Anthology

Anthology

By Laura-chan

Pairing: Sasuke/Sakura

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Of course everything related to Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei, praise his genius! OOC characters and plot do belong to me.

Warning: Mature Contents! You need to read “Alive” before this one.

I am Italian, English is not my first language, please forgive my mistakes.


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XX.

SURVIVING

(The “Alive” Trilogy – Part 2)

Uchiha Sasuke watched lazily as his release floated in the water before disappearing: he sighed, then washed quickly his hair and body and re-dressed.

It had been seven months since his encounter with Sakura, his former teammate, and he soon had started to have... dreams about her; dreams that forced him to find a source of water - may it be a pond, a hot spring, a river or a waterfall – to relieve or to calm himself. If his companions had noticed his new nocturnal habits, they didn’t mention it.

The dark-haired missing nin sighed once again: he wasn’t used to feel that way, needing someone is a physical way. He had never been a “physical man”, especially after his clan’s massacre he had refused to let anyone touch him or get closer to him (even if in the end he had failed and his teammates had become his most important people): he hated how fangirls used to squeal and try to attach to his arms and was very glad that Sakura stopped doing it soon after Team 7 was first formed.

So now, having disturbing dreams of this very girl – through very different from how she used to be – confused him.

Yes, he understood he was a man and men have needs, but he had never had this kind of needs before... before the night he spent with Sakura.

“Damn it...” he cursed softly. “Damn you Sakura for making me feel this way...”

He sighed, yet again, and stood up, fixing his black pants: he looked critically at his outfit and decided that Orochimaru may have been a (crazy) powerful sannin, but he absolutely knew nothing about fashion...

When he arrived back to the camp, Suigetsu was standing guard. “Where did you go?” he asked.

The Uchiha glared at him. “To take a walk. Mind your own business.”

Suigetsu raised his hands in surrender. “Ok, ok, geez, it was just a question!”

Sasuke sat down with his back to a tree and lifted his eyes: the stars twinkled beautifully in the dark sky and he suddenly remembered that when he was little he used to stargaze with his mother on the roof on his house... With a pang he remembered his mother’s face, happy and sincere... and then, her body laying in a pool of blood.

The dark-haired nin bit his lower lip.

‘Damn you, Itachi... I will kill you, even if I die trying.’

The day after they were running fast but stealthily.

“Do you feel anything Karin?” Sasuke asked, wondering how long he was going to chase after Itachi, before he could kill him.

“No.” The kunoichi said quietly and he frowned for a second, before his face returned to its blank expression: Karin had been treating him coldly for the last months and he wanted to know why. He was very much relieved that she had stopped “fangirling” over him, because what was most annoying of her was that she’d behave normally in front of the others, but would drape herself all over him as soon as they were alone.

Since Karin had started behaving strangely around the time he’d met Sakura, he actually wondered if she had seen them together... but well, if she did, she hadn’t said a word, so he didn’t care. After all, what he had done with Sakura was his own business.

The four of them stopped on a branch with a start.

“Do you hear that?” Suigetsu asked.

Juugo nodded calmly. “Someone is fighting.”

Sasuke activated his sharingan. “Let’s go check the situation.”

They moved and arrived into a clearing: there, three Mist shinobi laid dead with their necks in strange positions, and another ninja with his face down was covered in blood, but was trembling – sign that he was still alive, barely; the Uchiha recognized three Konoha ANBU members fighting the remaining four Mist shinobi.

“Shadow Tiger, get Wild Dog out of here! “ yelled an ANBU. “Pink Cat and I will take care of this!”

“Oss Taichou!” a black haired man saluted, taking the body of his injured companion and disappearing in the trees.

The fight lasted a bit longer and Team Hebi remained hidden, watching the battle silently.

“Do we have to stay any longer?” Suigetsu asked, looking bored.

Sasuke didn’t reply: his eyes were on the fight, to be exact on the female member of the ANBU who had pink hair.

‘I guess we meet again, Sakura.’ He thought wryly.

Eventually, only one Mist nin remained and the ANBU Sasuke knew was Sakura yelled to her captain: “Taichou! I’ll handle him, you need to take the scroll to Konohagakure!” The man hesitated a moment, then nodded and said “Don’t die Pink Cat.”

