You asked, so here's another chapter to round out this story.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm a little on the fence about the way this turned out, but I really wanted a happy ending for these two. I hope they get one in the manga; I can only hope.

Standard disclaimers apply~

"Konoha is so beautiful this time of year."

The thought was probably shared by everyone in the village. Summer had come and was almost gone, turning the trees from verdant green to gold. The air had just the slightest edge of frost when it blew, both refreshing and welcomed by the citizenry of Konoha.

Especially when certain persons included in that citizenry took to their favorite training ground.

Metal screeches of kunai and shuriken striking one another outpaced the birds' singing, becoming the music in the air. Two people, one a kunoichi with hair the color of spring, and the boy's the color of the ink he used for his pictures, sat watching their two teammates, Naruto and Kakashi, spar. The boy seemed distracted, flicking his dark eyes from the battle to his companion. He shifted his sketchbook on his knees and finally turned to look at her fully.

Haruno Sakura had her eyes on the fight, but Sai could clearly tell she wasn't paying it the least bit of attention. It had been that way, he thought, for close to three months. She would drift in and out of their world, caught somewhere between her thoughts and reality. Between her troubled eyes, and the way she would wring her hands without noticing, Sai knew something was wrong.

"Perhaps not wrong, but something is bothering her," Sai waited patiently for the girl by his side to notice she was being stared at, yet there was no response. Even when Sai offered her the nickname she detested.

"Excuse me, Ugly."

Nothing. A rare perplexed look crossed Sai's features.

"Sakura," he placed his hand on her shoulder, at which she startled and finally looked at him. The flush that came to her cheeks was quite fetching and she stuttered out a quiet apology.

"I'm sorry, Sai.. I was just thinking about something."

"You seem to get lost in those thoughts a great deal these days," Sai watched her green eyes waver, like she was suddenly fighting the urge to cry. He searched his mind for something comforting to say, "I'm.. here for you if you need to talk about them. I'm familiar with deep thinking. Perhaps I could help you if you have a problem?"

Sakura couldn't help but smile, appreciating greatly the effort Sai was putting into trying to help. He really had come a long way from that first mission; he had gone from thinly veiled insults and remoteness, to the person sitting beside her today. Unfortunately, the reminder of the purpose of that first mission drug her mind back to the person that had plagued her for these months.

Sasuke..

Sometimes Sakura truly believed her traitorous heart, working closely with her equally traitorous head, had played a cruel trick upon her. Maybe she had been fed an elaborate dream.. Sakura would have outright believed it if her proof was not lying on her dresser next to the old Team 7 picture. His forehead protector remained hard and very real in her apartment, the metal cold when she touched it with her fingertips. She always felt that cold ghost over her skin, reminding her very keenly of what had happened in those woods.

Between the very real fear of pregnancy, and the crushing desire to have him home, she had become distant from her friends. When the first fear had proved unfounded, the second increased in force. As she had held the little stick, watching it slowly change colors, she could describe every emotion that had crashed around her heart. Yet, as it gave her a negative result, she couldn't begin to explain the feeling. What she had expected was sheer relief; what she had gotten was an inexplicable rush of terrible disappointment mixed in with God knows whatever else. She had remained in her room, sitting on her bed with her legs crossed simply staring for two hours, trying to figure out how to feel. Naruto had banged on her door for close to five minutes before she realized he was even there.

Sai didn't seem bothered by the prolonged silence. He could clearly read Sakura's face. She looked like she was about to cry again, those emerald eyes glazed and lost.

"I saw Sasuke," she suddenly blurted.

Sai thought at first he hadn't heard right, but when Sakura lowered her eyes from his, he knew he had. He waited for her to continue.

"Outside the walls. Three months ago.. I had gone out after a shift and.. He was there. He overpowered me easily," her arms tightened around her knees as her words faded. Sai still said nothing, and her voice grew strong again, "I'm sure he would have killed me but.. I stopped him. I.. used a technique Tsunade-sama taught me. He actually stopped because of it. And.. and," her voice quivered uncontrollably.

