A/N: Firstly, I'd just like to start off by saying I literally love Naruto. This story is not a Naruto-bashing fic whatsoever. His character in this fanfiction is in no way meant to represent how I see him, it's just simply who he is in this Alternate Universe for this Bestfriend's Girlfriend trope/headcannon. I know this story is controversial, but that's kind of the point. Nobody in this fic is really innocent.

Secondly, this fic was just supposed to be a short angsty smutfic, so i'm sorry if anyone expected a 100k word story. Short, sad, sweet, and hot. A guilty pleasure fic, if you will. xD

Anyway, enjoy this thicc ass chapter that I almost never uploaded. Special thanks to Loonymoony & Littlecreepy-girl for beta reading :D

My Bestfriend's Girlfriend

chapter 5

x

x

x

Sakura is worse off than him.

She doesn't smile anymore, doesn't really react to much. The light is gone from her eyes and her thoughts are a constant jumbled mess of self-hatred and mental self-torture.

She avoids mirrors and anything that has a reflective surface, unable to stomach even looking at herself.

Unable to forgive herself.

Every time she looks into Naruto's happy cerulean eyes, she hates herself even more.

"What's wrong, babe?" He asks as they crawl into bed one night. Sakura flips off her bedside lamp but Naruto keeps his on, concern glimmering in his eyes as he rolls over to see her face. "You've been acting really strange these past few weeks . . . Are you okay?"

She stares up at the ceiling in silence, eyes empty.

"Is it because . . . I forgot our anniversary?"

"No." She whispers, thighs squeezing together as she imagines Sasuke moving deep inside her.

Strong fingers digging into her skin, hips hammering into hers as if to nail her to his bed; she doesn't remember sex ever feeling so good.

She doesn't remember anything feeling so good.

Her core involuntarily pulses at the thought that he is just on the other side of the wall; shirtless, messy black hair, bedroom eyes, the softest lips—

Is he thinking of me too?

A pang of shock jolts her from her shameless thoughts, heart dropping into her stomach.

She shifts to look at Naruto then; at the worry in his eyes.

And then, as she looks at him, truly looks at him—his tanned skin, whiskered scars on either cheek, sunshine blond hair, and an ocean of love in his eyes—she tries to feel something.

Anything but the remorse rotting her soul.

She tries to feel the genuine love she once held for him, tries to remember the way she felt years ago when he kissed her for the first time in the front seat of his car parked in his parent's driveway.

She tries to remember the way her heart would pound every time he held her hand, the way her stomach would flip at the way he looked at her, the way his hands held her hips as he rocked into her for the first time.

The rush, the butterflies, the thrill—

Everything that should be there is simply not. No matter how deep she reaches, no matter how terribly she aches to feel something that is not there . . .

Still, she tries.

She tries to feel something that isn't pity, tries to feel how she's supposed to feel laying in bed with the man she's supposed to marry one day.

She tries to feel . . .

How Sasuke makes her feel.

But as she looks at the genuine concern marring her boyfriend's face, she finds—with ice in her heart—that she feels . . .

Scared.

"Well, if something's bothering you, just say so, y'know. I hate when you get all cold shouldered and distant—reminds me too much of the bastard." He frowns a little, eyes thoughtful as he pauses. "I do love you, Sakura. You know that, right?"

She nods, throat tightening.

'You have no idea,' Sasuke's drunken voice whispers in her heart, sending butterflies flapping along the walls of her stomach at the memory, 'how long I've wanted this.'

Naruto leans in to tap his lips against hers.

She sleeps facing the wall.

- x -

"You don't get to choose who you love, Sasuke."

The younger Uchiha scowls as Itachi places a steaming mug of black coffee before him, taking a seat across the table. Identical onyx eyes gleam with intrigue over the rim of his own mug as he takes a sip, eyeing his younger brother in a way that makes him feel twelve.

"That's not what I asked."

Itachi studies him for a long moment, considering him with a look that is neither praising nor patronizing.

Sasuke shifts in his seat, annoyed. It was mortifying enough seeking him out like this as it is.

Unreadable, Itachi cooly sips his drink, a sage of wisdom so unlike his domestic surroundings.

Another long silence passes before the elder Uchiha finally sets his mug on the table top. Sasuke unconsciously straightens his posture, ears perking at whatever scholarly advice his brother might offer, desperate for answers.

Itachi interlaces his fingers on the tabletop, the edges of his eyes softening with an emotion Sasuke has troubling defining.

"But you do love her."

His reply is instantaneous; he's never been so sure of something in his life.

"Yes."

It's then that Itachi fixes him with a look so sharp, so undeniably powerful, that a shockwave of fear ripples down Sasuke's spine.

"Tell her."

- x -

It didn't used to be like this, Sakura can't help but think as Naruto shrugs on his Konoha University jacket, back turned.

He didn't used to get mad like this, he didn't used to be like this.

"Hurry up, Sakura." He ushers as he grabs his keys. "How do you take so long to get ready? What the hell do you even do in there?" He turns to point a finger at the digital clock on the microwave that reads 8:06PM, "Didn't you hear what time I told you to be ready by? It's after eight, so now we're going to be late."

She lightly touches her freshly straightened hair, self conscious. "I, uh—I thought it was a date, so I—"

"A date?" He interjects, genuinely surprised. "I already told you we were meeting Kiba and Hinata at the bars."

"Is that . . . not a date?" She asks, eyes stinging like hellfire and tears threatening to spill over her cheeks. As Kiba and Hinata have been seeing each other, naturally, Sakura had taken it as a double date.

On his way to pour himself a glass of water, Sasuke stops dead in his tracks the moment he hears their voices, secretly listening from the shadowed hallway.

"It can be whatever you want it to be, I guess." He shrugs, turning away from her with a frown. His deep voice is not unkind, only honest. "But I'm going to be watching the game. You can drink Margaritas with Hinata or something, okay? Or whatever it is you guys do."

Sakura hates Margaritas you fucking idiot, Sasuke scowls.

"Okay." She whispers, unable to summon the anger she so desperately wants to feel. Reduced to smoldering embers, her inner spirit flickers weakly before submitting to defeat.

The moment they leave, Sasuke slams his door shut, thirst long forgotten.

- x -

Sitting in the stands of Naruto's football game, as a rush of cheers and whistles explode all around her when they score, all she can think about is Sasuke's lips on hers. The tenderness of his touch, the gentleness in his eyes, the silky feel of his dark locks between her fingers, the feel of him moving inside of her—

She hides her face against the biting wind of October, unable to stop the rush of tears spilling from her eyes and dampening the sleeves of her coat. And she hates it; she hates that their one night stand has flipped her whole world upside down, and not just because she's now a cheating tramp.

But because every time Naruto tries to have sex with her, she's nearly repulsed after comparing it with the way Sasuke fucked her senseless. Naruto's movements are disjointed and unrhythmic and so . . . so not him. And it wasn't until Sasuke pounded her into his mattress with the force of a freight train that she realized just how terrible she and Naruto's sex life had become, among other things. Not to mention Sasuke's length is so much fuller, so much longer—so much better.

She would be lying if she said she doesn't touch herself long after Naruto falls asleep, shame rippling over her as she envisions him inside of her again—his bruising hands on her body, his hungry lips on hers, the lean tightness of his muscles like satin over steel, his tongue exploring and dancing over every inch between her thighs.

And God, his kisses—

Why, Sakura thinks, couldn't he at least have been terrible in bed? Or at least just fucking ordinary?

But of course, nothing about Sasuke Uchiha is ever just fucking ordinary. It has never been, even since they were kids.