The young woman seemed to smile under the porcelain mask, then turned her attention back to the remaining Mist nin.

Sakura knew she had lost a lot of blood and she was low on chakra because of all the medical jutsu she had used on her teammates, but she could see that her opponent was exhausted too.

Her hand started to glow blue ‘This must be the last attack, if I want to have enough energy to go back home.’ Sakura thought. Before the other ninja could understand her intentions, she appeared behind him, touching the back of his head, snapping and confounding the synapses in his brain, somehow paralysing him.

‘Soon his lungs will stop moving too.’ She smirked smugly.

Unfortunately, she was caught by a kick, the last movement the Mist nin did before falling to the ground, laying unmoving.

“Damn it!” she cursed loudly: the last hit had aggraved a stomach wound she had received previously. The pink-haired nin leaned against a tree, using the last of her chakra to stop the bleeding and close the wound.

“Damn it..” she repeated weakly, her sight blurring. ‘I don’t... want to die yet.’ She thought, feeling herself slipping from the branch she was standing on.

Sakura felt strong arms stopping her fall and suddenly the lull of the darkness was too strong to resist.

§

Suigetsu could only stare, mouth agape, as Sasuke caught the young Konoha ninja before she could fall to her death.

The black-haired missing nin noted the three surprised stares directed to him; he glared at his companions, not wanting the explain himself to them and didn’t miss the loathing glare Karin threw at Sakura.

He almost sighed. ‘Yes, she saw us at the hot spring.’

“We need to find a water source.” He said, schooling his expression in a blank one. Knowing the look in Sasuke’s eyes, Suigetsu immediately lifted his head and sniffed quietly the air.

“There’s a waterfall not far from here, eh.” He said.

The black-haired young man nodded and looked at the bloodied form in his arms. “Guide us then. I need to wash her wounds.”

At this, even Juugo lifted an eyebrow, surprised by their leader’s curious behaviour. They started to move but Suigetsu couldn’t help but ask. “Who is she, Sasuke?”

Said man ignored him and continued to look ahead.

§

Sakura’s head hurt: she moaned in pain, shocked to hear the sound like it came from far away. Vaguely she could hear also water rushing, realising that she was near a waterfall or a river, but she was sure there was none nearby the place she’d been fighting the Mist nin. She was confused and a little afraid: had she been taken captive?

Wanting to know what was going on, Sakura decided to open her eyes: an operation usually so simple, now made difficult by the light which hurt her green eyes.

“Ow...” she groaned softly, a hand lifting to massage her forehead.

“Easy there.” An unfamiliar male voice said to her right; she stiffened in surprise and finally was able to open her eyes.

The first thing she noticed was that her wrist was wrapped in white bandages; well, at least if she’d been captured, they didn’t want her to die, yet. Her ANBU chest armour had been removed so she was in her black undershirt and she could feel bandages covering her stomach.

“Is she awake?”

“You can see it yourself: you better go call the leader, if he really cares so much about her.”

“What has gotten up your ass, Karin? You’re usually all over him...”

“Shut up Suigetsu and mind you own fucking business!”
“Mh, what a mouth for a woman...”

Sakura finally managed to sat up, fighting the wave of nausea that hit her as she did so: turning, very slowly, her head to the right she saw two ninja around her age, a man and a woman.

She stared at them distrustfully, noticing how the female glared daggers at her, while the male smiled cockily.

“You’re really quite beautiful.” He smirked and the pink-haired medic raised an eyebrow at his extremely pointed and sharp teeth.

Sakura looked around herself, only to see they were near a waterfall and a lake, protected by the shade of the trees. “Who are you?” she demanded, her voice slightly hoarse. “Where are we? Why have you taken me?”

“Whoa, calm down!” said the male. “I’m Suigetsu and she’s Karin. We – well, actually our leader – saved your life; I think we deserve a thank you.”

Despite his grin, he looked quite sincere and Sakura replied with a short “Thank you.” But one thing he said actually made her curious.

“You said... your leader saved me: why?”

Karin snorted and Suigetsu shrugged. “We don’t know, he didn’t tell us: after he wrapped your wounds he went for a walk without explanation and now Juugo went to search for him.”