Sakura could not go any farther. Sai knew now the reason for her distance, but not the exact cause of it. She could not express her gratitude towards him as he simply smiled in his odd way.

"Naruto taught me that people can change, Sakura. And though Sasuke-kun is not the same as he was, that does not mean he cannot regain himself. You and he shared a bond. Just as Naruto occupies some small place in his heart, so do you. Perhaps he remembered that place after he opened his eyes and saw you there," Sai patted her somewhat awkwardly on the arm, "and perhaps it grew a bit bigger."

Sakura smiled warmly, her thoughts calming enough to where she could watch as Naruto aimed a Rasengan at their former sensei.

"Thank you, Sai."

"Oi, Sakura-chan! That was so cool how far Kakashi-sensei flew after you punched him! Too bad it was a clone!"

The sun had long set, the darkness settling over Konoha like a comforting blanket. The four friends walked along together, two of them smiling hugely at Kakashi as he rubbed the back of his head and laughed. They were sweaty, bloody, and exhausted, yet their camaraderie persisted naturally. They split off towards their respective homes, waving and calling their good byes. Sai took a moment to smile at Sakura as he left, leaving Naruto ambling along beside her.

As her apartment loomed ahead of them, she almost told Naruto, as well. But looking at him, his happiness surrounding her, Sakura thought better of it. She'd tell him another time..

He wrapped her in a bear hug in front of her door, giving his best friend a squeeze and a hollered good bye as she opened her door and stepped into her home.

The wind was howling through the golden trees, clouds building in the sky, obscuring the twinkling stars. That was the only way he knew, as he flew through the leaves on nothing but his senses. His hair whipped around his face, stinging his cheeks.. nothing compared to the pain crushing through his skull. The way his eyes throbbed, blood leaking down the bridge of his nose, sent the hurt knifing through his limbs, slowing his progress as he tried to keep going. He had to make it there. He opened his eyes just enough to see Konoha's mighty gates standing ahead of him.

By the time Sakura finally shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, a good twenty minutes had gone by. Truthfully, she would have stood under the spray, caught in her trance, a good deal longer if the water hadn't turned frigid. Goose bumps still peppered her arms as she dried off, methodically dressing herself in her sleep wear. Normally the dark blue spaghetti strapped top and white shorts would rush her along enthusiastically with the promise of bed. However, her sluggish movements didn't pick up any speed. It took a good deal longer than normal to towel dry her hair, comb it out, and brush her teeth.

If she was alert she would have noticed the sudden gust of wind and rattle of her window pane immediately. It hit her a good twenty seconds later that she had closed her window when she had come home. Her fingers found the cold metal of her kunai, kept in a bathroom drawer for emergency purposes.

Sakura's ninja training clicked easily into place inside of her, drawing her body slowly towards the door into her bedroom. The door was cracked, letting in a sliver of moonlight. When she saw nothing from what little view the opening offered, Sakura toed the door open and slipped into the room all at once. The sight that greeted her loosened her grip on her weapon, sending it dropping to the carpet with a muffled clank.

There was Sasuke, slumped against the side of her window. Blood, both dry and caked and wet and flowing, covered both his face and his torso. He said nothing, his eyes closed as if he were sleeping. Though as Sakura looked closer, she could see the faintest hint of his body shaking. He was in pain.

Sakura didn't remember moving; one moment she was rooted in front of her bathroom, the next she was standing before the missing-nin. The amount of blood on Sasuke's clothes and skin frightened her. Why wasn't he opening his eyes?

"Sasuke!"

His frame tensed then released, and a sound between a sigh and a groan filled the silence of Sakura's apartment.

"Sasuke, what the hell happened to you?"

He finally cracked his eyes open slightly, and the kunoichi let out a startled gasp. They were the source of all the blood. It spilled out of them unabated, running down his cheeks. He coughed wetly, squeezing his eyelids together to prevent more blood from escaping. Sakura didn't pause to think, her hands lifted, chakra fathering in her palms. Sasuke slumped forward slightly, seeming to know what she was about to do. The pain in his head had become excruciating, his body instinctively moving towards what it knew would ease that pain.

