Important Author's Note:
First, I apologize for not having updated for 2 months and more. :( I know I said I would update this story and other stories lickety split, but honestly, these 4 months of summer flew by so fast, and I honestly have no idea where it's gone... School starts next Wednesday for me, so it means I'm going back to another 8 months of hardcore, Asian studying! Yayyy! - insert much needed sarcasm here -
For this two-shot, I actually intended to leave it at just chapter 1, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. :( I also wanted to add more S/M in the story, but...that also didn't happen. Maybe I'll have something in the near future for just exclusively that category.
Thank you for all the comments I've been getting for this two-shot, and I kind of want to explain some of the things.
1) I use different languages, because, well, I kind of like them. I find that it brings a sort of exotic-ness to the story. Sure, I used to tell myself that I should always stick to Japanese because it's OC, but...really, it is my decision in the end. I don't necessarily HAVE to use it, but I just like to, and I don't think it takes too much away from the characters' OC-ness.
2) Sasuke used French, Sakura used her usual Japanese, and Naruto, well, Naruto actually used a bit of Latin in the first chapter. There's a reason why I didn't just make them all speak in Japanese. If it sounds like BS-ing to you, then you can really just skip this part. All three of them are in three different worlds. Sasuke's half-crazed, Sakura's desperate, and Naruto's a patient lover that has unrequited love. They all think differently, and therefore, they all express themselves differently. I feel like I'm in high school English or university first-year English again. - shudders -
3) Btw, Enervis means "weakness" in Latin. :)
4) Lastly, thank you all for supporting this story. Please leave me a review to tell me how you thought of my first two-shot!
Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei, you brilliant you, thank you for bringing magic to my world.
Chapter 2 - Enervis
"You're a liar, Sasuke." The pinkette softly said, her body lain comfortably on the couch – his couch.
"There was never an open invitation to my house." He indifferently said, throwing his keys onto the counter, stripping himself of his top as he entered his apartment.
"Women of the town said you showed no passion." She continued on, curling a pink tress with a slim finger.
"They are correct." The sound of the tap ran clear in the quiet room and into the recess of a tall glass.
"No, they are not."
"You wouldn't know the difference between sex and lovemaking. I was your first." His voice was quietly composed but harsh, almost too composed for her liking. He started to drink from the cup.
"I do."
Those two simple words made him turn around to look at her, nothing of emotions shown on his too perfect features. Sasuke set the empty glass down on the black countertop, the clink it gave off hinting it was made of granite. She suddenly found herself staring into pools of obsidian, his face mere inches away from her, almost as if inspecting her with his calculating gaze.
"How would you know?" There was no wavering in his tone, nothing short of utter confidence.
Her clear green orbs stared straight into his, intent on throwing out the last straw that would free her from his presence in her dreams. She made to stand and waited as the Uchiha backed up to let her do so. Her feet carried her to the table in front of the couch, their height difference not too intimidating as it was from when she sat on the divan.
"I slept with Naruto." Sakura whispered, certain that it reached his ears even with her low volume.
Sasuke froze, knowingly sure that his ears were well-cleaned and incapable of hearing anything wrong. She slept with him. There was no doubt that she did indeed do what she had just told him. Her eyes were telling him the truth.
He laughed bitterly into the tiny room. "That just means he got his wish after so long. It doesn't mean he loves you if he fucks you."
"It doesn't matter what you say anymore, Sasuke, but it was love. You showed me love then, and it's undeniably like Naruto's when he gave me his." She was adamant.
"Do not compare me with him." He seethed, but then his tone suddenly became taunting. "So, what do you do now, hm? Do you plan to fuck every man out there now that you know what pleasure is? Is that what you've been thinking all along? Just waiting to have a chance at becoming a whore?"
His words stung, he knew, but he had no control over what he said at times like these. Hurt lingered visibly in her green orbs. "No." She simply replied.
"Then what are you here for today? Another round?"
"No, Sasuke." Sakura shook her head, her silky hair spilling over her shoulders. "I'm here to give you my thoughts whether you want to bear them in mind or not."
"Thank you for your thoughtfulness." He mocked.
