Cinderella at the Grave
By anna
All general disclaimers apply
Experiment: Repetition
one
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…And they died happily ever after
--
She wasn't exactly the beauty queen of Konoha; that title belonged to Ino and Ino alone. She couldn't turn heads walking down the streets except maybe naked. She wasn't blessed with delicious voluptuous curves like the Hyuuga heiress or had gloriously soft hair like Tenten. As much as she hated to admit it, but men of Konoha would probably prefer Naruto's sexy no jutsu in their bed than her.
At best, she was odd looking. A glimpse of her pink hair would intrigue some men's attention, but their hopeful faces would fall dramatically when they realized she wasn't the eye candy Konoha was known to produce. She had enough curves to differentiate her gender, but nowhere near enough to do it justice.
But what she lacked in feminine guiles, she more than made up in strength. The lack of suitors, she blamed on men's inevitable intimidation of a strong career woman- the other possible alternative was too depressing to even bother.
Sakura sighed and opted to go back to her studying, mindless musings over her sad misfortunes were going to be the death of her someday. From behind the curtain of her pink hair, Sakura noticed the Mist ambassador bidding goodbye to Tsunade. She continued to watch as the hokage left the hospital grounds, leaving the envoy alone. She followed his gaze as they settled on her, Sakura sighed at the tell-tale signs of male intrigue.
The diplomat tilted his head in fascination and Sakura sighed again when he began to amble over in her direction. As much as she enjoyed false hopes of attention, it was best to put the man out of his misery now than leave him utterly disappointed when whatever fantasy of meeting an ethereal beauty was cruelly distinguished. Casually, she tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing a side of her face.
As expected, the man stopped dead in his track, his young face showed traces of… fear? That was a new one. It was often disappointment. Disappointment she could handle… fear was an uncharted territory in which she had no desire to tread over. Mulling over the new found powers her mere appearance could instill on the opposite sex, Sakura flinched when a hand nudged her shoulder.
"Sakura," a deep masculine voice called.
"Sasuke-kun," she greeted the avenger (avenged). Closing her book, the pink haired medic looked up to the man that was staring down at her with an authority he thought he possessed. He probably did.
"I'm here for my check up," he said briefly.
Sakura nodded and tugged on his hand lightly. Now here was a man whose face didn't distort in disappointment when he looked at her. The promised gold bands on their ring fingers made sure of that.
The impossibly handsome Uchiha allowed himself to be dragged off by his intended. When they passed, he smirked slightly at the young diplomat who was still staring at him with fear instilled eyes.
--
They were not married; they were not engaged; they were simply 'intended' for each other. The title was mutually neutral but oh so deliciously presumptuous with its possessive undertone. Fingering the gold band lightly, Sakura opted to drape her entire arm over his body. He was sleeping and for some reasons, his easy slumber annoyed her. It was a trend he picked up after being with her for a year, as flattering as the implication was, sleep was the last thing on her mind, and it shouldn't be on his either.
"Sasuke Uchiha,"
"Hn?"
"Pay attention to me,"
"Ummpph," the sounds of Sasuke burying his face in the pillow answered her.
"I don't care if you're sleeping or not, I'm going to have sex with you and that's that,"
"…"
"I'm taking off my shirt,"
"Hn,"
"My bra is coming off too… ah, never mind, I'm not wearing one,"
"…"
"Now I must warn you, I'm going to pounce on you. I would really appreciate it if you don't kill me as some sort of ninja instinct or avenger complex."
"Hm,"
"Here I come…"
"…"
"You should know… I am very excited about this,"
"…"
"…"
"Sakura?"
The Uchiha propped up his head and turned questioningly at the woman next to him. His confused eyes transformed into an unmistakable glare when found her sleeping. He clicked his tongue in slight annoyance when his searching fingers came into contact with her bare flesh. The woman he chose worthy enough to share his bed had decided to sleep instead of raping him. Sasuke found the shirt she previously claimed to have removed and gingerly began to dress her. His fingers worked to button her and once he was done, he drew her closer to his body.
--
Neji raised an eyebrow when his silver eyes caught sight of a shiny object. The offending culprit was a gold band that encircled her finger. It bothered him that she didn't appear even the least disturbed at the weight the trinket must possess. Kunoichi should not be allowed to wear jewelry.
"That is going to be a nuisance," the Hyuuga said, pointing at the glistening ring.
Sakura looked down at the object of his resentment and raised her head again in confusion.
"It's going to be a nuisance during a spar," he elaborated, "Do not wear that in my presence."
She nodded in passive understanding and slipped the ring off of her finger, placing it with care next to her bag.
"Your exam is in a little more than a month," the Hyuuga reminded the woman in front of him.