Her hands cupped his face briefly, then moved to cover his eyes. She murmured an apology as he froze, knowing even the slightest pressure caused him unbearable pain. Sakura had never seen him like this. The closest had been after Orochimaru had given him the curse seal. He had collapsed then, but now his pride and strength wouldn't allow him to fall into unconsciousness. How he had even made it to her home amazed her.

The chakra coated her hands in muted green, reflecting off of the window glass. She could feel the trembles wracking his body as she stepped closer. Sakura immediately began funneling her healing power into him, easing the blades of pain slowly out. Minutely, Sasuke's shoulders lost their tension, his breathing became less labored, and his fists unclenched. Sakura knew there was still pain, yet she had taken away a good deal of it. She then turned her attention to why his eyes had been damaged; she let out a sharp intake of breath at what she found.

Something had severed the area directly behind his retinas. Veins were ruptured, pumping blood directly into the surrounding tissue.

"Oh, Sasuke. This is serious," she was well aware Kabuto was a skilled medic. He could have healed this just as well, or perhaps even better, than she could. He had risked further injury by traveling here. Why had he not allowed the other man to heal him?

Sasuke seemed to know what she was thinking, for he answered her thoughts, his voice weak and raspy, yet somehow still strong, "I do not trust him."

Her heart fluttered with unfounded happiness. Sakura nervously tried to inform it that of course Sasuke wouldn't trust the dirty rat. Hell, nobody on the face of the planet did, either. Her heart was having none of that, though. Her body really was traitorous!

Sasuke noticed through the haze of pain as Sakura's body drew imperceptibly closer. He could think more clearly now, with the awful pain in his head gone. Her skin was still slightly damp, and the smell of her shampoo, tropical and light, lulled his exhausted body towards sleep. She was the only one he could trust with his eyes. His Sharingan. He knew she would not try and dismantle it. She would not damage him further. She would heal him. And, somewhere deep in the back of his mind, he had ached to see her again. To see if her love still stood strong, even as he had left her again. He remembered the desperation he had felt last he had saw her; those last few moments inside of her body had unnerved him. The thought of her pregnant and alone haunted the empty corridors of his own heart. He should not have given in to his need.

Sakura felt the moment his consciousness slipped, his head slumping further into her open hands. She smiled to herself, supporting his frame as her concentration turned fully to the job of repairing his eyes.

Sasuke woke all at once, just like he always did. He noticed two things; one, he could open his eyes, and two, he was in a bed. Three things.. his shirt was missing.

The bed creaked quietly as he sat up, the blurriness in his vision rapidly clearing. The wind from the open window to his left cooled the room. It was raining now. The dull flash of pink caught his eye, and he turned slowly to regard the girl reclining in the window.

Sakura had dozed off shortly after the healing had completed. The enormous concentration required around something as delicate as his eyes had worn her out quickly. She had taken off his bloody shirt and moved him into her bed, careful not to wake him. With a few careless swipes with a towel at the blood on the window sill, she had climbed on to it. The rumble of distant thunder promised rain, yet sleep claimed her without care. Now Sasuke watched her, something a lot like consternation coloring his expression.

Why had he come here? That seemed an easy enough question to answer. Kabuto was simply not to be trusted. The real question was, "why did he come to her?". Albeit, she was the only medic-nin he knew. He probably could have stumbled into any hospital and gotten the same results. If he was being truthful with himself, he knew exactly why he had appeared in her window tonight.

The wind shifted, sending a small shower of rain into the room. It broke Sakura's light sleep, and for the first time in a long while, Sasuke wished the floor would open up and swallow him.

