Epilogue. Yay! Not I get to obsess over my new story! -is happy-
...Nothing much to say, except read and review, plz... :D
But seriously. Reviews, even if they are a bit flamy, make me feel warm and fuzzy inside... -is sheepish that I just expressed this openly-
Disclaimer: I. DO. NOT. OWN. NARUTO. (Wish I did, though :-/)
--Sanded Silk--
It had been three years after that rainy day. Surprisingly, Sakura had pulled herself together successfully and had gone back to life. The questions she got frequently from her friends about her strange behavior during the next few weeks after her last encounter with Hyuuga Neji slowly faded to nothing, and by now, Sakura was sure that no one remembered her sudden change in personality three years ago.
However, Sakura hadn't given up on Neji. She remained single, and turned down many dates, including one from Sasuke, whom everyone had believed to be her number-one crush.
One summer morning, the hospital that Sakura worked at got an emergency message from the medical center of Suna. Tsunade-sama, the manager of the hospital that Sakura worked at, had ordered an elite team of the top medics in Konoha to go to Suna to help. "There was a severe sandstorm at Suna," Tsunade-sama had said. "Many people are dead, and more are wounded. There are too many people for all the medics in Suna to treat alone."
Sakura had been chosen as one of the elite team.
When Sakura finished the journey, she went right to work. She signed in at the main medical center and moved to her assigned area. As she wrapped a white scarf around her mouth and walked through the streets, she noticed- with a pang- how beaten-up her surroundings were. Buildings were wrecked, trees snapped in half, bodies left in the roads. Children were huddled together on the curbs and crying, their clothes torn, some clinging to the bodies of dead family members. A coating of sand covered pretty much everything. Sakura felt stab after stab in her heart as she passed these pitiful sights.
Before she could reach her destination, a sudden apparition of chestnut appeared and disappeared at the corner of her eyes. She gasped and whirled around, but didn't see anything.
As she stared around, wary, a voice blew over her ear. "Sakura."
With another gasp, she whirled again, and saw more of the intruder before he disappeared. The chestnut she had seen was his hair; his long, long hair. He wore dark, ragged clothes. His face had been hidden from view.
Sakura spun on her heel and ran after another flash of chestnut, which, this time, had appeared by the wreckage of a nearby building.
Sakura turned a corner, screeching slightly, but almost as soon as she found her ground, someone caught her by her hand from behind and pressed her against the wall, her feet a few inches from the ground. She felt her breath catch in her throat and throw itself against her chest.
Sakura kicked instinctively against her attacker, but he threw his hips against hers, forcing her lower body down against the wall. When they finally met eyes, Sakura found herself staring into the silver, pearly orbs of the man she hadn't seen or heard from in the past few years.
"N-Neji!"
"Hn." He smirked, and aimed his lips straight for hers, trapping her in the forceful, demanding kiss that she remembered so well.
Sakura felt her head completely give away. She became dizzy, and her eyes half-closed. She, again, couldn't fight the strength of the oppressive male, who currently had her pressed against a wall and was kissing her senseless.
He pulled his face back, drawing deep breaths. Sakura kept her eyes closed, waiting for him to dive back in. When he did lean back in, it was for a chaste, soft kiss, and then, the pressure on her hips and arms released and disappeared. Sakura snapped her eyes wide open, but no one was there.
Sakura gasped for air, sliding down the wall, letting out the breath she had been holding. "W..." She pressed a hand to her chest and felt her heart fluttering in her ribcage. "What...?"
Sakura closed her eyes, the sunlight shining through her eyelids.
Suddenly, a shadow passed over her. Sakura snapped her eyes open again, stood up, and looked around overhead. Neji was standing over her, on an outward-jutting piece of debris. The light of the sun behind him shadowed his face, but Sakura could swear her life that he was smirking down at her. His long hair blew out beside him in the breeze, making him look even more ominous, before he stood and nimbly jumped away, out of sight.
Sakura didn't bother calling after him. She knew that he wouldn't come back. And if she did call him back, what would she say?
Sakura stood up, dusted herself off, turned, and started to walk away.
"Aww," A voice sounded behind her, and long chestnut hair washed into view from behind her. An arm encircled her waist, stopping her from leaving. "Are you giving up on me so soon?"
Sakura jumped and squeaked, and the pair of arms behind her drew her back into the shadows. "I was just playing with you," Neji said into her hair. His voice sounded like dark chocolate; dark, sweet, slightly bitter. It was just a shade deeper than last time she had heard him speak. "I haven't kissed a woman in three years. I'm not letting you get away so easily..."
He wound his arms even tighter around her smaller frame, burying his face into the crook of her neck. Sakura let out a small moan as he ran his murderous, dried lips over her neck.
It seemed like hours from between the time he dragged her back into the dark alleys and the time he finally let her go. In that amount of time, he completely invaded her; he kicked down the walls she had built inside herself, running his hands roughly over her body, kissing every inch of skin her clothes allowed to show. And of course, Sakura- as always- could do nothing in her own defense, but to lay back and- enjoy?- the affectionate attention the former criminal was showing her.
When at last he readjusted her clothes, murmured an affectionate good-bye in her ear, and disappeared into thin air, Sakura sat up, slightly dizzy, and rubbed her temples. She was certain that he wouldn't come back for her this time, though he probably would in the later days for as long as she was here in Suna.
Sighing, she stood up, flipped the collar of her jacket back into place, and walked to the edge of the shadow that the alleys threw. She turned to look one last time, back into the dark, pathways that the alleys formed, before turning back and stepping into the light.
A/N: Meh. I guess this could use work... -shrugs-
I got lazy at the end, and my horrible ending-writing skills kicked in. Soo... plz, don't flame my poor endings; I know they're bad...
Hm... well, good thing is, now I get to write my new story that's been tugging at my mind for FOREVER!!! -is happy-
... NOW IS WHERE YOU PRESS THE REVIEW BUTTON...
--Sanded Silk--