touch me like you touch nobody

by: whisperedsilvers

prompt: "put your hands all up on me."

summary: There is always madness in love. post-war. —shisui/sakura

X

"Shisui," Sakura's breath hitches, her hands are shaking as she grasps her bedsheets, a white-knuckled grip tightening on cotton sheets as her hips twist on the mattress, she groans, "Stop teasing, you bastard."

Shisui's chuckle vibrates at the apex of her thighs. His tongue lightly traces her clit, a tickle at most, the barest of pressures as he brushes over her, dipping inside and twisting before pulling back to pepper kisses underneath her navel, his hands firmly gripping her thighs, "You like it."

"I'm so close," she whined, hips arching as she squirms when his teeth grazes her outer lips and she whimpers, "Shi—" her voice trails into incoherent mumbles when he latches onto her clit and sucks.

Sakura doesn't remember coming—but something snaps in her like a broken cherry tree, she writhes violently and screams when her vision dots into black spots. Shisui holds her still and drinks from her until she's flinching in overstimulation.

"How do you have so much energy?" she manages to exhale when he enters her in one smooth thrust, her inner walls jumping at the suddenness and rawness of his movements. Eyes half-lidded, she stares at him hazily as he settles into her like she's something comforting.

"You bring out the best on me," Shisui laughs lightly when she swats him half-heartedly, tossing her thighs over his shoulders he moves into her carefully, still aware of her sensitivity from her previous orgasm, he starts slow and deep, just the way she likes it. She likes it when he holds her legs above his shoulders and rolls hips into her deliberately. Heat coiling in her stomach like a simmering flame and she moans when swivels into her.

"I have to work tomorrow," Sakura breathes, her eyes glazing over when he grinds into her, "Shisui."

"No you don't," he counters and groans when she squeezes him sweetly, "I made sure the hospital gave you some days off."

"What does that mean?" She blinks incredulously, it's hard to stay mad at him when he moves his hips like that.

Shisui's eyes are so dark, midnight black, and liquid cobalt, he kisses her with tongue and teeth, "It means that you're mine for the next three days."

.

"You're disgustingly happy," Ino comments and wrinkles her nose because Sakura is humming. She arranges her bouquet distractedly and pushes it to the side of the counter, pressing a hand underneath her chin, she looks at her best friend, "It's weird."

"It's weird to see me happy?" Sakura raises a brow.

It sounds bad, Ino muses. She shrugs, blue eyes glittering, "It's different. Good, but different."

"I see," she looks perplexed.

"So you are?"

"What?"

Ino rolls her eyes, "Happy?"

Sakura's eyes are gentle and she smiles, "Really, really happy."

Ino is blown away by her honesty, the gentleness in her eyes and it feels like a weight falls off her shoulders. She grins, genuine and elated, "Finally."

.

"What kind of person willingly gives away cake?" Sakura asks aghast, she looks over at her countertop, the lemon cake staring at her lustily, vanilla cream and strawberry. Deciding that she should not deny herself such a delicacy, she lifts a finger, scoops up a dollop of cream and sucks it clean.

Shisui watches her completely entranced by the way her finger disappears, the way her eyes lose focus over the sweetness of the cream and the sudden hollowness of her cheeks, his voice drops into gravel, "Sasuke."

Sakura blinks at the roughness and she states bluntly, "Your cousin is an idiot."

"I'm not disagreeing," he chuckles and takes a bite out of the strawberry, his eyes widen, "Okay this is really good."

She laughs, scoops up more cream and stares at him with a certain glint, "I know. I think it's lemon cake? I hope it is because I need to eat it—" she cuts herself off with a groan when she takes a bite out of the sponge cake, "Oh yes."

That sound?

That sound became Shisui's breaking point because he snaps open her vest, yanks off her skirt and smears her skin with two handfuls of cream. He doesn't wait for her to register his actions because he uses shunshin to toss her on the carpet of her dining room.

"Sakura," Shisui hisses because his blood feels like it's on fire, tongue dipping over her breasts, "You're testing my patience."

And she laughs like a gem, her voice teasing, "Just your patience?"

Sakura's fingers are in his hair and she brings up for a kiss when he realizes that she's doing this – whatever this is – on purpose, Shisui murmurs voice full of purpose and sparkle, "I'm going to eat you."

Her tongue, sly and cheeky, grazes down his jaw, her voice rough and sweet as Sakura chuckles, "Not if I eat you first."

.

"You're the most annoying Uchiha I have ever met!" Sakura growls as she snaps her hand and flings a tree at him.

"You're just upset you can't keep up!" Shisui goads her with a grin and uses shunshin to reach behind her. His fingers make a jabbing motion as he presses his fingers forward, then he flickers to the left and jabs her in the ribs.