Backlit by the sparkling raindrops, she truly did something to the way his body operated. It was like the universe was laughing as she turned her head slightly to the side to look over at him. The way she smiled lazily, those green eyes shining, nearly stole his breath. They remained like that for a few moments; her waiting patiently for something to be said, and him being unsure of what to , he broke eye contact and stared down at the sheet pooled in his lap.

"Thank you," the way the smile died on her face made him frown.

"It was no trouble," when she had nearly fallen all over herself to even see him covered in blood.

Finally, she moved from the edge of the window.

"What happened, Sasuke?" The way his features twisted in anger would frighten any other person. Yet for some reason, this mere girl stood firm against it. It was baffling. This grieved Sasuke further, and without a response he moved from her bed. If he left now, he could make it back to his team before they grew suspicious. He had simply told them to wait until he returned. Needless to say, they were frightened of him.

His shirt was hung haphazardly over the nearest bedpost. She had left him with his pants and belt, and his katana was propped up on the wall. He moved to take it when he felt the warmth of her fingers on his knuckles. They froze; Sasuke contemplating dragging her down into sleep again, Sakura unsure of herself.

"You shouldn't go just yet.."

Sasuke thought she meant because of the rain, but she shook her head.

"I fixed the important parts of your eyes, but I'm not sure what that kind of damage did to your Sharingan," she watched true emotion cross his face. She waited while he tried, waited and watched first his anger, and then his torment. The way his body was shaking now had nothing to do with pain. His eyes flickered briefly to crimson, then back again.

"Give it until the morning, okay? If it still won't activate, then I'll ask Tsunade-sama to come," she swallowed, the sight of the raw misery on his face nearly brought tears to her eyes. He nodded mutely, yet still gathered up his things like he was preparing to go.

"I need to think," his voice was utterly devoid of emotion, "If I lose the Sharingan, I lose myself."

"Those eyes aren't what makes you who you are," she didn't love him for his Sharingan. Naruto didn't, either. It pained her that the man before her, so lost in ambition and hatred, could not see that. "Stay tonight. If it works tomorrow morning, you can go freely."

A person looking in might wonder at the two of them. They had experienced the ultimate intimacy with one another, yet neither of them made any effort to bring it up. Perhaps Sakura had given up. Sasuke thought this might be the case. He had expected the stammering, blushing girl of his past to surface. When she had met his eyes with no hesitancy, it had made him wonder. Sakura herself had not forgotten, as simply being in the same room with him caused heat to pool in places it had no business going. What use was it, anyway? She had no desire to be second best to something like vengeance.

"Have you forgotten?"

His quiet words, spoken with just the slightest hint of stung pride, almost brought a snort out of Sakura. Oh, no, she had not forgotten. When she had peeled his shirt off, she had remembered quite clearly how his skin felt slick and sweaty. She had remembered the way he could fill her to overflowing and send her flying apart in his arms.

Sasuke was content with her lack of response. Even with the way her eyes hooded, he was satisfied. In fact, he was positive if she had not kissed him with her heart bared to him, he would never have looked at her twice that day. Beauty or not, he was not prepared. He couldn't come back here without his goals met, not even for a girl that moved like wildfire in his hands, consuming everything before her. He was powerless against that kind of power.

Uchiha Sasuke hated feeling powerless.

He watched as Sakura slinked, he couldn't call it anything but, towards him. Her eyes burned with a fire he couldn't quite name. Passion mixed in with a slurry of anger and hurt and regret. If she were Karin, she'd already be dead. But this girl was nothing like Karin. She stood before him, and even through the steel in her words, he could feel her need for him. It had always been like that; innocent and chaste during their years together, loving and wanton now.

"Sakura," he warned, his voice harder than granite, "I cannot reciprocate. You know this."

"Why not?"

"As Itachi lives on, so shall my duty as an avenger," he had spoken this so many times in his head, it came out as soon as her question passed her lips. Sakura's mouth thinned, anger replacing the fuel of the fire.

"Do you think that is what they would want? Your parents?" She waved her hand to stop his hate that was about to form into words. "What do you have, Sasuke? What do you have to call your own in this world? Do you not mind that the number of people that care for you with everything they have can be counted on one hand?"