Karin positioned her hands in a seal and then nodded. “They’re coming.”

The three of them turned towards the waterfall and soon Sakura saw two male figures walking towards them: the one in the front was large and imposing, and hid partially the man behind him.

“The big man is Juugo.” Explained Suigetsu, and Sakura nodded at the sight of a man, older than them, with troubled features. Behind him was a person the pink-haired girl knew too well.

Her entire body froze, staring at him walking calmly to her, his face in a familiar blank expression; her eyes widened and her hands started trembling with the urge of running to him and hugging him. Instead, Sakura forced herself to calm down and continued to watch him, his eyes trained on her.

Finally, when he was in front of her, she was the one who broke the silence.

“Sasuke.”

“Sakura.”

It seemed a simple greeting, but to both of them was something more.

“So, you know each other.” Juugo stated.

Sakura flickered her jade eyes to him. “We were teammates.” The other three nodded in comprehension.

“Are you well enough to walk?” asked Sasuke.

She looked at him, trying to decipher his intentions; after a moment of hesitation she nodded.

“I think so: my legs aren’t injured.”

The black-haired missing nin closed his eyes and turned his back to her. “Then take a walk with me.”

Sakura was shocked, but managed not to show it: with some difficulties she stood and after checking her balance, she started walking behind him. When they were far enough from the camp Sasuke stopped, waiting for her to reach him: they started walking side by side in a comfortable silence.

As always, she was the one who broke it.

“That guy, Suigetsu, said you saved me.”

Not knowing if he should interpretate this as a statement or a question, he nodded.

She smiled softly, “It’s good to know you still care for your former teammates.”

Sasuke tensed. “Do you really think I would have let you die?”

Sakura continued to look ahead, ignoring his intense stare. “When we first met at Orochimaru’s base, you seemed quite ready to kill us.”

He snorted, crossing his arms into the wide sleeves of his white haori. “I was going to hurt you, not kill you.”

Finally, she watched him in the corner of her eye, “Maybe you didn’t hurt us physically, but you killed us inside.”

Sasuke stopped and turned his head to look at her. “Haven’t we already talked about this?”

Silence settled between them, the wind ruffling their hair and clothes as they watched each other.

Sakura was the one who finally yielded and shook her head, sighing deeply. “I’m not going to win in this.” she smiled sadly.

“I can’t turn back now, Sakura.” He said simply. “He is near, I feel it... Soon it will be over.” He closed his eyes. “And then... then I’ll come back to Konohagakure.”

She looked at him startled. “You will?”

“Of course.” Sasuke snorted. “I still have to revive my clan and I...” he hesitated, he didn’t want to reveal this much, but he owed it to her, “I... miss all of you.” He whispered, lowering his onyx eyes. “Naruto, Kakashi, you... I miss you. It’s not the same thing with Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin...” he stopped; he had already said to much.

Had Sasuke been watching his former female teammate, he would have seen her eyes glistening with unshed tears, hands over her mouth. “Oh, Sasuke!” Said man found himself enveloped in the warmth of two arms wrapping themselves around his neck.

The usually stoic man couldn’t help but blush at the unexpected contact: embarassed he scratched his cheek before sighing and hesitantly wrapping his arms around the lean form of the female still hugging him.

“I’m so happy.” She murmured. “You’ll come home.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes then he tensed as he realised he could feel her pressed against him, her curves fitting perfectly his body: a sudden flash of not-so-innocent images went through his mind and he started sweating. Sakura noticed how he stiffened and then realised she was hugging him quite intimately; blushing, she moved away. “Sorry. I forgot you don’t like contact very much.”

“That’s okay.” He said, not looking at her in the eyes.

She watched him a bit sadly: she had hoped what happened that night had changed something between them... but it was obvious that Sasuke was still the same cold man as before.

Her vision swayed and she started feeling dizzy; she touched her stomach and gasped as she found that her movement of hugging him had re-opened her wound and blood was seeping through her shirt. She gasped as she fell on the ground on her knees, breathing heavily.

Sasuke noticed in the corner of his eye that she wasn’t feeling well and swore as he caught her in his arms in a way Sakura’s dazed mind found extremely romantic. “You baka! You should be more careful!” the dark-haired nin exclaimed, running back to the camp. As he laid her down, ignoring Suigetsu’s and Juugo’s curious looks, he said to her. “You’re still annoying, Sakura.”