"Not all of us have dojutsu," she snaps, flinging kunai with chakra threads at him, she reels it back and hits the right side of her—nicking his arms.

The unexpected is the unexpected underneath.

Perched on a tree, a few hundred feet away, a blonde and his dark-haired best friend watches the scene in front of them. "One hundred ryo Sakura-chan wins," Naruto whispers to Sasuke.

Sasuke snorts because it's Sakura, "Five hundred on Shisui."

"I think the hag is going to take this one," Sai appears next to them, "Eight hundred she wins."

Naruto sputters, "What are you doing here, Sai?"

"I was looking for Hokage-sama, his chakra signature lead me here and now it's gone," he replies automatically, then he raises an eyebrow, "Have you seen Hokage-sama?"

"Not since my birthday party," Naruto furrows his brows and then he grumbles with annoyance, "Though I doubt anyone remembers what happened that night."

"Shouldn't he be in the Hokage tower?" Sasuke blinks.

"Hokage-sama doesn't follow protocol," Sai says dryly.

The blonde sighs, "Then where the hell is he—"

"—dammit Shisui! Stay still!" Sakura growls, finally managing to grab his arm, she flings him into the earth, then throws her weight into her fist trying to pin his stupid, smug face into the ground because he's so annoying—!

"That defeats the purpose!" Shisui yells and dodges the elbow to his gut.

His damn shunshin is the problem.

If Sakura could somehow cut his speed down in half, she would take him and take him down. She counters his next movement by layering genjutsu over that section, spiderwebs – a subtle water ninjutsu – covered the chakra of the genjutsu and it's by sheer luck does he manage to tangle himself in the illusion.

Sakura doesn't waste any time, she grabs his arms immobilizing them with her chakra scalpels and slams his body onto the ground. Her knees tighten against his waist just as he breaks out of the genjutsu, sharingan burgundy as he blinks at the scene in front of him or in this case, on him.

She grins, "I win."

"That was a dirty trick," Shisui scowls, he wiggles underneath her and she shifts her weight to rest against his hips.

"I don't get how a sharingan user gets caught in a genjutsu," Sakura laughs and squeals when he lifts his hips up.

"You did something to it."

"I just layered a water ninjutsu over it," she wiggles on him purposefully, "It's not my fault."

"And my arms?"

"Chakra scalpels," she sniffs, "All nerve endings and muscles have lost all function."

Shisui's sharingan-colored eyes look at her in disbelief, "Well, are you going to put them back?"

"Are you going to concede defeat?"

He glares at her.

Sakura purposefully grinds over his lap and cocks an eyebrow at the hitch in his throat, "I can stay like this all day."

Shisui bites the inside of his cheek because dying of a hard-on isn't exactly on his to-do list, "Fine."

She beams in response, green chakra humming over her palms, she reattaches the tendons and resets the nerves. Having the feeling put back in his arms is a strange experience, it's like there's bubbles effervescing in his blood, it tingles and then there's movement.

Shisui gives squeezes his hand in front of her, testing his newly mobile limbs, snakes a hand to the back of her neck and pulls her mouth against his. Sakura makes a sound between a grunt and a laugh. She kisses him thoroughly, his glove-covered fingers slip beneath her shirt and he strokes the skin at her waist.

Sakura notices the blood trailing down his arms and pulls back with a frown, "I forgot about the kunai, give me."

She doesn't wait for him to offer his appendages, she heals the cuts on his forearms, not even battering an eyelash as he adjusts her position on his stomach. She cleans the rivulets of blood with a rag from her medical pouch.

"You know," Shisui starts off lightly, a twinkle falling into his obsidian eyes, his hands slips up the front of her shirt and gives her breasts a good squeeze when she finishes healing him, "I think this is my favorite position."

It's hard not to smile at this man because he's so, so Shisui.

"So your masculinity isn't threatened by my strength?" she asks quirkily, a smile twitching on her lips.

Shisui snorts and raises his knees, so she rests flatly against his chest, "I like a woman who can throw me around."

"Masochist," Sakura giggles.

"Sadist," he sings and pulls her with a mock-growl, "Now, c'mere."

Shisui rolls her over and—

A piercing shriek fills the air, it's so loud that the birds that were perched innocently on the telephone wires squawked and left the premise with the hefty sound of fluttering wings. The duo blinks simultaneously before shifting their head to the left.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's voice cracks, he looks faintly green and his nose wrinkles. Sasuke stands next to him looking gobsmacked, the most expressive since—since they were like twelve, and Sai who's just indifferent.