He offered her no response, and she shook her head sadly.

"Revenge is not the only thing in this world for you. You don't have to be alone to have power. I know somewhere inside of you, you respect Naruto and what he has become. Being loved does not make him weak. Sasuke, why do you think letting people into your heart would do that to you?"

"Because that is all I know. The things you are offering me, they.. They have little meaning," he watched her face fall. A part of himself cursed his words. "When I see it happen in my mind, over and over again, everything else pales to what I want most."

Sakura let the tears slide down her cheeks, uncaring. She knew somewhere in the person that was Sasuke, he wanted to be back with a family. Her hands reached for his own, and surprisingly, he allowed her fingers to twine with his.

"I told you when you left all those years ago, I could offer you happiness. I wasn't sure what I meant myself, then, but I know now what I can give you that no one else can," as she moved his hands towards her, he thought she would place them over her heart, yet she didn't. His eyes widened, blinking stupidly down at her as she pressed his hands flush against her lower belly. He didn't move, feeling the heat from her body seeping into his skin.

"I can give you a family," she said quietly.

His stomach twisted uncomfortably, bringing back memories of the months after he had taken her. The unending guilt, the hidden hope, the passionate desire to see this woman holding his child in her arms. The fantasy of a little boy that mirrored his young self; black hair, dark green eyes. And then, like a curse, the images of his parents lying in their own blood would crack through the little boy like lightning.

"I can't. I can't, Sakura, do you have any idea what it does to me? I could never be anything more than this. Not a friend, not a husband, not a father," his words faded at the tender smile blooming on her face. It chased away the darkness threatening to overtake him. The more he stared down at her, the easier it was to see himself and what could be. Could he possibly let it go?

"It's all I know," he leaned forward, resting his forehead on her shoulder. His left hand's fingers spread further across her abdomen, his right's curling around her hip. The demon looped around his heart tried to tell him he shouldn't be doing this, that he would regret it after his lust was spent. Yet, the further the other part prodded, the part of him who had been that happy little boy, the more he came to realize that what he felt wasn't lust. It was a pure need; a need to feel this girl take away the depression that had sunk so far into his bones, he could no longer discern it from himself.

Sakura felt him sigh into her skin. She wasn't sure if she could manage to make more room in her heart for the love she held for Sasuke, but hearing him bare his fears to her inched more of him into it. She turned her head and whispered into his ear, "Stay with me tonight."

The way he suddenly gripped her tight made her stomach flutter. His head rose slowly, stopping briefly to shakily inhale the scent of her shampoo just behind her ear. His throaty "Aa" of agreement set her knees to shaking. He didn't kiss her right away, remembering the way her lips had set his brain on fire that first time in the forest. He wanted to take his time, heat both her and his blood with the slow dance of his mouth and hands.

As much as he liked her in the dark blue, skimpy shirt, he needed to feel her bare skin against his own. He took the hem in his hands, peeling it slowly upwards. One thing he regretted from before was he had seen very little of her body. The way the little tank top had molded to her curves promised him that she was no longer a twelve year old slip of a girl. Sakura's hands slid teasingly up his torso as she raised her arms. He pulled the garment the rest of the way off, her breasts bouncing softly free.

She laughed softly at the way he gazed down at her body, "Do you like what you see?"

His eyes flecked red in response. Slowly, reverently, he cupped their weight in his hands. She rewarded him with a small sigh of contentment, the callouses on his palms contrasting deliciously with the tender skin. She stepped closer to his body, her heat easing his own cold. The sigh shifted into a broken gasp when he brushed his thumbs over her pebbling nipples. She arched in his hands the way he had dreamed of, gorgeous and so undeniably feminine. The movement pushed her hips up into his own, bringing out another noise of breathy pleasure from her lips.

Sasuke wasn't sure how he was going to survive.