And despite the pain, she smiled at him.

§

“So your left temple hurts before the attacks start?”

“Yes.” Juugo answered simply. Suigetsu had jokingly explained his problem to Sakura when she told them she was a medic-nin, so now she was examinating Juugo’s head, green chakra coming of her hands as she checked the chakra connections.

“Well, here and now I can’t do much.” Sakura heard Karin snort behind her, but ignored it: she had realised that the other woman hated her, even if she didn’t know why. “But I can ease your discomfort by reducing the abnormal chakra mixed with your normal one.”

“Please, do it.” The older man asked quietly.

Sasuke looked blankly at her, “Should you use your chakra for something like this, instead of healing yourself?”

Sakura glared at him. “You’ll never be a medic-nin: first of all, we put others before ourselves. Second, the procedure I’m going to use is long but doesn’t use much chakra. Third, I can’t completely heal my wounds with chakra, not only because is unnatural but also because I’ll exhaust myself – I have to let it heal on its own for most part.”

Sasuke frowned slightly, but said nothing else.

It took her an hour to soothe his pain, but when she had finished her therapy, Juugo said he felt a lot better and it was easier to fight the bloodlust. Suigetsu complimented Sakura and even Sasuke gave her a nod, while Karin huffed and the pink-haired nin watched the other woman disappear in the trees.

“What’s her problem?” she asked. Juugo and Sasuke both snorted, while Suigetsu let out a loud laugh.

“She’s only jealous.” The azure-haired man explained. “Especially because ‘her’ Sasuke saved you and gave you his attention.”

Sakura felt immediately amused and threw a look at Sasuke. “You have fangirls in Oto also?”

The Uchiha glared at her, then shrugged. “They’re worse than those of Konoha.” He then smirked at her. “Do I need to remember you that you were a fangirl too?”

Sakura blushed, in anger not embarassment, and then said coldly. “I was: I stopped soon enough. Do I need to remember what I said to you when you left the village? Oh, it was also nice of you to leave me on a bench the entire night.” She smiled too sweetly at him but the three males could feel the bite in her words. Juugo and Suigetsu looked curiously at their “leader”, while Sasuke had stiffened slightly, uncomfortable with the topic of their last conversation in Konohagakure.

The pink-haired girl stared at him, then shook her head and smiled bitterly.

§

Her stomach wound ached a bit, but that didn’t stop her from taking a walk around the lake at nightfall: it served to soothe her nerves and to gather her thoughts. It was incredibly peaceful and she sighed contentedly, sitting down and facing the lake.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone in the dark.”

So much for being peaceful: her shoulders tensed, then relaxed again.

“You’ve been telling me what I should or shouldn’t do all day: don’t you get tired of babying me?” she asked sarcastically, not turning her head around to look at him.

“There was a time in which you would have been ecstatic if I showed that I cared.”

“Was is the key word. Do you?”
“What?”

“Care?”

Silence answered her, then he sat down next to her. “I do; much more that I would like.” He admitted, muttering the last part.

Sakura started laughing out loud “It’s quite ironic.”
Sasuke shrugged, but his mouth curled upwards just a bit.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a long time, enjoying each other’s company and the peaceful setting.

Unbelievably, for once it was the Uchiha who broke the silence.

“Do you think of that night, sometimes?”
“Which one?” she replied, almost teasingly. “The one in which you left me on a bench or the one we met at the hot spring?” ‘And had sex for most of the night...’ she added inwardly. ‘I was so sore it hurt to jump from tree to tree...’

He cleared his throat, obviously feeling uneasy and embarassed. “The second one.”

“Oh. Well, yes, I do, sometimes. Do you regret it?” ‘Please, say no, say no... it was the most wonderful night of my life.’

“No.”

Sakura released the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I’m glad.” She said simply.

Sasuke turned to look at her. “Why are you glad?”

She smiled widely at him. “Because I don’t regret it too.”