"Uh," she begins intelligently, quickly removing Shisui's hands from under her shirt she makes a move to sit up and gasps when she's shoved right back onto the ground. She glares at her—her Shisui.

Shisui looks pointedly down to his crotch and narrows his eyes.

Sakura is wise enough not to laugh.

"What?"

The blonde sputters, "What—What do you mean what?" he motions his hands to the two of them, "At least sit up I—"

It's like the ramen got to him and he's suffering hypertension.

"You're sleeping with my cousin?" Sasuke utters with disbelief.

"I do more than just sleep with him, Sasuke-kun," Sakura rolls her eyes unperturbed by his deduction, shifting her body so he can roll behind her, she sits on his lap, and smiles, "Sometimes he makes me lunch."

"I always make lunch."

"You buy lunch," she points out.

Shisui counters, "I make dinner."

Sakura nods in acceptance, "Sometimes he makes me breakfast too."

Naruto stammers, placing his hands on his hips, he retorts, "How long have you two been—been sleeping together?"

Sakura frowns at the term but does not reply.

"It'll be six months next week," Shisui shrugs, teeth glimmering in the sunlight.

Sai's eyes widen.

"So you're sleeping with him for food?" Sasuke deadpans, eyes flickering to red and then black.

The older Uchiha's arms tighten around her and she answers sunnily, "And riceballs—I swear their better than your mom's Sasuke."

Shisui laughs at the compliment, sunshine and warmth fissuring over him, he presses a kiss to her cheek, "Don't let her hear you say that."

Naruto stares at them with surprise. Maybe it's the wholeness of it all, he thinks. How comfortable Shisui looks, how he looks with her and how un-haunted he doesn't look. Naruto had noticed, since the Uchiha clan resurrection, the entire clan had looked at the village as if it were a ghost town like the entire village was just a dream. Trauma yes, that's what it was, but it was also the fact that they needed to adjust—they were dead.

But Shisui—Shisui looks alive and Sakura looks so happy.

Sakura gives them – her team thank you very much – lots of smiles, hugs, and warmth in general, but this time it's different. Sakura is smiling, but the type of smile she wants to hide because she fears that if she smiles like how she is right now, her face would break in half for the brightness of it all. She's biting her lip from smiling because she's just so happy and—

"You do realize you're going to be the one to tell baa-chan that you're dating, right?" Naruto snorts, he's a lot calmer than he was prior to his mental breakdown, he even smiles, "She's going to want to threaten him."

Sakura laughs nervously because Tsunade-sama is going to do a lot more than threaten Shisui.

"Why aren't you say anything?" Sasuke turns to Sai.

Sai blinks at the suddenness of the question, "Well emo, I already knew that these two were engaging in sexual intercourse."

Shisui snicker gets lost in Sakura's gasp.

"Since dickless's birthday," he nods, "He made his claim on her when Yuki-san tried to coerce her into sexual intercourse, but I doubt you two would remember because you were drinking your entire body weight in alcohol."

Sasuke is too stunned to reply.

"Made his claim?" Sakura parrots and turns to look at Shisui had the gall to shrug.

"You're off the market," he states flippantly.

"I'm not a piece of meat you can claim as your own, you caveman!"

Shisui kisses her sweetly, a little too quick to be chaste, "No, but you are mine."

Naruto interrupts before he decides to barf up his breakfast, "Just take care of her Uchiha, Sakura-chan looks a lot happier since—well, forever."

Sakura buries her hands in her head because she swears her face is about to burn off.

Shisui's arms just tighten around her.

.

"Kaa-chan," Sasuke starts off with narrowed brows at the dinner table.

Itachi raises a brow, because Sasuke rarely verbally interacts during dinner. He prefers the quiet, ignoring part of dinner, keeping to his thoughts and out of Fugaku's scrutiny – you're of age to be wedded Sasuke, is what his father had said one night – he sips his water with interest.

"Yes, Sasuke-chan?" Mikoto hums as she serves the last bits of her curry.

When she takes a seat at the table and watches her boys – and Shisui – dig into their meal, Sasuke finishes the attack, "Did you know Shisui is dating Sakura?"

Shisui, much to Sasuke's irritation, doesn't bat a lash.

And maybe this really is all Sasuke's fault, because his mother's eyes sparkle, not the quiet matriarch adoring sparkle, but the Uchiha-shinobi type of mischievousness that he had once seen in Itachi's eyes when he was younger.

"Sakura-chan, Shisui?" Mikoto inquires softly.

Shisui inclines his head.

"She's an excellent choice, Shisui," Fugaku nods in approval and picks up a piece of nori.