He took the hardened peaks in between his thumb and forefingers, twisting gently at first. Her body arched gorgeously pressing her hips harder against his own, just like he had dreamed. Beautiful, and utterly feminine. She fought back, grinding delicious friction against his growing erection. She ceased when he could no longer keep his head in touch with his fingers. He growled down at her, and she smiled cattily at him in response. He finally dipped his head, giving her nipples an exceptionally hard twist as his teeth marked the creamy skin of her neck.

Sasuke wasn't bragging when he said he had exceptional self control, yet when Sakura hollered out his name like that, he wasn't sure how much longer he could restrain himself from kissing her. She vibrated in his hands, circling against him lazily. He no longer attended to her breasts, his hands splayed against her shoulder blades. He supported her while she gyrated, his eyes half lidded. The slow burn of her eyes moving down his body did sinful things to his manhood.

"Do you like what you see?" That smirk, unchanging even as he had grown, took over his face. Sakura wiped it clean with a hard jerk against him.

Her body lifted, her back straightening. She moved fluidly, unlike any other female he had ever laid eyes on. They tried to entice him with sultry movements, their beauty. None of them could hold a candle to the pink haired girl from Konoha. That was his last thought before her hands were fisted in his hair, and their lips came crashing together.

The sheer passion in her kiss clouded his senses. He backed her up until she hit the bed, sending them both tumbling on to her green satin sheets. There was no fight for dominance this time, it was simply a dance of lips and tongues. She poured all of her earth shattering love into it, impacting Sasuke somewhere firmly between his head and his heart. He lurched under the weight of it. This girl was dangerous.

They broke for breath, his mouth sliding down her jaw. She tipped her head back for him, exposing her vital points trustingly. His breathing caught in his throat, even as he traced feather light patterns along her jugular with his tongue. He could not understand how she could bare everything she had to him so easily. His eyes slid thoughtfully back down to her breasts, then on down her belly to the barely there white shorts she wore.

The kiss still addled his brain, yet he glanced wickedly up at her once before angling his body so he could reach her chest. As her hands tickled the hairs at the nap of his neck, he suddenly scraped his teeth over her right nipple.

Sasuke wasn't sure what had quite happened, yet the shrill noise Sakura had made nearly reached a decibel that hurt his ears. Next he knew, he was flat on his back, staring up at her. She cocked her head to the side, running her fingers over his ribs, light enough to tickle. The way her eyes burned, her body topless and astride his thighs, was stunning.

"What am I going to do with you.." Even as the words left her lips, her hands were jerking on his belt. It came undone obediently, releasing the purple garment and exposing the clasps that held his black pants together. Her nimble fingers undid them painfully slow, their eyes fixed together. When the last gave way, she shoved them away. Sasuke watched the alarm spread across her face with poorly hidden amusement. He hadn't bothered with underwear. She jerked her gaze away from his erection, met with his smirk.

"Yes?"

"I didn't think you went commando."

"Are you complaining?"

Suddenly she grasped him at the base, dragging her clenched hand rapidly up to the tip. Sasuke nearly came off the bed.

"Hmm, not really," she added her other hand, dragging sounds out of the man lying underneath her she had never heard before. Each slow stroke, her hands continuously replacing the other, caused a pearly white liquid to escape, further lubricating her efforts.

When had she learned how to do that? Sasuke wasn't sure, but it was pulling him perilously close to a cliff he didn't want to drop off of yet. His hands wrapped around her own and squeezed. She stopped, darkened emerald meeting black. He didn't need to say anything; she understood well enough. He released her hands, and she let go of his throbbing erection long enough to slide up on to her knees. Thumbs hooked into her shorts, Sakura shimmied them down, exposing her thighs and up to his heated gaze. As she lifted her legs one at a time to remove them, they vanished on to the floor to keep her shirt company.

Sasuke's relief from her hands was replaced with the bigger problem of her heated core. She pressed against him, unashamed, working magic with the slow turn of her hips. Yes, he definitely was not sure how he was going to live through this. He gripped her hips, urging her faster, yet she refused him, only giving him the languid twists of her own pace. She drug a groan out of him with her lips and teeth at his throat.