Her smile was doing something to him: it was a happy, sincere smile, not those fake ones of his fangirls or – he shuddered – Orochimaru and Kabuto. Sasuke didn’t know why, but his eyes seemed inexorably attracted to her lips; he remembered how they tasted, sweet and soft. He tried to get the images from his dreams out of his head, but suddenly found that he didn’t want to do it... he only wanted to have her again.

He wanted to feel alive again, like that night, months before...

Sakura admitted to herself that she was shocked when Sasuke’s lips crashed down upon hers, unbalancing her and making her lay down on the ground; he crawled over her body, his tongue entering her mouth, exploring it, his hands holding her head firmly, teeth nibbling her lower lip. She couldn’t hold back a moan as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, bringing him closer to her, responding to his assault.

He chewed her lips and she loved it: she loved how he could be so passionate, when usually he was so blank and emotionless, she loved how strong he was, how safe she felt with him.

And at the same time she hated it: she hated how he could make her feel this wonderful, when she knew it meant nothing to him, she meant nothing to him. Sure, he had said he would go back to Konoha, but that didn’t mean he was going to proclaim his undying love for her or marry her. It hurt how stupid she was... But she knew she couldn’t stop herself from loving him... and - oh! - how she hated it!

‘This man is only capable of making me cry... so why does he also make he feel so happy?’

His hands were caressing her sides, slinding under her black shirt, while his mouth moved to her neck, nibbling and sucking the smooth skin; Sakura moaned, her nails scratching his back under his white haori.

They didn’t know who started to undress the other first, but in a matter of minutes they were naked, their bodies pressed together.

She was beautiful: she looked like a water nymph, her body glittering, and her long pink hair seemed blue in the moonlight. Sasuke was never one to appreciate beauty, especially not in a girl, but knowing that this young woman – so beautiful and caring – somehow felt something for him, warmed his frozen heart: in many ways, she reminded him of his own mother and he felt safe with her.

The white bandages around her stomach reminded him he had to be careful, he needed to be gentle when he handled her, because she was hurt, fragile, precious. His lips went lower, caressing her left breast, tongue stroking the nipple and teeth tugging on it: he could feel the woman under him throw her head back, her mouth opening in a low groan.

“Sasuke... Sasuke...” she continued to repeat his name as his hands parted her legs, so he could settle between them.

Leaving her breast thoroughly suckled, the missing-nin moved to the other one, nuzzling it. Sakura’s hands were playing with his hair, enjoying its softness. Sasuke raised his head, leaning down to kiss her once again, his hand sprawling over her side in a possessive way, bringing her closer to him.

“I feel so alive with you like this...” he murmured in her ear, as he nibbled her lobe.

Sakura was in heaven, literally: she couldn’t understand his strange behaviour – he was so different from their first night together. That night, he had been aggressive, rough, uncouth, obviously unprepared, but all the same gave her the most pleasure she’d felt in her life; this time he was almost sweet, still aggressive but in a gentle way that caused her chest to tighten with emotion. The first time he’d gone for the kill immediately, while now he was taking his time exploring her body.

The pink-haired woman continued to kiss her lover, unconsciously entwining her legs with his, rubbing her body against his; he sucked a breath and gripped her tights. Freeing himself from her grasp, Sasuke slid his body lower and kissed the bandages over her stomach, before two mischievous fingers entered her body.

Sakura almost jumped and her eyes met his black ones, a smirk on his face. He continued to move his fingers in a motion he was soon going to replay with another part of his body: he grinned wickedly at her and the medic-nin couldn’t help but shudder in apprehension and anticipation.

Extracting his fingers, he licked them and murmured to her. “You’re ready.”

With that, his body covered hers once again; as Sasuke kissed her, Sakura could feel him enter her with a single thrust. This time she didn’t feel the discomfort of having a man inside her for the first time and started moaning as soon as he began moving.

In and out.

Her nails drew more scratches on his back and the dark-haired nin pounded into her in abandon; Sakura gasped at the feelings running through her as she tried to regain her breathing.

It seemed to last for hours, but in the end they both came and then kissed lazily as they basked in the aftermath. When they had sufficiently regained their energies, Sasuke put on his black trousers and looked at her.

“We’re too exposed here. Come on.”