"I just wanted to say thank you is all." She whispered, locking his eyes with hers one last time before she turned and headed down the hallway to the front door.
He stared at her retreating back, numb from her words, unable to comprehend why she would say something so docile and unthreatening. He wanted her, yearned for her badly. Every time he thought about her, it would make him furious at himself for his past actions. When he came back, he slept with others, so that he could—
Her hand landed on the sunshine-yellow doorknob, turning it as she readied to exit his abode. A loud crack and the hand that appeared beside her head in the next second made her eyes widen in shock. She withdrew her hand in alarm, surprise taking control of her body. The door was slightly dented as she regarded the previously smooth wood now with concern, worried that it might blow off its hinges from the heavy impact it had just received. The muscled arm planted there caught most of her attention, the owner's blue-black locks tickling the top of her head. His presence now was not too difficult to locate as his heat radiated from behind her, pulling her in just at the mere recollection of that night.
"Why did you sleep with him?" His breath ghosted into the shell of her ear, Sakura suppressing a shudder at the effect it had on her.
"He loves me." Wood splinters flew off from the door as he pressed harder.
"Do you?"
She closed her eyes, and opened them again as she tightly closed her palms and reopened them. "I will learn to with time."
"If you will, then why have you not in the past years?"
"I—" Sakura started but paused. "I was foolish; I thought you would see me, notice me, and acknowledge me for a woman as well as a fellow capable kunoichi. You did neither of those things, whereas Naruto did so much more than that for the years you've been gone. I was a fool to not have reciprocated how he felt."
"When he finally does have you, he'll throw you away like a ragdoll! He only wants you because he could never have you before!" He growled into her ear agitatedly and backed away.
She turned around in fury to look at him, her eyes dancing angrily at his retort. "He will not, and I am confident about that, thank you. It is better to be loved than to love if you haven't figured it out by now, Uchiha Sasuke! If you haven't been so blinded by your meaningless avengement, then maybe you would know this!" Tears swiftly slid down her cheeks as she exploded, drawing up tightly closed fists to wipe the mess away. "You wouldn't know about being thrown away either! You threw us away, Sasuke, and now you dare preach to me about the bond I have with Naruto that you know nothing of? Now you come back, and you start spouting off how all men are bad for me, and you make yourself seem like you're the best or something? Don't forget that you were the cause of my depression!"
It hit home, but he couldn't just pretend he never heard what she had just told him.
"Naruto has everything I want." He quietly said in the midst of her rant.
"You're unbeliev—what?"
"He has everything I want." Sasuke repeated. He took a step towards her, but she took a step back and pressed herself to the damaged door. "And now, he has you."
"Sasuke, what—"
"I didn't want you to come back, but you did. Do you know how dangerous it is?" Another step. His bangs covered his eyes so Sakura couldn't get a good look at them.
"Then let me go." She breathed out.
"I said and did as many things to rid you of me, but you came back. You told me you would do anything for me to fix you, not him." Sakura could finally see his eyes, and they were a familiar crimson. Her heart leaped in her chest as she realized the all too familiar hint of jealousy in his tone.
"You didn't fix me, Sasuke." Sakura struggled to keep her voice level, looking at him, his eyes never breaking his gaze on her, her hands crawling fidgety-like on the surface of the door. "You broke me." Her voice cracked.
"I thought I did enough for you to hate me." He whispered and leaned over her, bending his arm so that his forearm balanced his weight against the entrance. "Do you hate me?"
She squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head down, unable to meet his smoldering view any longer. Every pore of her body was crying for oxygen, to be released from the suffocating heat of her silent terrorist. It would be best if she left now, before anything else could happen that could jeopardize the relationship she and Naruto had formed over the past week, and...before she succumbed to his charm.
"Do you hate me?" He repeated the question again, only this time, he lightly blew into her ear, the intimacy making her turn away from him in shame.