Sakura's jade eyes locked with the black scrolling of his curse mark. She wondered at it a moment, before tracing its lines with her tongue. Sasuke froze underneath her, his body completely still. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at him, uncertainly. His breath jerked out of him when she tried it again. Sakura wasn't quite sure what motivated her, yet just as she gave a particularly hard jerk of her hips, she sank her teeth into his mark.

The kunoichi was slammed into the mattress before she could even register Sasuke had moved. He held frozen above her, panting, the glorious red of his Sharingan blazing. He didn't give a shit about that, though, those swirling tomoes gliding down her body. Sakura shivered under them, as he fed her sensations of hands on her body, between her legs. He leaned down to her ear, braced on his elbows. "You should not have done that."

He thrust rapidly up against her core, jerking a wail out of the girl below him.

Taking his erection in hand, he dipped the tip between her labia. He shuddered at the waves of heat, her whole sex wet. The seal on his shoulder still throbbed, sending the sensations downwards, imploding. Her fingers dug into his biceps, marking his skin with her nails; he didn't care. She was pleading, whispering his name like a broken mantra as he caressed her intimately. When she arched for him again, he drug himself down to her entrance, unable to resist.

The slow slide past the ring of muscles nearly undid him, yet he held on. Sakura writhed below him, sucking him inevitably deeper into her body. Finally he could go no further.

He was lodged so deeply, Sakura could feel his heartbeat thrumming. Her own was caught in her throat. She could barely form the coherency to breathe his name. He gazed down at her, the red of his eyes glowing softly. Unthinking, her hand reached up, molding to his cheek. He tilted into her hand, unbothered. She guided his head down, speaking against his lips, "Please."

He set a languorous pace at first, his body rocking gently. They were content with it, her hands sliding through his hair. As the pleasure coiled in her lower belly, he seemed to sense it, pushing her harder. He could feel her tightening muscles, rippling along his length deliciously. The spiral looped tighter and tighter until it unraveled violently. He held her to him as she came apart, her hands still latched in his silky locks. Sasuke raised up on his elbows again, watching Sakura gather herself. Her face was flushed. She really was beautiful.

"Again, Sasuke-kun.. with everything."

He didn't need any further encouragement. He took her roughly, unable to contain the sheer desire wracking his body. The way she said his name, the way she felt, the way she could chase his darkest thoughts away.. He realized all at once he needed her. He needed her to wrap her arms around him and heal his pain.

This realization threw him headlong over the precipice, his body nearly buckling from the pleasure. Sakura moaned beneath him, her body taking everything he offered her. He gave a few more ragged, broken thrusts before collapsing down onto his forearms. Utterly spent, he could only pant as Sakura's soft hands brushed his sweaty bangs out of his eyes. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and he could only obey as she pulled him down flush against her body.

As he tucked his head into the hollow of her throat, he heard her brokenly whisper an, "I love you, so much." The last thing Sasuke remembered before the peace of sleep claimed him was his response of, "I know."

The blinding light of the morning sun dragged Sakura slowly out of her deep sleep. She hadn't slept that well in a very long while. Her body protested angrily to her movements, the hurt focused like a laser between her legs. She sat up abruptly, nearly falling over the side of the bed.

"Sasuke!"

The man in question tilted his head lazily towards her, a slight smirk on his face. Well pleased with himself, of course, what with her mussed hair and huge, elated smile. He was reclined in the window, the old picture of Team 7 clenched in one hand, his Konoha headband in the other.

"Oi," Sakura's smile faded slightly, expecting him to announce he was leaving once more, yet the words that came from his mouth had her rushing for her clothes and tears building in her eyes.

"Let's go see the Godaime."

Fin~

I know a lot of you said things like I left it hanging, so I went ahead and wrote out a big, sappy, happy ending.

Thanks to all of my previous reviewers! Your comments helped me get motivated to write this little chapter. Sorry it took so long, again!

'Til next time!