He was always better—faster, stronger, smarter, cooler, hotter.

Always, he was extraordinary. Always, he is perfect.

All around her, students scream and shout with exhilarating school spirit but she hears nothing but those four words ringing in her ears.

'Do you regret it?'

She cries harder then. Because deep within, buried in the darkest most secretive place inside of her soul, she knows she doesn't regret it one single fucking bit.

She wants more of him.

No, she doesn't just want more; she wants all of him.

Sakura doesn't just want sex, she wants his kisses. She doesn't just want his touch, she wants his embrace. She doesn't just want his rasping breath in her ear, she wants his quiet laughter in the dark at 3AM when they're still awake when they aren't supposed to be, swapping embarrassing memories of each other like they've done for years.

And it's then, as she blinks through her blurry vision across the expanse of the football field where Naruto slams the ball onto the turf with a victory roar and a chest bump to his teammate—as she remembers pale fingers running through her hair, caressing along her spine, tilting her chin upward to meet the soft press of his lips, the gentleness in his dark eyes burning into hers—

She remembers all the times he held her when she cried over the smallest mistakes, over the pettiest arguments with Naruto, and even over her period cramps, of all things.

There has never been a time he hadn't offered his shoulder to lean on.

She remembers when he held her hair back as she wretched into the toilet New Years Eve when the tequila hit a little too hard and Naruto had gagged, refused to come near her.

She remembers when a box full of king-sized candy bars on Valentine's day appeared on her bed along with a card that read 'I got these as a gift from someone in my class, but I don't like sweets. -Sasuke'

How coincidental, she had thought, that they all just so happened to be her favorites.

She remembers when her first hamster died and Naruto couldn't understand why she had been upset. 'You can just get a new one,' he had said seriously, unaware of how callous he sounded. But Sasuke—sweet, understanding, wonderful Sasuke—had driven to her house that evening, long after Naruto had gone. He had snuck in through her window, backpack heavy on his back. When his feet hit the carpet, he simply dropped the bag to floor and crawled in bed with her, held her as she cried.

It wasn't until after her tears dried that he began pulling things out of the bag—her favorite candy, movies, and a scrappy little paper that he unfolded to reveal a short eulogy and a picture of Mr. Bugsy, her deceased hamster.

'Sorry about the . . . quality,' he had apologized quietly, if not a bit awkwardly. His cheekbones held a hint of color. 'I used a picture you sent me from a while ago and I . . . printed it from Itachi's computer.'

She threw her arms around him then and wept harder; not from grief, but because his simple yet kind gesture made her heart swell with gratitude. Of course, having not understood why she began crying again, Sasuke had thought he only made things worse.

'I'm sorry, I thought—'

'Thank you so much, Sasuke.' she whispered against the warm nape of his neck.

He slipped a movie in and they huddled under the blankets, sharing snacks and body warmth. And when he thought she had been too engrossed with the movie to notice, he reached for some trail mix before his arm carefully slid around her shoulders, tucking her head beneath his chin. Looking back, she ought to have noticed the way his heart raced against her ear.

Sasuke had stayed in bed with her until dawn, where he snuck out before her parents could discover a teenage boy snuggled up in their daughter's bed. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, the scent of him lingering on her sheets.

So many times, he had been there for her. Far too many times for it to be coincidental.

And in every memory Sakura has, it isn't Naruto that is right there by her side, but Sasuke.

Always, it has been Sasuke.

The realization strikes her like lightning; swift, unexpected, and damning.

'I want you too, Sakura,' his drunken confession drifts through her head, 'More than anything.'

She wishes he were here, suddenly. At her side, where he's always been. Where he's meant to be. If he were sitting with her now, she knows he'd be draping his jacket over her shoulders against the sharp wind, a disapproving frown at her choice of such a thin coat.

'You'll get sick.' He'd scold, melodramatic and irrational.

Always worried about her health.

'Better?' He'd ask with that heart stopping half-smile when she'd hug his jacket around her shoulders and snuggle into its new warmth.

Always making sure she's comfortable, warm, and happy.

And it's here, sitting alone in the stands surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans, beneath the bright fluorescent lights shining down on the tears glossing her cheeks, that Sakura realizes she's in love with Sasuke Uchiha.

But it's also here, that Sakura realizes her life just got a hell of lot more complicated.

She inhales sharply, attempting to breathe—

Her phone buzzes in her coat pocket.

She pulls it out, sniffling down at the caller ID across her screen, only for her hand to stifle a relieved sob when she sees it's a call from the only person who has ever made her feel like she's enough.

'Sasuke Uchiha'

But her heart lurches with fear and before she can stop herself, fingers dart to decline the call. Eyes wide, regret flips her stomach when she realizes what she's just done as the ringer falls silent in her palm.

You're a coward, she whispers to herself, fingers tightening around the device. A fucking coward.

After a moment of tense silence, staring down at the phone, she waits for him to call again.

He doesn't.

More tears fall down her face and the longer she stares at the blank screen, the more panic begins to sprout within her. But just as she goes to slide it back into her pocket, it vibrates in her hand.

'1 new voicemail'

Her heart free falls. A sudden rush of exhilaration flits through her veins at those words across her screen; apprehension curling deep within her gut.

Sasuke left me . . . a message?

Standing up among the cheering crowd and not sparing a single glance at Naruto who's just scored another touchdown, she sneaks away from the football field and practically runs across the parking lot to her boyfriend's empty car. The sick anticipation swirling in her gut guides her quick feet across the asphalt, heart aching with every step.

The minute she jumps into the seat and closes the car door, she hits play on the message and presses the phone to her ear with trembling fingers.

At first, there is an agonizingly long silence. And just as disappointment rolls over her when she thinks he's left her a blank message—

". . . Hey," comes his hesitant murmur through the speaker, and Sakura can hear in that single syllable just how hard it had been for him to work up the courage to call.

"I know we aren't . . . really talking right now. But I just wanted you to know that—"

A pause.

"That I . . . really am sorry, Sakura . . . For everything."

An exhale.

"I never meant to hurt you like this."

It's this sentence that she suddenly notices a slight slur to his words that she hadn't noticed before. As if he's had a drink or two.

Or five.

"And I know you probably still need some . . . time, but I think that if I don't say what I need to say right now, then I might not ever get the chance again."

Sakura's heart races, clutching the phone tighter against her ear as if it can bring him closer.

But the next words in her ear sends the world spiraling around her; two words carrying the weight of six years worth of regret for all their brevity.

"I lov—"

Her heart drops into her stomach.

Sasuke cuts himself off with a shuddering breath, and then corrects himself after a pause.

"—I miss you."

Another breath.

". . . a lot."

I love you, he was going to say.

Endless tears slide down her cheeks. A hand over her mouth represses her choking sob.

I love you.

Shoulders shaking and throat constricting, her heart shatters at the agony saturating his soft voice as he continues to murmur into her ear.

"I'm starting to think that you hate me. But I hope one day . . . we can be friends again. And I know you sleep on the other side of my wall every night, but it feels like . . . " His voice shakes, "you're so fucking far away right now."

His quiet voice breaks on the last word, as if a sudden wave of grief cracks him just on the other side of the phone.

There's a deafening silence filled only by his unsteady breathing. Sakura closes her eyes, chest twisting with regret of her own. Hot tears stream down her cheeks, rolling over the palm that's still firm over her mouth.

Muffled music and laughter in the background suddenly flows through the speaker, as if he's in a secluded room or bathroom at some bar and someone's just opened the door. He's intoxicated, she knows. But that changes nothing—if anything, it only makes her chest clench even tighter.

