onto him, the blue-haired woman immediately understanding the situation, "Don't tell me you-" "I already hired her."

Yahiko said, "Without first gaining permission? Surely, I don't need to tell you my thoughts."

Sasuke nodded, "I get it, but hear me out first. She'll cook and clean, and I'll take care of her wages personally."

The couple shared a look before Konan stood and walked around the table with a suspicious expression, "And what might this maid's name be? You seem awfully eager to have her around."

The man sighed, admitting in a less confident voice, "Sakura. I don't know her last name."

A loud thump came from behind him, and he closed his eyes because he'd already expected grief from Kakuzu, whether or not the leaders accepted the woman.

"What are you playing at, Uchiha? It's bad enough I had to fire her, but now you want to trap her in this lion's den?"

"Who is this Sakura to you?" Yahiko asked, standing as well. His fingers twitched by his side as he came closer, making the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck stick up.

'He has at least one gun and knife.'

Konan gasped before narrowing her orange eyes into a glare, "She's not the woman from the alleyway, is she?"

Sasuke stood there with a face that properly emoted his loss for words.

The woman groaned, covering her eyes with one hand, "Damn it, Sasuke. What's gotten into you lately?"

The leader glared down at him, voice lower and more threatening, "I forbid it. Tell her not to come."

Sasuke stood his ground despite being incredibly on edge. Three murderers surrounded him, after all. "She'll sign a contract," he met the leader's glare with a resolute stare, "As the member responsible for over twenty percent of the family's earnings in the past year, I request you make an exception this time."

Yahiko's brown eyes narrowed, "Say I allow it. What will you do when she betrays us? Will you prove yourself disloyal?"

"If she betrays us, I will personally take care of things. You have my word."

The two men stared one another down in silence for a very long, tense moment before the taller one took a single step back, sighing, "Very well. I'll have Nagato draft an employment contract this evening. Send him any details you may have discussed. When will she arrive?"

"She's already in my room."

"...I advise you to reevaluate your ability to make sound decisions in the near future," Yahiko said in a deadpan voice, running a hand through his hair while returning to his seat at the dining table. Holding back the strong urge to sigh with relief, Sasuke headed for the exit, only to be stopped again. "Don't let something like this happen again."

Glaring ahead, he nodded before heading for the stairs.

'What was I thinking? That man is dangerous, and I know that, but I came into this house willingly! Sakura, why? Why! Why! Why!'

Sakura walked around the large bedroom, inspecting its details while also being too afraid to sit or touch anything. She was trying to learn all she could about Sasuke.

So far, she'd learned that he preferred dark colors like burgundy, navy blue, and black. He also had studying materials spread messily over the large desk that seemed to revolve around business management and related topics. Besides that, the man's room was tidier than expected and lacked real personalization.

'He's a private person, I think. That's not surprising. Those that bark the loudest have the most to hide.'

The door to the room opened suddenly, making the woman yelp in surprise, whipping around to see Sasuke shoot her a look that said whatever errand he'd just run wasn't something he enjoyed. "Sit," he barked while gesturing to the bed.

'...He doesn't expect me to…?' Terror washed over the woman, and she took a step back, trying to devise a plan of escape though he stood between her and the only exit.

He lifted a brow, "It's clean if that's what you're worried about."

With no way out, Sakura sat on the furthest edge of the bed, green eyes trained on the imposing man.

He leaned against the desk, taking a sip out of a liquor bottle that she somehow only just noticed, "Some rules. Don't break any of them. You don't want to find out what'll happen."

He held out the bottle, offering it to her. When she lifted a palm to turn it away, he shrugged, taking another sip before continuing as though reading a list he found uninteresting, "You'll be responsible for maintaining all public spaces. If anyone asks you to enter their room for any reason, get my permission first."

Sakura nodded, still too nervous to speak.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he stood straighter, "You are not to speak to anyone about anything you may overhear or see, no exceptions."

"The way you're talking, it's like an NDA," she jokingly said, trying to keep herself calm.

"That's exactly what this is. You'll be signing one."

Her blood ran cold, and she stood, brow furrowing, "Sasuke, what exactly-" "Don't ask questions you know I'm not going to answer. That's another rule."

"You just made that one up, didn't you?"

"Make at least one meal a day throughout the week," he completely ignored her question. "If you don't know if you're allowed to do something, ask me. If I'm not around, you can ask Itachi. If neither of us are available…. That shouldn't happen, so it's fine."

Feeling less in danger because he obviously wouldn't force himself on her, Sakura stood, reaching for the bottle while overwhelmed. Sasuke handed it over, smirking when she tossed back a huge mouthful with a wince.

Being sincere for a moment, the woman's eyes watered up, and she asked, embarrassed to admit her fear, "It's…dangerous for me to work for you, isn't it?"

He glared, but it faltered after a moment, and he nodded, "If you don't want it, then you can leave, but once you sign that contract, there's no backing out. I said I'd have your back, and I meant it if that helps."

For the next two hours, Sasuke showed her photos of people and made her memorize their names while giving her a little bit of knowledge that may be needed for each. Before long, it was dark outside, and the Haruno woman was exhausted after the emotional rollercoaster she'd been on today. The fact that they'd passed the whiskey back and forth meant they were both a little drunk, too, which didn't help.

"You weren't fuckin' kidding, were you? You're fallin' asleep sitting up!"

"You're more casual when you're drunk, did you know? You're not as serious."

The man smirked at the red-faced girl while leading her to the room right next door, "This is technically Zetsu's room, but he's never slept here, so you can use it."

Sakura shook her head, "I don't want to sleep in some random guy's room!"

He flashed her a grin, "You can sleep with me, then."

Nervous and annoyed, she snatched her duffle bag from his hand and stepped inside, frowning when he snickered, "You're too easy to fuck with, Babe."

"Don't call me that," she dropped her bags near the bed and looked around, "Can I shower?" After waiting for her to grab a change of clothes, Sasuke took her to the bathroom at the end of the hall, thankfully leaving her alone for the night when she shut the door in his face.

As the shower warmed, Sakura removed her clothes, frowning at her reflection. There were many scars, most from her ex-boyfriend losing his temper. 'But the worst one is….' She turned, pulling her long hair over her shoulder to see a collection of freshly healed cuts between the shoulder blades and the small of the waist.

~Flashback~

"What did you just say?"

Sakura was visibly trembling in fear but clenched her fists and stood her ground, "I-I said I'm breaking up with you. I want you to leave. ….Now."

The handsome man was frozen for a moment before laughing, tilting his head to the side, "What a weird joke, Saku."

"I'm not joking! Please get out!"

The warm act the man was putting on disappeared, and he quickly closed the distance between them, roughly gripping a handful of the woman's hair, "Why do you keep making me do this? You promised to be the perfect girlfriend, remember?"

She tried and failed to pry his fingers away from her hair, crying, "That was years ago, and I wouldn't have if I'd known you'd treat me this way!"

He shoved her to the ground, "Who is he?"

Sakura scrambled away, a hand to the aching part of her head where he'd pulled her hair, "Wh-What?"

"I said, who is he? The guy you're cheating on me with. Tell me his name so I can fucking kill him."

"You're insane! I'm dumping you because you're abusive, not because there's someone else." Stumbling to her feet, Sakura glared, "If you don't leave, I will. It doesn't matter what you do to me. I'm not going to change my mind."

'I've suffered enough. It's been four years.'

Suddenly, the front of her shirt was grabbed, and he was in her face, hissing, "You want to leave? Then leave. No matter where you go, I'll find you."

Then she was thrown straight through the large window behind her, landing in a pile of broken glass on the lawn with wide, stunned eyes.

~End Flashback~

With a terrified shiver, Sakura climbed into the shower, 'That's right. Even if he's dangerous, Sasuke's willing to sign a contract saying he'll protect me from that type of thing. If that man does find me, Sasuke will be there, right?'

It doesn't matter to Sakura if she has to take care of a house full of men full-time while also going to school. She didn't even care if their line of work was scary, as she theorized because her safety from her past was the only thing that mattered.

'I'll do anything if it means he won't lay another finger on me.'

So, she officially met a few of Sasuke's housemates and colleagues the following day.

A thin, serious, red-haired man named Nagato worked as an attorney and reviewed the employment contract with her, Sasuke and his boss also present. Yahiko was the scariest person Sakura had met in a long time. He was unbelievably stoic, with dozens of piercings and a fierce glare that didn't leave her the entire time they were in that office. After signing the papers and leaving the room, it was like she could breathe again.

'At least it's an annual contract, so if this doesn't work out, I'm only stuck for one year.'

Afterward, she realized a few men there, including Sasuke, attend the same college as her. It was a little comical, her coming face to face with Sasuke and the couple named Deidara and Sasori, only for all four of them to freeze in complete bewilderment. Sakura was the first to overcome it and quickly walked around the trio with a pale face and a sense of dread.

The thought that'd gone through her head at the time was, 'I'm not going to have a moment to myself for the next year, am I?'

Unsurprisingly, Sakura didn't sleep well at Sasuke's house. She knows he doesn't own it, but she didn't know how else to refer to it yet, so that's what she called it. The woman hadn't slept well at her apartment, either. The paranoia wouldn't allow it. The thought that the object of her terror could burst through the door at any moment constantly kept Sakura on her toes. She even sleeps with a knife under her pillow. That wasn't something she just picked up.

Ever since the woman woke up a few years ago to- 'Don't think about that now. You'll start panicking. Focus on cleaning.'

It's been two weeks since she moved in, and despite the lack of rest, Sakura could honestly say she appreciates Sasuke for hooking her up with this job. Sure, most of the people she ran into were intimidating, but they left her alone, so she followed the rules and kept her head down and mouth shut.

The only thing that'd happened was Hidan made a grab for her backside when she was scrubbing a particularly difficult stain on the kitchen floor. When she yelped in surprise and scurried away from him, Sasuke, who'd been doing schoolwork at the table, gave the silver-haired man a terrifying threat to back off.

If she'd been on the receiving end of those words, Sakura might've peed her pants. Apparently, Hidan felt the same way because he apologized shortly after and hasn't tried anything like that since.

A few of the men here, Sakura liked more than the others. For example, Sasori and Deidara, art majors at school, didn't frighten her as Hidan, Tobi, and sometimes even Sasuke did because they were too obsessed with their work and one another.

Blushing, the woman shook her head and tried to forget the image of the two in a very indecent state in the den. She'd been so stunned and embarrassed that she nearly fainted. Sasuke laughed at her face so hard that he was in tears.

On the sixth day of her residency, she came to understand why they made her sign a non-disclosure agreement.

While removing cobwebs from the ceilings with one of those long-handled dusters, she overheard Yahiko, Sasuke, and Nagato conversing. Though she couldn't make out everything they said, the words "exsanguination" and "got the message" were enough to make the girl scamper away from the area. She didn't want to know because then she'd be even more uncomfortable and on edge than she already was.

On the topic of Sasuke, the man was so hot-and-cold that it gave her emotional whiplash. He's annoying and flirty when they're alone, but he's icy and terrifying when anyone else is around. Sakura was too afraid to ask about it. After a few days of the odd occurrence, she picked up on the pattern and tried to adapt so things would go smoothly between them.

Their relationship, if it could be called that, was toxic, and Sakura was well aware of the fact. When Hidan laid eyes on her in the hallway and asked the Uchiha man if he had a death wish, she knew he'd brought her there for purely selfish reasons. That, plus the fact that he barely pulled back on the flirting when she'd requested it, was all she needed to see to understand how his mind works.

In his eyes, he owns her until that contract runs out.

That meant, to a certain degree, that he'd say and do whatever he wanted. It also meant he didn't care if her feelings were hurt or if she was scared. Either she catered to his personality and desires, or she'd likely have the worst year of her life.

So, Sakura did it even though it left her more disheartened by the day.

The moment any other person came into a room they were in, she'd lower her head, close her mouth, and focus solely on whatever task she was working on. When they were alone, it's not like she spoke much, but she didn't have to physically make herself appear meek and could work more leisurely.

Sasuke was becoming irritated by her increasing silence, no matter the setting. Of course, he didn't say anything because that would mean he cared if she wanted to converse with him, but his temper became shorter with each passing day.

The aura of anger constantly hanging in the air made Sakura feel similar to how she had back home, living under the same roof as her ex and having to tip-toe around him.

'It's just one year. That's it. Survive for one year, save as much money as possible, and then move to another new city. Make another fresh start.' With the amount of money she was making, it wasn't as hard to do. All she had to do was keep her resolve strong.

That's what Sakura thought until Thursday night on week three of her stay. In the dead of the night, a loud crash downstairs woke her with a start, followed by muffled, panicked voices. She recognized Sasuke's and Kisame's. Don't ask what possessed her to grab the knife under her pillow and sneak downstairs to investigate because she won't have an answer, but she did it.

After meeting the floor level of the house, she could finally understand their words.

"-do we do?! He'll bleed out, and Zetsu's not here!"

"Should we risk taking him to the hospital?"

"The police will investigate this kind of thing."

"If we don't do something soon, he'll die, Kisame!"

Inching closer, Sakura peeked into the den, only to gasp and rush out when she realized they were holding up Itachi, who was bleeding heavily from some type of wound to his abdomen. The conscious men looked her way, Sasuke barking, "Go upstairs!"

This was her first time seeing Itachi in person because he'd been on an assignment out of town all this time, but she'd seen photos of him.

'If what they said is true, then I have to help! I can't just sit here and let him die!'

"Sasuke, I-" "I said fuck off, Sakura!" He was putting pressure on the wound with shaking hands, obviously panicking.

At that moment, the pink-haired woman disregarded the contract and the rules. All she cared about was the fear Sasuke desperately tried to mask and that dying man's life. 'I shouldn't give a damn that he's upset, but it really bothers me for some reason. It makes me feel sick.'

"Lay him on his side. Where's the first-aid kit?" She spoke firmly.

The men gave her incredulous looks, but she glared, "Where is it? He needs help right now!"

Kisame answered, ignoring Sasuke's burning gaze, "Above the fridge."

Sakura hurried to retrieve it before returning to the living room. With trembling hands, she tore Itachi's shirt to see that it was a bullet wound causing the bleeding. Eyes glued to the dark red blood, she opened the kit and pulled on some gloves, "Is the bullet still inside?"

Sasuke was knelt across from her, his expression threatening to murder her if she did anything to hurt his brother, "No."

After cleaning around the wound, she asked, "Was it in one piece?"

"Yes."

'That's good. It'd be awful if it'd fragmented. Even a hospital wouldn't be able to save him in time.'

Tears of fright in her eyes, Sakura recalled all her medical knowledge while treating the wound. An hour later, Itachi was still alive with a freshly stitched bullet wound and a cold sweat on his pale skin. By that time, a few others had arrived to oversee her work.

Trembling with blood spots on her face, hands, arms, and clothes, the woman moved away from the injured man, "H-He, um, he needs a transfusion as soon as possible. If you wait until you're at the hospital and give him a superficial head wound, tell them you're not sure how long he'd been injured before you found him, and they'll give him one without even inspecting the wound first, just to be safe."

Kisame and Tobi carefully picked the man up and began carrying him out to one of the cars while Sasuke followed. At the door, he turned to give Sakura an expression she'd never seen before, which she couldn't read even if someone paid her for it. Then, they were gone, rushing to the hospital to save Itachi's life.

Sniffling, the woman tried wiping her tears with the back of her forearm since she was covered in blood before returning all the remaining supplies to the first-aid kit.

'That's the first time I've seen someone else's blood in person. …It was kind of scary….'

Yahiko and Konan remained in the family room, silently watching as she retrieved cleaning supplies from the storage room to begin an arduous attempt to scrub the blood from the carpet. Even if Sasuke was away, the woman knew better than to meet either of the intimidating duo's eyes or to speak without first being addressed, so she worked quietly, letting the tears run freely down her cheeks because it was impossible to keep wiping at them.

Konan's husky, attractive voice met her ears a minute later, "Have you done this type of work before?"

Keeping her head down, Sakura denied it, "I'm going to school to be a doctor. This was my first time...um…."

"I see. I wasn't aware."

She listened as the pair left her alone in the den to continue cleaning. With no one there to witness it, the woman burst into sobs, the thick tears blurring her vision. If Itachi doesn't survive, they will kill her, and she knows it.

Her good intentions meant nothing.

"Your friend's lucky you found him in time. Any longer, and he might not have made it." The gray-haired nurse explained to the group of men in the waiting area of the emergency room at the hospital, "It just goes to show that no wound, big or small, should be ignored. The cut wasn't that deep but left unattended like it was, it could've been fatal."

Relief flooded Sasuke's entire body, and he released a massive sigh, falling exhaustedly into one of the chairs, "How long will it take for him to recover?"

"The doctor wants to ensure he properly wakes up, but if he does that and no other issues arise, I'd say tomorrow afternoon is a sound estimate. Please provide your contact information to one of our receptionists, and they'll call you to come pick him up when the time comes." She gestured at the three divided booths before bowing politely and heading back behind the large doors leading to the patient rooms.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. His only living family member almost died tonight. That's enough to scare even the bravest man.

'And Sakura's the one who saved his life.'

He, Kisame, and Tobi left after filling out some paperwork, the latter being dimwitted enough to talk about what'd happened instead of reading the room, "I didn't know Sakura could do stuff like that. Why didn't you tell us, Sasuke?"