It would be over soon if she did not speak another word. If he said anymore, she would...she would—
He pulled back all of a sudden, cold air numbing her where he had been moments ago. She could feel him staring at her intently, even though her head still refused to snap up to look upright. A hand – his hand – brushed lightly across her cheek, the gesture so gentle that Sakura realized his hand was wet – wet with her tears. It did not even occur to her that her vision had blurred, and that the factor of it was most likely of her apprehension in anticipating her own answer to his question. A fresh torrent of tears made everything unclear, every object in her sight all colourful blurs. It pained her to know that in front of this man, she was no more than just a vulnerable child in front of an abusive parent. There was nothing she could do to stave him off.
"Why are you crying?" His voice was indifferently quiet, but now, she knew better.
She covered her face with her hands, her body initiating the usual hitches that signalled the beginning of uncontrollable spurts of tears. All too soon, her heart that she had been so careful to keep hidden from him spilled from her hands, hot and clear drops splashing onto the spotless tiles. It seemed rather degrading that he had to watch her break down so openly in front of him, in his own home no less. Sakura couldn't keep herself away from him even with Naruto's presence, and when the blond was around, all she felt was guilt. She was trapped in disillusionment and guilt, and she was less than happy to find that wherever she headed, her feet would always lead her to his place for the past week. It would simply be better if she ended it was what she had told herself.
Sakura felt him move forward, but she threw her arm out to stop him. "Don't come near me. Just let me be, please."
He stalled, but leaned over to slide the deadbolt in place, linking the chain to the latch bolt to lock the door entirely so that no one could come in uninvited – or leave without an obstacle. "You're not leaving until you give me what I want, Sakura." His voice was calm still.
There was no response from her for minutes, him wondering why she still stood motionless in his foyer. His hand took one of hers, his lips gently brushing across a particular spot of her hand. She lifted her head just a bit from her hands to look at him, her mouth slightly open; just a week ago, she had cut herself on the pavement outside, the injury nicely healed and mended. How could he have recognized it if she had forgotten about it already? He took a step forward and enveloped her in a hug, one that crushed her to him, leaving no room for her to leave as his arms pressed her to him like a captive. She gasped and began to struggle in his embrace, her face tear-stricken, her eyes pink-rimmed. He grasped her harder, but not enough to hurt – too much – as a hand came up and slapped him across the face, a slow trickle of blood oozing from a fresh scratch on his face. He let go of her as he hissed at the newfound pain. Sakura scrambled out of his arms and back onto the wooden flooring of his house, turning around to look at him when she reached the couch.
"I hate you! I hate you so God damn much!" Her hand found a pillow and threw it at him, whizzing past his head and stirring a few of his midnight strands.
He slowly sauntered up to her, gracefully avoiding the things she threw at him as a spew of barely coherent words came from her. Sakura suddenly collapsed onto her knees, gripping the remaining small cushion in front of her with her hands, her knuckles white from the force she was brutally handling the poor thing. Her expression was of pain, her eyes shut tight, her bottom lip held by her teeth in futile attempts to stop herself from crying. His chest throbbed at such a sight.
"I hate you so God damn much, Uchiha Sasuke..." She sobbed out. "Why did it have to be you? Why couldn't I have loved someone else?"
He sadly looked at her, the first time he'd shown any sign of emotions since his return. He had vowed to not let himself be concerned with the events of the town, or even the people of the town, only using the women who self-proclaimed themselves to be his admirers for his raw desires. There really was no shame on his behalf since he did not consider himself to be relieving his sexual frustration on willing women as a disgusting act, but there always was another reason for his doing so. He wanted to show her how corrupted he was, how vile he was, how inappropriate of a man he was. He knew that the day he returned, her love for him had never changed, still the same as she had promised him her heart eight years ago. He was desperate to prove he did not need her. All he ever did was in hopes that she would find someone else and forget about him and only remember her own happiness.
Then he realized that there was no man in this world who could be compared or even be seen with her as a partner.
No one.
And it had to be his own jealousy that made the discovery.
Only today would he tear down the wall of pride he had instated, and all because of the broken spirit of the woman he had always imagined on returning to, but never allowing himself to.
"I love you." His mouth formed those words with difficulty, almost reluctant to say it, but he found out that when he did, they seemed a lot easier to say, and his chest felt a whole lot lighter.