Because drunken words are sober thoughts.

I love you.

A distant male voice calls his name from the background; whoever he's out drinking with.

"But that's, uh—that's all I called to say. I have to go now, so. . . I'll let you go." She hears his breath quicken. And then a single word so soft she almost doesn't catch it: "Sorry."

Click.

It was only minutes ago that Sakura realized she's in love with Sasuke Uchiha.

But it's here that she realizes, as the phone remains pressed against her ear long after his voice has disappeared—

That she has always been.

- x -

.

.

.

She holds the phone against her ear with both hands and replays the voicemail for the third time, desperately clinging to every recorded breath, every shaky inhale, every quiet word.

'I lov—'

—you, she finishes for him.

I love you, Sasuke.

.

.

.

- x -

Sasuke hadn't really intended to send her that voicemail; even if every word he spoke was the truth. The urge had been born of desperation when her favorite song had begun playing over the speakers of the bar he and Suigetsu had been occupying—where he had been attempting to loosen his thoughts of pink hair and laughing green eyes.

Nevertheless, nearly a week after he sends that drunken message, Sasuke notices a shift.

At first, he catches her glancing at him from the corner of her eye, almost nervously, as if she's expecting him to speak to her, or if she thinks he expects her to speak to him.

After that vulnerable mess of a voicemail, he doesn't need to wonder why she's acting so strange. Despite this, to even his own surprise, Sasuke can't find it in himself to be embarrassed by his confession.

After all, it was—and is—the simple truth.

In fact, now that it's been said and done, regardless of the circumstances, he knows it should have been said much sooner. There are just some words that need to be heard, whether someone wants to hear them or not.

Even if I couldn't properly admit to her what really counts.

But . . .

Sasuke is painfully aware of the difficult position he's putting her in.

Sakura's in a committed relationship, and despite her betrayal, he knows his own advancement is only making this whole situation more complicated. And even though 'I miss you' might have been an innocent enough excuse to call her then, it has a very different meaning now.

When her glances begin to increase in frequency, it dawns on him that she's looking at him with something akin to curiosity—like she's never seen him before.

A million questions swim in her eyes with every flicker of green in his direction. Full of wonder, and dare he say interest.

Then, one day, with a seed of hope sprouting inside his heart, he catches her in the act; staring at him from across the table while the three of them are out for dinner.

They sit at Ichiraku's, a place they have been frequenting for years in favor of Naruto's insatiable love for ramen. Sasuke personally hates the place, but if Sakura goes, the Uchiha suddenly has a magical appetite for ramen.

Under the dim lamplight of their table, Naruto shovels lump after lump of noodles into his gullet, droplets of broth flying everywhere but his mouth.

Off to the side, Sakura absently sips her diet cola. Throughout the period of their unspoken rule of no-contact-whatsoever, he has never quite been able to stop himself from stealing glances at her. It wasn't like she was ever going to catch him when her green eyes were purposely fixed on anything but him, anyway.

But today, as Sasuke preforms his usual routine of sneaking a quick glance at her with the guise of taking a large drink of water, he tips his head back, obsidian orbs peeking over the rim of his glass to casually catch a glimpse of her—

Only for his eyes to meet hers.

He nearly chokes, stomach lurching with shock, because it's the first time in so long that they have properly made solid eye contact.

Sasuke slowly lowers the glass to the tabletop, heart thumping at an alarming rate inside of his chest and palms sweating.

Because she doesn't look away.

Sakura holds his gaze, teeth nibbling her lower lip and the lightest dust of pink on her cheeks. He stares right back, almost disbelievingly, as he struggles to control his breathing right across from her.

He hears the light tapping of a foot under the table.

At the sound, his ears raise in temperature and his eyes dart away, all at once feeling like a lovesick fool. His stomach does backflips as he feels her eyes on his face. He clears his throat. When he chances another glance at her—

The whisper of a shy smile lifts her lips, cheeks now as bright as her hair when she finally lowers her gaze. Her smile widens.

And it's such a beautifully innocent moment that Sasuke melts, falling in love with her all over again.

- x -

When they cross each other on campus, their eyes meet for a flicker of a moment before they glide right passed each other.

Like strangers with a secret.

Every time they walk by each other in the house, their eyes meet before they quickly drop, pretending as if their hearts aren't aching for one another.

As if they aren't suffering in the ringing silence that still stretches between them.

Every time they're in the same room together, no matter where they are, no matter who's around them—like opposite ends of a magnet, their eyes lock; a gaping expanse between them filled with everything left unsaid.

And it hurts them so badly, knowing that they are always so close and yet so far; an invisible thread tugs taut between their hearts each time one of them walks out of the room.

Sasuke can't help but wonder, with no small amount of fear, if she's ever going to speak to him again. It's somewhat of an irrational thought, considering their deeply rooted friendship, but it's a terrifying idea all the same. More often than not does it keep him stirring in his bed all through the night.

Already he has loved her from a distance for so long, but it had been a tolerable distance. A distance in which he still stood somewhat of a chance.

This distance, however, is nothing of the sort.

Whereas before he could spend the day with her and imagine she was his, where he could imagine every tinkling laugh and bright smile was for him and only him. Before, he could still touch her, hug her, talk to her.

Where she had once been only a step away from him, now she is a thousand.

- x -

On the first of November, Naruto gets into an accident.

The promise of winter has frozen the roads solid and black ice permeates the asphalt; a hazard unseen by distracted cerulean eyes. His car tires screech as he slides into an intersection and an oncoming SUV smashes into the driver's side.

Paramedics rush him to the ER fifteen minutes later.

In the hospital, Sakura steps into the hallway, clipboard in hand as she finishes checking off the vitals of her last patient of the evening when the double doors down the corridor burst open, four paramedics carting in a bloody man on a stretcher.

A bloody man with rugged tan skin and red-matted blond hair.

The clipboard clatters to the floor.

"Naruto!" Sakura screams.

She's at his side in seconds, sprinting along with the paramedics that wheel him at remarkable speed to the ER.

The next twenty minutes are a blur of fluorescent lights, vivid red blood, swift working hands, and the resounding pulse of the ECG monitor.

"You shouldn't be in here, Sakura." A woman admonishes behind a surgical mask, hazel eyes never looking up as her deft fingers thread the last stitch through tan skin. "You're an intern."

Sakura ignores this as she adds more morphine to her boyfriend's IV, glassy eyes flicking to the heart monitor every three seconds as if she expects him to flatline at any moment.

"He's going to be okay." Tsunade assures her pupil, a foreign touch of pity beneath her stern voice.

- x -

Sasuke shoves through the hospital room at 2AM, dark hair windblown and obsidian eyes wild with worry, disoriented from having just been woken up from a jarring phone call and racing through every red light to get to the hospital.

He wears nothing but a dark navy hoodie over wrinkled denim; clearly having thrown on the first thing he saw.

When he sees Naruto resting peacefully on the hospital bed, bandaged but whole, his heaving chest deflates with a relieved exhale. He clambers to his bedside, dropping into the chair and sinking into the worn cushion, burying his face in his hands.

"Fuck." He whispers into his palms, heart thrashing with the tapering anxiety that his best friend could have just been killed.

Clad in her nurse's uniform long after her shift has ended, Sakura sits on the other side of the bed, swollen eyes downcast and a hand intertwined with her boyfriend's scathed one.

The ECG monitor blips steadily in the silence between them.

He hears her inhale.

"Distal radial fracture, mild concussion, whiplash, and twenty-six stitches."