"...I didn't know, either," he admitted.

He felt like a fool, not to mention a jackass. That woman was terrified but still stood up to them so she could save Itachi's life. How had he not found out she had first-aid training?

'I guess I never asked,' Sasuke's grip on the steering wheel tightened, 'I don't know anything about her, now that I think about it.'

All the knowledge he had was what he'd personally witnessed in the time they'd known one another, like the fact that she was obsessively neat, didn't eat or sleep much, and was so quiet that he often forgot she was in the same room. It was almost like she tried her best to be as scarce as possible.

'Sakura's scared of literally everything, too.' He thought that but quickly observed, 'She could be terrified and crying, but she'll stay if it's the right thing to do.'

The woman had done it several times already. The day they met, she demanded an apology even though she shook like a leaf. Then, tonight. She had tears in her eyes the entire time. There was that time in the alleyway when she ran away, but there was nothing to defend there except her own safety. Running made sense if he put himself in her shoes.

"She's cute," Kisame suddenly said. For some reason, that sent a thick rage up Sasuke's spine, his glare shooting over to him. The blue-haired man snickered, lifting a calming hand, "Don't worry. Everyone knows that's one toy you won't share. I was just making an observation."

A bad taste met Sasuke's tongue when he said that, but he averted his gaze back to the road and remained silent. For the first time, Sakura being referred to like pissed him off.

After thinking about it briefly, the Uchiha scoffed, shaking his head at himself. 'I'm a bigger piece of shit than I realized.' Now that she'd done something useful, he saw her as less of an object and more of a person. Sasuke felt so guilty as he thought about how they cohabitated. After all that, she still jumped in to help.

At home, the three men froze in the doorway upon realizing the woman in question was still there, scrubbing blood from the carpet despite obviously being half-asleep. Blood was still all over her clothes, hands, arms, and even on her face. When she saw them, her eyes locked onto Sasuke's, glancing at the others before quickly returning to him.

'She wants to ask if Itachi's okay but won't because she thinks I'll get angry at her for speaking in front of the others. Jesus fucking Christ, Man. I'm a prick, huh?'

"He's fine. They said he'll probably be able to come home tomorrow," he reassured quietly, watching the other two pass by to head upstairs.

The stress on the gorgeous, exhausted woman's face lifted into relief, those pretty green irises watering up as she returned them downward to the carpet so she could continue working. By the looks of it, she'd been at it the entire time they were at the hospital. The massive stain was almost completely gone.

Fueled by his regret, Sasuke knelt before her, dark eyes studying her as though seeing her for the first time all over again. His voice was softer than before, "Finish this tomorrow. We should go to bed. It's almost four in the morning."

Sakura nodded sleepily, picking up all the cleaning supplies and placing them neatly near the stain before placing a big towel atop it so it wasn't visible to all who crossed it. While doing so, she glanced at him, speaking quietly, "I can go by myself. Good night."

'She's uncomfortable,' Sasuke thought but ignored her.

Part of Sakura was panicking because Sasuke was being weird, but the other part was too tired to care. She entered Zetsu's room, which she was using, before stopping in her tracks. With a red face, she turned to confirm her suspicion that the man was standing in the doorway.

"Can you please, um…."

"You want me to leave you alone."

She blushed, averting her gaze to the dresser, "I was wondering if you would grab clothes for me. I can't exactly do it myself right now."

Any other time, Sasuke would use this opportunity to flirt, maybe commenting about her using this opportunity as a roundabout way of showing him her underwear, but he didn't. Instead, he wordlessly grabbed the items she pointed out and followed her to the bathroom, where he sat them on the counter, "Anything else?"

"No. Thank you."

He turned to leave when Sakura suddenly remembered something that made her verbally groan, 'I'm wearing my best bra today.'

It was purchased on one of the rare occasions where the woman treated herself. As a girl suffering in the bust department, she found solace in having a broad selection of super cute bras to choose from. This one was the same color as her hair, lacy, and made her boobs look great, even if they were small.

"A-Actually, I-!" Her mouth closed, blush burning hot as she realized how stupid she'd sound.

'He'll probably think I'm trying to flirt.' Sasuke waited, visually confused. 'Ugh, whatever. He already saw me in my bra and underwear, so who cares?'

"This is a dumb request, but can you unhook my bra? It's, ha…" She sighed, feeling a strong urge to cover her face but fighting it lest she get blood and cleaning supplies in her eyes, "It's my favorite one. I don't want to stain it."

A glimpse of the Sasuke she knew arrived as he lifted a sleek brow, pretending the task was tiring, "This better be one sexy bra." He shut the door in case someone happened to leave their bedroom and motioned for her to turn around.

Sakura did, happy she'd worn her hair in a messy bun before everything happened. Cold fingers brushed against her skin as Sasuke lifted her shirt, making her gasp, "H-Hey, you don't need to do that! Just unhook it."

"I can't if I can't see it."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?"

The man didn't respond at all. He didn't move for a moment, but he finally undid the clasp, and the woman felt the item loosen around her chest.

She turned, "Thank you. Sorry about that." Her head tilted in confusion when Sasuke remained still, staring at her with an oddly severe expression. She didn't have to wait long to understand why.

"What are those scars on your back from?"

A memory of the beautiful night sky passed by her eyes, the one she'd stared at upon landing on her back after being thrown through that window. "I-I was in a car wreck. I have a lot of scars from it." That was always her go-to explanation, and it worked one hundred percent of the time.

His eyes narrowed, "Really?" Sakura nodded, feeling increasingly uncomfortable by the second, "Yes, now, can you please leave? I want to shower and go to bed."

He nodded but still had a weird expression. Sasuke paused in the doorway but didn't turn to face her again, "Thank you, by the way." The woman's eyes widened because that was a phrase she never expected to hear from him.

"If it wasn't for you, my brother would've died. I'm in your debt."

Then, the man left the room, shutting the door so she couldn't watch him return to his room.

Facing the mirror, Sakura saw her stunned expression and nervously swallowed, 'He's acting differently than before.'

Oooh, you guys~

I'm writing the climax of this story right now, and these fingers are moving so fast! Can't get the words out quick enough, or my ADD will lose it, ha!

After such a stressful night, Sakura fell asleep and stayed asleep for once. That said, the sun was only beginning to rise when she woke. The grogginess immediately disappeared when bright yellow eyes glared into hers. That's when the woman realized a man was straddling her waist with a knife to her neck.

A shocked scream left her body, only to cut off when he pressed the weapon to her skin in a silent threat to slit her throat if she didn't stop. Gasping and whimpering, Sakura stared with wide-watery eyes.

"Who are you? What are you doing in this house?"

Her fingers slid carefully under the pillow, reaching for the knife she kept there, "I-I work here!"

The man, who had pale white skin and forest green hair, scoffed, but his face didn't betray any emotion, "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth!" Her fingers wrapped around the blade's hilt, and she paused, waiting for the right time to act.

That's when the door to the room opened.

The person atop her looked over to see who it was, but Sakura pulled the knife out, simultaneously grasping his and trying to maneuver it away from her neck, which resulted in her palm being cut, but she didn't hesitate to press her blade to the man's throat, "G-Get off of me."

"You'd better listen, Man. She'll do it."

'It's Sasuke. Did he come because he heard me scream?'

The yellow-eyed man's glare would kill if it could, but he slowly climbed off her, releasing his weapon. Bursting into tears, Sakura dropped both knives and scrambled away off of the bed and to the Uchiha man with her bleeding palm fisted at her chest. For some reason, she pressed her forehead to Sasuke's chest, sniffling with her eyes closed in fear.

'He actually came to help. I half-expected him to ignore that part of the contract.'

Her eyes shot open, bright with surprise when the man wrapped an arm around her waist as though trying to comfort her. He spoke to the attacker, not her, though, "Are you an idiot? Why'd you attack her?"

"She's a stranger in my bed."

Sasuke sighed, "Think about it. What person would sleep if they were there to do a job? You dumbass."

The man paused before asking, not sounding the least bit guilty, "Who is she?"

"She's my housekeeper."

Sakura turned her head, trying to pull away now that the shock had passed, but Sasuke held her there. The only thing she could do was angle her body enough to see the green-haired man had come to a stand beside the bed, his eyes locked on her.

"I'll let it slide since you didn't know, but if you attack her again, I'll have to kill you."

The Uchiha man grabbed her uninjured hand and pulled her from the room, looking tired and angry from having been woken so early after such a late night, but he didn't say anything. He sat her on the edge of his bed, "Stay," before leaving the room.

Cupping her bleeding hand so blood wouldn't drip anywhere, Sakura shivered. It was multiple degrees colder in his room than Zetsu's. Sasuke returned, sitting on the floor in front of her with a first-aid kit. After opening it, he grabbed her hand and held it before his face.

"Um, I-I can do it."

"Shut up and sit still."

"Oh…. 'kay."

To her surprise, he did an excellent job at cleaning and bandaging her palm, 'I guess he's probably had nights like last night in the past. I shouldn't be shocked that he knows how to deal with a cut or two.'

Once finished, he said, "Stay," again before leaving to put away the kit.

Sakura looked down at her freshly bandaged hand, an odd, warm feeling in her chest. Since returning from the hospital last night, Sasuke had been acting weird. Not only was he more attentive, but the way he looked at her was also off-putting.

'It's like I have a message written on my forehead that he's trying to decipher. Did something happen that I missed? Should I ask him, or would that make things tense again?"

Though she'd never admit it aloud, she hoped this kinder personality would stick around. It was closer to how he was the day he offered her the job in the first place. If he did keep warming up to her, maybe they could even be friends one day.

'What the hell am I thinking? This is Sasuke! I don't know if I'll ever be able to befriend a man, and he probably doesn't want to anyway.' If anything, he'd definitely be open to sleeping together, but nothing more. That's just the type of guy he was. At least he didn't try to lie about or hide it.

Sasuke returned before shutting the bedroom door, clicking off the light, and climbing under the covers on the bed, all without a word or glance in Sakura's direction. Cold and confused, she sat there until he grumbled, poking her in the back with his foot, "Lay down and go back to sleep."

For some reason, Sakura knew he wouldn't try anything. So, with a single glance spared at the door, she climbed under the blanket on the other side of the bed, as far away from him as possible so they wouldn't accidentally touch. Then the room fell into silence, the only sound being the fan running on low from atop the dresser.

The woman immediately felt sleep taking over, which baffled her. While drifting off, she pondered why that was. 'Maybe it's because I'm not alone. Sasuke's on the side of the bed closer to the door. If anyone comes in to hurt me, I know he'll stop them.'

Turning onto her side, she looked at his sleeping face through half-lidded eyes before allowing them to close, 'Can I trust him?'

When Sasuke's eyes opened, they landed on the defenseless face of a sleeping Sakura. Her bandaged hand was on the bed between them, the other curled into her chest.

As a playboy, he's no stranger to waking up to a woman, but he'd never had one in his bed. To avoid the awkward situation of a one-night stand overstaying their welcome, the Uchiha always went home with them, slipping out before they could wake in the morning.

'I'm surprised she slept in here at all. I was sure she'd wait for me to fall asleep and then go downstairs to the sofa or just wake up for the day,' he thought, admiring how soft her lips looked. This was the closest they'd physically gotten in weeks, and he wasn't wasting the opportunity to study the details of her face.

Sakura saved Itachi's life last night. That fact changed everything about how he looked at her. Before, she was just some woman, albeit beautiful, who had an odd habit of making him act uncharacteristically. Now, Sasuke had no idea what to think.

She was more than some contract to him now. That much was clear.

'It's not fair for me to have these kinds of thoughts, but I've always been great at playing the bad guy, haven't I?'

Sasuke wanted her, and he wanted her more than he recalled ever wanting any woman. The curiosity was too much. Something made it impossible to ignore her, and the man knew sex would be different from the usual, too. He wanted to know what it'd feel like for such a reserved, careful woman to accept him.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that she was only here for the money and a roof over her head. If he hadn't gotten in the way the day she tried to leave town, she'd have disappeared to wherever, and they might've never seen one another again. Sakura never would've agreed to work for him if she had any other choices, and he selfishly took advantage of that.

A soft whimper broke his daze, and his vision refocused on Sakura's face, only to realize she was crying. His brow furrowed, 'Is she having a nightmare?' He knew that familiar, terrified glint would shine amidst the emerald green if her eyes were open.

His body acted independently, and he gently grabbed her uninjured hand. Unconsciously, her tiny fingers wrapped around it, holding it to her chest. The man could feel how quickly her heart was beating and frowned.

'How is she still cold with all those clothes on?'

Sasuke was reminded of the possibility that she might have trauma from something in the past. He'd given up trying to confirm or deny the fact shortly after Konan mentioned it, but he was looking at her with fresh eyes today.

'She's scared of everything, barely sleeps or eats, and acted submissively after moving here as though it wasn't a new concept for her.' There was no denying the obvious anymore. Sasuke frowned, coming closer to the woman, who'd calmed a little after being given a hand to hold, but not completely.

'Something definitely happened. Will she tell me if I ask?'

No. Sakura wouldn't, and he was a fool for wondering. When he imagined the scenario, it ended in just one way: her bluntly yet politely telling him it was none of his business.

He struggled not to imagine that they were closer than they were. In the weeks that they've known one another, almost every interaction had been dominated by him because he refused to see or treat her as an equal. Now, the man regretted it, cursing his inflated pride and ego.

A wave of anger washed over him suddenly. 'What the hell is wrong with me? The only reason I'm thinking like this is because she helped Itachi last night. Nothing between us has changed, so why…?'

The negative emotion evaporated when the girl unconsciously moved closer so her face was nearly buried in his chest. With wide black eyes, Sasuke looked at the pastel-pink hair falling in long, messy waves across the pillow behind her.

'She smells like vanilla.'

Warmth met the man's chest, but he quickly swallowed the unfamiliar, soft emotion that'd arisen and closed his eyes with a furrowed brow.

Sasuke Uchiha gave in, then. At that moment, he made a silent vow with the beautiful, delicate woman close enough to pull into his arms, 'I'll make her trust me. I'll get close enough to her that she'll let me in. After I get what I want, I'll get rid of her.'

It was too dangerous for them both if he let himself feel something, so all he could do was give in to his more carnal desires. It made him feel like a monster, but when did he not hate himself? This would just add another feather to the scale.

'I just have to make sure I don't let my emotions get out of control. It can't be anything more than sex. If I lose control of things….' He closed his eyes, allowing the comforting scent of Sakura's shampoo, the steadily calming beat of her heart against the back of his hand, to lull him back to sleep.

'It's warm.'

Sakura was the type of girl to always wear long sleeves and socks indoors because she became cold too quickly. Barely any skin showed at night, yet she'd still wake up with chills. Waking up leisurely, she sighed, snuggling closer to the warmth.

That's when she recalled what'd happened, 'Please don't tell me this is what I think it is.'

With a strong sense of dread, her eyes crept open to confirm that it was, indeed, Sasuke's chest she was against. From where she was, with her head tucked under his chin, she couldn't see his face, but it at least seemed like he was still asleep by his steady breathing, not to mention that she'd gotten this close and he wasn't making a move.

'If I move slowly, I might be able to get out of this without waking him.'

Sasuke's arms weren't around her, after all. Despite that, when she shifted her weight, she sucked in a breath and held it because he squeezed her hand, which she hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was gentle how his long fingers wrapped around her shorter ones, completely unexpected.

A tiny part of Sakura felt bashful. Who wouldn't upon waking up to a flawless man sweetly holding their hand like that? The more significant part felt unease and fear, though.

Sakura panicked, swiftly pulling away to sit on the edge of the bed with her hands on her chest as she breathed heavily. Sasuke groaned, obviously having been stirred by the sudden movement.

'He's going to tease me, right?' she glared at the ground before lifting her head with wider eyes, 'What if he's angry? I bet he dislikes things like handholding and cuddling. I need to get out of here and hope he slept through all of it.'

With that thought in mind, Sakura swiftly hurried out of the room and to the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth for the day. Then, after verifying that the terrifying man from this morning named Zetsu wasn't in his room, she procured some clothing and all but fled the house more than an hour earlier than necessary to make it to her first class at noon.

With nothing to do, she visited the library and spent the extra time studying. The problem was that holding writing utensils with her injured hand was challenging.

Maybe ten minutes after setting up in a quiet spot away from others, a familiar voice snapped her focus, "It might be a good idea to use a laptop instead."

Jumping in surprise, Sakura looked up to see one of her favorite professors standing there with warm eyes: Mr. Hatake. He always wore a protective mask over the bottom half of his face and had a scar on the right side, but he made it enjoyable to learn and explained things in a way that was easy to understand.

The pink-haired woman smiled, "I don't have a laptop, but thank you for the advice."

"Really? I thought you just preferred taking notes by hand. Color me surprised," he tilted his head, seeming to grin behind his mask. Unsure of what to say, Sakura gave him a polite grin before focusing on her work again, only to straighten her spine when he suddenly asked, "Can I buy you a coffee? We have some time before class."

For some reason, the woman had trouble denying her professor and ended up sitting across from him in the small cafe on the school grounds, her face red as she had no idea how to act in this type of situation.

"I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable, Sakura. I've just taken notice since your transfer. The assignments you submit are never cookie-cutter, and you're a great student, so I wanted to get to know you better."

"Oh, uh, no, I'm not uncomfortable, just a little nervous."