He wrapped his haori around her, like he did after their first night together, and after taking the rest of their clothes they walked into the woods. Sakura noticed he looked very sexy, wearing only his pants and his black armguards; his haori was big enough to cover her private parts, but the air was a bit cold and she wrapped it tighter around her.

Sasuke finally sat down with his back to a tree and extended a hand towards her. “Come here.” Her jade eyes were wide, unaccustomed to this touchy-feely Sasuke; then, she shrugged and sat in his lap, enjoying his warmth.

“Sleep for a while; you’ll need your rest for the next time.”

“Next time?” she asked, arching a pink eyebrow.

Sasuke didn’t look at her and didn’t aswer, but she could swear she could see a bit of red on his cheeks. She smiled slyly and closed her eyes, curling into his chest, so broad and so warm; she was asleep in a few minutes.

When he was sure she was soundly asleep, Sasuke started weaving his fingers through her long, pink hair. “I’ve dreamed of you for a long time...” he whispered to her sleeping form “...do you really think that just one time would satisfy me?”

§

In the following three days they started a routine: during the day they would act like nothing had happened between them, and Sakura used that time to rest, heal her wounds and talk with Suigetsu, who was the most talkative of the group. Karin avoided her like a plague and Sasuke had told her he through that the red-haired woman had seen them together at the hot spring months before; Sakura had nodded, understanding why Karin hated her.

The pink-haired medic had also continued her therapy with Juugo, hoping not only to ease the man’s discomfort, but also to find a way to erase Sasuke’s seal... not that she told him that; he seemed to depend a lot on the seal’s power and she didn’t like it.

But at night Sasuke and Sakura would walk away from the camp, in the woods or near the lake, to be alone; she treasured these moments, in which Sasuke wasn’t the cold, emotionless young man she was accustomed to, but a more gentle and sweeter version of the Sasuke who cared for his teammates, a version which didn’t mind at all kissing or touching another human being of the opposite sex (that is, her).

She was trying not to delude herself, but when he would stroke her arms or hair after their “couplings”, she felt like he really loved her.

To her dismay, Sakura was getting better faster than she would have liked and she knew she would have to leave soon; she needed to go back to Konoha before they’d send a search team and found her with Hebi.

Their fourth night, in the aftermath, the young medic decided to approach the topic of her leaving. They were lying in the grass, their bodies and hair wet after a sex session in the lake, her head resting on his bare chest, her upper body covered once again by his haori, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

She raised her head, looking at his unusually peaceful face, his eyes closed, and she wondered if he was sleeping.

“Sasuke?”
“Hn?”

“You know I’ll have to leave soon.”

His eyes opened and stared at her blankly.

“Yes, I know.”

Sakura moved from her spot on his chest and leaned on her elbows at his side; he moved his head to keep looking at her.

“So, tell me, what happened these days? Did we just satisfy our bodies’ needs? Or...” she didn’t finish her question as his face darkened: but she was determined to understand what had happened between them.

“If you’re asking me if I love you or something, then I’ll have to disappoint you.” He said, coldly, almost like his old self. She rolled her eyes and huffed.

“Sasuke, you tend to forgot that I’m not twelve anymore: I don’t expect you to proclaim your undying love for me, you baka!” He blinked in slight surprise “But I want to know if we had sex just for the hell of it, or if there was something more!”

Sasuke couldn’t help it: he blushed. Since when Sakura was so straight-forward? Then, he glared at her.

“Do you really think I could... do... the casual thing?”
“Who knows?” she shrugged. “Who knows what really happened in Oto...” she said slyly “After all, you spent so much time with Orochimaru...” She laughed out loud at Sasuke’s disgusted expression.

“I think I’m going to throw up...” he said, his eyes flashing. “It isn’t funny!”

“For you, maybe!” Sakura exclaimed, tears in her eyes from laughing too much, rolling on the ground.

Raising an eyebrow, he did something totally un-Sasuke-like: he started tickling her. She squealed and arched her body away from his hands. “Stop, Sasuke, stop!”

He stopped after a while and Sakura panted to regain her breath; she glared at him. “That was evil.” The dark-haired Uchiha just shrugged.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes, then... “You didn’t answer me.”

Sasuke watched her, finding amusing how she looked like a dwarf under his haori. “It meant something... I’ve already told you I care, Sakura.”