Sasuke's head snaps up, blinking in disbelief at the first words she's uttered to him in two and a half months.

"S—"

"He's going to be okay." She murmurs softly, as if she's talking to herself and not the man just across the bed.

He stares at her for a moment. Then, his obsidian orbs hesitantly drift to his friend's face; mottled with bruises, a freshly stitched gash across his forehead, and split lip.

"What happened?" Sasuke breathes, eyes stuck on the nasty black splotch on Naruto's cheekbone before he takes note of his right arm in a sling.

The sight is severely off-putting.

"He slid into an intersection." Is all she has to say, moving to brush blond locks out of his bruised face.

There's a comprehensive silence in which the situation slowly sinks in. Sasuke shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"I was really scared, but he's going to be fine." She promises, eyes soft as she studies her unconscious boyfriend. "He's just a little beat up, that's all. He should be healed up in about a month or two—nothing ramen won't fix."

She laughs dryly, eyes never straying from Naruto's face.

Sasuke nods in response, glancing at her before his shoulders slacken. With his relief comes a wave of weariness, the lost sleep he had swiftly abandoned creeping up on him.

He and Sakura sit together in somewhat of a bearable silence for the next two hours.

In the dim white room, Sakura consistently checks Naruto's vitals and Sasuke fights his exhaustion, heavy lids threatening to shut as he slumps in his seat, arms crossed. He's just beginning to fall asleep, head nodding off, when a quiet voice finally breaks the silence.

"Why?"

Dark lashes flutter open, obsidian eyes dazed. He hums in question, not quite awake.

"Why did we do that, Sasuke?"

The serious question has him blinking away his sleep immediately. He sits upright in the chair, purposely rubbing at his eyes to hide his panic.

"Do what?" He asks casually, as if he doesn't think about what they've done every second of every day. When there's no immediate response, his stomach twists in knots and he swallows, hesitantly looking up at the woman who haunts his every waking thought.

Across the bed, swollen red-rimmed eyes stare back at him.

Breath hitching, he is suddenly stricken by her disheveled beauty; taken completely off guard by how strangely attractive she looks in this moment.

Her pink ponytail, which he assumes was once neat and professional at the beginning of her shift, is loose and careless at the back of her head, several choppy strands poking every which way. The whites of her eyes are bloodshot and weary, making her sea-foam irises almost incandescent. The almond shape of her eyes make her appear almost feline in nature, and her long lashes are heavy with fatigue.

The primal urge to kiss her has his fingers twitching. His pants suddenly feel uncomfortably tight.

To his surprise, however, there's no anger in those radiant eyes. No betrayal, sadness, nor anguish in her glistening orbs like he'd been afraid he'd find the moment he looked up.

Instead, he finds something so much worse.

Emptiness.

The ECG monitor continues to blip evenly, green line jumping in time with Naruto's sleeping heartbeat.

Sasuke and Sakura simply stare at one another from across the bed.

"You still haven't told him."

It isn't a question.

At this, a pang of guilt flashes across her eyes before she blinks it away. She looks to her sleeping boyfriend, expression tight and lips tugging downward. She doesn't answer.

"Sakura . . ." he frowns, voice firm with disapproval. When he had said 'not yet', he hadn't meant never.

She winces, closing her eyes before she whispers: "I can't!"

". . . Then don't."

Sakura's bright eyes snap to his, confused. "What?"

"We won't tell him."

"Sasuke—"

"Do you regret it?" He repeats that same question, unable to pass up another chance at seeing the truth. Because now that she's here with him, finally speaking to him after weeks of endless silent torture, he can't waste another opportunity to witness the reality for himself.

He needs to know now, before she has the chance to turn her back on him again.

Sakura suddenly looks terrified; eyes wide and lips parted as if trained to deny such a question. Then, her eyebrows slightly furrow with a hint of anger (and worry) as her eyes flick to Naruto before returning to him. "This—this is really not the time to—"

Sasuke's heart races at her reaction, or rather, her purposeful dodge. "Just answer the question, Sakura."

He's cornered her; left her with nowhere else to run.

But her next plea takes him off guard.

"Please, stop." She whispers unexpectedly. Eyes trembling with unshed tears and lips quivering, she glances at Naruto's sleeping form. "Why are you doing this . . . ?"

The vulnerable heartbreak in her eyes makes him falter.

He isn't trying to hurt her.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?" Voice taut with torment, she looks at him again, the expression on her face a genuine plea for mercy.

Please, stop.

He swallows against his tightening throat, confusion worrying his brow. What does she mean what is he doing? All he wants is the truth. An explanation. Anything to dampen the agony that runs rampant through his veins.

Sakura shakes her head in exasperation, "It was just a mistake—we both made a mistake—"

"No." He denies automatically, unable to help himself; unable to be anything except honest. For a second, his blunt refutation surprises even himself, but he continues without hitch. "It was not."

Green eyes widen before she guiltily looks away from him, attempting to hide the truth he now knows for absolute sure is on her face.

Feeling brave, he blurts a question that's been plaguing his mind for years now.

"Why are you with him?"

An icy shock visibly flashes over her side profile before she snaps her head to gape at his audacity. "S-Sasuke—!"

"Why are you with him, Sakura?" He insists a little more firmly, heart thundering within his chest.

It's fucked up, he thinks. So incredibly unfair that she's still holding on to Naruto as if her tongue hasn't been in his mouth, around his length. As if he hasn't been inside of her, as if she didn't look at him with just as much love in her eyes as burns within his.

And maybe he's just selfish; maybe he's an asshole for thinking such rash thoughts. But nothing stands out more to him than the dullness in her eyes whenever she's with that idiot compared to the pure cheer in her eyes when she's with him.

Nothing matters to him more than her happiness.

"Because I fucking love him!" She finally shouts. Sasuke's heart cracks right down the middle.

He abruptly stands from his chair and makes a swift beeline for the door—

But his trembling hand hovers over the handle, hesitating.

Sasuke shoots a look over his shoulder then, glaring at her in a way he hasn't done since they were twelve years old.

Her eyes widen.

"You know, Sakura." He whispers icily, eyes narrowed in an attempt to hide the pain behind them. "I've known you for a very long time. Out of the three of us, you've always been the most intelligent. You've always been good at choosing the right words. You've always been the best at keeping secrets." He inhales shakily, "But you've always been a terrible fucking liar."

Sasuke slips out without another word.

- x -

The couch in the waiting room is far more uncomfortable than he'd like to admit, but he decides it's what he deserves.

The moment he had shut that door behind him, regret sank its familiar claws into his heart. Sickened with guilt, he stood outside the threshold a solid five minutes after he'd spat those last words, debating whether or not he should go back in and apologize.

But it wasn't like he could turn back around after what he'd just said.

It just wasn't that simple; but nothing, he's coming to realize, has ever been simple between them.

And as he sits here, slouched over the couch in the empty waiting room as a fluorescent light flickers above him, he feels stupid. Like a true fucking idiot.

Because of course she loves Naruto.

She's always loved Naruto. He's her fucking boyfriend of six years. It goes without saying, without doubt.

And no amount of one-night-stands is going to magically change that.

Even if he so selfishly hoped that it did.

Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, feeling thoroughly atrocious. Because what he said was not only impulsively childish—but because he knows she's now crying at Naruto's bedside . . .

Because of me, he resigns with crippling shame, shrinking further into the cushions. Closing his eyes, he yanks his hood over his face and crosses his arms on the armrest. Burying his head in the crook of his arms, he wants nothing more than to just disappear.

He suddenly feels sixteen and heartbroken all over again, forced to watch her love Naruto while he loved her more than the idiot ever could, even from a distance.