"How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

'This feels a little weird….' "I'm twenty-one. Twenty-two in March."

"I see! I'm thirty-five, if you're curious," Kakashi pulled his mask under his chin to sip his coffee, taking Sakura entirely by surprise.

', like a model! Why does he cover his face when it looks like that?' He's as handsome as a model! Why hide a face like that?' Then she comprehended his words, nearly choking on her coffee. While coughing behind her hand, she managed to ask, completely stunned, "Thirty-five?! You don't look it at all!" She had trouble believing he wasn't in his twenties, much less over thirty.

Kakashi beamed, tilting his head warmly, "I didn't take you for a flatterer. Thank you."

The slight warmth on Sakura's face became a full-blown blush. She averted her gaze to her coffee cup, softly saying, "May I ask you a question?"

There was something stuck in her mind since last night, and the woman couldn't hold back any longer.

"Of course."

Blinking back tears, she asked, "I'm sure you've seen many of your students fail and succeed in the medical field over the years. Recently, I…." She paused, taking a calming breath before continuing, "Recently, I performed first aid for the first time. It ended well, but I, um, well, it was terrifying. I-I cried the entire time, as embarrassing as that is to admit."

Sakura met her professor's eye, pleading for him to be honest, "As my teacher, do you think I should give up on this career path? Please don't sugarcoat it."

The white-haired man nodded, taking another sip of his coffee while studying her anxious face before inquiring, "The person you helped, did you speak to them afterward?"

"No, I haven't had the chance."

"Well, I can't say for certain since I'm only just now getting to know you," his smile fell, but his expression remained warm and comforting, "but you had the courage to act when someone needed your help, whether you cried or not has nothing to do with it. If I have to go on what I know about you right now, I'd say you're on the right path. You'll do great if you put more faith in yourself."

His brown eyes widened, and he reached across the small table to offer a napkin, "Are you upset?"

Sakura shook her head, dabbing prettily at her tears and genuinely smiling for the first time in weeks, "I'm relieved. Thank you so much for saying all that. I think I just needed someone to encourage me."

Letting out a small laugh, she sniffled and cut the waterworks, bashfully pressing the back of her hand to her cheek, "I'm embarrassed for getting emotional like this; it's just that I cry easily. I apologize if I've made you uncomfortable."

Kakashi looked surprised for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head, watching as she awkwardly fumbled to smooth her hair and clothing out in an effort to appear more put-together, "It's refreshing to see such an honest reaction. It just means that you're passionate, so don't apologize."

After finishing their coffees, the duo walked toward the lecture hall where the class was soon to take place. Sakura felt a million times more comfortable around him than she had before, and hearing one of her professors say she was doing well took the edge off of everything else that was going on in her life.

"I enjoyed chatting with you, Sakura. Please, if you ever have any concerns like today, don't hesitate to reach out."

Smiling, she nodded, "Thanks again," before making her way up the steps to one of the furthest back rows of the hall.

That evening, after classes, Sakura walked home more slowly than usual, taking the time to admire the sunset and shining snow at the sides of the road, 'Christmas is almost here.'

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she dug it out to see Ino's name on the screen. Grinning, she answered, "Hello."

"Girl, where have you been? We haven't hung out in weeks!"

"Ah, I know. I'm sorry! I've been busy with work and school," she paused, shyly asking, "Did you want to make plans? I can probably get some time off next weekend?" It was Friday, and Sasuke said something was happening at the house tomorrow evening, so she wouldn't have time for her friends.

"That's actually why I called! There's a big Christmas party at Sai's apartment next Friday, and you're coming as my plus one, got it?"

Sakura giggled, grateful to have such a good friend, "Got it. See you then."

The pair quickly said their goodbyes, and soon, the pink-haired woman was home, kicking the snow from her winter boots before unlocking the door and stepping inside. That's when the warm aura she'd developed throughout the day turned cold as ice because she saw the cleaning supplies sitting next to the bloodied towel on the den's floor.

Sighing, Sakura sat her belongings on the sofa, not sure if she'd been kicked out of Zetsu's room or not, and began finishing the job of removing the blood from the carpet. There wasn't much left, but she still had to prepare dinner, so there was no time to waste. She paid no mind to anyone who passed by and remained focused until the job was done.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, she returned the supplies to the storage closet before entering the kitchen.

While chopping vegetables at the counter, she played a tutorial video on treating wounds like Itachi had suffered last night. Though he survived with her help, she wasn't entirely confident the way she'd done things was the best decision, so she wanted to be prepared should that type of thing ever arise again while also praying it wouldn't.

"Clinical guidelines do not umbrella stab wounds and gunshot wounds as one type of injury. In fact, choosing the improper treatment can-" "Sakura."

A shrill squeak left the woman's mouth when someone spoke behind her. She'd been so focused she hadn't heard anyone approach. Turning, she saw Sasuke standing there, with his brother at his side. Itachi looked pale and tired, his younger brother having an arm around him just in case, but he smiled weakly at the pink-haired woman.

She fumbled to grab her phone and pause the loud video, blushing that she'd been caught studying what she should've known before practicing on him last night.

"I heard what you did. We don't know one another, but you still saved my life."

Sakura shook her head, eyeing the younger Uchiha to gauge if he would be upset with her for speaking directly to Itachi. He gave her an unfamiliar expression, almost sad, which confused the woman to no end.

'What is that face supposed to mean? Does he want me to end this conversation quickly, or will he see it as rude if I do that? Usually, it's crystal clear, but I'm lost.'

Nervous that she was out of line, she shook her head, "Oh, um, I'm just glad you're alright. I was worried."

The long-haired man lifted an eyebrow, glancing at his brother and then back to her before frowning, "Did I do something to frighten you? I'm only here to say my thanks."

"N-No, of course not! I'm sorry if it comes off that way. I'm just a little nervous, is all." Sakura glanced at Sasuke again, lowering her head when she realized he was glaring, "Excuse me, but I should get back to work, or dinner will be late. I'm happy to see you doing better."

As soon as Sakura reached the floor level of the house, she realized there were more people around that she didn't recognize than those she did. Politely, she made her way through the crowded rooms, keeping her head low to not offend anyone or draw attention to herself, until she found Konan in the kitchen.

The woman's orange eyes locked onto her, and she spoke quietly once she was close enough to hear, "Tonight, you are to entertain guests as a lady of this house."

The pinkette's face must've properly emoted her panic because Konan quickly added in an annoyed voice, "I won't force you to provide that type of entertainment. You're more than welcome if you'd like, of course, but you're to drink, smile, and flirt. Do whatever you feel will make these men like you."

"I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of turn, but why do these people need to like me? I'm a housekeeper. Shouldn't I just stay out of sight?"

The older woman's brow furrowed into an expression of disbelief, "Let me give you some advice, Sakura."

She turned to pour a glass of alcohol-spiked cider, speaking softly so only the pink-haired woman would hear and not the men around, "As a female, you have more power than you realize. Men think with their dicks more often than their brains, especially when a woman's younger and innocent-looking, like you. Do you understand?"

Sakura accepted the glass from Konan, swallowing nervously but nodding, 'So that's why she didn't put me in a slutty outfit,' she looked around at the men in the room who were doing little to mask their wandering gazes, 'These are the type of guys that get off on feeling powerful, so someone strong and confident like Konan doesn't do it for them.'

"I-I, um, I don't know if I can do this…."

"Here, drink this," she was handed a second glass, this one being full of a dark-colored liquor, "Chug all of it. Now."

Tears welled in her eyes, but Sakura did as ordered and tossed back the entire drink, wincing as she swallowed before placing the empty cup on the counter and shaking her head, 'Where's Sasuke? It won't take long for that to hit me.'

"Now go. Don't disappoint me."

Internally, the pink-haired woman was pissed, but the fear overshadowed it. 'How dare they try to whore me out! This wasn't in the contract I signed. I read it very carefully!' she thought while walking out of the kitchen as instructed.

By the time she arrived in the den, she was tipsy, but at least the nerves had calmed a little. A couple of guys talked to her briefly before she caught a glimpse of a familiar face across the room and politely excused herself.

'I really should've eaten something before this. I already feel a little dizzy, and I haven't even drunk that much yet.'

"What are you doing here?" It was Mr. Hatake, the professor who'd encouraged her yesterday. The woman stumbled, only for him to hurriedly grab her shoulder and steady her.

Sakura grinned up at him, "Um, well…." She wasn't so drunk that she'd stupidly admit to being employed by the house's owners, especially when he seemed concerned by her presence. "I-I wanted to thank you again for your help yesterday. It meant a lot to me."

His brown eyes were a little hazy, hinting that he'd also had some to drink. That was likely the reason he allowed the topic to change. They chatted casually for a moment or two about the holiday and the weather before he suddenly said, "You look beautiful tonight, by the way. I hope it's alright that I say that."

"Thank you! Kon-Uh, my friend bought this dress for me, so I was worried it wouldn't fit," Sakura averted her gaze with a red face, tossing back a good portion of her drink to mask her slip-up.

'I don't know what I'm allowed to say to people. I potentially almost got myself in trouble just then!'

It was then that Sasuke finally showed up. He didn't come over to speak to Sakura but found a couple of men to chat with across the room, where he glanced her way occasionally. It made her feel much safer, so she relaxed and spoke casually with the professor.

Maybe half an hour later, Sakura gasped, officially intoxicated because she hadn't made that cider to be weak, 'Konan will probably be angry if she finds out I spent the entire night talking to my teacher! I should go before someone tells her.'

"I need a refill, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

The man nodded, grinning from behind his mask, "Of course. Have a good time. If you happen to see me later, come say hi again."

'Thank God he didn't try to stop me,' Sakura thought, heading into the kitchen for another drink.

"Here, Sweetheart. You look like you might be thirsty." A tall man with tan skin, green eyes, and black hair in a ponytail offered a glass to her.

She hesitantly accepted it, "Thank you, um…"

"Hyo! My name's Hyo. What about you?"

The woman forced a smile, not drunk enough to feel entirely at ease around a strange man, and lifted the cup to her lips while responding, "Nice to meet you. My name's-" "Sakura."

She and the tall man looked over to see Sasuke glaring at the man, "Sasuke…?"

He took the cup from her hand and offered it back to Hyo, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The green-eyed man laughed awkwardly, glancing between them, "Having a drink with Sakura here. Why? Is there a problem? I thought this was a party."

"Drink it."

Sakura's eyes widened when Sasuke shoved the drink into the man's hand, who accepted it with a surprised expression, "What?"

The Uchiha man's glare deepened, "I said drink it. Is there a reason you don't want to?" Hyo's face paled, and he donned an expression of dread. Sasuke scoffed, "That's what I fucking thought. Try something like that again, and you'll have more teeth in your stomach than your mouth."

Rather drunk, Sakura stumbled to keep up when Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen and out of the hallway, "Don't drink anything you didn't see poured, Dumbass. Are you trying to get roofied?"

"Oh, is that what happened? Thank you so much for helping me!" Sakura smiled while simultaneously prying at the man's fingers around her arm. Drunk or not, it made her uncomfortable.

He released once at the counter, shooting daggers at Konan, who returned the look with her own, "How fucked up are you right now? Be honest."

Sakura realized he was trying to figure out if it was safe to let her go off on her own again and assured him, "I'm alright. I won't take a drink from a stranger again." She could feel both Yahiko and his wife watching them. Not only did she not want to get into trouble, but she didn't want to drag Sasuke into it, too.

'It's just a little flirting, and that's it. She even promised they wouldn't make me do anything more. Just try to have a good time.'

"If you feel sick, go upstairs." She nodded, accepting a new glass from the Uchiha man. He gave her a warning glare before leaving the room again.

She followed more slowly, only then realizing that Christmas music was playing softly from somewhere in the house. Gravitating toward it, she realized it was the television. An hour passed as the woman talked with whoever came up to her, careful not to lose sight of Sasuke or her drink so nothing terrible would happen.

Another hour passed.

When the party had been going for just under four hours, nearly one o'clock, Mr. Hatake reappeared. Sakura giggled, standing beside him against the wall. She'd cut herself off after her last glass because she was officially trashed. That decision used up the last of her soberness. The woman could barely walk straight, slurred her words, and found almost everything funny.

"Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?" He asked, but an amused twinkle was in his eyes.

Sakura made a negative noise, leaning into him momentarily before beaming at his surprised face, "I didn't tell you this earlier because I was embarrassed, but you're totally my favorite teacher, Mr. Hatake."

"Is that so? I'm flattered."

"Am I your favorite student?"

The man's eyes widened before he chuckled, turning to stand in front of her rather than beside her so he could be better prepared to catch her if she fell, "I'm not supposed to choose favorites. It's a bad practice for teachers."

The pink-haired woman sighed dramatically, "So all that talk about liking how I write my assignments was just you trying to butter me up? You'll make me cry, Mr. Hatake!"

"It's Kakashi."

She met his eye as steadily as possible in her state, "Huh?"

He pulled his mask down under his chin so she could see his grin as he repeated, "Call me Kakashi when we're not at school. That's my name."

A giggle left her lips, and she tilted her head, stumbling to the side as she teased him half-heartedly, "Mr. Kakashi, why'd you go into education when you're this handsome? You could've been an actor or model."

The professor steadied her with a hand on either side of her waist and an incredulous look, "Is that any way for a student to speak to her teacher? You'll give me the wrong idea."

"What do you mean? Should I not call you Mr. Kakashi? I thought you wanted me to."

He chuckled but changed the subject, "I think you should probably call it a night, Sakura. You've had too much to drink. You might hurt yourself if you fall. Should I have your boyfriend come get you?"

"Huh? My boyfriend?"

Kakashi turned his torso, hands still keeping her steady against the wall, and nodded toward Sasuke, who glared at them, "Him."

Sakura gasped, grabbing a loose handful of the man's shirt while dismissively waving her other hand, "Sasuke? He's not my boyfriend! Are you crazy?"

"He's not? He's been keeping an eye on you all night, so I thought maybe…."

"Oh, that. Yeah, he's like my bodyguard! If someone I'm flirting with gets out of line, he'll come beat them up!"

The white-haired man faced her fully again, cautiously asking, "Is that what you're doing? Flirting? Sakura-"

"Oh, he's coming over! Isn't he intimidating? I still get scared of him sometimes when he's mad." Sakura's chest and face felt warm when Sasuke came close enough that he could hear her, and she grinned, "Don't worry! He's not attacking me or anything."

The Uchiha man looked at the teacher, who glared back for some reason before lowering his gaze to her hand, which still clutched a handful of his shirt, "I think he's more at risk of you attacking him right now. C'mon."

'Why'd he have to say that? This is my teacher, for Christ's sake,' she thought but didn't fight when he grabbed her hand and guided her to his side so he could hold around her waist to keep her upright.

Instead, she hugged him with one arm around his middle and laughed, "Mr. Kakashi, I think I'm in trouble, so I'll see you in class on Monday. G'night!"

Sasuke slowly made his way with a very drunk Sakura through the house, toward the stairs so he could put her to bed. She stumbled, a hand on his chest as she giggled, "Ha, sorry. It's these shoes. They're taller than I'm used to."

'She's so annoying,' he thought as she stepped on his foot for the third time in less than two minutes. It was true, but he also found himself incredibly amused by her more honest reactions.

"Ugh, can I take them off? My feet hurt."

"We're almost there, you crybaby."

The woman grumbled, "You're so mean."

At the top of the stairs, she tore away and stumbled into his room rather than Zetsu's, who agreed to let her keep using his room since he never does.

'If I were a good guy, I'd stop her, but I'm not a good guy, am I?'

He shook his head at himself before following her inside just in time to catch her as she lost her balance trying to lean over to take her shoes off, "Just sit down, damn it. I'll do it." Sasuke, too, was drunk, but he had enough sense about him to take care of a drunk girl that he could probably lift with one arm.

After helping her to sit on the edge of the bed, he knelt, pulling one of her feet onto his knee so he could hold it still while unbuckling the two latches at the ankle. It was silent for a few moments as he did, and once he removed the shoe and switched to the other foot, he looked up to see if she'd fallen asleep because she'd stopped talking.

'Jesus Christ.'

The woman was not asleep.

No, she was staring at him with an expression he recognized from the night they nearly slept together. When their eyes met, she sat straighter before looking away while pushing some hair behind her ear, "You're actually kinda nice sometimes. I shouldn't have called you mean."

Sasuke averted his gaze back to her shoe, unbuckling and removing it before allowing her to pull her foot away, 'I have to get outta here, or I'll end up fucking her senseless.' He stood.

She stopped him by grabbing a hand. When he looked down at her, she gasped and released it, "Sorry, I don't know why I did that."

"...Do you want me to stay?" He hesitantly asked. The man was playing with fire, and he knew it.

Sakura grasped handfuls of the skirt of her dress, not meeting his eye, "Kinda."

'Get out of here.'

Sasuke crouched before the inebriated woman and spoke honestly, "If I stay, I'm going to kiss you and touch you and…. I know you don't want that, so I need to go."

Emerald eyes widened in surprise, locking onto his as she tried to comprehend his words.

It seemed like she understood, so he nodded once before standing again, turning to leave. 'Damn it! If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have to be careful. This fucking sucks.'

"I-I don't mind if you kiss me a little bit…."

'Don't fucking do it.'

The Uchiha man came down to her level again, searching her face.