"I always thought she'd marry either Itachi-chan or Sasuke-chan," she muses and she absolutely adores the way Shisui tightens his grip on his chopsticks – she tries to smother her giggle inwardly – and continues picking up her cup of water, "But she's much better suited for you, Shisui-chan."

Shisui blinks at the elation in his aunt's voice, he asks softly, "Really?"

Mikoto smiles, "Of course. My son is so very kind and honorable, I know you will make her happy."

He stares at her for a moment, he wonders if she confused him for Itachi, but—

—my son. I know you—

Mikoto considers Shisui a son.

And it makes his heart squeeze because for so long he's been parent-less and he doesn't even remember what his own mother was like and he always felt like he was intruding when Itachi invites him for dinner or breakfast and—

"Just don't keep me away from my grandbabies," she says sternly, her eyebrows furrowing.

Sasuke chokes, "Grandbabies?"

"You are planning on marrying her, right Shisui?" Fugaku challenges him with dark eyes.

And this time he glares at Sasuke.

Itachi snickers quietly to the left of him.

Shisui inwardly scowls, instead, he looks directly at his younger cousin and smiles. It's a nice smile, Sasuke realizes dreadfully. Shisui, with as much Uchiha eloquent mannerism as he could summon, deliberately twirls his chopsticks in his noodles and replies, "Of course, Fugaku-sama. I was just waiting for the right time."

Mikoto could barely control herself, "I think it should be an autumn wedding! We'll have enough time to plan everything, though I don't know if Sakura-chan would want to get married in the spring or—"

"Maybe after our one year anniversary, Mikoto-obaa it's only been six months since I've begun courting her," Shisui tries to appease her excitement, "I'm taking her to Tea for our anniversary."

"How romantic!" she beams.

Sasuke scowls and snaps, "You cannot date Sakura."

"And why not, otouto?" Itachi chimes in.

"Because she's—she's," he struggles, "Because she's my teammate."

"Sakura will put you through a wall if you start telling her what to do," Shisui replies casually and chews his fish, "After all, she's mine."

And he didn't care for his parent's reactions, because Sakura is his and just this once, he will be selfish.

"Speaking of dating," Shisui changes the subject before Sasuke can attempt to spar him in the middle of dating, "How is Izumi-chan, Itachi?"

Fugaku, uncharacteristically, chokes.

.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sasuke stares at the papers half in shock, half in wariness.

Sakura scowls, "Do I look like an idiot, Sasuke?"

"You're dating Shisui, so I really don't know anymore."

Sakura slaps the back of his head and he falls to the ground with the grace of an elephant. She turns to his older brother with a pleasant smile, "What do you think, Itachi-san?"

Itachi chuckles at his little brother who stands up huffing and puffing, he nods, "It sounds feasible. How long would recovery be?"

"Seventy-two hours," she answers immediately, "For twenty-four of those hours you would be sleeping so forty-eight, approximately," she glances at her chart, "If the signs of inflammation of decrease, then less."

"And this is going to work?" Sasuke repeats his question.

"Eighty percent," Sakura shrugs, "If it doesn't work, you're just going to have different colors."

"When you say—"

"Sasuke," she inhales with frustration, "Nothing bad is going to happen."

I won't allow it.

Itachi glances at his brother, "What does father say about this?"

"If it's a success," she smiles at that, "Then he'll make it mandatory for the clan members with sharingan to overgo a transplant as well."

Sasuke blinks.

.

"Sakura, you're going to be half-dead tomorrow if you don't get some sleep," Shisui says groggily, he rubs his eyes and looks over the couch. Papers, notebooks and pens scatter the coffee table.

"I'll take a soldier pill," Sakura waves it off.

He narrows his eyes.

That is not what he wants to hear.

Sakura, who's so engrossed in her scrolls and research notes, finally notices Shisui's burning glare from the corner of the hallway and she sighs, "Shisui?"

He shuffles closer and looks down at her on the couch.

"Go to sleep," she says.

Shisui's eyebrow twitches and he grinds his teeth, "Sakura."

She has the audacity to flinch. She counters, straightening up on the couch, "What? Don't yell at me. I—" she flickers her gaze over to the cluttered coffee table notes, "I have to review all this."

"For what?"

Sakura's teeth curl into an angry frown, "For the surgery tomorrow."

Shisui blinks and his expression melts, "The transplant?" he shuffles over to the couch, he lays Sakura's head on his lap, "You're nervous."

She snorts, "Do you blame me?"

Shisui rolls his eyes, he presses his lips to her forehead and drags his mouth down to her cheek, "I wouldn't know, I'm not a doctor."

"Humor me," Sakura rolls her eyes.

Shisui purses his lips, "Sakura, you are probably the only person in the world that can make this work. If you can't do this, no one can."