Sakura released the pillow almost instantaneously, her sobs stifled by the stilled silence that ensued after his momentous confession. Her eyes were wide as the last of tears left her and graced the beaten up and tattered-looking bunched up fabric, trickling onto the floor.
"I didn't think it was fair for me to waltz back and take you. I wanted you to see past me and be happy with another." He kneeled in front of her, and he tilted her chin up with a gentle finger. "Will you let me, Sakura?"
Her green orbs filled with tears at his words, wondering at him, unable to fully comprehend whether what he said was the truth or a lie. Sasuke dipped down to lightly kiss her slightly parted lips, tasting the salty remnants of tears on her. He paused and pulled back a touch, her unresponsiveness acting like a cue for him to continue. He ran his tongue over her bottom lip as he leaned in once more, her lip quivering underneath his increasingly intimate caresses. He pressed his lips against hers harder, threading his hand through her long tresses, gently tugging at it so he could kiss her fully. Her eyes closed, the tears slipping delicately down her cheeks at the tender way he touched her.
She tasted sweet, addictive, like fresh strawberries with a hint of sugar. Her breath caught when he lightly stroked her tongue with his, the action pulling his into her mouth, the lingering and bitter taste of sake not too overpowering. He had been drinking, but he was not drunk; nothing could intoxicate him as much as the woman in his arms. He pushed her to the floor, their lips melded together, their hands fluttering around each other, his under the fabric of her shirt, hers at the middle of his back gliding smoothly over his taut muscles. He broke off and turned away to catch his breath, his raven locks hanging beautifully over his features, hiding his eyes from the pinkette below him. She too, breathed heavily, her arms now beside her head, her cheeks flushed.
He stalled then stood, swinging her into his arms, her arms falling in place around his neck, like it was always meant to be there. It felt right to carry her in his arms, to have her so close to him, for no one else to be able to touch her except for him. His feet led them to his bedroom, the room as neat as it had been previously, and the sheets smooth and undisturbed.
Sasuke gently dropped her onto the bed, the pinkette having to hold onto the side of the bed to not bounce off. He boldly threw off his shirt, letting it fall on the floor before pinning her to the sheets with his hands, his thumbs absentmindedly stroking the soft skin on the underside of her wrists, slightly pushing up the ends of her white long-sleeved shirt. He could feel her erratic pulse beneath his thumb, the constant thrumming a meter of how his presence and touch affected her. His half-lidded eyes travelled up her arm and then to her neck, his body intuitively leaning forward towards her as he met her vibrant green with black.
He pressed his lips to hers in a chaste kiss before murmuring soft caresses down her jaw and to her neck, holding his lips to her pulse before tenderly sucking on it. She gave a soft gasp and instinctively turned her head away from him, a light blush dusting across her cheeks as her eyes tightly shut at the exquisite sensation. His lips curved up in a small smile against her soft skin, her taste an addiction that he could never be rid of.
Weakness, a word he hated.
Their clothes lay forgotten on the floor, their bare flesh feverishly moving against each other. Heavy breaths filled the room, but whose was whose didn't matter, because even they themselves couldn't tell the difference between their own breaths.
Yet, he was drowning in it.
Her sweet voice, his other guilty pleasure, exhaled his name more times than he could count as he slipped further and deeper into her acceptance, her embrace. Sweat ran down their bodies, intermingling as they dampened the sheets beneath them.
Drowning in ecstasy.
His blue-black locks stuck to his skin as he stiffened, his arms supporting himself as he shuddered into her. She arched into him as she too, reached her peak, her arms wrapped around him in an embrace as they rode out their high together in each other's arms.
And love.
.
The two which he believes are vulnerabilities.
X-i-o-n
"Okaeri, Sakura-chan." The pinkette was greeted by a cheery blond as she closed the door to her apartment.
"Tadaima, Naruto." Sakura smiled at her best friend as she slipped off her sandals in the entrance, guilt making her quickly look away once she met his honest azure blue with her own soft green.
"How was work today?"
"It was good. A little tiring, but a shower and a night's rest should fix everything."