Sasuke feels childish, so stupidly immature with his petty anger.

But it's so difficult not to be upset when she's clearly so fucking unhappy with him.

She shouldn't be crying every other day. She shouldn't have to remind Naruto to consider her feelings. Shouldn't have to constantly remind him of the things she likes and dislikes; shouldn't have to put in 100% while he barely spares 5%.

Especially after six years.

They started out happy, he'll admit. And in that window of time, despite his random bouts of repressed jealousy, Sasuke could accept that she would never be his, just so as long as she was smiling.

Honestly, she could be with anyone as long as she is happy.

I just want the fucking best for her, he thinks as he sinks even deeper into the cushions and burrows further into his crossed arms.

So why do I feel like the villain?

- x -

The bruises on Naruto's face are as black as the ones on her heart. Sakura buries her face in her arms as she lays her head down at his bedside—as if she can hide her shame and self-loathing from the unconscious man before her.

Sakura doesn't deserve to be here, she knows, especially after what she's done behind his back.

Naruto's parents are on their way from across the country, grief-stricken by the news of their only son almost losing his life.

She's texted all of his close friends whom should be pushing though the door any minute.

And Sakura should feel relieved.

She should feel something other than the vacuum space of a gaping hole deep inside of her, where any semblance of relief is sucked up and swallowed.

Any morsel of comfort had been whisked away on the coattails of Sasuke's last words as he slipped out the door an hour earlier.

'You've always been a terrible fucking liar.'

Despite the overwhelming urge, she doesn't cry. Green eyes remain empty behind heavy lids, unfeeling. She wants to be angry, livid at him for saying such a terrible thing, especially considering the overwhelming state she's already in and the inappropriateness of it all.

But the anger she yearns to feel is like sand through her fingers; shallow, fleeting, and gone with the passing evanescence of every breath she takes.

She waits and waits for the fury to sink in, but it never comes.

Why can't I ever stay mad at him?

Sakura finally sits up, eyes sloped with fatigue and heart heavy with the mess of reality that her life has become.

Naruto lays as still as a rock, peacefully unaware of his girlfriend's treachery.

"I'm sorry." She whispers pathetically to his sleeping form. "I'll never expect you to forgive me, but just know . . . that I—"

The door bursts open and before Sakura can properly blink away her grief, a blur of indigo hair flashes by her vision, pale arms snaking around Naruto's neck.

"N-Naruto!" The girl rasps, sparkling tears rushing down her ivory cheeks like waterfalls.

Completely startled, for a moment, Sakura can only sit there in stunned silence as she watches Hinata weep over her boyfriend's unmoving form.

In the doorway, the rest of his friends keep their respectful distance, as if Naruto and Hinata need some sort of privacy.

A pang of irrational jealousy jolts Sakura from her impolite staring.

Get Well Soon balloons gently float around them, flowers in hand.

None of them spare her a single glance.

And as they slowly make their way to his bedside and hover around him, Sakura suddenly feels out of place.

Like she doesn't belong in this picture: Hinata's terrible sobs, Kiba's downcast eyes, Shikamaru's deep frown, Gaara's glassy mint orbs, Chouji's averted gaze, Neji's tense shoulders.

Blinking away fresh tears, Sakura stares up at all of them with wide eyes, feeling as if she's watching from someplace afar. A scene she was never meant to be apart of. A world she shouldn't be in.

A place she doesn't belong.

As she looks at all of these people before her, worried out of their mind and torn by their friend's comatose state, she wonders why she feels as if she's an intruder.

And when Naruto's cerulean eyes blink awake, the moment he sees Hinata's tear-stricken face before him, he breaks out into the biggest beam Sakura thinks she's ever seen.

Naruto glances Sakura's way once.

Once.

Then he's pulling Hinata onto his chest, howling when she accidentally bumps his broken arm.

When the Hyuuga girl continues to cry as Naruto gently wipes away her tears with a bizarre gentleness he's only ever used with her—

Sakura tries to blink back her shock. Her fingers tremble in her lap. A strange knot twists in her stomach at the way Hinata and Naruto are looking at each other; as if there's nobody else in the room but the two of them. There's something alive between them, burning between their locked eyes.

Something Sakura and Naruto will never have.

But this is not what scares her.

The scene is sickeningly familiar. So familiar, in fact, that Sakura has trouble breathing. And it isn't until their eyes soften with something that has Sakura's throat burning with bile that she realizes exactly what it is.

Everything clicks.

It's exactly how she and Sasuke used to look at each other every single day. Before she turned her back on him. Before she ran away from her own mistake. Before she ruined everything between them, blaming him because it was easier than admitting she fucked up. She blindsided him with her silence and in return he was forced to suffer in the wake of her self-hatred. Her selfishness in convincing herself that it was not her fault, and that Sasuke would be okay shouldering the blame. But he isn't okay.

None of this is okay.

The void in her chest expands until it feels as if she is about to be swallowed whole by her regret.

But now, she knows.

Sakura slowly rises from her chair.

Without a word, she slips out of the hospital room unnoticed. Hinata's soft cries echo behind her.

In the waiting room she finds Sasuke sleeping on the couch with his head down on the armrest, hood pulled over his messy dark locks.

It was never a mistake.

She strides right over to him and without hesitation, leans down and pulls him upward, ignoring the way his eyes flutter open in disoriented confusion as she slides right into his lap.

"Sak—?"

Her lips are on his before he can even finish her name, hands burrowing into his silky locks and pushing his hood back to cradle his head, knees straddling either side of his warm thighs.

She moves her lips against his with every last remaining shred of energy she has, the cracked half of her heart snapping to his like the resonating click of a magnet.

And all at once, just like that, they are whole again.

It was never a mistake.

His hands glide into her hair without pause, fingers fumbling with her loose ponytail before he manages to unleash her locks. Short rosy hair spills around her shoulders in jagged waves and Sasuke doesn't waste a moment to bury his fingers in them, pulling and tugging as he smashes his lips against hers with an urgency that suggests he needs her air to breathe.

Their stomachs explode with fireworks, bursting along the seams of every nerve and toes tingling with mind-blowing euphoria.

Tongues sliding recklessly into each other's mouth, chests heaving, hearts skyrocketing into overdrive, they melt into one tangled mess of teeth, lips, tongue, and sharp inhales between every small window of breath before they collide once more.

"I'm so sorry." She whispers against his lips. Tears roll down her cheeks and into their mouths.

Sasuke only kisses her harder.

Neither of them care that they are in a public hospital waiting room, or that her boyfriend and his best friend lay injured down the hall. Neither of them care that at any point in time, one of their friends could walk in on them and see Sasuke and Sakura's deceit for themselves.

Neither of them take heed of the world around them as it shrinks and shrinks until they are the only ones left existing.

There is no fear. No agony. No pain.

No regret.

Just two best friends lip locked and unequivocally in love.

And in each other's arms, they are right where they're supposed to be.

Not Naruto and Sakura.

Not Sakura and Naruto.

Sasuke and Sakura.

It has a ring to it, he thinks.

- x -

They leave the hospital at 6AM without telling anyone.

They silently hold hands on the car ride home as the raging storm brews between them both, suppressed longing and need ready to burst forth at any given second. Their knees bounce impatiently. His free hand taps on the steering wheel as their race home is interrupted by continuous downtown traffic lights.

The car ride is a special kind of hell.

Sasuke squeezes her hand, glancing at her from the corner of his eye as his heart rapid fires; as if checking to make sure she isn't a figment of his imagination. That she is real. That this is real.