"Tsunade-sama could—"

"Retired," he cut off bluntly, "Plus, she's been saying you surpassed her since you were sixteen, so really, you're the only person."

Sakura tries to look exasperated, but most of her anxiety clears, she pouts, "Shisui, I don't—this is your cousin and I don't…" she tightens her grip on her notebook, "He's suffered a lot and I don't want to screw it up."

There are moments, moments like this where Shisui knows that even if the sky were to collapse, or the ocean would swallow the earth, or even if the ground would disappear into the sea, Shisui could never stop loving Sakura more than the world needed oxygen. Because she loves everything so fiercely, so kindly, so gently, so earnestly—that sometimes he feels this dark, possessive edge in him to take her and hide her away from the world because the world did not deserve Haruno Sakura and he falls in love with her just that much.

"Sakura," he breathes sweetly over her mouth, "You're going to be fine, I'll be there with you. Every step of the way."

Sakura looks at him, "Every step of the way?"

Shisui promises her, "Whatever you need, I'm here for you."

.

"How are you boys feeling?" Mikoto's voice is soothing as she looks at both of her sons who rest on the hospital beds.

"I feel like I'm swimming in ramen," Sasuke mumbles drunkenly.

Naruto tries not to giggle from the doorframe.

"Isn't my hair, pretty?" Itachi asks sunnily.

Mikoto bites her lip from exploding into laughter, even Fugaku tries to swallow his grin.

Naruto cocks his head to the side and tells them, "Sakura-chan said they're going to be drugged up until dinner-time, so they should sleep it off once they've had a meal."

"We will take care of it," Fugaku replies.

The blonde nods.

"Where is Sakura-chan?" Mikoto asks, she stands up from her chair and continues, "I would like to thank her for all her hard work."

Naruto stares at her uncomfortable at the question, he scratches the side of his face, "Um, Sakura-chan collapsed after the surgery. She's resting in her office right now, I think she overworked herself."

She frowns, "Overworked herself? Where is her office?"

"Third floor, last door on the left," her blonde teammate hopes that Sakura doesn't kill him for giving out her whereabouts when she's unconscious.

The walk to her office is quiet, Fugaku behind her and it's impossible to not find her office, her door held the words Haruno Sakura. Second-in-Command MD.

"Sakura-chan?" Mikoto knocks on the door before she turns the knob and opens, "I heard—"

She stops her sentence abruptly, her eyebrows raise to her hairline and she stares at the scene in front of her with a quiet amount of surprise. Fugaku's quite exhale is enough to tell her that he feels the same way.

Shisui is lounging on the couch, Sakura's head on his lap, a blanket covered over her small form and when he turns his head to see the duo at the doorframe—he presses his index finger against his mouth in a shushing motion.

He strokes her hair soothingly and hums when she nuzzles into his stomach.

Shisui's smile is so warm that it makes Mikoto lean against Fugaku in gratefulness.

It's been a while since she's seen that smile.

.

"How's it feel?" Sakura asks as she rolls over on the grass and looks up. Shisui's just so cute playing nurse. He unravels their bandages slowly, taking his time with the scissors, and steps back as soon as it's off.

Sasuke stares at her with muted shock.

"I can see," Itachi sounds incredulous, "I can see."

Sharp. He could see texture, shade, contrast, the freckles on Sasuke's face, the pores on his arms and color.

"You can test out your sharingan in three hours," Sakura beams and latches herself to Shisui with such brightness that it blinds him for a bit, "Just give it some time to settle."

"Sakura," Sasuke breathes, a tiny smile quirks at his lips, "Thank you."

And for once, those words – they don't hurt.

.

"Yakisoba?" Shisui asks as Sakura places an order.

"I'm hungry," she frowns and watches the vendor pour her noodles into a paper plate, "Someone decided to take out their extra energy on me."

"I didn't hear any complaints," he laughs when she pokes him with her chopstick.

"I distinctly remember my mouth being occupied," Sakura sniffs and slurps some of her noodles. She hums with delight, "Zero-san really makes the best yakisoba, here try some," she swirls some noodles and lifts up her chopsticks for him to take a bite.

"Honestly forehead, you two are so cute it's almost nauseating," Ino interjects from the side of a stall, her hands full of cake ingredients.

Sakura turns her head after feeding Shisui and retorts, "You're just jealous. Sai doesn't feed you?"

Ino smiles salaciously, "Well if you must know—"

"I don't want to know," she interrupts with a flicker of disgust, she picks up a soybean and chews. She turns to Shisui, "What do you think of the noodles?"

"I can make better yakisoba," he licks the corner of his lip and she feeds him again.

Sakura cocks an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Really," Shisui chews his food swiftly.