Her heart ached with shame as she had told him that she had a shift at the hospital today while really, she had been at Sasuke's house. At his best friend's house doing inappropriate things while she held the status of Naruto's girlfriend. She walked onto the hardwood floor and proceeded towards the bathroom, passing Naruto as she went by. His body instantly stiffened as she walked past him, her feet stopping in surprise at his reaction.
"Naruto…?" She whispered and nervously wondered if there was anything about her that was out of place.
"I-It's nothing, Sakura-chan. Have you eaten yet?" In the dark, Sakura couldn't tell how Naruto's eyes were; his eyes never lied to her and had always been her way to understanding him.
"No, I haven't, Naruto. Have you?"
"I'll get something for us while you take your shower."
.
The two of them sat directly across from each other at the wooden table in the dining room, each of them with their respective bowls and chopsticks, the thin pieces of wood picking up the food in the dishes Naruto had so carefully prepared. They ate in silence as the light hanging above the table casted a yellow warmth on everything it touched, but there was a sense of cold tension in the air that Sakura couldn't seem to brush off. It worsened when Sakura looked up to initiate conversation only to see stormy dark blue staring right back at her.
"Naruto, is there anything you want to tell me?" The pinkette uneasily asked.
She watched as his expression became crestfallen, his eyes casted downwards, his hands gently placing down his eating utensils before returning his gaze on her. He opened his mouth to speak, and the words that he said chilled her right to the bone.
"Did Sasuke come to the hospital today for a check-up?" Naruto asked in a soft tone.
"…Yeah, he did." She reluctantly answered, her bowl and chopsticks frozen in her hands.
"Was he seriously injured or something? He never goes to the hospital." His voice was just like a dangerous caress, waiting, waiting for her to succumb to its charm.
"He was just there for a physical." Sakura hoped that she sounded nonchalant and nothing more, nothing less.
"And you were the one who did the physical for him?"
"He said he didn't trust the other nurses, so that's why I had to be—" She started, but was quickly interrupted by the blond sitting directly across from her.
"I went to the hospital to see if you were going to be working overtime today when you weren't home by eight as you'd said you would be this morning." He quietly said.
Sakura said nothing; she couldn't say anything.
"I asked the other nurses to see which wing you were working in, but they said today was your day off. I decided to come back to see when you'd be back and if you'd be safe and sound." Naruto sighed and leaned back as he ran a hand through his blond locks. "You seemed different the moment you entered – happier – and…you smelled like him, Sakura-chan."
"Naruto, I—" The chair scraped dully against the floorboards as she pushed it back to stand, her bowl and chopsticks clattering loudly on the tabletop.
"Sakura-chan, you don't have to say anymore." He too, stood up, but with much more grace than she had previously. "I know that I'm only a temporary stand-in until you are satisfied with the relationship you and Sasuke have."
"That's not true." Her eyes welled up with tears that threatened to slip down her cheeks. She shook her head at him. "That's not true."
"Even if it was a short period of time, I'm glad you gave me a chance, Sakura-chan." Naruto walked over to her and gave her a lingering kiss on the side of her head before stepping back to look at her once more. "I'll see you around…Sakura-chan."
He made his way to the hallway that would lead him to the front door. Sakura listened as he slipped on one sandal, and then as he began to slip his foot into the other, she ran out to the front foyer. She could already feel wetness on her cheeks and the swollen feeling in her throat that couldn't be ridded of no matter how many times she swallowed. But she had to tell him, that one last thing that might explain why she had and would always incessantly return to the stoic man.
"Your kisses are different than his, Naruto. Sasuke needs me." Sakura sobbed and sunk to her knees, her voice breaking as she made her last attempt to convince her best friend that all he'd done for her was not in vain.
"And you need him in return, Sakura-chan. I don't blame you." She peered up at him from beneath her bangs, his trademark smile slightly crooked on his lips, lips that had lovingly caressed her with care and understanding for the past week. His blue eyes were forgiving as they looked at her, and he turned from her as he placed his hand on the doorknob, his feet lingering on the tiles of her foyer. "I still love you, Sakura-chan. Please don't forget that."