Sakura watches him openly, sea-foam eyes large and luminous with desire, hair messy and disheveled by his own hands. His eyes flick to her clenching thighs, swallowing as he returns his gaze to the road ahead. He attempts to suppress the obnoxious strain against his jeans by carefully adjusting the thick bar of his erection.

The anticipation between them is so overwhelming it's almost tangible.

Sakura feels her lower stomach simmering with fierce need, the inner walls of her core pulsing with the distant memory of him inside her. The wet pool of her arousal soaks her panties, thighs squirming as she literally aches for the man next to her.

Sasuke is in his own world of torment. Every time he is forced to stop the car, something feral inside of him flares with unbearable impatience as his noticeably hard cock throbs with urgency.

At the fifth stop light—unable to take this suffering any longer—Sasuke reaches over and yanks her to his mouth, one hand in her hair and the other at her throat. He thumbs the hollow of her skin as she moans against his lips. He wrenches her head to the side by her pink locks, lips trailing along the stretch of her throat as she whimpers his name. His other hand slowly falls to her breast where he gives a hard squeeze, relishing the way her body trembles at his touch.

Then, his fingers trail down her shuddering body, lower and lower until—

A car horn startles them from their impromptu coupling and, with a death glare from the Uchiha and a middle finger from Sakura at the car behind them, Sasuke debates whether or not he should just take her right here at this green light.

The small nervous giggle that falls from her lips forces a smirk to his own as he presses the car forward, fingers immediately finding hers again as if to secure her presence beside him. Sasuke squeezes her fingers. Sakura squeezes right back.

Nearly five minutes away from the house, Sakura loses her patience with a sudden a burst of courage.

Sasuke hears the teeth of his zipper being pulled down before he realizes what she's doing. And by the time he does, she's already leaning over his lap, hands fumbling as she works to free him from his boxers.

A surprised exhale escapes him when the uncomfortable pressure of the denim no longer restrains him and her palms envelope his full naked erection.

With her messy pink hair in front of his chest, he reaches up to massage her scalp, shuddering when he feels her warm breath puff against the crown of his exposed cock.

He tries to keep his eyes focused on the road ahead, one hand tight on the steering wheel while the other plays in her hair.

Sasuke shivers when her thumb gently smears the gathered precum over the tip. She leans in, slowly swirling the clear liquid around him and his stomach jumps when the tip of her tongue dips unexpectedly into his slit.

The soothing hand in her hair quickly turns into a tight fist.

"Impatient?" His attempt at sounding smooth merely comes out as a breathless pant as he glances down at the back of her head.

A hot mouth swallows him in response and it takes every last ounce of his concentration to stay focused on the road before them.

Dark eyebrows furrow with a wince and a small noise escapes his throat when she sucks him hard, her other hand twisting at his base as she pumps him vigorously into her mouth.

Sasuke swallows as he tries to keep his attention ahead, but her wet mouth working him is enough to make his legs twitch beneath the steering wheel. Bucking his hips upward, he tries to push deeper into her mouth, chasing his blissful completion. But Sakura places two strong hands on his thighs, keeping him solidly in place. Teasing him.

We're almost home, his mind pants in relief, unsure of how much longer he can hold off.

A loud guttural moan falls from his mouth when she glides him all the way to the back of her throat.

His head thumps back against the headrest just as he pulls into the driveway.

Sasuke drops his hands from the steering wheel to properly grip her bobbing head, groaning when she doesn't stop.

"We're here," he rasps even as she twirls her tongue around him. Closing his eyes, he lets his hands fall to his sides as she only takes him deeper in response, sighing when her cheeks suction tightly around him as she draws back.

She swallows him once more and the building knot within him threatens to burst, muscles tense with his impending release. When she still doesn't stop, he panics when his body tenses further, legs quivering as the coil nearly snaps. He grabs at her hair. "I'm about to come, Sakura—!"

Sasuke's body visibly slackens when she releases him without warning. His head drops back against the headrest with a soft moan as he pants fervently, cock tingling from the aftermath and release quickly retreating.

Sakura sits up, wiping the back of her sloppy mouth with a coy smile, relishing in the haze of his heavy-lidded eyes and the swift rise and fall of his broad chest.

The rich dawn sunlight spills into his car, drenching Sakura in an ethereal buttery glow. The mischief glittering in her eyes steals his breath away. Her pupils dilate.

Sasuke finds himself speechless as they stare at each other in the compressed silence of the car. His heartbeat pulses in his throat.

"I—" he begins, but his confession is silenced by hungry lips on his.

They practically sprint into the apartment hand-in-hand, door flying open just like the first night they took each other. The door ricochets off the wall before they slam it shut and Sakura is pinned up against the wooden slab before she can even blink.

Hot lips travel everywhere on her exposed skin; her chest, her collarbones, her throat, her jaw, and end their journey on her waiting mouth, tongue dipping between her lips, tasting every last drop of her essence.

They kick off their shoes as Sakura's fingers fumble with the waistband of his jeans, but since they're already halfway undone from their activities in his car, she is able to yank them down without much effort. His jeans drop to his ankles, leaving his lower body in only thin boxers and his full erection tenting the fabric.

With Sasuke's lips still devouring hers and her fingers clawing in his hair, he tugs her pencil skirt until it pools around her ankles, exposing panties that are begging to be torn off.

His fingers dart to her core, shoving her panties to the side and inhaling sharply when he feels just how needy she is. Sakura moans when his cold fingers caress her sticky warmth.

The fire between them roars.

She's so fucking wet, he realizes with a ripple of blissful surprise. She's so wet that he can hear the soft squelch of his fingers against her hot flesh.

He sighs between open-mouthed kisses, feeling his arousal tighten tenfold at the discovery. He lets his fingers glide up and down her folds, shivering at the feel of her wetness coating every digit and allowing his ego to bloom at the fact that she's this turned on by him.

If her actions alone don't prove how much she wants him, the molten pool between her thighs certainly does.

She whimpers beneath him, body quivering with every teasing run of his fingers up and down her sex. When he pushes two fingers firm against her clit, she gasps. Sasuke smirks against her lips. Her thighs attempt to clench around his wrist, an involuntary response to her heightened sensitivity. Sasuke rubs her clit harder, circling the wet mound until she desperately grabs at his forearm.

Sakura draws back to look up at him.

The wanton desire on her face makes him reach down and grab his own need, giving himself a few relieving tugs through the fabric with his free hand. He's so hard it hurts.

"I need you, Sasuke." She whispers, pupils dilated against bright emerald orbs. Holding her hungry gaze, his other hand continues its teasing dance between her thighs.

And this time, there is no veil of alcohol obscuring reality.

They are stone cold sober and as sane as they've ever been.

There is no regret awaiting them beyond the horizon, no guilt weighing on their hearts, nothing holding them back.

This is real.

She hooks her fingers around his boxers and lets them fall to the floor.

He strips her of her sticky panties.

Pressing her flush against the door, he lets his bare member glide between her thighs, slowly thrusting his hips to slip his cock horizontally between her wet folds. A quiet sigh escapes him when her heat slides around the sensitive head of his length.

Sasuke leans back just enough to watch the pleasure swim through her heavy lidded eyes as he pushes his hips forward, gliding his cock along her sweet spot so agonizingly slow that Sakura's fingernails dig into his forearms.

Encouraged, he leans down to whisper in her ear. "Does that feel good?"

She nods furiously, fingernails digging even deeper into his skin when he slowly, ever so slowly, slides back out.