"Then put your money where your mouth is, Uchiha," she picks up more food and chews it.

Ino doesn't like the fact that the two of them are practically ignoring her presence, but somehow, the two of them look untouchable, like they're stuck in their own little world and she can't really fault her best friend for being so in love.

.

"Zero-san's yakisoba is still godsent."

"Sakura, you had three plates of my yakisoba."

"Your point?"

.

When it's Shisui's birthday, Sakura wakes him up with his mouth on him and he swears he never came so fast. Ever. She kisses him thoroughly and the way she uses her chakra—fuck, he's so glad Sasuke messed with time travel, and he's not dead.

Sakura does that thing with her tongue against his pulse, grinds her hips in tiny circles and he moans.

He's really glad he's not dead.

She makes him breakfast. Miso soup, grilled fish, rice and a rolled omelet. It's simple and traditional, but it makes Shisui feel like it's a home—she's a home and his heart squeezes a little more when she pulls out a fluffy cheesecake from the oven because—

"—you can never have too many sweets, Shisui!"

All the things—the good things, the indulgent things, the peace he's been denied as a youth, he's getting it back. Full force and it nearly overwhelms him with how he's receiving it.

Who he's receiving it from.

He trains with Sasuke and Itachi, while Sakura's working a shift and Mikoto makes him lunch. Fugaku gives him one of his tantos he left in the basement somewhere and the sentiment nearly brings him to his knees. Itachi and Sasuke gifts two pictures. One is a blown-up portrait of the family—his family, one with Sasuke and Itachi and Fugaku and Mikoto and him in the Uchiha fields. The other is a picture of him and Sakura in the hospital—Mikoto took that one of them sleeping.

He receives congratulations from some clansmen, his shinobi and hell, even the Hokage gifts him with something.

"Icha Icha?" Shisui blinks at the title.

Kakashi smiles with his eyes, "Sakura-chan prefers violence, but I like tactics. You know the classic."

Shisui assumes that this is how he gains Kakashi's approval.

Later that day, Shisui heads home to see that Sakura throws him a surprise party. Clansmen, shinobi, Jounin—the entire lot. There is music, alcohol, food, presents and cake. Lemon cake, with vanilla cream and strawberries.

Shisui gives her a grin when she winks at him.

He dances with her drunkenly, silly, and Shisui is so happy.

And when everyone leaves, she yanks off her really pretty, red, sparkly dress and there is.

Black. Lace.

It's sexy, with lots of thin ribbons that crisscross into tsubaki flowers and it makes her satin-colored skin. His blood is running fire and his eyes flicker to red. His fingers drag up her skin and she loves the way his hair feels in her fingers. She looks so goddamn beautiful and he tells her with the rough velvet of his voice.

His fingers comb through her hair and she giggles into his mouth, "Happy birthday, Shisui."

Shisui can't wait for his birthday now. If it means waking up knowing that every day, knowing that each year that passes, Sakura is there to spend it with him, he'll continue to wake up and continue to love her for it, because his reality is so much better than a dream.

.

"I have a mission," Sakura groans rolling over onto her stomach, "There's an outbreak of a low-level virus spreading in Grass, I have to go cure it."

Shisui frowns, "What's wrong with that?"

"I'm going to miss Sasuke's birthday!" she whines, "I got him such a good present too!"

He rolls his eyes, "What did you get him?"

Sakura rummages in her bag, pulls out a book and tosses it to him. She takes pleasure in watching his eyes widen and his jaw drop. He's not sure if he should laugh or well, laugh. The cover was of a young girl in a desert and man – Sasuke because there is only one person in this world who's hair looks like that – watching her from afar, with knives in his hand and black smoke bleeding into the edges of the cover.

"What—?"

"Okay, so long story short. Sasuke saved the life of this girl when we were genin," Sakura starts off dramatically, "She was drowning in quicksand—her father was a rebel to one of the families, so they tried to track him down and instead they found his daughter. So they kidnapped his daughter and instead of you know, killing her, they decided to set her up in quicksand. So Sasuke set fire to the other nin and yanked her out of the quicksand. Turns out that her mother was a journalist for the village, she's been writing about the feud for years and so the girl that Sasuke saved became a writer—" she snorts when she points at the cover, "Though The Fire in Me is quite a title and she even got his hair down even though it's been like eight years!"

"I can't wait to see you give it to him," Shisui snickers.

"I can't either," she sighs.

.

"It's only one week," Sakura laughs as Shisui clings onto her at the front gate, she hugs him tighter.

He whines, "That's seven days!"

"I promise to keep the youthful flower safe! She is far too precious too not be anything of youth, Uchiha-san! If I shall fail I will two hundred laps around the village!" Lee salutes him with a bright smile.