With those words, he exited her house, the cold wind from the storm raging on outside sweeping past the door and into her as he left.
"I don't deserve your kindness, Naruto." She quietly whispered into her hands as a single tear fell onto the floor.
X-i-o-n
Sasuke opened the door to reveal a drenched and dejected looking blond standing on the wetted pavement outside his apartment. He inwardly sighed and threw open the door to admit the best friend that he had tried to kill numerous times as he turned to walk back into his apartment.
'Will I never cease to keep allowing people who are drenched into my house?' He irritably asked himself and threw a towel at Naruto who was dripping water all over his dry floor. "Wipe yourself dry. You're getting water over my hardwood."
The raven lounged on his couch with his arms crossed as he watched the future Hokage sit on one of the wooden chairs in the room, wiping his head dry as he made his way there. There was something different about him, something…sad to him than his usual happy demeanour ever since his return to the village after Itachi's demise.
Sasuke breathed in, ready to say what was most likely on the blond's mind, but the man beat him to it.
"Do you truly love her, Sasuke?"
He looked at Naruto sitting in the chair, his arms propped up on the back, his legs on either side of the chair, his head heavily resting on his arms with the damp towel around his shoulders. Even his yellow-gold spikes seemed a little down, losing its usual buoyant aura. The raven tore his gaze away from the blond and casted his eyes downward, his lashes making it seem he was sleeping rather than pondering over what he should say to his openly depressed friend.
"Sakura-chan said you need her more than I do." Naruto continued. "Your actions gives me doubts, Sasuke. Why shouldn't I interfere with your and Sakura-chan's relationship when you've hurt her so much?"
He slowly breathed in before he answered. "For the sole reason that I would have given up revenge for a life with her if I could choose again."
X-i-o-n
She sat at the base of a cherry blossom tree on a hill overlooking the large town. Her hair blended perfectly well with the falling pink petals, her green eyes soft as she watched children playfully hanging onto their mother's hands. She closed her eyes to the view and leaned her head back against the tree trunk, feeling the wind gently brush through her hair, wisps of pink tickling her pale cheeks, the petals caressing her folded legs.
It had been way too long since she'd had time to herself, time to think, time to relax. The past week had been too much of a blur for her and too much for her to handle. Being able to sit there with no sounds around her but the rustling of the tree leaves and the whistling of the birds was a luxury. She'd barely slept for the past few days, but she had no one to blame but herself. If it weren't for her own foolishness, then maybe she wouldn't have dragged two people into it instead of one.
"Sakura-chan."
Sakura gave a start when Naruto called her name from behind. She turned to look at him, her tired eyes slowly following his movements as he made to settle himself beside her.
"You've thinned." He quietly said.
She gave a small smile at his small talk. It was so like him to notice the smallest of differences. "Have I now?"
"You don't have to feel that you're in the wrong, Sakura-chan. I could have said no, and I'm not angry at you, so why should you be guilty when there are no charges." He suddenly brought up the topic she was uncomfortable with to talk about and tenderly smiled at her, sadness hinted at the corner of his lips. "At the rate you're going, you might be so overwrought with remorse that it'll even force us apart as friends."
"It was my selfishness, Naruto, and I really—" Sakura stopped mid-sentence, a swollen feeling developing in her throat as she tried to apologize to her best friend for hurting him and leading him on. Nothing could be worse than leading someone on as well as using them.
"—Am sorry. Is that what you want to say, Sakura-chan? Are you going to apologize for the night we've had together? I don't want that night to be the cause of your tears. I promised you that I wouldn't make you cry, right?" Naruto lifted a hand to wipe away a tear that threatened to fall from the corner of her eyes. "You can mark it as a friends with benefits occasion."
"I love you, Naruto." She messily wiped the tears away with the base of her palm, but it seemed to blur her vision more than the tears already did.
"I know that you love me as a brother. We've been through a lot, me almost turning into the Kyuubi, the Fourth Ninja War, Sasuke's psychological trials, and then his final return to Konoha. We've helped each other through almost everything, and I've loved you through all of that. The way you look at me is just a sibling admiration and nothing more. I can accept that. Having the place of a brother is more than I can ask for, Sakura."