Sakura retaliates by jutting her hips forward, forcing his length between her folds to rub her aching bud once more. A small cry escapes her, thighs tensing around his cock. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, clearly fighting to buck her hips like mad against him.

Sasuke smirks, purposely drawing back just enough to allow his slathered tip to touch the outside of her petals. He whispers into her ear once more, ego overflowing and confidence through the roof. "What do you want, Sakura?"

Without warning, she grabs a fistful of his hair and angles her head until her lips whisper against his, "You."

She doesn't want him to tease her anymore, she needs him inside of her.

Faces merely a centimeter apart, eyes intensely locked, she begs him.

"Please."

Sasuke's heart soars, the desperation in her eyes and the longing in her voice forcing fireworks to explode within him.

He taps his lips against hers before he gently slides himself from the petals of her core, shivering when the cool air hits his wet cock.

They only make it as far as the kitchen before his fingers are fumbling between her thighs again, physically unable to stop himself from touching her. Her perfect little body spurs Sasuke's ravenous appetite. His other hand sneaks behind her, squeezing her ass before smacking it so hard that Sakura yelps in surprise.

"Sasuke!" She admonishes as if she can't believe he just did that, but the playful glint in her eye has Sasuke biting back a mischievous smirk.

Sakura hums in excitement as he lays her flat backed on the edge of the kitchen table, but her eyebrows raise in confusion when he drops to his knees. He forcefully spreads her legs.

With her so wantonly exposed to his hungry eyes, he wastes no time in plunging his middle and ring finger inside of her, scissoring his way to that sweet spot he knows is there.

And when he curls his fingers upwards, she cries out, back arching as he pumps his digits inside of her like a piston, wanting to feel every inch of her spasming walls as they clench around him. He pushes up inside of her as hard as he can, dark eyes gleaming with approval when her legs flail on either side of his head.

"Sasuke!" She screams when he drives his fingers into her faster, thighs attempting to close around his unrelenting hand. And when clear liquid begins to spurt from her core, he dips his head in to lick from his fingers upward, wanting nothing more than to make her feel like she's just reached the gates of heaven and beyond.

She deserves to feel like this, he thinks, pride swelling with every keening cry, I deserve to make her feel like this.

I want to always make her feel like this.

He laps at her warmth, fingers still working deep inside her, thrusting upwards with a force that would otherwise be painful if the rough patch he's abusing on the roof of her passage wasn't the pinnacle of her ecstasy. The moment he sucks her sensitive mound between his lips, he is rewarded by another flail of her legs and a throaty cry.

"A—Ah!" Her thighs press on either side of his head and he knows by the increasing quiver of them that she's nearing the edge of an explosive climax.

Without warning he retracts from her core, relishing in her whine at the loss.

He rises to his full height to take in the sweet sight of her explicit form under his salacious gaze; huffing furiously, cheeks flushed, rosy hair fanned against the cherrywood table, creamy legs spread, and her glistening pink core completely exposed.

"Sasuke," she breathes when he just stands there, unable to bear his pause. "Don't stop."

He leans down and tugs her by the ankles, sliding her off the edge of the table until her feet touch the floor. The moment she sits up, he bends over to hook one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, hoisting her small frame up into his arms.

Sakura throws her arms around his neck with a delighted laugh. "Where are we going?"

As much as he's dying to fuck her on his kitchen table like an animal, Sasuke decides to do things right this time around.

Sasuke leans down until their noses brush, smirking against her lips as he whispers: "Bedroom."

And then he kisses her so softly that Sakura simply melts in his embrace.

- x -

Completely naked, he hovers over her, palms splayed on either side of her head.

Ankles crossed behind his back, completely naked beneath him, her arms wrap around his neck.

Hearts racing in sync, they stare back at each other in the golden sunrise of his bedroom, nearly shaking in anticipation.

Sasuke is far more nervous than he had expected to be—it's only now that he hovers inches away from her wet core that he understands just how much his confidence fluctuates under the influence.

And as he stares down at her now, stomach fluttering and chest heaving, he realizes how unprepared he is for something so cataclysmically life changing.

Sweet innocent Sakura, legs spread, soaking wet, and waiting for him to fill her up; he has trouble wrapping his head around it.

Years ago, all he had was her silly pictures she'd send him and a vivid imagination. Never, in all his wildest dreams, did he ever think he would finally have her in his arms.

Not a drunken escapade, but a sober reconciliation of his love.

I love you, Sakura. He wants to say, but his tongue refuses to move.

"Are you okay?" Warm palms cup his face, green orbs shimmering with concern.

He nods silently, unsure how to explain to her the magnitude of this moment. Unsure how to properly tell her that he loves her without getting cold feet.

Just say it, he urges himself.

He lightly startles when her fingers wrap around his girth between them, guiding his tip to her tight opening.

Sasuke's whole body tenses at the feeling, cock throbbing with anticipation.

"Relax," She says softly, giving his length a few encouraging pumps.

Her fingers firm around him is a reminder that she wants this just as much as he does. She presses a few more kisses to his lips until he's lost in her sweet comfort, slowly relaxing as she continues to pump him in her hand.

He feels the heat between her thighs before he's even inside her and he feels himself grow harder in her grip. The delicious ache between his legs is torture of the most divine degree.

Taking a deep breath, he holds her gaze as he finally begins to move. Slowly, he pushes himself into her tight passage, watching her expression with keen eyes and exhaling against her lips when the scalding heat of her walls begin to part around him.

With one single thrust, he pushes himself the rest of the way deep inside of her, pressing his hips flush against hers. She gasps, eyes flashing with surprise at the fullness she's missed after two terrible months. Arms wrapped tightly around him, her fingernails dig into his naked shoulder blades.

Sasuke himself inhales sharply, closing his eyes to reign control of the excruciating urge to ram his hips into hers repeatedly.

He reopens his eyes to meet her cloudy orbs, one side of his lips quirking at the way she's completely at loss for breath.

Clearly, I'm not the only one overwhelmed.

He takes a quick mental snapshot, determined to savor this moment; their naked bodies flush against one another, him buried to the hilt inside of her, nails clawing into his skin, the rush of their pulse, eyes locked.

He's never experienced anything so perfect; so passionate yet fragile, as if this moment is intimately sacred.

"I love you." Sakura whispers bravely, glassy eyes alight with awe as she stares up at him.

Sasuke's breath hitches, eyes stinging with a rushing tidal wave of emotion. It hits him like a bullet to the chest. The weight of those three words he's longed to hear for so long in tandem with the vulnerable—but so undeniably real—love glimmering in her eyes, cracks something within him.

Blinking away the fog in his eyes, his lips smash against hers, pulling out of her only to plunge back in with a primal hunger he suddenly can't control. Her slender body jolts beneath him with the force, bed frame smacking the wall.

Sakura moans sweetly into his mouth, holding tightly onto him as he snaps his hips against hers once more, filling every inch of her with his thickness and every hole in her heart with his physical display of affection. She bucks her pelvis upwards to meet his thrusts halfway, fingers still clawing down his slick skin.

"Yes," She breathes against his lips, eyes locked as they merge together repeatedly, bodies lurching in harmonizing sync. Threading her fingers in his hair, she pulls him to her chest, burying his face into her neck and cradling his head as she whispers his name.

She feels his shuddering breath and baritone hums of ecstasy against her throat as he drives into her with reckless abandon. When his pace increases even further, her legs tighten around his body, fingers twisting in his silky locks as she throws her head back and holds on.

He pounds into her relentlessly, skin smacking against hers so hard she'd be surprised if the neighbors didn't hear it. The bed lurches back and forth against the floor. His cock drives so deep inside her that any coherence she had minutes ago is obliterated by his bucking hips. He bottoms out inside her every single time, the broad head of his cock hitting the wall of her cervix mercilessly.