Sakura leans up and kisses him on the mouth softly, "I'll see you soon."

Shisui swallows a lump in his throat, he presses his lips onto her forehead and he says sincerely, seriously, "Come back to me."

Come back to me.

.

It's been eight days.

Shisui is about to lose his fucking sanity.

His body coils tightly with chakra, eyes flickering back from red to black and he shoots off like a bullet when an ANBU operative shows up at his door. It takes him five seconds to get to the Hokage Tower, by this time, protocol is barely registering in his head because he opens the door chakra heavy.

"Sakura?" Shisui asks quickly, he barely manages to bow the first time.

Kakashi looks exhausted, angry, but exhausted. Sasuke and Naruto already in the room, Itachi appearing from the window. His words are tight, violent and curt, "Captured. The team managed to report before the collapsed with injuries, they are being wheeled into surgery as we speak," he stands up and tosses Shisui the scroll, "Whoever captured her wants the sharingan and knows that she's the only one able to transplant correctly. Normally, I wouldn't send sharingan-users to on this particular mission because of the mission itself, but I have no choice," Kakashi's eyes are dark, stormy and emotion leaks heavy into his tone, "Bring her home."

.

Usually, Itachi takes the lead on such missions. Kidnapping and ransoms, hell, the occasional seduction mission, but this one—this one was personal, because Kakashi knows, that nothing would stop Shisui from bringing Sakura home.

The trek to Grass country is a two days journey, but with the way Uchiha-taichou travels, it's a one and half-day journey.

"Here," Sasuke hands him two rice balls, "You need to eat Shisui."

Shisui turns to look at him with heavy eyes.

"Sleep too," Naruto adds in, his face is grim, eyes bluer than the skies, "We can't help Sakura-chan if we're exhausted."

Shisui's hands tighten, rice balls turning into mush, and his eyes flicker to red.

"Shisui," Itachi is the only one brave enough to grasp his shoulder, he looks at him with quiet assurance, "Sakura is strong, she's not going to break, she'll be fine."

Shisui inhales shakily, he knows she's fine and she will be fine—

But what if she's not?

.

Sakura's head is swimming, but she snaps her attacker's heads as if they are made of paper and they fall to the ground like nothing.

God, she is so tired, but if they think they can touch her and live to tell the tale—they have another thing coming.

She should leave the leader alive because she knows—she knows in her bones that Shisui is coming and there would be nothing to anchor him to reality once he figures out who is behind this.

She wishes she could be awake to see it, but the poison is heavy and she's so tired.

.

"Her chakra is weak, but she's there. She's alive," Naruto can feel her in the warehouse, her chakra feels like it's stuttering, but it's there.

"How many people?" Shisui asks, his muscles taut with tension, he's just barely restraining himself from flickering over to her and—

"One," he frowns, "There are other bodies, but they're dead."

Sasuke cracks a smirk, "I told you she would take care of them."

He didn't say that, but that's beside the point.

"Engage in two," Shisui commands and his sharingan blazes.

.

"We need him alive—" Sakura can hear Itachi hiss and she's barely conscious of it all.

"—seriously, we need to bring him back to T&I, Shisui!"

"Shi—" Sakura's voice feels like it's swimming and she's sure there is blood in her mouth.

There are hands on her, "—kura."

It goes up in bubbles.

.

Shisui uses shunshin in a dizzying pattern, it depletes his chakra quicker, but he needs to get her to the hospital fast. Her pulse is thready and she's coughing up blood. Poison. That's what Sakura had said, before she lost consciousness. It would have been better if she was cut and had broken limbs because her seal could've taken care of those things—but poison, that's internal.

The rest of his team is briefing the Hokage.

"Get Shizune," Shisui barely recognizes his own voice when he flickers into the hospital, his body in a state when the nurse realizes who's in his eyes.

And it's instant chaos.

Shizune is running into the lobby and she yells out numbers.

"—destroying her uterus! I need an IV drip and an oxygen mask!"

Shisui's heart drops into his stomach.

.

The faint beeping sound of her heart monitor is the only thing that keeps him grounded outside the room. Tsunade-sama had appeared an hour into the surgery, she walks out of the operating room and Shisui is dead on his feet—

"She's going to be fine," Tsunade tells him tiredly.

Shisui blacks out after that.

.

Sakura comes to the feeling of something warm grasping her left hand, holding it in place, she blinks up at the ceiling blearily and she realizes faintly that she's in the hospital. She turns her head to see Shisui's head resting against her hand, the one that's holding her's and he looks so tired that it breaks her heart.

She gives his hand a good squeeze and watches with awe as his head snaps to look at her.