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
Sakura closed her eyes at her friend's kind words, finally allowing the bounded tears to fall free along with her guilt. She felt something warm lightly press itself to her cheek for a minute before it pulled away, his final affection lingering on her skin. She slowly opened her eyes as she sensed something warm touch her, her view straying to her gloved hand lying beside her as she noticed a small and circular patch stained darker than the fabric around it on the back of her glove. Looking at the spot for a brief moment, Sakura tightly curled her hand into a fist, her fingers lining the dirt with creases. She drew her knees to her chest and linked her hands at the front of her legs before dipping her head down to rest it on her knees, her pink tresses cascading over her face as a comforting curtain.
X-i-o-n
I forsake myself for the purpose of being loved.
I will give as much is needed to catch the attention of the one I love.
Even if unrequited love exists, the friendship we share is more than enough to keep me by your side.
"Sasuke, I'm—" Sakura stopped as she felt his arms circle her waist in a full body embrace, his hands comfortably placed just right below her midriff. The door gently swung shut, the lock automatically setting in behind her.
"Welcome home, Sakura." He smiled into her hair as he pulled her back into him, the action so seemingly familiar to her now after returning to something so intimate for a few years.
"What's with the big surprise, Sasuke, hmm?" She lightly laughed at his exuberance, her hand gently touching his forearm.
"Well…we have co—" Sasuke reluctantly started before he was rudely interrupted.
"Teme! How long are you going to keep Sakura-chan to yourself? I'm sick of waiting, hey!" An obnoxiously loud voice emitted from the entranceway to the living room, a warm yellow light casted into the dark hallway, illuminating a patch of the mahogany coloured hardwood of the suite. Vibrations lightly shook the floorboards as their visitor revealed himself at the entryway to the living room, bright yellow blond seeming much too vivid in their dimly lit home.
"Naruto!" She ran towards him after lightly tapping Sasuke on the arm to make him release his hold on her, and threw herself at her best friend who warmly reciprocated her open embrace.
"Sakura-chan, I thought you might've forgotten me with how much fun you've been having with Sasuke-Teme." He pulled her to him in a crushing hug, the pinkette standing on tiptoes in order to actually put her chin on his shoulder.
"Why would I? I'd never forget you." She pulled away from him with a warm smile on her face, glad to see her friend after his journey across the other Countries. "Sasuke wouldn't forget you either." Sakura softly added and turned around to look at him. "Would you, Sasuke?"
The raven briefly looked at them before closing his eyes with the trademark smirk on his lips. "I don't have much of a choice, now do I, Sakura? If he constantly comes back to harass you, my wife, then I don't believe so, no."
"She's your wife, but I'm her brother. It's even, Teme!" Naruto childishly pouted.
"As long as you are not her biological brother, you're still not clear." He sighed and slipped his hands into the pockets of his sweats before stepping up from the foyer to join them on the hardwood floor.
"I can take care of myself, Sasuke." The pinkette prettily smiled at the remaining Uchiha as she playfully pushed Naruto back into the living room, the way her eyes sparkled at him cutting him short of breath even after he'd known her for so many years.
He shook his head as he joined them, walking past the cupboard that held essentials that one would need whenever they left the house. On top of the drawers was a picture frame that slightly reflected the sliver of light from the room, the frame a dark brown, and the glass that pressed the picture in place free of any dust or markings. The photo itself was the last of the ones that have been ever made, due to the numerous trials that the village and their owners have been subjected to. Unruly yellow, cool blue-black, wayward grey, and well-kept pink hair revealed their respective owners' younger, more carefree selves with not a care in the world.
The laughter that came from the living room lit up the humble home, the good memories tinkling pleasantly around the walls of the dwelling. The frame stayed untouched and unmentioned, its only duty being the reminder to the ones who leave that was what they lived for, and that was what they could always return to.
Hope you guys liked it! Please leave me a little feedback after my first two-shot! See you guys around!
- Kanryu 1:23am 31/08/11