His commanding voice demanded her attention and Sakura fixed her green eyes on the Anbu. It had been a month since she decided to search him out and told him that he was going to train her for the next Anbu recruit. Maybe he thought she looked pathetic, or maybe her feistiness intrigued him, but either way Neji accepted, earning a few blinks of surprise from the woman who was obviously prepared for a little more haggling.
Without a word, the Hyuuga activated his Byakugan, signaling of the spar's commencement. He smirked lightly when she disappeared from sight. The ground beneath him rumbled and he jumped to avoid the broken cement that was protruding with incredible savagery. Neji noticed an incredible force approaching from behind and barely managed to dodge her chakra scalpel. The Anbu effortlessly caught her hand and spun her forward, mercilessly driving the medic into the ground.
Her large green eyes showed some discomfort and her let her go immediately. Neji took a step back and surveyed the area again, noticing the muffled sounds of a clone dissipating from behind him. It was captivating how she managed to evade his Byakugan thus far. The dark silhouette of a woman caught his attention and disappeared again, fueling the Hyuuga's fascination.
The dance of her elusive shadows was hypnotizing and the Anbu found himself cursing his easy absorption when her hands came in contact with his neck. Their stumble to the ground was a battle of dominance. In such close contact, Sakura's size was her handicap when his larger frame pinned her confidently, a kunai's sharp blade grazed the nape of her neck. Sakura sighed dramatically in mocked disappointment.
"I was good," she smirked.
"How did you do it? Evading the Byakugan," he asked from above.
"I'll tell you if you let me go, our little tumble gave me a nasty scrape on my knee,"
Using his hands as leverage, the Anbu pushed himself off of the smaller woman. She got up in a sitting position and pushed her dress up to her thigh to inspect the aforementioned nasty scrape. The Hyuuga knelt down next to her and scoffed.
"It's just a little peeled," he said simply, his forefinger poked the spreading red blotch.
"Ow," the pink haired woman grumbled.
"That band-aid, it's from last week isn't it?" Neji asked, pointing at the area of her inner thigh.
"So?"
"Why don't you take it off already? I'm sure it's healed by now,"
"Are you crazy?" her eyes widened alarmingly.
Neji rolled his eyes, she was afraid to rip her own band-aid and he knew it. The Anbu found it odd that a band-aid could instill more fear than having her tenketsu closed.
"You're awfully short,"
"What?" she was getting grumpy, he knew she was a little sensitive about her height.
"What are you? 4'11?"
"I'm 5'4 thank you very much," Sakura retorted angrily, "Ow! blah"
Sakura looked up to see the Anbu holding her band-aid with a smirk on his face. He had used her distraction to remove her arch-nemesis. Standing up, Neji offered her his hand politely.
"Let's go, the Uchiha will have my hide if you're not with him before dark,"
Sakura nodded and put back her gold band before accepting his hand. She winced slightly when the Anbu viciously squeezed her hand, feeling the hard metal crushed against her bones.
--
Sakura hated being alone. The Uchiha compound was extremely cold at night and she hated the way her imagination would immediately conjure sinister ghouls of past's bygones. Sasuke left her some food and a note. Written simply and in perfect handwriting, he reminded her of his meeting with Tsunade that night.
Shoving some rice cake in her mouth, Sakura wondered idly how she managed to survive without food before she moved in with Sasuke. She wasn't much of a chef, actually, she was so bad that even Naruto complained. The blond had been her roommate for a year and he was more than happy to hand her off to his best friend, but not without a few words of advice about Sakura and her restraining order with the kitchen.
She put the delicious cake back on its place and sighed again for the nth time. Sakura hated to eat alone. Glancing at the clock, she decided she shouldn't waste all the bitchy energy to herself. It was time to impose herself on an unlucky chosen.
--
Prancing up to the Hyuuga branch house, Sakura's finger reached forward to ring the doorbell. After getting no answer, she remember with little satisfaction that the Hyuuga were not very hospitable people. She twisted the handle and entered when found it unlocked. Walking along the hall, she stopped in front of his room. With a smile on her face, Sakura began knocking; in a few minutes she would have a dinner buddy and all would be right in the world.
Neji opened the door in a state of undressed, the pink haired medic raised and eyebrow in slight amusement. Without caring that he was shirtless, Neji looked at the woman standing in front of him. Narrowing his silver eyes in understanding, he gestured for her to wait. Turning back inside, Sakura could tell he had returned his attention to whatever guest who beat her to his room. With a quick flick of his head, Neji motioned for the aforementioned guest to leave. A young woman emerged from within the Hyuuga's room, her fingers fumbling to button up her blouse. The woman ducked her head in slight embarrassment when she saw the pink haired medic.
"Get out," he said curtly and went inside, leaving Sakura to watch the Anbu's newest plaything disappear at the end of the Hyuuga corridor.
--
tbc-