'This is the opposite of what Itachi told me to do!'

She bashfully met his eye before fumbling to place a hand on either of his shoulders and leaning forward, gaze drifting to his mouth and back up.

'Stop her.'

All the arguments disappeared when Sakura pressed her lips softly to his, the scent of alcohol, cider, and vanilla enveloping the enamored man. Sasuke remained still; it was the only thing he could do to keep himself from attacking her. She didn't seem to mind and moved so that her arms rested over his shoulders, angling her head to deepen the kiss, her tongue slipping past his teeth to dance with his in a surprisingly skillful manner.

When the softest hint of a moan left the woman's chest, his hands twitched, reaching to grab her waist only to freeze. "Your hands…they're scary."

'That's what she said last time. If I touch her, will she want to stop? I want her to stay here.'

Sakura felt so small compared to his larger frame, so feminine and pretty. All that was true, but she was kissing him with the confidence of someone dripping with it. The arms over his shoulders grabbed the shirt on his back, and the woman tried to come closer.

The weight shift threw Sasuke off balance, and he caught himself with his hands on the ground as he eased them back so he was sitting with his knees bent. She maneuvered onto his lap, straddling his hips and pressing against him in a way that made his pants tighten.

A low sound rumbled through his chest when her thin fingers slid into his hair, only to pull it so he'd let his head fall back and part their kiss. She panted for air, gasping as she stopped pulling but kept her hand in his messy hair.

Her voice was soft and airy as she spoke between kisses to his neck, "I feel really warm when I'm with you, Sasuke."

He closed his eyes, swallowing hard to keep control of his urges, "If you don't stop soon, I won't be able to help myself."

"Do you want me to? I will." Sakura said that, but her free hand slid beneath his shirt, and she gently bit the damp skin of his neck, following the act by slowly running her tongue over the same spot.

"I mean….no. Keep doing that." 'You're a piece of shit, Sasuke Uchiha.'

To his surprise, the hand beneath his shirt disappeared, only to grab one of his and guide it to her chest. She pulled back to look in his eye with a heated expression that said she wasn't here on planet Earth but somewhere else. Sakura said nothing, but he understood she wanted him to touch her, so she kissed him once before dipping to pay attention to his neck again.

'Fuck it. We're already this far. I'll back off if she says she's scared.'

Sasuke leaned against the wall to support his weight, using his now-free hand to squeeze her bottom, earning a sound of appreciation from the writhing woman in his arms.

A couple moments later, her energy lessened, and she breathed out, "I'm sleepy now…."

The man could've cursed, "You're joking."

"Alright, Sasuke! I thought you two were hooking up all this time, but I never saw anything. Nice! Lucky!" The Uchiha man turned his head to see Kisame and Kakuzu in the hallway helping a trashed Tobi to his room, the latter having been the one to speak. The other two appeared to be at varying levels of irritation.

They moved on without waiting for his response, and he slid the hand from Sakura's chest around to press against the middle of her back with long strands of soft pink hair between his fingers, only for her to remain still and silent, 'You've got to be fucking kidding me.'

"You're asleep, aren't you?"

The woman softly groaned, the hand in his hair falling slack so her arm hung over his shoulder and her face buried into his neck. An exasperated sigh left the man's mouth, and he moved the hand from her ass to wrap it around her middle, glaring at the ceiling as he felt the thin girl's steady breathing against his chest and stomach.

After a moment of convincing himself not to get too pissed off, he got to his feet, holding the underside of her thighs so she wouldn't fall. Sakura sighed softly, moving her other hand around to hug his middle.

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief before carefully kneeling on the bed and laying her down. 'It's my own fault. I already knew she falls asleep easily when she gets this drunk.'

She mumbled his name unconsciously, "Sasu…ke….you…."

The man glared down at her, comically hissing despite knowing she couldn't hear it, "I'm not falling for this a third time. You're gonna fucking kill me."

Trigger warning! This chapter contains explicit descriptions of sexual and physical

assault. Continue with caution.

A soft sigh flowed from Sakura's chest as she slowly began to wake, 'I'm so comfortable; I wish I could stay in bed all day.' Suddenly, the warmth against her shifted, and her hair was brushed from her face. Eyes fluttering open, she saw a bare chest. Terror flooded her entire body, ice shooting through her veins.

~Flashback~

Groaning, Sakura's brow furrowed. She'd been asleep but was roused by a weight atop her. When she opened her eyes, they locked onto blue ones and widened. That was when the poor woman realized what'd woken her up.

"Wh-What are you doing? Stop! Are you insane?"

Her boyfriend didn't stop. Something tied around her wrists kept them from moving more than a few inches off the bed. His hands pressed against the backside of her thighs, pressing them roughly apart and down against her chest. Holding them still as she tried to kick and fight him posed no challenge.

Sobbing, the woman squeezed her eyes closed and tried to make her mind go somewhere far away so she wouldn't have to experience the disgusting act he was forcing upon her. The tempo of his movements hadn't even stuttered since she woke.

"Look at me, Sakura."

"Fuck you."

The relatively rough way the man moved became violent, obviously intending to cause pain. Green eyes shot open in surprise, a cry leaving her mouth.

"That's better." He didn't become much gentler and spoke in a forced voice, tense with effort as he continued, "Why are you crying, Saku? You're my girlfriend, and I'm your boyfriend. If you woke me up like this, I'd be thrilled."

"You're hurting me! Stop, it hurts!"

Again, the man didn't stop.

~End Flashback~

A cry of fear left the woman, and she shoved against his chest, trying desperately to get away from him, "N-No, don't! Get off!"

Sakura fumbled, reaching under the pillow and grabbing the knife she hid there, opening it as she cowered against the wall with tears running down her face and trembling from head to toe. The weapon was pointed threateningly at the man in her bed.

"Hey! Hey, it's okay! It's me!"

Green eyes widened as she recognized the handsome, bewildered face before her. The man stood, holding the blanket to cover his lower body with one hand, the other lifted up in a calming matter.

"...Sasuke…?"

'But it…. It was him! He was here, in this bed! He was…!'

"Sakura, hand me the knife." Gasping, the woman dropped the weapon in her hand, and he picked it up without moving his attentive gaze from her face.

"I-I'm so sorry! I-I-I swear, I…." She trailed off, eyes glazing over as she recalled how realistic the memory that'd played across her vision had been. It'd been weeks since she'd had that dream. That experience, plus the fact that he'd thrown her through that window, was the event that made Sakura run away from Konoha.

Sasuke knelt by the bed, tilting his head as he studied her cowering appearance, "Were you-" "N-Nightmare. It was just a nightmare; I'm sorry!"

She knew he didn't believe her, and he knew she knew it, but neither acknowledged that.

"It's alright. Are you good now?"

'God, he's going to tiptoe around me now, right? This is exactly why I didn't want anyone to find out. Well, that and the shame. Who wants to be around someone so pitiful and weak? I trusted a monster that betrayed me in one of the worst ways possible. I'm a fuckin' idiot.'

The blood began to return to Sakura's face as she nodded. She accepted some of the covers as he laid back down, cautiously snuggling into his side. It wasn't as scary after last night, and the night she'd spent crying in his room. The woman was also in desperate need of comfort after that little episode.

Sasuke wrapped an arm around her bare waist, thumb brushing her hip as he lay on his back with his other arm bent behind his head, "You keep me on my fuckin' toes, I'll give you that."

'He's trying to lighten the mood. How is he such a nice person at times like this and an asshole at other times?'

Sakura scoffed, "Sure," she paused, voice becoming softer, "I really am sorry. I feel like an idiot. You probably think I'm crazy now, right?"

"Oh, I knew you were insane the day I met you. That ship has sailed."

The woman laughed quietly before letting out a warm hum and closing her eyes, snuggling closer with an arm slung across his midsection and a leg hooked over one of his. 'Somehow, he always makes me smile when I'm at my worst. This guy….'

Later, after showering and getting dressed, Sakura took a cab to the mall, where she did some very last-minute shopping, considering it was Christmas Eve. Classes were canceled today as a result. So, other than buying and wrapping gifts, the woman only had the party to attend tonight with Ino and nothing else on her schedule.

'It's kind of nice to do something normal like this,' the pink-haired woman smiled while walking through one of the stores that sold makeup, 'The snow is only falling slowly, and it looks all soft and fluffy. It feels like a cliche storybook holiday. I hope tonight goes well, too.'

Though all the people in the Akatsuki house had lied right to her face about who they were, Sakura had a soft spot for Christmas and felt it'd be extremely rude not to at least get everyone something small. Initially, she wanted to make homemade treatbags but realized they probably would get suspicious that the food had been poisoned since she now knew the truth. Sasuke told her they no longer wanted her to cook for them after all.

So, the pinkette decided to simply buy premade ones, 'It's easier for me this way, anyway.'

Maybe she was a little sour about it, but she'd never admit that out loud. 'After caring for them like children for a month now, you'd think they'd have a little more faith. Just because I don't want to join their gang doesn't mean I'm gonna try to kill them!'

After purchasing a few things for Karin and Ino, Sakura visited the candy store to get the items for the others and then took a cab home with just enough time to prepare everything and get dressed for the party. Sasuke, Itachi, and Kisame were in the den when she arrived, the two Uchihas looking her way.

The elder one spoke first, "Did you go shopping?"

She nodded, heading upstairs with a mild blush. The last time she saw him, she'd been a blubbering mess in the middle of a random convenience store. It was her desire to thank him for getting her back safely, but she was too embarrassed.

Sakura quickly constructed all the little gift bags and wrapped the few personalized gifts she'd gotten before changing into slightly nicer clothes and going into the bathroom to straighten her hair and put on some light makeup. 'Before that party, I thought Konan was just letting me borrow some of her stuff, but it turns out she'd bought it all for me to keep. She's really stoic, but she's not completely coldhearted.'

A short knock came at the door while the woman carefully applied mascara, and she called, "Come in!" without looking that way.

It opened, Sasuke's familiar voice meeting her ears, "What're you getting all dolled up for? Hot date?"

"Didn't I tell you? Ino invited me to a party tonight at her boyfriend's place. I might end up staying the night there. I'll text you," she responded casually, still not bothering to glance at him.

That is until he replied in a not-so-light-hearted voice, "No, you didn't. Don't you think you should've said something to me before now?"

Sakura's brow twitched, and she closed the mascara to turn and fix the man with a glare, "You don't completely own me. Unless it has something to do with my contract, I don't have to run every little thing by you."

'This is how my ex started off, too. I made the mistake of letting him get away with it. I refuse to let it happen again, so I'll make myself clear now.'

Sasuke's irritation matched hers, dark gaze burning into hers, "I just want to know where you are, Smartass. What if you get in trouble again?"

Sighing, the woman faced the mirror again, this time putting on a thin layer of lipstick that nearly matched the natural color of her lips, "Is that your round-about way of justifying it?"

Her arm was grabbed, and she was forced to turn and look up at the handsome man's angry face. He growled, "If you're gonna be a bitch, then just forget about it. Not everyone's out to get you, y'know." The man fixed her with that terrifying glare for a second longer before leaving, an air of wildfire annoyance about him.

'...Maybe he's right. He probably just wants to know where I'll be in case I don't want to stay the night and need a ride home. I guess I'm so used to being controlled and stalked that I assumed the worst,' she pouted while watching him walk away, 'He didn't have to call me a bitch, though.'

Once finished getting ready for the party, Sakura decided to apologize for snapping at him like she had, but the man was nowhere to be found. Feeling guilty, she placed the gift she'd wrapped in pretty blue paper on the foot of his bed with a little sticky note that said, 'Sorry I was an ass! -S,' before going downstairs.

The little gift bags the woman prepared were in a festive red bowl with snowflakes on it. Sakura placed it on the dining table with a note explaining there was one for everyone and finally left the house. The sun was setting. Since Sai's place was across town, it'd be almost nine o'clock when she'd arrive.

~Four Hours Later~

Sakura was drunk. No, she was more than that. The pink-haired woman was absolutely trashed. Ino and Karin challenged her to a drinking contest in which she emerged victorious. Despite that, the three inebriated women were having the time of their lives dancing to the blasting music in the dimly lit building. If a hundred people weren't present, it was somewhere close to that.

Sai was behind Ino, the two flirting shamelessly while Sakura and Karin simply enjoyed one another's company. After the whole sleeping-with-Sasuke incident, the two grew closer.

"Do you have a hair tie?" The green-eyed woman yelled over the music, fanning her face with one hand and pulling her long hair away from her sticky skin with the other.

The redhead responded, "Check the bathroom. Ino probably left some here!"

Sakura nodded, motioning drunkenly that she would go do that so her dance partner would know to wait for her to return. Stumbling a little, she giggled to herself, squeezing past dozens of people in the crowded building's halls and rooms until she found the restroom. A couple was making out, but she was too out of it to care.

Still fanning her sweaty skin, she searched the cabinets in the restroom before finally finding what she was looking for. Grinning, she pulled her hair back into a high ponytail that resembled the one Ino often wore.

Upon stepping out of the bathroom, Sakura caught a glimpse of familiar-looking broad shoulders and white-gray hair. 'What in the world is he doing here?'

It was her intention to sneak up on the man but ended up tripping over her own feet and caught herself by wrapping her arms around the man's middle, her cheek to his back. Snickering, too drunk to take much seriously, Sakura gripped handfuls of his shirt and steadied herself.

When he turned and recognized her, offering an amused laugh, she grinned sheepishly, "Mr. Hatake, I swear I didn't mean to do that."

The teacher turned to face her, the few guys he was talking with wandering away and leaving them alone, "We keep meeting like this."

"Yeah, well, why are you at a student party anyway? Isn't it a little weird, Sir?" Sakura slurred, grabbing onto one of his forearms to steady herself when she lost her balance.

"Sai is my godson, actually. So it's not all that weird for me to keep an eye on things," he paused before leaning a little closer and lowering his voice, "And I thought I asked you to call me Kakashi when we're not at school. It makes me feel weird when you address me so formally."

A few inebriated students rushed by, knocking Sakura into her professor's chest. She turned her neck to glare in their direction, yelling comically, "Watch it, Assholes!" They didn't hear her and continued on their way.

"Sakura," Kakashi suddenly said, making the woman realize how close they were because his voice was close. She took half a step back before he cautiously held her waist, brown eyes warm and dark.

'...Why is he looking at me like that?'

She flinched when he suddenly leaned forward so his mouth was at her ear, "You need to quit getting close to me like this. I'm bound to make a very unprofessional decision if you don't."

A bashful heat met the drunken flush of her pretty skin when he moved back to fix her with that intense stare again. The woman nodded, "Okay. I'll go, then." The alcohol made it hard for her to completely comprehend what he meant, but she at least understood that he wanted her to back off.

So, Sakura stepped away, hazy green eyes studying the older man's serious ones for a few moments before turning and entering the crowded hall that leads back to the main room where Karin was likely waiting for her to meet back up.

'Mr. Hatake's kinda hot. He's way too old for me, though,' she mused, snickering as she weaved and dodged other equally inebriated people.

Somewhere between point A and point B, someone's foot made its way in her path, and she tripped, barely preventing herself from falling embarrassingly in front of all these people. Fumbling upright again, she held her hands out slightly to regain her balance.

A raspy voice, male, came from behind her, "Sorry about that! Are you alright?" Long, calloused fingers grabbed her arm to help stabilize her.

The woman grinned, shaking her head and continuing, "No worries; I'm good! Bye!"

Her arm was released, and she almost immediately ran into Ino and Sai, the former beaming with bright blue eyes, "Saku, Babe, who was that hottie?! Are you an idiot? He was totally into you!"

Curious, Sakura turned to look for the person in question, only to glimpse bright blonde hair on a tall, athletically built man whose back was turned as he spoke with someone nearby, "...no…." Complete and utter horror took over her body.

Without sparing a moment, Sakura shoved past Ino, who yelled, "What the hell?!" and tearfully struggled through the loud, crowded house until she found the exit. She didn't stop there, though.

Too alarmed to even search through the massive pile of winter coats by the door, she ran and ran, the snowflakes and icy winter air stinging her skin. The hair tie fell out at some point, so long hair fell over her shoulders when she finally tripped, scraping up her hands and knees on the concrete sidewalk. Whimpering in fright, the woman frantically looked behind her and scrambled around the corner of the nearby alleyway to press her back to the wall.

'It's him! He's here! How did he find me?' Nausea overwhelmed the woman, and she gagged but wouldn't allow herself to be sick because that meant she'd have to close her eyes for more than a second. 'If I so much as blink, he'll get me. I know he will.'

The sound of footsteps met her ears, and she glanced around the corner to see a tall, shadowed figure approaching from down the road. Her vision was too hazy with the crying and the drunkenness to make out any details, but it was enough to send her into a further panic.

For some reason she couldn't explain, Sakura's mind jumped to Sasuke, and suddenly she could only think, 'He won't let that happen. I have to get to him before it's too late!' Pulling her phone from her back pocket, she stumbled to her feet again, breaking into a jog again while looking behind her every so often, thick tears flooding her cheeks.

"Let me guess, you need a ride?" The Uchiha man's irritated voice never sounded so sweet.

Gasping for breath, Sakura skidded around a corner, barely able to speak in her state, "S-S-Sasuke! Please help me!"

The difference in his tone was jarring, then, "Where are you? What's wrong?"