Before it's even over she knows it's the best sex she's ever had.

Without warning, she swiftly flips them over, sinking down on his cock with a force that rips a sharp inhale from his lungs.

A sly smirk spreads across her lips at his reaction.

He curses when she drops down on his erect length again, palms splayed flat on his muscled abdomen as she wantonly rides him, thighs straddling either side of his hips.

Sakura uses the press of her palms against his body as leverage to bounce her hips, filling herself as she pleases with his thickness. The bed squeaks in protest beneath them.

Sasuke grabs either side of her waist as if his life depends on it, teeth clenching as she shamelessly rides him. Her breasts bounce in time with her fierce hops and pink strands of hair stick to the slick sheen of sweat on her face.

A long string of moans escape her lips, clenching her inner walls around his cock and quickening her pace when the look on Sasuke's face beneath her is akin to someone who's just injected pure dopamine into their veins. He then looks as if he's struggling to control his expression, eyebrows knitting with concentration and dark eyes unable to remain focused.

And as his chest rises and falls even faster, face beginning to contort with the telltale signs of an orgasm, she knows he's about to come—hard.

Her hips bounce against his as fast as she can manage, desperation quickening her pace as her own orgasm hurdles towards her. She wants to make him come as hard as he made her once before, if not harder, and so she clenches her inner muscles repeatedly until Sasuke is practically writhing.

His fingers dig into the soft flesh of her hips, head thrown back with a shout when his climax hits him like lightning, pelvis jabbing against hers as his cock pulses with release, emptying himself completely inside her. She watches his body twitch beneath her as she continues to ride him, feels the spasm of his hard abdominal muscles beneath her palms.

Vulnerability like she's never quite seen before flashes across his face as his climax carries on. And although it only lasts maybe five whole seconds, she knows it must feel like days of endless rapture for him. He groans loudly before it tapers off into a stuttering gasp, fingers still buried in her flesh and expression strained.

"Oh—!"

Sakura's own orgasm hits then, sending her mind spiraling through the roof. Head thrown back, she releases a keening cry that echoes through the empty house. Sasuke immediately sits up, wrapping his arms around her as she rides out her climax, holding her as if he, too, transcends to the holy place she has just gone.

Intimacy like he's never known before grips his heart; a strange thrill that is both exhilarating and serene. Like jumping off a cliff before realizing you have wings to fly. Or shooting up a rollercoaster until you're at the very top, that split second of a moment when you're the highest you'll ever be, with nothing but miles of horizon before you, just before you plunge—

One hand digs into the soft flesh of her upper back as the other cups her ass, guiding her hips as she continues to ride him. Thrusting his hips upward to meet her every hop, Sakura spasms in his embrace, sweat slick on their bodies and heat searing between them like the sweet kiss of the sun.

Sasuke sucks the junction between her shoulder and neck, licking at her racing pulse and closing his eyes to the symphony of her stuttering moans, knowing that if there were ever a moment he wished to never forget; it would be this.

When Sakura finally falls slack in his arms, he is swift to catch her as she collapses into him. Her head drops onto his shoulder. Still buried inside her, Sasuke kisses her cheek and a slight dimple gives away the smile she's trying to hide as she burrows beneath his jaw, arms sliding around his neck.

Together, they lay naked in bed for the rest of the entire day, touching and whispering until the promise of dusk stretches through his window. And even then, they carry on, unable to keep their hands away from each other; unable to fathom why they hadn't done this sooner.

- x -

At 8PM, Sasuke retracts his fingers from deep inside her when a shrill ring vibrates from his discarded jeans on the floor.

Sakura sits up, not bothering to cover her bare breasts as Sasuke gets off the bed and retrieves his phone.

"Sasuke?" She prompts when he lifts the phone to his face and stares at the caller ID silently, face passive. He shoots a glance at her before he finally answers.

"Hello?"

Sakura bites her lip as she watches him, frustrated by the way he keeps his face as grave as stone as he listens to whoever's on the other side. He's always been far too good at masking his expression, but even still, she can always tell when something is amiss.

Sasuke looks to her then, frowning. He passes her the phone. "It's for you."

"Hello?" Sakura says slowly into the speaker, eyebrows furrowed.

"Sakura?" A woman snaps, "Where are you?"

Guilt drills into her stomach, eyes widening at her mentor's sharp concern.

Sasuke slips back in bed with her, worry evident in his searching gaze.

"What's wrong?" He whispers, running a soothing hand down her bare thigh beneath the covers. Her knees clench at his touch, suddenly hyperaware of the wetness that still sits between her legs.

"I—I, um, had to run home for a shower." She tells Tsunade, placing her hand atop Sasuke's and silently indicating to him that she can't say just yet. He intertwines his fingers with hers. "Why, is everything alright?"

"Yes, I just thought you'd still be here with Naruto after . . . what happened. Are you coming back?"

Sakura looks to Sasuke, who looks both confused and apprehensive as he watches her. She reaches up to softly brush the dark bangs from his eyes, smiling a little when he closes them.

"Of course. But maybe not until tomorrow. Is Naruto alright?"

At this, onyx eyes crack open.

"He's okay, but we're going to keep him for a week just to make sure. Perhaps you should also take a week off, Sakura. I realize that what happened to your boyfriend may have come as a terrifying shock, but I assure you I will be checking on him everyday, so there's no reason to worry. He's just fine."

"A week?" Sakura echoes, dumbfounded. "You want me to take a week off from work?"

"With Naruto still recovering, I would prefer not to have a distracted intern, yes. You may come and visit him as you see fit, however, but please take this time to rest. The stress of almost losing a loved one isn't kind to the body nor mind. I want you to take care of yourself."

Sakura blinks, glancing at Sasuke with a small shrug. "O-Okay."

"Have a nice evening, Sakura. See you tomorrow."

Click.

"What happened?" Sasuke asks immediately, taking the phone from her hand and tossing it onto his night stand.

"They're keeping Naruto for a week."

Sasuke remains silent, raising a brow.

"And Tsunade asked me to take the week off."

The Uchiha seems to consider this for a moment, expression thoughtful. Then, he asks seriously, "Are you saying I'm stuck with you in this house, alone, for an entire week?"

Sakura snatches a pillow and attempts to smack the mock-disgust off his face, laughing when he fails at hiding his smirk. He brings his arms up to shield himself as she beats on him with a sack full of feathers. It's only when Sakura pauses in between her pummels that Sasuke plucks the pillow from her hands with ease and chucks it across the room.

He quickly climbs on top of her, suddenly flirty. Their naked bodies throb with need, eager to finish what they started before the phone rang. Sasuke slowly kisses her bottom lip, her chin, beneath her jaw, down her throat before he sucks on her pulse. Sakura arches beneath him, pushing her breasts against his solid chest. She wraps her arms around him, moaning softly as his fingers dip between her thighs and plunge into her core. The heel of his palm stimulates her clit as he works his digits inside her.

Sakura comes on his fingers within minutes, gasping into his mouth.

"You're getting too good at this." She whispers, amused. His fingers continue to pump inside her even after her contractions, walls pulsating around him. Sasuke doesn't respond until after she orgasms a second time.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

- x -

A/N: Whew. *fans self* my ass needs to get laid ASAP. That's the longest smut I think I have ever written. When I die, I hope Satan himself reads this smut back to me. Surely this fic alone will be the sole reason I burn in hell.

Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think :D

Till next time

~ Sloshi