Author's notes: First Naruto story, but not first story in general. Kinda scared posting it, but whatevs. Poor Sakura, I have read stories of her shipped with nearly everybody, I'm such an inconsistent shipper. There are some fantastic stories out there! This is a rather short story (7 chapters, 1 epilogue), but I enjoyed writing it, so I hope it is enjoyed by those reading it!

The quiet of the night was peaceful, as was the moonlight that filtered through the window and onto the nearly smooth flesh of a woman's back. A man's calloused hand traced the dip and flow of her shoulder blades, spine, few scars, and derriere, before coming back up and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Soon enough, he would repeat the process. His thoughts, too, went on a circuitous tract that seemed loud in the calm stillness of evening.

Her soft breast lay smashed against his hardened pecs; he could feel their swell, and earlier had reveled in ravishing them. Their sweat that was nearly dry upon their bodies was testament to that. Her heart, also, beat in tandem with his own; unconsciously the man felt and listened to it, waiting for it to weaken, slow, and die, as all others before had done. He expected it, but the woman currently using him as a pillow still had a few more years, preferably decades, before her heart would stop.

Besides the softness of her skin, her beauty that moved many, and a willingness in his bedroom; this woman was also unafraid, feisty, intelligent, caring, and, perhaps most importantly, loyal. Throughout the ages the man had known many women of many different virtues with much beauty, but all had faded, all had paled in comparison to one who, currently in his arms, had it all. Five hundred years, a number of arranged wives, hundreds of concubines, an insatiable lust for war, an undying quench for sex and power, always on the lookout for even better than that which he already had.

His oldest son was dead and gone, his youngest direct grandchild still older than his many times removed descendent, who was currently a genin on his first mission; and still older than his youngest son, who had just been birthed from the woman in his arms not a half a year ago. His descendant tree was convoluted and messy, though his life was measured, controlled, and forever... If his mind was focused on his lineage, he could recount which members in ALL the current clans of his empire had his blood flowing through his or her veins; such was his cunning through the centuries. Even this woman he had softened for had a cousin in her family that was of his loins...

However, his thoughts lingered upon one subject this night: on how long would his current woman live, and even more pressing, how long would he care for her regardless? It was not a new thought; many such nights in recent times were wrought with worry over her. When she reached fifty, or even thirty and her skin started to wither and her breasts started to sag and stretch marks appeared and her vibrant pink hair became less so, what would he do?

Love, he scoffed internally, had never been an issue. He had loved no one since gaining immortality, and rarer still had any woman been happy to be in his presence. The centuries had passed with wails and tears, both in and out of his compound. He was brutal as an Emperor, militaristic as a Hokage, and rough as a lover. The most he had ever expected was a masochistic woman who liked being dominated and hurt between the sheets, who wailed in ecstasy rather than in pain, who had either forgotten previous lovers, or had had none. But any of that was a rare thing, and if anyone had been bold enough in his presence, they would have called him a rapist, a sadist, and cruel; always taking without any care to prior commitments or desires. And then, after forcibly taking all that he wanted, at some undefined point when either she became too old or he became too bored, it was easy, laughably so, to annul a marriage or send the whore packing. And that was only if he was merciful or pleased with her time as his; he had been known to just slit their throats, laughing as blood bathed his cruelty a deeper red...

What had changed? He found that he liked the quieter moments between him and Sakura, enjoying the times he had with her outside of carnal pleasure or torture. In fact, it had been a long time since he had wanted to cause her pain. There were many instances he could recall of his newest concubine staying his hand, soothing his anger, pledging him loyalty rather than cursing his name; had it been one catalyst, or a slow buildup of trust that lead to something more? He had grown soft with her, kind and gentle. He had made love to her, and had fallen for her as well.

It was new, exciting, made him happier than he could recall before, and he did not want to give it up.

Could he make her immortal as well? The gift was once hard to find, and probably would never again occur.

Could he send her away before the heart became too ensnared? No, it was already too late.

Could he endure? Could he be strong enough to watch her grow old, whither, and eventually die? He had though watching his first daughter dying was difficult, this he knew would be worse.

But he was an Uchiha. The Uchiha Madara: Emperor of the Fire Lands and many other conquered besides, Hokage of the best and select group of shinobi, Lord of the Flame and Master of the Sharingan, immortal man of five hundred years and counting; he was more than strong enough, he could endure. He lived centuries on the memory of one mere lifetime of a precious brother, he could continue further with more splendid, though short, memories of a pink haired lover.

Sakura...

His hand settled wrapped her waist and stayed there, his thoughts settled as well, sleep finally claiming the man.

DVD Extra: Madara was originally meant to be played by Kakashi, when the earliest smidgen of an idea was formed (I ship Sakura with nearly everyone, but I lean most towards KakaSaku), but the more I wrote, the more I thought evil-man Madara would be a better fit. This, and later chapters, were not as dark as it is now.

Warning: I'm not sure the ending will be seen as a "happy" one... take that as you will.