Sobbing, the woman struggled to get upright again, the distant echo of someone else's steps fueling her terror, "I'm sorry for always being a b-bitch, Sasuke. I-I'll make it up to you, so please come! I won't do it again. Please-" Her breath hitched, cutting off her plea.

"Sakura, tell me where you are."

Shaking her head, she looked around, dizzy and confused, "There's a-a, um, there's a big church down the road with a red roof, but I-I don't know what-!" The poor girl's phone slid from her fingers, and despite her tipsy efforts to catch it, she wasn't fast enough, and the device hit the ground hard, the screen cracking harshly and going black.

"Hey, are you alright? I saw you fall." A male voice called from the other end of the alleyway.

Sakura's spine straightened, and she only needed to see a single glimpse of blonde hair to frantically begin running again, abandoning her broken phone there on the concrete.

'Don't stop! Keep going! He'll kill you, or worse, if you stop running!'

'What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck.'

Sasuke's knee bounced anxiously as he steered the car with one hand and continuously tried to get Sakura to answer the phone with his other. It's after one a.m. He doesn't care about that part because he often stays up later than this, but he does care that it sounded like the pink-haired woman was scared for her life. Just before the call dropped, a male voice was in the background, but he hadn't expected it, so he didn't understand what it said.

'That fuckin' idiot! This is why I said she needs to tell me where she's going!'

The Uchiha man's on edge, pissed, and concerned beyond what he considers acceptable. 'She said there was a red-roofed church. I know of only one like that,' he thought, dark eyes glaring ahead at the snowy road. The streets aren't entirely dead despite the winter weather because it's Christmas Eve. That said, not many walked the sidewalks.

Finally, after half an hour of driving over the speed limit, the church came into view. He pulled up to the curb in front of it, slammed the brakes, put the car in park, and rushed inside with one hand on the gun tucked into the back of his jeans.

'Please tell me she was smart enough to come here. Who knows how long it'll take to find her if she's out there running through the alleys.'

Sasuke didn't like how Sakura begged him so desperately. For a woman like her to outright ask for help without hesitation, she must be scared beyond belief. Whatever's going on is serious. That's why he didn't call for her when he went into the dark church.

'Why is this place empty anyway? Don't religious people always flock to places like this on Christmas?'

Upon entering the chapel, he realized why no one was around. It was under construction. A massive hole covered by a tarp with scaffolding and supplies beneath it sat in the center of the ceiling.

Keeping close to the wall, the man verified no one was in the large room before cursing under his breath and turning down a hallway he'd seen near the entrance, "Where the fuck are you, Sakura?"

He opened the men's restroom and gave it a once-over before doing the same to the women's. As he turned, letting the door close, the tiniest sound caught his attention, and his neck turned sharply toward the room again. Slipping inside quietly, he pulled his gun out and held it at his side while keeping his steps silent. Three stall doors were ajar, but the last one wasn't, the one furthest from the entrance.

'I swear to fuckin' God….'

In hindsight, he should've realized that his approach was way too violent, but at the time, all he could picture was some dirtbag holding his woman behind that door with a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. Fueled by the rage the image caused, he kicked the door open, pointing the gun inside with a glare that'd kill if possible.

A pathetically weak cry of fear met his ears, and his anger melted into worry when there, in the very corner of the larger, handicapped stall, sat Sakura. Her knees were to her chest, and her hands were on her head as she trembled and squeezed her eyes closed, trying to turn herself into the smallest ball possible and disappear.

"Sakura! Babe, what happened?"

Sasuke's body moved independently. He tucked the gun away, kneeling beside her and prying her hands from her hair to try and get her to lift her head. The woman fought it, sobbing so hard that she couldn't possibly speak.

His brow furrowed as he gently rested his hands atop hers, looking over her appearance more closely. Her jeans were ripped, and her knees were bleeding, as were her palms. Blood dirtied her fingers and hair.

'When I find out who the fuck did this, they're gonna wish they were never born.'

The man checked outside the stall to ensure they were alone before taking off his coat and laying it atop her shoulders, "Put it on before you get hypothermia." Without waiting for her response, he pulled his phone from his pocket and began dialing Itachi's number, only to freeze when Sakura finally spoke.

"...You actually came."

Looking down at her, his teeth gritted, and he moved to help her stand, only then realizing that she was drunk beyond belief. The woman stumbled forward, throwing her arms around his middle and sobbing into his shirt as she thanked him with barely understandable words.

Sasuke didn't know what to think, feel, or do. He placed a hand on the back of her head in an attempt to comfort her while he figured it out, though.

'Is she actually in danger, or is this just her being paranoid again, like when she thought someone was following her home?' He could understand if it only happened that once, but two times….

'Maybe she really is crazy.'

It may seem as though he's judging her, but he only felt bad that she was so scared all the time, and that's all. If it's true that no one was after her that time or this time, and she's been imagining things, it can only be because of whatever trauma she was dealing with. Whatever made her wake up ready to defend herself from an attacker and stress her into being unable to stomach food was to blame.

'She needs help,' Sasuke thought, frowning as he finally came to his senses and guided her to slip her arms into the coat resting on her shoulders, 'It'll only get worse if she doesn't do something.'

He said calmly, "Let's go home. You're alright."

Sakura nodded, allowing him to interlace their fingers and guide her outside to the still-running car. After ensuring she was safely inside, he got in, as well, and began the drive back to the house.

'Yahiko and the others won't care about any of this. There has to be a way to get her out of there without either of us getting killed.'

"H-He found me," the inebriated woman suddenly whispered. Even roughed up and exhausted, she still looked pretty cute in his coat, which was way too big for her petite frame.

Though he was sure by this point that no one had actually been chasing her, he still asked, "Who found you, Babe?"

Terrified, tearful green eyes glittered in the moonlight as Sakura looked at him, her voice cracking, "My ex."

Mature Content Warning!

BTW shit's about to hit the fan!

'Is there a word stronger than humiliated?' Sakura thought while sitting in the back row of a lecture, 'Mortified. Embarrassed. Ashamed.' She couldn't focus on the professor teaching at the front of the room. 'Terrified. I'm scared, and I'm exhausted. I'm at my goddamn wit's end.'

It was Tuesday, four days after the big incident after Sai's party. Like a knight in shiny black armor, Sasuke found and cared for her in such a way that she almost believed the alcohol had made her hallucinate.

'He's been a sweetheart since then, too," the woman frowned at her blank notebook, twirling her pencil anxiously between two fingers, 'I know it's because he thinks I'm crazy. This is the second time I've sworn someone was following me. They couldn't find anyone both times.'

But Sakura knew better. Maybe the Akatsuki couldn't find the person following her home, but the blonde man from the party had definitely followed her out into the streets.

The phone in her purse vibrated with a notification, and she bent down to pull it out, recalling how her old one shattered against the concrete and broke. Luckily, the store was able to transfer the number to her new device.

'Sasuke bought this for me, too,' she mused, the guilt eating her heart and leaving a raw ache. She doesn't remember getting home that night, but when she woke up, she'd been put into some of his pajamas, and he'd been cuddling her to keep her warm, even in his sleep. The scuffs on her palms and knees were also cleaned and bandaged.

On Saturday, the day after the party, he purchased the new phone as a Christmas gift for her as thanks for the one she'd gotten him.

Green eyes dully read a text from Ino, 'Have you seen the new guy on campus yet? Major hottie alert!'

Sakura didn't bother responding.

She was as low as low could be. Not only was she positive someone was after her, but no one believed it. If she met up with Ino, she'd definitely spill the beans about what happened, and that'd be just another person thinking she's insane.

'Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I imagined it all, and it's just PTSD from everything that happened.' The thought didn't make her feel any better. In fact, it made things worse because there wasn't a doubt that it'd happen again, and she'd be just as distressed.

Shortly after, right before the end of the lecture, she received another message. The woman opened it on auto-pilot, under the impression it was from someone at the party she may have drunkenly given her number out to, all of which being girls she wanted to befriend. Two had reached out already.

'Drunk me is better at socializing than sober me. It's almost funny.'

The woman sat straighter in her chair when photo after photo began popping up in the chat box of the text sender. They were from her ex-boyfriend's number. Chest heaving with panic, she looked around to ensure no one was close enough to see over her shoulder before peeking at it again.

It was Akatsuki members, incriminating snapshots of them, to be exact. Most of them were Sasuke, but there was at least one for each of the gang's core members.

Once the messages stopped, she texted back because it wasn't only her being affected, 'Why are you doing this? Just leave me alone!'

Rather than receiving a text back, more pictures began coming in. This time, they were of her. Photos of Sakura at school, with Sasuke, with Ino or Karin, and even a few of her at the Akatsuki house, which appeared to have been taken from a distance through a window.

Feeling like she was about to be sick, Sakura snatched up her belongings and rushed out of the lecture hall, only to empty her stomach in the nearest ladies' room. 'Oh, God. He's been watching me for weeks!' Rinsing her mouth out in the sink, she angled her body toward the entrance just in case while checking to see if the person had responded. They hadn't.

So, she called Sasuke. 'I have to tell him about this immediately. He'll have to believe me, now!'

The Uchiha didn't answer, which shouldn't have surprised her because he was in class. Not wanting to alarm him too much since it might be a little while before they see one another, she texted him, 'I need to talk to you as soon as your class ends. It's important.'

It was both of their last class of the day, so all she had to do was manage her panic and anxiety for another twenty minutes, and then she'd have no choice but to come clean to the man about her past because it'd finally caught up to her.

A message from him quickly came, 'What's up?'

It'd be foolish to send him anything regarding the situation because there's no telling who he was around or how he'd react to receiving something so incriminating out of nowhere, so the woman replied, 'In person.'

After rinsing her mouth again, Sakura left the restroom and walked toward the staircase to the third floor, where the library was located. Upon reaching the first step, though, her phone began to ring. Looking down at it, she expected it to be Sasuke calling to demand an explanation. Impatience is one of his most significant faults. It wasn't him, though. No, it was her ex.

Trembling, the woman answered but said nothing. The voice on the other end of the line sent shivers down her spine, "I told you I'd find you, didn't I?"

Sakura stumbled before shakily sitting on the steps with wide, watery eyes, "H-How?"

"Saku, this isn't some movie. If I tell you, you'll run again and hide better."

She gritted her teeth, brow furrowing. No words would come out. She couldn't speak.

"Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to be starting school at your college tomorrow, and you'll act like nothing's wrong. You'll go back to being my sweet, devoted girlfriend, or I'll send all those photos to the police."

"No, I'm not-" "You are. We'll finish the school year in Oto and return to Konoha in the summer to get married."

'Married?! I can't marry him! I'll be dead by twenty-five!'

He must've taken her silence for what it was, defiance, because he threatened, "I know the people you're living with are more dangerous than me. Imagine how they'll react when I send them records of this call and our messages. When they find out you're the reason they're all going to prison, you'll be hunted and murdered, Sakura."

'...He's right, damn it. It doesn't matter if I give in because I care about them or because I'm scared they'll kill me. One way or another, I have to surrender.' Tears slid heavily down her cheeks as she closed her eyes, voice small and weak, "I-I understand."

The man sounded like a completely different person, then. His voice was bright and cheerful, "That's my girl! I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She made a barely audible sound of confirmation, and they both hung up.

When Sasuke's class ended, he wordlessly left. After receiving those texts from Sakura, he couldn't focus on the lesson anymore. 'What could it be this time? Is she gonna tell me she's being fucking followed again?' The man wasn't angry at her, but he was getting irritated at the situation because he didn't know what to do to fix things.

He saw her pastel pink hair in the hallway and weaved through the crowd in time to exit the building at her side, "So, what's up?"

Sakura's entire body jolted, her eyes wide and face pale as she turned to him, "You scared me!"

Sasuke chuckled, grabbing her hand with his free one so she'd walk more closely, "What'd you need to tell me?"

Her thin fingers gently squeezed his hand more tightly, an odd, unfamiliar expression coming across her features before she quickly blocked it, shaking her head, "Oh, right. That. It's nothing," she gave him a big, fake grin, "Sorry. I thought I saw someone, but I'm probably imagining things again."

'She's the worst liar I've ever met.'

Once in the car and on the road toward home, he warned, "Babe. Don't fucking lie to me. What really happened?" 'Something's off. She won't even look at me.'

Sakura shook her head yet again, lowering her gaze to her lap, "I'm serious, Sasuke. I-I've just been on edge lately. That's probably why I'm like this. I'll try to relax, okay?"

The Uchiha man wasn't fooled. Not at all. That said, the increasingly familiar warmth in his chest arose when she didn't correct him for using a pet name.

'Maybe I'll keep doing it. It makes her blush.'

There was only one way he knew for sure would get her to be honest because it worked last time. So, he unpacked his backpack when they got to the house and entered their rooms. When he turned, intending to go to her room, he was surprised to see her standing in his doorway with a red face.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the woman cut him off, "Do you want to, um, have a drink?" When he was too stunned to answer, she averted her gaze awkwardly to the floor, "I-I know it's the middle of the week, but I just thought-" "Alright. Go get it and come back here."

Sakura's mouth shut, her eyes jumping up to meet his again before she nodded and disappeared downstairs.

'If I'm correct, she's trying to find a way to tell me something.'

'What the fuck did I just do? Why did I say that?'

Sakura took the stairs as slowly as possible, an entire bottle of tequila in her possession. She'd grabbed the alcohol with the highest percentage, so it'd get her drunk faster.

Truthfully, the woman knew exactly why she asked the Uchiha man to drink with her.

Tomorrow at school, her personal hell will be reawakened. After that, whatever hot and cold, flirty or not-flirty thing they have is going to be totally and completely over. They'll both be in danger if she doesn't cut him out. With that thought in mind, Sakura had become desperate. She wanted to break things off with him; that's why she wanted to get tipsy. It was too scary to do sober.

Sasuke looked as apprehensive as she expected when she returned to his room and shut the door. He didn't say anything, but they both knew her actions were out of character. The man was simply waiting things out to find out what was happening.

So, the pair passed the clear alcohol back and forth, a random movie playing on the television mounted on the wall. When the pinkette finally considered herself suitably intoxicated, the sun had set, and the film was in its final half.

She glanced over to admire Sasuke's profile. They were sitting side by side under the covers as they had the day she was sick that they hung out.

'God, he's so handsome when focused on something.'

The way his jaw unconsciously flexed and his eyes would narrow or widen was enamoring. Personally, Sakura felt she could stare at him for hours and not get bored, not that she'd ever tell him that. 'His ego's already massive. If it gets any bigger, it'll swallow him whole.'

"If you keep staring, I don't know what I'll do," Sasuke suddenly said, not changing his expression or looking her way.

Blush heated Sakura's face, thought it'd already been warm from the booze, "Sorry…."

He smirked, finally turning to meet her gaze, "I should be the one apologizing." In a blink, the woman's hair was splayed messily over the pillows, and his body was between her legs as he kissed her. After a moment, he pulled back enough to add, "But I won't."

'What…? Why am I letting this happen? I'm supposed to be breaking things off with him! … But this feels so….'

Skilled hands removed her clothes, one article at a time, and she helped the man with his, too. It was hot under the covers with the stunning man. Both were covered with a thin sheen of sweat as they deeply kissed, hands exploring one another's bodies with an eagerness as though there was a time limit.

Sakura's breath hitched when the hand holding her hip slid between her legs, long fingers searching and quickly finding that sweet spot. Her eyes crept open, brow furrowing in response to his expert teasing.

Sasuke pulled his lips from hers, dark eyes burning with unguarded desire, "If you're gonna stop me, do it now because I won't later."

'What an asshole thing to say. He knows that I understand how his mind works by now, I guess, so there's no need to pretend to be a nice guy.'

The man lifted a sleek brow, eyes looking down between them as he stopped massaging her and grabbed the base of his cock, lining himself up. She didn't stop him.

'I know it's wrong to give him hope like this, but, for once in my life, I want to be selfish. I want to have a positive sexual experience, and I want it to be with him.'

She bent her legs further, spreading them apart enough that Sasuke understood the situation. He was bigger than her ex. That was something she figured out last week when they hooked up. It still came as a surprise when a slight pain, similar to that of losing one's virginity but not quite as intense, met her core as he steadily thrusted in. Her brow furrowed, and he noticed, but neither said anything.

Once fully inside, he paused before straightening his spine enough that his weight shifted to his knees and freed his hands. Gripping her thighs, Sasuke began moving slowly to gauge her reaction and then adjusting in speed, angle, and strength as he figured out her likes and dislikes.

Sakura couldn't meet his eye because she was so embarrassed at being seen and touched like this. Her face burnt with a wildfire blush, and she kept her head turned, eyes half-lidded as they glazed over.

This was the first time in her life she genuinely enjoyed the sex.

It felt good.

It felt excellent.

So much, in fact, that she found herself unable to bite back soft moans and gasps. All she could do was try to keep them as quiet as possible. If she made the wrong move or sound, the man atop her would likely call her out on it, and she might not survive that level of humiliation.

They'd only been at it for a minute before Sasuke ran a hand up her middle to grab her jaw and force her to meet his gaze. His voice was low and gentle, though his grip was not, "Were you a virgin? Don't lie."

Sakura shook her head, eyes dancing from his face to his body, to where his sex was meeting hers, and back up. She didn't have to ask because he said, "Babe, you're so fuckin' tight."

