The Inheritance
Prologue

Sasuke leaned his head heavily against the doorframe when he recognized that scent, his hand gripping the handle. She was pounding the wood too hard, too urgently. He couldn't let her see him like this. Breathing deeply he tried to find that state of calm that used to be so easy around her. Something about her sweet, natural scent was soothing those nerves that seemed to fray just a bit more each day. Something was itching just underneath his skin, like a beetle skittering along his nerves that was urging him to rip open the door and to pull her inside.

Something dark and unpleasant whispered to him to just take her, to pin her beneath his body and show her just how much he hadn't meant those words.

He shuddered and gripped the door frame.

He had sworn, from the first moment that she kissed him with her soft, tempting lips that she would never see the darkness that lurked in him as a result of his stupid, childish mistake. He never wanted to see her emerald eyes widen in fear and become wary at the sight of him. Her fear would claw at his heart and awake the instincts that he had been successful in hiding for the past twelve years. The demon in him would grow feral, enraged that she would dare to refuse him.

The demon in Uchiha Sasuke would hurt her.

There was an edge to Sakura's scent as she continued to pound against his door that was preventing that calm. She was worried, almost frantic, about something. He heard her take a shuddering breath before she cried out his name—damn it—and Sasuke knew that she was crying.

If he didn't know better then he would say she was scared.

He took another shuddering breath—thankful that he was high enough on Konoha's payroll that he could afford a penthouse—and tried to block out that sense of urgency. If he didn't own the entire floor then there was no doubt that Sakura's shouting and banging would have attracted someone's attention by now, and he just couldn't deal with that.

Hell, he couldn't even handle her right now.

"Sasuke."

Her voice caught, and Sasuke only managed to stop himself from moving.

Don'tdon'tdon't—

His muscles were bunched and that soft dark voice was asking him just why, why was he pretending to be so good. He knew he wasn't good. His entire body was taut, and he could almost tell how her skin would taste.

Go away. Just GO.

The metal on the door's handle was starting to break under the force of his grip.

Then there was a sniffle and he heard the sounds of Sakura sliding against the door. He nearly collapsed himself from all of the tension that held him still. Sasuke still refused to remove his hand from the handle. He couldn't afford to, not until he knew that she was gone and that she wasn't coming back. Why was she even here anyway?

There was silence, and he cursed in four different languages. Why the hell wasn't she leaving?

"Sakura-chan?"

The voice that broke the silence was soft and distinctly male. The undertone of threat in the way that her name was said had a feral growl building in Sasuke's chest.

He didn't move. He didn't even dare to breathe.

I know that voice.

The heavy silence had been broken, and he could quite clearly hear the way that Sakura was breathing rather heavily. There was a clattering sound as she scrambled up and away from the door. Her voice when she spoke was shrill, the fear as evident there as it filtered into her scent.

"Don't touch me!"

Here's another new Naruto fic. Too thick I swore I would never touch this fandom with a 10-foot pole. I hope you enjoy this little tidbit. This takes place in the same world as Konoha Corp. which I will be posting sometime early this summer. I would post it sooner, but my paralegal class leaves me with not a whole lot of free time. Expect bi-weekly updates for this and WANTED in the meantime.

Hopefully.