She laid on the grass, her hands on her now unbandaged stomach. “It’s always nice to hear you say it.” She stared at the stars. “I’ll leave tomorrow.”

Sasuke closed his eyes: he had been expecting it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He rolled over her, looking at her seriously. Sakura blinked at him, her jade eyes large and innocent.

He kissed her, gently, and she knew he was saying goodbye in his own way.

“We’ll meet again. Do you remember you promised to come back home?” she murmured against his lips.

“I do.” He took off his haori, enjoying the sight of her naked body.

The medic wrapped her arms and legs around him, trying to bring him as closer as possible, willing her tears not to fall.

When she came she whispered in his ear, “I love you, Sasuke.”

He continued to move inside her, but his eyes became darker and he smirked “Good.” before coming himself.

§

“I’ll miss you, Sakura! You were the only intelligent being that actually talked in this group!” Suigetsu exclaimed, hugging her.

“Sorry for not being intelligent enough.” Karin said sarcastically, even if inwardly she was very glad that the Konoha kunoichi was finally leaving.

“Thank you for helping me.” Said Juugo, shaking Sakura’s hand. “I was only doing my job, Juugo-san, you don’t need to thank me.” She smiled.

The medic-nin raised an eyebrow and nodded in greeting at Karin, who looked taken aback and after a moment nodded back.

“Come on, Sakura.” Sasuke started walking.

“I know my way home, Sasuke.” She replied flatly, but something in his eyes made her shrug and follow him.

When they were quite far from the lake, he stopped and turned to her. “Be careful.” He said quietly and she smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m an ANBU now.”

“Yes, I know.” His lips curled upwards slightly. “I’m proud of you.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow, that's big coming from you.”

He scowled. “I can take it back if you want.”

“I wasn’t saying that.” She hesitated a moment, before grabbing his head and kissing him quickly. “I love you.”

He grinned. “I know.”

“Now now, don’t get cocky.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“I’ll go.”

He nodded and as he watched her disappear in the trees he murmured “Be safe.”

§

Sakura was elated to see Konohagakure’s gates, happy to be finally at home and at the same time sad for leaving Sasuke; she had spent four wonderful days with him and she found unreal that he had been so... different.

As she walked towards the gates, two Chuunin blocked her path. “Sakura-sama!” they exclaimed. “You’re finally back! Please report to Hokage-sama, she’d been worried.”

The pink-haired young woman smiled warmly at them and they blushed. “I will go and see her immediately. Thank you.” With that, she appeared in the hallway before the Hokage’s office. Sakura knocked and opened the door when she heard a tired “Enter” coming from inside the room.

“Sakura!” the beautiful Hokage stood up from her chair. “You’re alright!”

“Tsunade-shishou” she greeted. “I was hurt and my chakra depleted: I had to hide myself, replenish my chakra and heal myself before I could come back.”

“Your taichou had been blaming himself for leaving you alone.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Her jade eyes twinkled amused “Everything went fine.”

§

A month had passed since her meeting with Sasuke and Sakura discovered she missed him more than ever: moreover, lately she had been feeling tired and sick, and Tsunade had forced her to take some days off the hospital, despite her protests.

It was a sunny sunday morning: Sakura had woken up late with a disturbed stomach and a strong nausea that urged her to go to the bathroom and throw up. Massaging her sore belly, she boiled some water and drank a cup of tea, hoping to calm her stomach.

Suddenly, she started feeling dizzy: the cup fell on the floor and broke in many pieces, the tea wetting the tatami mats. The young medic-nin felt gravity win over her and she fell with a thud.

Anthology XX – End


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Author’s Note: Yes guys, there will be a third part.
Thanks everyone for the reviews, I appreciate them very much :D

Tank, thank you for the correction, sometimes I make the stupidest mistakes... please forgive me! I still don't hate Karin, even if it's despicable that she wanted to ravage Sasuke while he was hurt - unfortunately this behaviour is very much human and I know of girls (and boys) that given the opportunity would like to ravage their crushes no matter the condition they're in: it's not something I would ever do, but it's somewhat understandable and human - how horrible.

kari ishikawa, you must be truly confused: sorry if you don't understand what's happening, I think it's very clear...