The Uchiha man's hold on her jaw became less harsh as he bent further to give her a chaste kiss, pulling back to whisper, "And you look uncomfortable. If you aren't feeling good, say something."

"N-No, it feels amazing!" She drunkenly reassured him, hands leaving the sheets to touch his chest.

His dark eyes narrowed, obviously suspecting her of lying again. Sakura squeezed her eyes closed, admitting, "It's just…I've never really enjoyed this type of thing, so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to act. I thought if I just kept still, you at least wouldn't laugh at me."

'Did I hear that correctly? She's never…?' "You said you slept with one other person," Sasuke said, the question insinuated.

The tight, hot sensation around his dick was unbelievable, but he had to focus on Sakura's words because having her be anything but a hot, bothered mess beneath him was unacceptable. He wanted to see her body tremble and shake with pleasure, to hear the irresistible, sensual sounds she could make. He refused to leave this tryst without it.

"I have. It's just…Well, um, I didn't…." She trailed off, obviously struggling to maintain eye contact because she was so embarrassed.

"He didn't get you off," he bluntly said. Her bewildered expression, followed by a mortified groan, was all the answer he needed.

Something came over Sasuke, then. It was like his obsession with her manifested into dominance because his mouth moved with words before he could stop it, "I'll make you cum so hard, you'll never be able to forget me."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, her mouth opening slightly because she obviously had no idea how to react to such a bold statement. The man continued, though, his movements more decisive, "And do whatever the fuck you feel like doing. I don't give a damn."

The woman tightened around his sex, making his jaw flex and a jolt of excited pleasure roll up his abdomen.

"But what if I-" "Babe, you could bite me til I bleed, and I'd think it's sexy. Stop thinking and let me fuck you."

Finally, she relented with a slight nod, "Okay…."

Sasuke needed no other confirmation. He smirked, releasing her jaw and rising to his knees with his back straight up, moving inside her with every ounce of his lust fueling him. It was gradual, but the hold on both of their controls began to slip.

Over the next few minutes, the pink-haired woman went from gritting her teeth and feeling self-conscious about every little thing to grasping the sheets with her back arched, toes curled, and mouth open as she panted and moaned. It was all music to Sasuke's ears and gorgeous satisfaction to his eyes.

'Fuck, what is this? It's never felt like this. I don't want to cum. I want to watch her for hours.'

The woman beneath him was enticing. The glisten of sweat on her pale, scarred skin was impossible to ignore. He had to touch every inch. Large hands felt her humble curves, her perky breasts, her legs. And inside her was just as incredible. It was electric, the sensation the man felt with each movement. It almost seemed inhuman.

"S-Sasuke, that-!" The man focused on Sakura's face. A delicious, submissive, and desperate emotion flooded her pretty features.

He repeated what he'd done to pull such a face from her, a quiet moan rumbling through his chest when the muscles surrounding his cock flexed in response, the woman moaning helplessly. Dark eyes studied the picture before him in hopes of memorizing it.

'That's what I wanted to see. She's barely holding on.'

Sasuke eagerly gave in to his selfish desire to steal Sakura's sanity.

He put his weight on one hand on the bed near her head, the other flat against her back to hold her up as his knees moved under her, lifting the bottom half of her body off the bed as he pounded into her recklessly.

The tight muscles of her abdomen flexed attractively as her head fell back. The woman's eyes filled with tears as she fumbled to grab onto him, one hand around his wrist near her head and the other grasping his shoulder so tightly that her nails dug into the skin. Then she fell over the edge. Sasuke felt it, a breathy, quiet sound of relief slipping past his lips as Sakura's insides quaked around him, a beautiful moan meeting his ears.

Sasuke's hand on her back held her chest to his once her orgasm ended, and he effortlessly switched their position so she straddled his hips. He continued to move in and out, dark eyes wild and locked onto hers in a way that made it impossible to look away.

Drunkenly, Sakura breathed out, her spine straightening as she allowed her body to react naturally to his movements, "Is it like that every time?"

Usually, he'd chuckle at such a question, but he didn't. He moved his hands to her hips and guided her movements so she could learn what he liked, "We're not done."

The woman adapted eagerly because it felt nice. She was lost in the excited, sweaty, sensual mood. Any other time, she'd be too timid to press her hands to such a sexy man's chest and stare into his eyes like this.

If Sasuke said something like that to her in a regular situation, it'd be terrifying, but it only made the heat between her legs rise in temperature. It also strangely made her want to try harder to please him as if to match his serious energy.

With that thought in mind, Sakura released the last of her inhibitions and came forward, her hands on his shoulders. Moving her knees further apart so they weren't touching his sides anymore, she adjusted how her hips moved. Long fingers gripped her hips and ass, a barely-audible sound leaving Sasuke's mouth as his brow furrowed.

Sweating and breathless, the woman didn't give in. No, she swiftly reached up to pull her long hair over one shoulder so it wouldn't fall into her face before doubling down and settling in to continue the act as long as needed for the man beneath her to succumb to her as she had for him.

'I've never actually wanted to do this. It's always been torture to be on top, so why does it feel so good?'

Of course, it was because of her overwhelming attraction to Sasuke, but also because she didn't have to worry that her partner would hurt her for making even the most minor mistake. Sakura felt free, though it was a little odd that it happened while riding the sexy Uchiha man like a bull.

"Damn…!" A deep, forced voice met her ears, and she focused on Sasuke's face, the desire in her lower regions flaring at his tortured expression. He was at his limit. She could feel his sex flex and twitch within her despite how quickly they were moving.

Something came over her that she'd never be able to explain. Sakura slid one hand up his jaw, so her thumb was near his temple and her fingers were on his neck, "Do it inside." The husky, confident voice that left her mouth was unexpected to both parties.

Suddenly, the woman was pulled down to Sasuke's chest, strong arms wrapping around her body to hold her tightly there as his hips thrusted up roughly, making her gasp until he froze, entirely inside her and pressing as hard as possible. The man's cock pulsated as a heated sensation met Sakura's lower abdomen.

After a moment, the air was filled with the sounds of their heavy breathing, and the duo remained still in that position. Still drunk, Sakura asked, her lips brushing the sweaty skin of his shoulder, "Should I get off of you?"

She found herself face down with handfuls of pillow as Sasuke kissed her back, shoulders, and neck. He was becoming hard again, the organ rubbing against her backside as the Uchiha held one of her hips. The woman couldn't speak. She thought they were done and were going to go to sleep, but she was oh so wrong.

Soon, the Uchiha man slid into her again, pressing her legs together with his knees before grinding deep into her with a hand atop each of hers on the bed. His hot breath tickled her damp skin as he said, "Does it feel good?"

Sakura hummed warmly, the feeling of his sweaty body hitting hers as addicting as nicotine.

"Tell me out loud," Sasuke's fingers curled around hers, voice more demanding.

The order sent an odd sensation of thrill between her legs, "I like it!"

Lips pressed into the back of her shoulder again, the man's voice prideful, "Just wait until I'm done. You'll be ruined. No one else will be able to make you feel like this."

Sakura couldn't respond because she was too busy holding onto her sanity for dear life as he picked up his efforts, though she did think, 'I'm pretty sure that's already the case.'

A big thanks, once again, to all those who are supporting me, both with or without leaving reviews/comments!

Shoutout to: Nicolleq17, Kryszt, Ashxx333, Stentya, Mei_Aomine, Blazingku, and cherry3!

I appreciate all the feedback, good or bad!

There are only a few chapters left, so I hope you don't hate the ending.

Thanks again for reading, and enjoy!

Vanilla, soft skin, and warmth. Those are the things Sasuke first noticed upon waking the following morning.

He didn't move a muscle because he was concerned it'd rouse the still-sleeping woman. Her back was against his chest, and his arms were loosely around her. Small hands grasped his forearms. Long, pink hair tickled his bare skin as it flowed between them and around Sakura's shoulders.

'She really let me do all that. I thought it'd take months,' Sasuke thought, brow furrowing when he felt her bottom pressing against his sex. How he fell asleep with her lying this way was beyond him. 'That's not true. I know how. Fucking for hours tends to exhaust a person.'

Honestly, he could've continued for a while longer, but Sakura'd met her limit, barely able to keep her eyes open, sweaty, drunk, and filled to the brim with his DNA.

Something had come over the man last night that surprised him now that he had time to reflect. He's always been a dominant partner, but it'd always been because he didn't trust any of the sluts he'd fuck around with enough to let them control the situation. With Sakura, though, it was different.

Sasuke wanted everything. He wanted her to submit entirely to him, to know she was at his mercy, and to be happy about it. The man was greedy, and they both knew it after last night. He wanted to stain her body with his mark, inside and out, and he did.

'And she let me.'

His eyes crept open, blinking a few times before lowering to see the top of Sakura's head. A wave of satisfaction washed over him when he noticed the bite mark on her bare shoulder. No, he didn't go as far as drawing blood, and he would've stopped if she seemed not to like it, but that didn't happen.

More than he was surprised at his actions, he was utterly bewildered by how the woman behaved last night. First, he was stunned that she let him fuck her at all, but then she let him do it again, and again, and again, each time in a different position and each time causing him to become more obsessed.

'I was right about her,' he thought, feeling a little proud of the usually reserved pinkette.

At the club, the night he took her to her apartment, and they nearly hooked up, he recalled telling Hidan that he thought she'd be good in bed, to put it more respectfully. Sakura had little experience; that was evident at first, but damn, she was a quick learner. That bold, argumentative demeanor she often gets with him made more sense now that he'd witnessed her at her most desperate and depraved.

Suddenly, Sasuke snapped out of it, the warmth and comfort turning into panic. 'I told myself I'd get rid of her once I get laid,' he slowly released his hold around her with one arm, running his palm flat down her toned stomach to rest atop her lower abdomen, 'But I don't know if I can do that now.'

He touched and tasted her thoroughly because she allowed it, but he wasn't bored now that morning had come. Usually, once the hookup is over, the man quickly gets irritated just by being near them. That's why he always goes to their place, does the deed, waits for them to fall asleep, and then leaves so he doesn't have to be around them any longer.

Honestly, he hoped that'd happen in Sakura's case. That way, he could end things and forget about her without issue. 'What a complete and utter failure.' Sasuke's not a total idiot. A small part of him knew things would be different with this woman. The question now is what to do going forward.

After Itachi was forced to come find him that day six years ago because he'd gotten in with the wrong crowd at school and narrowly avoided getting arrested, the man vowed never to let himself find happiness like his brother and sister-in-law had.

Izumi died because of Sasuke.

If Itachi never had to save his ass, they never would've been on this shitty side of town, and that stray bullet never would've hit her.

His elder brother never took his anger out on him. He never blamed him, not once, at least not out loud. It doesn't matter, though, because the crime still eats at the younger Uchiha's heart. That horrific event is also what led to both men joining the Akatsuki.

It'd been a rival gang that'd recklessly opened fire on the street that day. Sasuke never found out how Itachi received that information because he never asked. He was too stunned by the fact that his perfect, well-mannered, loving older brother vowed to avenge his late wife. The only way he knew how was to join that gang's enemy and use them to enact that goal. Sasuke joined, too, since it was his fault the entire thing happened.

The pair of Uchiha's achieved their wish almost a year ago. Akatsuki went to war, of sorts, with that rival gang and came out on top.

Now, their "family" is unmatched in Otogakure. It also felt impossible to leave, not that either spared the idea much thought. The elder Uchiha excels at jobs where one needs to remain unseen, unheard, and untouched, while the younger is easily the gang's best fighter. His unyielding self-hate and anger are to blame for that violence.

'How can I possibly let myself have this after what I did?' Sasuke thought, nuzzling his face into Sakura's hair and eagerly drowning in the scent of her shampoo. 'He always says he wants me to be happy, but he must be-' Sakura sighed softly. The slender body pressed against him moved, trembling momentarily as she stretched with all the grace and beauty of a cat.

For a moment, the Uchiha worried she'd freak out like she did last time she woke in his arms but was relieved when the hands gripping his forearm squeezed slightly. Her voice was soft and raspy, "...Good morning…."

Sasuke could've laughed, 'She's so easy to read, and I'm not even looking at her damn face.' It was evident Sakura felt bashful and nervous as the memories of their night together returned.

The man wouldn't allow her to shy away this time, not after all they did. He spoke into her hair, closing his eyes to relish in the calm aura of the room, "G'morning."

Unsurprisingly, she spoke honestly, almost bluntly, "I, um…I don't know how I expected you to be, but it definitely wasn't this."

"Shut up," he scoffed but tightened his hold around her.

That's when he felt it, the woman's insecurity. Something in the way she became quiet instead of nagging him for telling her to shut up told him she was concerned about how she'd been perceived.

"I-I hope I-" "Don't fuckin' say it. You'll piss me off first thing in the morning," Sasuke interrupted.

There was a long pause before Sakura responded more softly, "Um, thank you."

His eyes shot open in confusion. All the women he's slept with over the years undoubtedly enjoyed the experience, but none outright thanked him.

Neither said another word for a long time. Though it took him off guard, the man eventually realized why she said what she had. Sakura wasn't thanking him for fucking her senseless. She was grateful he'd done so in a way they both enjoyed instead of just him.

'Her ex is a jackass. The sad fuck doesn't know what he missed out on.' If only the mystery man had tried harder for the pinkette, he'd have gotten to see all those addictive expressions and hear the intriguing sounds she could make.

Then again….

'If he'd done it right, she might not have been so shy.' The pretty blush Sakura often got around him was charming, and it'd become a hobby to make it appear. It was fun seeing her gradually care less and less, too.

It was selfish, but Sasuke was glad he got to be the one to discover the woman's irresistible sexuality.

'Oh, God. Why did I do all that?!'

Sakura Haruno was in a panic. Last night was the most intense, reckless, and amazing sex she's ever had. The thing is, it was never supposed to happen. The woman had joined Sasuke last night, intending to friend-zone him for both of their safety. In the end, they didn't go to sleep until almost four in the morning.

Now, they're in the Uchiha man's car; it's nearly ten o'clock, and they're on the way to campus to make it to the classes they haven't yet missed.

'I just have to do it. It's awful, and he doesn't deserve to be treated like this, but if I don't do it, he'll go to prison and possibly even be executed.' Sakura swallowed nervously before glancing at Sasuke's profile, "So, um…There's something I need to-"

His phone rang, interrupting her, and he spared her a look before answering it, a smirk on his lips when she blushed and faced forward with wide eyes. Ever since they woke, she couldn't meet his eye without recalling all the dominant, sexual things he said and did to her. It wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't enjoyed every second of it. The feelings she'd developed for him all but quadrupled in the past twelve hours.

'How am I supposed to say I don't like him to his face now?'

The closer the pair got to campus, the more on-edge Sakura became because somewhere in those buildings awaited a walking nightmare who was here solely to ruin her life. Sasuke's phone call didn't end even when they arrived, and the woman jumped when he wordlessly grabbed her hand as they walked toward the exit.

'What if he's watching us right now? He'll definitely retaliate if he sees this!'

Gritting her teeth and lowering her head, the woman pulled away from the Uchiha. It was evident something was the matter, so he quickly ended his call, and once they were indoors, he didn't beat around the bush, "Something's wrong?"

'Don't hesitate, Sakura. Just do it.'

She stopped walking and faced him, forcing herself to meet his eye, "I-I don't want what happened last night to happen again….Do you understand?"

He did.

He did, and he wasn't happy about it, either.

"That's a fucking joke, right?" The man knew it wasn't.

"No, I, um," she paused, taking a strengthening breath before retrying, "It was a mistake. I went into your room last night to clarify things, but I drank too much, and I-" "You're seriously gonna try that bullshit excuse? Alcohol had nothing to do with it."

'He's right.'

Sasuke continued, his rage and disbelief evident in his handsome features, "What's the damn problem, Sakura? You like me. I know you do."

'Again, he's right. He's figured out how to read me too well.'

Despite that, the woman had to continue for his sake, 'He may not ever find out, but I'm doing this for him as much as I am for myself.'

"Believe what you want. I'm finishing the contract, and then I'm leaving Oto."

Sakura didn't wait to see his response. She turned and began walking quickly toward the staircase, only for him to grab her wrist and force her to face him, "You think you can just walk away after everything? Quit lying to my fuckin' face and tell me what's actually going on before you really piss me off."

Tears in her eyes, the woman yanked her arm away and forced a glare onto him as she hissed, "We never should've kissed, or slept together, or talked like we did. I don't want you, Sasuke! I-I still love my ex-boyfriend, so leave me alone!" The words tasted sour as they left her tongue.

The stunned, almost heartbroken expression on the man's face hurt Sakura like she'd been slapped. He quickly masked the unexpected emotion with a hateful glare, looking her up and down as though seeing her for the first time all over again, "Do you really mean that?"

She nodded, frantically wiping her wet cheeks, "I do."

'No, I don't. It's all a lie.'

Sasuke searched her face for a silent moment before nodding once, stepping around her, and heading up the stairs with his free hand fisted angrily. Considering how short-tempered and violent-natured he is, Sakura considered herself lucky he didn't react worse.

Since they argued for so long, she didn't make it to her next class in time, and the door to the lecture hall was locked when she arrived. Dejected and hating herself, Sakura trudged into the library and slumped into a seat in the back of the massive room. A textbook was open before her, but she couldn't see anything on its pages. All she could see was the hurt Sasuke'd tried to hide.