Shisui's eyes blaze red and then flicker to coal.

She smiles, "Hey."

He sighs deeply, like a weight falls of his chest and he murmurs, "Sakura."

"What happened?" Sakura's voice is rough, she tries to sit up and he helps her. Grabbing a cup from the nightstand, he pours her a cup of water and helps her drink.

"Poison," Shisui replies quietly, "It attacked your chakra system and seeped into your uterus. Tsunade-sama managed to remove all the traces before it did more damage. Your team is fine, they're still resting in their rooms," he cups her hands and continues, "The poison ate at your reserves, you're going to have to build them back up again, you're off the roster for two months to recuperate—that includes working in the hospital."

Sakura glares at him for a moment and then sighs, "Yeah I figured, did you find that stupid blonde—the one with the scar? I left him for you."

Shisui's smirk is feral, his voice unkind, "I found him."

"Good."

Shisui looks at the tubes stuck in her veins and realizes just how reckless he had been. His emotions were distraught and muddy, but no one has blamed him. Not one. He allowed his emotions to get the better of him, but seeing Sakura so weak and powerless in front of him, made something in him snap.

He thought the worse.

He didn't know if they tortured her or if they raped her—

He didn't know and it drove him mad.

It drove to the point where he didn't care if he lived or died, as long as she was okay, looking at him, smiling at him and telling him that he was annoying, but not being able to tell her where his mission would take him and that he couldn't take a mission with her because of their difference in rank—

"I'm resigning from ANBU," Shisui says suddenly, he takes a seat next to her, she shuffles over and places himself in between his legs.

Sakura blinks, "What?"

"I'm resigning from ANBU," he repeats, wrapping his arms around her, he buries his head into her neck, "I'm going to be a Jounin teacher."

She's in shock, but she giggles all the same, "Shisui-sensei, huh?"

"Don't ruin it for me," he grumbles and kisses her forehead.

Sakura asks quietly, "Why are you resigning?"

Shisui pauses, "I want to be with you all the time," his fingers brush over her arms, the paleness of her forearms makes him sick, "I don't want to go on ANBU missions knowing that I don't know when the next time I'll see you is. I want to come back to you. I want to be here, next to you. I need to be with you—I can't go through this again."

She whispers, "Shisui."

Shisui is crying into her neck, shuddering breaths wrack his body, his voice cracks, "Don't ever do that to me again. I don't know if I can take it. I've lost everything before," he breathes, tears hot on her skin, "Everything. I gave up everything. You are the only thing I won't give up—the only person, Sakura I won't allow it."

Sakura's heart is shaking in her chest, the medication makes her dizzy, but the emotion is raw. Her hands grasp his, she squeezes his arms and her voice is wet, "Shisui, I'm sorry,"

"I love you," Shisui says it. He finally says it and its painful with ardor, like he doesn't know how else to say it, "I love you and God help me if you put me through that again."

"I'm sorry," Sakura breathes and she promises, "I won't do it again."

His laugh is painful and wonderful at the same time.

"I love you too," Sakura replies softly, "But you don't have to leave ANBU to see me and be with me. I know you like it there."

Shisui is quiet for a few moments, his fingers brushing her arms soothingly, almost as if he doesn't believe she's really here, there, in his arms and he tells her, "I want to marry you, you know. I want to come home every day and see you. I can't do that if I'm in ANBU."

It's time he starts living his life.

Sakura tries to calm her heart, the machine, however, is unhelpful because it displays and records the rapidness of her heart beats and she swears if Shisui is grinning, she may very well kill him.

"That is not how you propose," she says weakly, her heart monitor spiking and she tries to look everywhere but at him.

"Sakura I'm leaving ANBU," Shisui is smiling into her neck, "I'm going to be a Jounin teacher, I'm going to marry you, Mikoto-obaa is going to plan an autumn wedding, Itachi will be the best man, Sasuke and Naruto will be the bridesmaids, and we're going to have lots of babies."

Sakura sputters, "I don't remember agreeing to this proposal and," she blinks, "Babies? More than one?"

"I want five."

"You better find another wife if you want five—I am not a factory."

"So, is that a yes?" Shisui turns to look at her, her head resting in the crook of his elbow, his eyes are red—he wants to remember this moment, every flicker of light, every facial expression that warms over her face.

She doesn't disappoint, emerald eyes soften, her lips part, "You're the only one I want."

Sakura swears, she falls in love with him a little bit more when he smiles like that, when he holds her like that because Shisui makes her so inexplicably, so deliriously happy that she feels so full and whole with him.

Ino may murder her for making Sasuke her maid of honor—

—but Shisui, he was just it.

.

Thank you for reading :)