Maybe ten minutes into the woman's zoned-out thoughts, someone suddenly sat beside her at the otherwise empty table. She knew who it was even before the terror-inducing voice met her ears, "I've missed you, Saku. You look pretty. Are those new clothes?"

Sakura didn't bother responding and simply let her tears slip from her eyes to her cheeks and onto the table. A familiar disgust grew in the pit of the woman's stomach when the man's hand landed atop her thigh beneath the table, squeezing slightly.

'I can't believe I went through all of this just to end up here, in his control all over again.'

To her despair, he sat nearby in every remaining class she had, forcefully interlacing their fingers once the final one ended, and she hurried out of the room. They beat the crowd downstairs and even made it outside without seeing anyone Sakura knew.

'I need to get out of here before-' "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Are you serious, Sakura?"

Green eyes squeezed closed, dread filling the woman's heart as Sasuke's disgusted voice sounded from behind them. Her feet kept moving, only to stop when the man holding her hand yanked her back to stand at his side. She chanced a peek at the Uchiha man's face, only to step back because it appeared he was ready to murder her. Even when they first met, and she'd dumped wine on him, he didn't look this angry.

"You're just another damn slut, aren't you? I should've known."

Sakura couldn't speak because she was too hurt and terrified, so she lowered her gaze and turned her head to the side. To make a bad situation worse, her ex-boyfriend reached forward with his free hand, "My name's Naruto. What's yours?"

Extreme content warning for this chapter! Proceed with caution!

ALSO: I've gotten some feedback both here and on other fanfiction platforms that Naruto seems like too nice a person to do something so awful, but that's why I chose him as the villain! The character is supposed to seem super good-natured to everyone who doesn't know the truth, which is why Sakura wasn't able to convince any of her friends in Konoha.

This is also just a fanfiction.

The real Naruto would never do something like this, of course.

Thanks again for reading, y'all!

"Whoa, Sasuke, calm down! What happened?" Itachi lifted both hands in a calming manner as his little brother paced back and forth, red in the face, cursing unintelligibly, and overwhelmingly pissed off.

"I swear to fuckin' god, I'm gonna kill them both."

This morning, Sasuke uncharacteristically wanted to dote on Sakura, to kiss her, hold her, and smother her with gifts just because he could. Now, he wished she was in front of him so he could wrap his hands around her neck and- 'Don't lie to your damn self, you sad sack of shit. If she was here, you wouldn't lay a finger on her.'

The thought only made the younger Uchiha brother angrier.

"Tell me what happened, or I won't be able to help," the elder one said, an expert at dealing with his sibling's violent temper.

Sasuke stopped pacing and faced him, nearly shouting, "She played me. That's what happened. Sakura fucking- She-!" He groaned before returning to the therapeutic act of walking back and forth in the large bedroom. Itachi asked, "What did Sakura do? And where is she? Doesn't she usually come home with you?"

~One Hour Ago~

"My name's Naruto. What's yours?"

Sasuke's red-tinted gaze locked onto the blonde-haired, blue-eyed dickhead Sakura was cowering behind, "If you want to live to see tomorrow, shut your fuckin' mouth."

The tan-skinned man, apparently named Naruto, was about the same height and only slightly less muscular. He grinned sheepishly as though he hadn't grasped how serious the Uchiha man was about that threat, "Well, I can't just let you talk to my girlfriend like that, can I? I'm not that type of guy."

'Did he just say girlfriend?' Sasuke's dark eyes turned onto Sakura again, who refused to meet his gaze and continued staring at the ground with a pale face and trembling limbs.

"You're her ex," he said, more of a statement than a question.

Naruto's grin faltered slightly before returning in full, "Not anymore. We're back together, right?" Sakura subtly nodded but refused to do anything else.

"So, are you gonna back off? I don't want to fight you, but I will," his blue eyes were warm and cheerful, as was his voice, "I'm a lot stronger than I look."

Sasuke's hand slid into his pocket, wrapping around his knife, "I'm not going to fight you, asshole. I'm gonna kill you."

"Please, stop. Both of you," Sakura suddenly said, her voice softer than usual.

~Back To The Present~

"-and my dumb ass actually let them leave."

Itachi's eyes were narrowed, unfocused, and directed at the ground as he thought aloud, "It doesn't make any sense. Sakura said she doesn't have anyone."

"Yeah, well, she said a lot of shit, didn't she? The lyin' bitch." Sasuke was masking his hurt with rage. Both brothers knew it but didn't acknowledge it.

"I don't know, Little Brother. Something seems off about all of this. I think we should ask Nagato for the info he has on her."

The Akatsuki gang would never allow someone to live under their main house's roof, much less offer them a position among their ranks, without doing a more than thorough and highly illegal background check. Hospital, police, and court records, all of which were sealed, had been hacked into and copied for the gang's personnel files.

Sasuke wasn't having any of his brother's coolheadedness, though. No, he was still full of anger and dying to murder something or someone with his bare hands, "Who gives a fuck about her past? She's as good as dead to me."

'That's not true, and you know it. You weak, fragile man.'

Itachi rolled his eyes, coming to a stand and opening the bedroom door, "Well, if you won't do it, then I will. I'll let you know if I find anything."

'Fuck him. Why can't he just get mad with me? If she doesn't want anything to do with me, then I don't want anything to do with her.'

The younger Uchiha man finally gave up pacing and pretending to be angry, falling heavily onto the bed with his hands in his hair and glaring at the ceiling. After all they did last night and even how calm things were when they woke up together this morning, Sasuke never expected this to happen.

It was all too confusing.

Besides the few short-lived relationships with crazy bitches like Tayuya and Yugao, Sasuke's entirely new to the idea of a relationship. He and Sakura didn't outright agree to date, but it was obvious that was where they were headed. It'd have been his very first actual girlfriend that he didn't intend to drop before their one-month anniversary.

Even before last night, he'd occasionally catch Sakura looking at him with an unfamiliar, warm expression that no one's ever sent his way. At first, he didn't know what it was and even felt a little awkward, but once he realized it was her inability to completely mask her feelings for him, it made him happy and a little prideful when he noticed.

'How did all of that change over the course of a few hours? Did she seriously sleep with me while dating someone else?' Sasuke never imagined she'd be capable of such a thing. Even now that he witnessed it with his own eyes, he struggled to believe it.

Sakura was so terrified she couldn't contain her trembling as Naruto all but dragged her along up the stairs of the house he'd rented out. 'Something terrible's about to happen; I just know it.'

After four years of tiptoeing around the violent man, sensing when he was about to have an outburst became second nature, and all her alarms were going off at max volume. The biggest hint was that the blonde didn't speak a word or even look at her the entire car ride here.

Upon unlocking and opening the front door, her fears were confirmed when she was shoved roughly inside, stumbling and barely stopping herself from falling onto the hardwood floor.

"Why would that low-life care if we're dating, Sakura?" His voice was calm, as was how he steadily locked the door and turned to face her.

"When we signed the employment contract, he agreed to protect me, that's all."

Naruto held out his hand, "Give me your phone."

Sakura stepped back, her grip tightening on the device, "Why?"

"I said, give me your phone. Hand it over."

For a split second, the duo stared at one another, and nothing happened. There was no sound or movement. Then, all hell broke loose.

The woman turned her back to Naruto, holding the phone to her midsection with both hands as he wrapped his arms around and tried to pry her fingers away, "Let go!"

"No!"

After about a minute of struggling, the man became fed up with Sakura's defiance and grabbed a firm handful of her hair at the scalp. He pulled her through a hallway, "Why do you always make me do this? You know I don't like it."

She clawed at his grip with her free hand, crying and trying to kick him while stumbling not to fall. He opened the last door in the long hallway before pulling her down a set of wooden steps.

"N-Naruto, what are you doing? Where are we going?" It wasn't lit well, and Sakura couldn't turn to look ahead without losing her balance.

"Where do you think I'm taking you?"

'...No….'

Just before she broke up with him and he threw her through that window, he'd locked her in the spare bedroom of their house for three entire days. You can probably guess what he did to her during that time. It was the last straw for the pinkette and why she chose to run for her life.

They entered a small room in the basement, and then Sakura was tossed unceremoniously onto a small metal cot with a thin mattress atop it. Before she could gather her bearings, Naruto was on top of her, wrestling her arms down to the bed as he tried to pry the phone from her fingers. The woman sobbed as he finally won. He pressed his knees down onto her biceps to keep her from fighting as he went through the device.

"N-Naruto, please! It hurts!" Her bones wouldn't break from this, but the bruising would be substantial, not to mention the muscle soreness.

The plea was ignored. A minute later, the blonde tossed the phone to the foot of the bed, "There. I told Sasuke you won't be coming to work for a few days." Naruto moved back to straddle Sakura's hips, his cheerful grin and warm expression in place as though he wasn't about to torture the poor woman, "Now, what should I do with you? I'm still hurt you thought you could hide, Babe. What do you have to say for yourself."

'Just go along with whatever he says. Do what he wants, or it'll only make things worse.'

Sakura knew from experience not to misbehave when at his disposal like this, so she nodded, "I-I'm sorry! I was wrong. Please forgive me. I'll never do it again!" He paused as he searched her tearful, scared face before kissing her. She wanted to puke but choked it back because it'd only anger him further.

At first, the woman begrudgingly went along with the kiss, but when she felt his cold fingers slide under her shirt to hold her waist, she pressed her hands to his shoulders and tried to shove him away. Naruto's nails dug into her skin, his lips leaving hers. His hot breath dusted her face as he said, "If you keep fighting me, I'll have no choice but to teach you again."

The threat sent a flight response through her, and she frantically tried to kick and shove the man away with all her strength.

"Just when I think you've gotten smart, you pull something like this," Naruto hissed. While quickly holding her down with one hand, he removed his belt with the other before skillfully tying her wrists together with it.

'He's going to hurt me! I can't do this….not again.'

"Please, no! I'll stop! I'll behave, Naruto, please!" All her fighting didn't matter much to the man, and he made quick work of removing her clothes, tearing some of them in the process to make things go smoother.

Then he was forcing himself inside, between her legs. She cried, screamed, and fought, but nothing helped. A harsh pain came across her cheek, and then a hand wrapped around her throat, effectively quieting the woman.

Naruto glared at her, not pausing in his disgusting actions, "If you don't stop, I'll have to be rough. Don't make me do that."

Before she could react, those baby blue eyes became distracted, dropping to her shoulder. The monster stopped moving as he released her throat and moved her hair away from where he was looking. His face gradually reddened, the faux cheerfulness disappearing as his glare turned onto her face, "Did he touch you?"

Sakura was so distraught she could barely speak, but she tried, "I-I didn't-We-!" "Did you let him fucking touch you, Sakura?!" Naruto bellowed, making the woman squeeze her eyes closed and prepare to be hit while sobbing helplessly.

'I'm going to die.'

The next day passed in a whirlwind of rage for Sasuke. Last night, Sakura had the audacity to text him, saying she'd be gone for a few days with an excuse as weak as not feeling well. He knew better. She was just too scared to face him after what she'd done. He didn't bother replying because all he had to say was for her to go fuck herself.

Itachi called him earlier, between classes, to inform him that Nagato was emailing over all he had on the pinkette, but Sasuke just hung up on him.

'Why should I care? Fuck her.' His elder brother tried calling him three times after that, even texting, saying he needed to talk to him about something important, but he knew better. 'All he's gonna do is try and convince me Sakura's not at fucking fault here because she has some stupid ass sob-story-past. I don't wanna hear it.'

Upon arriving home just before dark, Itachi grabbed his arm and all but dragged him into Nagato's office, where the redhead, Konan, and Yahiko were waiting. To his surprise, but not that much, another man was there, but he was beaten, bloody, and tied to a chair with a cloth bag covering his head.

Sasuke pulled away, glaring at his brother as the door was closed, "What the fuck?"

"You need to sit down and listen to-" "I don't need to do shit, Itachi! Get the hell out of my way before I move you myself," the younger Uchiha threatened, really not in the mood for whatever game they were all trying to play.

"Sakura has been compromised."

He froze, facing their leader with a paling face, "What did you just say?"

Yahiko repeated himself, "Sakura has been compromised. It's your duty to take care of this."

Sasuke shook his head, utterly confused, "What do you mean "compromised"? She may be a cheating bitch, but she wouldn't do something that stupid."

Konan then stood, crossed the room, and removed the sack from the bloody man's head, revealing the white-haired teacher Sakura always hung around. He'd even been at the Christmas party as a plus one of another, trusted guest. Seeing him didn't clarify anything, and the others seemed to understand that because Itachi explained, "He's not really a teacher. He's an undercover cop from Konoha."

'No fucking way. This has to be a joke.'

He tried to reason with them, "So? What's that have to do with-" "I went through Sakura's records and discovered she's been in an abusive relationship for over four years. When I looked into the man, his father turned out to be a cop, and who else but Professor Kakashi Hatake stood beside him in their unit photo."

Itachi was obviously angry, probably because he'd come to like the pink-haired girl. Now, because of this asshole, she was going to die.

Sasuke saw red, speaking directly to the undercover agent, "Why would you do this to her? You had to know what'd happen if we found out."

"I could've brought you all down weeks ago, but I didn't because I didn't want her caught in the crossfire."

"You expect me to believe that horseshit?"

"He's telling the truth," Nagato interrupted. "We went through his phone; he has enough proof to send us all to prison. It seems they've been watching all of us, Sakura included, for over a month."

Sasuke needed to sit down, but also couldn't because too much uncomfortable energy was shooting through his veins, "I don't understand…."

"Sakura never met me before coming here, but I knew of her well before this assignment," Kakashi explained, his voice quiet and raspy as he breathed through his injuries, "My unit captain is her ex's father, and she'd often visit the station with his son when we worked late."

'What the hell is he going on about?'

"I don't think Captain Minato knew about it, but I noticed immediately. My mother was in an abusive relationship when I was a teenager, and it was like I was looking at her all over again."

"So you knew she was being hurt. That doesn't explain why you'd sit on the bust of the century for the girl," Yahiko said.

Kakashi winced, swallowing hard before continuing, "All those photos. Did you bother checking who they came from?"

The Akatsuki leader shared a look with Nagato, who nodded and began typing on his laptop. Itachi shared a glance with Sasuke, but the man looked away to glare at the cop, who was staring as though waiting for him to do something. After a minute, Nagato said, "Found it. All the photos were sent from a phone belonging to someone named Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke's blood turned to ice. "My name's Naruto. What's yours?"

Then, Sasuke had to sit down because if he didn't, his legs might've given out from the guilt that suddenly weighed on him like a ton of bricks.

'How was I supposed to know?! Why didn't she tell me?'

Sakura undoubtedly went along with that blonde asshole to prevent those photos from being leaked. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Of course, they'd already been handed over to the police, but she hadn't known that, or else she probably would've either told him about it or disappeared without a trace.

She ran to the person she'd been running from, and the Uchiha man showed zero faith, blaming her for playing with his feelings and calling her names.

"Naruto is her ex-boyfriend," Kakashi added.

Sasuke scoffed, "Yeah, no shit. We've gathered that."

"I chose to wait to do anything until I could get Sakura to trust me enough to listen when I told her to run. I wanted to prevent her from getting caught by that boy again."

For some reason, the younger Uchiha's blood turned to fire again, and he punched the man's face harshly before Itachi grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He still yelled, though, "You have some sick fuckin' pedophile crush on her? If you care about her so much, how come she still ended up with that asshole?"

'He knew. He fuckin' knew she was in danger and didn't stop it, even before she came to Oto. This fuckin' jackass. I'll kill him. I'll slit his goddamn throat.'

At that moment, all Sasuke could think about was the scars. All of those scars on Sakura's body. The reason he knew she'd lied about them being from a car wreck was because they were at different points of healing. Some were fresh, some were newly scarred, and some appeared years old and faded.

'But they were from that blonde guy.' He pictured Naruto's outreached hand when he introduced himself yesterday, 'With those hands, he put her through years of bullshit.' Sasuke suddenly stood, gaze like fire, and directed on the white-haired cop, "Where is he?"

"He has a rental near the college. I'll give you the address if you swear not to hurt Sakura."

Yahiko interjected, "We can't do that. Because of her carelessness, you have incriminating photos of us all."

Kakashi shook his head, "I haven't sent them to anyone else or even backed them up to any hard drives, I swear. You can do whatever you want to me, but leave her out of it. She's innocent."

"Is there a way to verify his claim, Nagato?" Konan asked, but her orange eyes were hard on Sasuke in a silent threat to shut up so she could try to help.

The redhead responded, "Yes, but there's no guarantee this Naruto person hasn't shared them. I'll need his devices or at least his IP address."

The Akatsuki leader said, "If we can locate this boy and prevent the photos from being leaked, then I swear not to harm Sakura."

"And if Naruto's sent them to someone else?"

"Then he, Sakura, you, and whoever else has knowledge of this incident will be dealt with."

Mature Content Warning!

'Sakura's never gonna fuckin' forgive me, but I'll get her out of this one way or another.'

Externally, Sasuke was angry and quiet as he, Itachi, and Hidan drove to the address Kakashi gave them, but internally, all alarms sounded at full volume, 'What if he's already hurt her? What if they're not even there? What if that prick's skipped town with her? What if-'

"Yahiko said the others are on their way, but they're about fifteen minutes out," Itachi said, "We should wait for backup, just to be safe."

Hidan argued alongside Sasuke, the silver-haired man's voice louder, "Like hell, we're waiting! It's just one little cuck." He hit the younger brother's shoulder from where he sat in the back seat, Itachi driving, "I'll kick his ass, and you save your pet. What else is there to plan?"

It took everything in Sasuke not to correct his foul-mouthed friend for incorrectly referring to Sakura. He refrained because he couldn't let on that he genuinely cared for her and intended to help her escape if it turned out this Naruto person had already shared the incriminating photos.

Instead, he nodded.

Itachi glanced at his younger brother with a knowing, warning look but said nothing. 'He wants me to calm down and act rationally, but he knows better by now. When it comes to Sakura, all thoughts leave the chat.'

The Uchiha gangster accepted that he'd fallen hard for the pink-haired girl when he realized she hadn't seen the blonde man behind his back. His heart nearly stopped in his chest due to the panic. More than anything, Sasuke Uchiha was pissed off to the core at the pinkette.

'Why didn't she fuckin' tell me? Did she think I'd just off her then and there? Surely not. When I find her dumbass….' His thoughts trailed off as he recalled the many times she'd freaked out thinking she was being followed, and all of the Akatsuki members, him included, told her she was wrong because nothing was found. 'Even if I didn't say it to her face, I called her crazy, but she was right all along.'

"We're here," Itachi interrupted Sasuke's inner monologue, "I still think we should wait for the others."

All three looked ahead to see a small blue house with a red car parked out front. Outwardly, the place seemed empty, but they were going to thoroughly verify that.

"Nah, fuck that," Hidan said, opening the door before the car could come to a complete stop. Sasuke followed suit, one hand already wrapping around the gun's grip tucked into the back of his pants. He pointed to the back of the house, and his partner nodded, rushing to search for the back entrance.

'Count to ten, then go.' The younger Uchiha told himself that, but his body acted independently.

Kicking the front door beside the handle, Sasuke pulled his gun out and pointed it ahead as he entered the house. Dark eyes darted around for any signs of life, only to find none. The sound of Hidan busting down the other door came, as did his footsteps. They met in the kitchen halfway through the house and shared a look.

The duo moved in tandem with a silent nod toward the hallway where multiple doors awaited. Door one led to a bedroom; empty. Door two led to a spare room full of storage bins; no Sakura. Door three was all that remained. Before they could open it, shouts came from outside.

They shared a look before hurrying outside to see Itachi had tackled their target to the ground and was in the process of gagging him so he'd stop yelling and drawing attention. When the man's blue eyes locked onto Sasuke's, they narrowed confidently, an amused sound leaving his mouth, though muffled.

'I'll kill him.'

Sasuke stepped toward him, fingers tightening around his weapon, but Hidan pulled him back, "The fuck are you doing? Go back inside and keep looking. We can handle this."

The Uchiha man shared a look with his elder brother before nodding, "Don't kill him. I want a turn."

Then, he reentered the house and rushed to the final door. A dark, sinking feeling met his gut when it led to a dark basement. Even after turning the light on, it was hard to see. Though Naruto had been subdued outside, Sasuke raised his weapon in case the blonde had unknown allies.

'It looks like a damn horror story down here.'

Once he reached the ground, the man's gaze shot to every corner of the large basement, only to lock on a white door that was open just a crack, 'Naruto must've heard us and rushed out.'

Sasuke prayed for the woman to be behind the door as he slowly crept his way over. His heartbeat pounded loudly in his ears as he nudged the door open further, only to stop completely when he saw Sakura.

'Is she…?'

The only thing in the small room was a small bed and a camera on a tripod. Pink hair was wild and tangled as she lay there unconsciously. She was naked, blood and bruises dusting a hefty percentage of her bare skin. Ripped clothing was on the floor near the bed.

"Sakura…." Sasuke could barely get her name out as he gave the outside basement one last glance before coming to kneel at the bedside. She didn't stir in any way.

He tucked his gun back into his jeans before carefully rolling her onto her back, repeating her name more firmly. Blood dirtied the corner of the woman's mouth, originating from the busted lip she was sporting. Dark purple, almost black bruises encircled her wrists, waist, and hips.

The Uchiha man's rage was barely contained; the only thing stopping him from going outside to brutally murder Naruto with his bare hands was that Sakura obviously was not okay. He didn't need a doctor to confirm she'd been raped. It was evident by the blood on her thighs.

Sakura still didn't respond, her head lulling lifelessly to the side as he gently shook her. Tears welled in his eyes as he shakily felt her neck for a pulse, squeezing them closed when he found it and confirmed she was alive.

'Why isn't she waking up?'

He looked around, momentarily pausing on the camera before realizing nothing confided her to the bed. When he pulled the girl's hands into his own and inspected her arms, he confirmed his suspicion. Something had been injected to keep her submissive.

It was all registering slowly in Sasuke's mind, but his bewildered state was interrupted by Itachi's panicked voice coming from the doorway, "Oh, God, is she alive?"

Sasuke looked up at his brother with teary eyes as he came to kneel at his side. His mouth opened, but no words came out, so he nodded.

Itachi quickly realized his little brother was in shock and rose, "Get something to cover her up so we can move her. I'll grab the camera."

Snapping out of it, Sasuke fumbled to remove his coat, maneuvered the unconscious woman to wear it, and zipped it up so her body wasn't visible to the world.

The elder brother picked up the woman's torn clothes, careful not to leave any evidence that could be quickly removed, before nodding toward the door, "Let's go. There's a chance one of the neighbors heard that guy yelling earlier. The police could be on their way."

Unable to speak, he obeyed by carefully picking Sakura up. Her head fell slack as though she wasn't alive at all, making him more concerned even though he knew she wasn't dead.

As the pair left the house, Hidan came to help them get her in the car before joining the others in the backup van where Naruto had been tied up. Itachi spoke on the phone while pulling away from the curb as though they were being chased, "Tell Zetsu we're on our way. It's worse than we expected."

In the better lighting, Sasuke's brow furrowed. He sat in the backseat, still holding Sakura, so when they arrived, all he'd have to do was slide out and hurry inside.

Not a single part of him was angry with her at this point. How could he be when she looked like this? 'I don't care anymore, just don't fuckin' die, or I'll never forgive you,' he thought as though the woman could hear.

Upon arriving at the house, Sasuke carried her down into the basement, where she'd never been granted access. It was where Zetsu's makeshift hospital was located if it could even be considered that. The green-haired man gestured for him to lay her down on the one and only bed, not hesitating to unzip the coat and begin inspecting her body.

His low, monotone voice asked, "Tell me everything you know."

Sasuke answered, feeling like he was watching the scene in the third person, "He shot her up with something. She's not responding." Everything else was obvious to him, so it definitely was to someone at least decently skilled in first aid.

A ruckus was heard near the stairs, and the Uchiha turned to see Hidan, Itachi, and Tobi shoving Naruto forward. Then Sasuke's rage was boiling like magma. They pushed him to the ground when they noticed the Uchiha approaching.

Itachi pulled the camera from his back pocket, mumbling, "I'll get this to Zetsu." Hidan's glare was on the blonde man trying to get free on the floor, while Tobi was looking toward where their ally was hooking Sakura up to an IV with concern on his features.

"You're gonna fuckin' pay for this," Sasuke growled, grabbing Naruto's bound hands and dragging him off toward the soundproofed room where they kept those likely to scream.

One moment, Sakura was weakly trying to pull her arm from Naruto's grasp as he attempted to stick her with a syringe, and the next, her eyes crept open to an unfamiliar ceiling. Her thoughts were muddled, and her body felt numb and full of clouds. When she blinked, the process was slow.

'Naruto drugged me so he could move me to a different location, didn't he?'

The tiny hope that she'd somehow find a way to escape evaporated. They didn't leave that awful room from the moment they arrived at his rental. By the time the blonde man was satisfied he'd properly taught her a lesson, Sakura was in hysterics and too panicked to correct her breathing. At the same time, she'd been too weak to even stand. The woman had fought her ex-boyfriend with all she had for hours, though it proved fruitless.

'Why did I do that? Wouldn't it be best to let him kill me now so I don't have to go through that anymore?'

Dazed green eyes filled with hopeless tears that overflowed to slowly run down the sides of her face and into the long pink hair on the pillow. Sakura desperately wanted to have someone she could imagine rescuing her or giving her a reason to live, but after cutting Sasuke, her parents, and all her old friends out of her life, no one remained.

'I'm pathetic.'

The sensation of teeth gnawing at her heart made it hard to inhale, not that she was trying all that hard. If she suffocated and died, she'd be grateful not to have seen Naruto's face again.

Even if she somehow escapes him again, he'll just hunt her down once more. It'll never end, and Sakura didn't have it in her to fight any longer.

'I'm tired. I want to rest. I want-!'

It felt like lifting a twenty-pound weight, but Sakura raised a hand to cover her mouth and muffle her weak sobs. Pretty green eyes were wide with fright as she worried her tormentor would hear and realize she'd woken.

'Why am I trying so hard to live? There's nothing to live for!' Sakura thought that, but it didn't change her sense of self-preservation.

Trembling in panic, the woman turned her head to look around, not recognizing the large room. When her gaze landed on the form of a man sitting at a nearby desk with his arms crossed and his head resting atop them as he appeared to sleep, the pulse in her veins blared in her ears.

'He's asleep. If I'm quick and quiet, I may be able to sneak away.'

Her vision was unsteady and blurry, likely due to the drugs being sent through the IV in her other arm.

Careful not to move too suddenly or make noise, she tore the tape and needle from her skin, sitting up and letting her bare feet touch the concrete ground. A thin, pastel blue bathrobe covered her body, much too big for her petite frame and doing little to buffer the cold air.

With as much focus as possible, Sakura kept her gaze on the sleeping man across the room as she stood, swaying slightly and placing a hand on the foot of the bed to stop herself from falling.

Tears fell faster as she choked on a gasp when the man suddenly snored, tricking her into thinking he was awake for a millisecond.

Muffling her weak sobs with one hand, a sense of urgency swept over the woman. She sacrificed some caution for the courage to move. Almost immediately, she lost balance in her drugged state and stumbled, bending to catch herself with one hand before pushing herself upright again.

Bandages covered a few of her fingers and spots on her arms and legs, but she paid them no mind as she fumbled down the dark hallway at the room's exit. Even with her free hand on the wall for balance, she stumbled and tripped in panic. Pink hair flowed around her shoulders, falling into her face because there was no time to fix it.

At the end of the hallway, she saw what looked like a staircase in her blurry, wavering vision, and hope dared to rise in her chest. Then, it disappeared just as swiftly when she heard her name called from the room she'd fled.

'Fuck, he's coming! Run! Hurry or he'll kill you!'

In a state of desperation, Sakura's balance worsened, but so did her will to escape and live, so she didn't let it stop her and kept moving no matter how many times she stumbled until she finally reaching the foot of the stairs.

"Sakura, stop!"

Her hand left her mouth as she tripped up the stairs, using both of them to crawl frantically up the steps toward the door at the top. Sobs fell loudly from her lips, tears blurring her already dangerously poor vision.

Nearing the top, the woman heard footsteps on the stairs behind her. She grabbed the handle and turned it, only for her other wrist to be caught. With every ounce of energy possible, Sakura pulled her limb from the man, only to fall to the ground when it slid from his grasp, the door flying open due to the weight. Scrambling away, she shoved off the floor with her hands to get herself upright and began running again, only to be tackled by the man chasing her.

'I'm dead.'

Every ounce of bravery left Sakura, then, and she curled into as much of a ball with the man attempting to pin her arms to the ground and trembled in fright, crying softly while awaiting retaliation for the escape attempt.

"Someone get me a syringe of…."

"Tell him she's…."

In her hysteria, Sakura could only comprehend parts of Naruto's sentences as he remained hovering over her, just one hand pressing against her shoulder to keep her down as she lay on her side with her arms wrapped defensively around herself. She couldn't even bear to open her eyes, keeping them squeezed shut because she didn't want the last thing she saw before dying to be Naruto's god-awful face.

The pressure holding her down disappeared a minute later, but the woman didn't move because it was probably a trick. She was dizzy, weak, and terrified.

"Sakura, hey. It's alright."

Green eyes shot open, her breath catching in her throat when she recognized the voice that'd spoken calmingly as not Naruto's. As slow as the setting sun, Sakura came out of her ball and sat up with one arm holding her weight as she lifted her gaze to the source of the sound.

Dark eyes, focused with concern.

Black hair, cute and messy from its owner having been asleep.

'It's not….It's not Naruto.'

The gorgeous man crouched before her and carefully offered his hand, not making any sudden moves so as not to scare her as he whispered, "You're alright. No one's gonna hurt you."

Shaking almost violently, Sakura glanced between the hand and his face a few times before hesitantly laying hers in it. Long fingers gently wrapped around her smaller hand.

It was like the warmth cleared the clouds in her mind, and she realized who was trying to soothe her fear, "...Sasuke…?"

He nodded, lips turning into the slightest hint of a smirk as he tilted his head and offered his other hand, "You know I won't let anyone hurt you, right?"

Sakura unsteadily maneuvered herself onto her knees to give him her other hand without falling to the floor again. The man held it as lightly as the other for a moment before furrowing his brow, "C'mere, Babe. You don't need to worry anymore. I've got you."

When he cautiously pulled to guide the trembling woman closer, she finally relented and allowed him to pull her into his arms. Then, it was like his words were law. Sakura knew the strong man holding her so tightly wouldn't hurt her. Still slightly shaking, she buried her face in his shoulder, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as she cried.

Sasuke waved off Zetsu and Itachi, who were approaching with an emergency sedative. The trembling woman in his arms wasn't going to freak out again. He recognized the severe relief in her eyes. Sakura knew she wasn't in danger anymore.

Careful not to jostle her too much, the man maneuvered her in his arms so he could pick her up.

Itachi woke him from a dead sleep moments ago, saying she'd woken up and was trying to run away. His first thought was that she hated him for how he'd abandoned her, and that's why she was fleeing, so she wouldn't have to see his face again. Upon seeing her shaking like a leaf on the ground, though, he realized she had no idea where she was or who she was with.

"Are you taking her upstairs?" Zetsu asked. Itachi also awaited a response with an attentive face.

Sasuke nodded, keeping his voice low to not startle Sakura, "Back to bed."

In his room, the man's calm demeanor threatened to fall because he wasn't sure what to say or do now that they were alone. 'Is she okay? She was out for over twenty-four hours.' He carefully lay her on the bed, only for her arms to tighten around his shoulders.

That now-familiar warmth met his chest when she whispered, "Thank you. I-I'm sorry."

A warm hum left his chest as he laid down with her, pulling the blankets over them with one hand, 'What she means is 'Please don't go'.'

"I told you to take advantage of me anytime, didn't I?"

Sakura pulled back, moving her hands to his chest. It was apparent by the cloudy, unfocused look in her eye that she was still affected by the drugs from the IV, but she was conscious enough to speak coherently, "What happened?"

Sasuke's teeth gritted as he recalled the bloody mess he'd left that blonde bastard in before bed last night. 'He's not dead yet. There's no way I'll let him off that easy.' It wasn't on purpose, but he'd caught a glimpse of the computer while Zetsu reviewed the footage on the camera. The green-haired man only watched it to verify the nature of Sakura's injuries, but the Uchiha wanted to catch fire to the world from just the two seconds he saw.

'I'll make him beg me to kill him.'

Honestly, Sasuke was considering finding someone willing to do to Naruto what he'd done to Sakura just so he'd know what it felt like, but he hadn't decided yet if he wanted to stoop that low.

Deciding not to worry the traumatized woman in his arms further, he said, "All you need to know is that he won't ever bother you again."

Sakura searched his face for a moment before she breathed out as though the words would harm her if she didn't get them out, "I only went with him because-" "I know, Sakura."

"...Can you promise me something?"

The man nodded, curious.

That pretty blush met her cheeks, but the topic was too serious to pay it much mind. She averted her gaze to his chest, voice quieter than before, "Don't treat me differently because of this. I'm still me. We're still the same-"

He pressed his lips into her hair, pulling her closer to his chest, "I can't completely agree."

Sakura made a slight sound of unease but said nothing.

Rolling his eyes at how cheesy he was being, Sasuke mumbled, "We weren't dating before."

The woman pulled back with wide eyes, "D-Dating?"

He snickered, joking, "You're not even gonna give me a damn chance, at least? Harsh."

She tried not to smile but failed, shaking her head and hiding her face in his shirt again, "...I didn't say that. It's just risky because, um, well, you know."

Sasuke scoffed, "I'll leave Oto and Akatsuki if that's what it takes for you to say yes."

'I said it. I guess now she knows.' The man didn't let it show, but he was nervous. If she rejected him, he'd be distraught.

"Do you really mean that?" Sakura's grip on his shirt tightened as she waited for his response.

He closed his eyes, running his fingers through her soft, pink hair while mimicking her earlier remark, "It's risky, but I think it's worth it."

She remained silent for a long time before slowly wrapping an arm around him and speaking at a barely audible volume, "Let's stay here. Together. At least for now."

Sasuke was so surprised that he smiled, actually smiled, not the cocky fake one he always uses.

~The End~

Thanks for reading my first-ever attempt at writing fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed it!

Please let me know if you have any pointers/advice. My ears and eyes are open to constructive criticism!