(no subject)
I wrote SasuSaku fic! Not that it's actually complete fic, it is in fact a part of a larger story that was once based on a roleplay that I did with some friends. But umm, I loved the story so much that I modified it, and then wrote some of the sasusaku pieces that will hopefully later go into it, if I ever get around to writing it?
(That is, after NaNo, and with all of the other fics I am supposed to be writing!)
The genre is fantasy (because that is my onetruegenre, and I can probably never quit it?), and included a world where the Sharingan, Byakugan and Rinnengan are all jewels of immense power, Naruto is the future king, Neji is an amnesiatic swordsman, Hinata is a priestess, Sakura and Ino are assassins and Sasuke and his posse are all pirates!
(You understand why this idea was too awesome to ever leave alone, right?)
Sasuke is the financier of the vessel Hawk, whose mission it is to look for the legendary jewels. Suigetsu is the ship's captain, of course (and a snarky one at that). These shots take place after a large battle wherein Sakura and Ino revealed their true motives for joining the crew of Hawk (they were assasins sent after Suigetsu). During the battle, Sasuke stabs Sakura and (ostensibly) kills her, but... well, not for long!
Anyways, enjoy?
Port was a dirty place, as always - dirty and rambunctious, smelling vaguely of garbage and seawater. No matter the time of day, it was easy to find someone who was drunk out of their wits, and a dozen more who were halfway there.
The cerulean-haired pirate aboard the broad-hulled schooner leaned on the railing and sighed. “Ahh, my kind of place,” he said.
Suigetsu turned, a little lazily, to the dark-haired, stony-faced noble’s-son who stood beside him. “Will you be coming ashore, then?” he asked.
Sasuke’s dark eyes whipped toward the pirate, and he gave the vaguest shake of the head. “This is your errand,” he said flatly. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Suigetsu shook his head, in a mournful, resigned manner. Sasuke merely remained stoic. The captain’s theatrical manner was annoying, but he would not let it show. Best to let Suigetsu be his own self, and ignore him - if Sasuke did anything else, it was bound to encourage him. That was one thing he did not want to do.
Tipping his red hat at his commander, Suigetsu turned and began to give orders as to bringing the ship into the docks. Sasuke remained by the rail, his dark eyes on the blue water stretching endlessly to the horizon.
--
The sun was already dipping below the horizon, and Suigetsu had yet to be seen.
Sasuke was scowling, pacing, and very annoyed. He had his hand on the pommel of his sword, and a murderous look on his face, that kept most of the crew (those still alive and on ship) away from him. He was muttering to himself.
“-where is that insubordinate, annoying, philandering-”
“Did you miss me?”
Sasuke whirled, to face the illustrious captain. Suigetsu was grinning like a Cheshire cat, beneath his floppy red hat. He was trailing several people, who concealed their faces.
“We brought the supplies on board hours ago,” he snarled, his hand on his sword to give the message extra effect. “We should have been underway-”
“Easy, easy,” Suigetsu said. “I know my men, and they need a little rest and relaxation once in awhile. Besides, I was chatting with some old friends of ours.”
This statement was confusing enough that it spared Suigetsu’s life long enough for Sasuke to get a look at the two girls Suigetsu had brought with him. They uncovered their faces, and Sasuke realized that he did know them, he knew them very well--
“The Guard has a warrant on our heads,” Ino said, pulling the hood from her long blonde hair. She smiled, the winning smile of a charmer. “Suigetsu offered to take us on once again.”
Sasuke stared at them, dumbstruck. His pale face had gone whiter, and his hands were trembling just the slightest bit. Because, standing there next to her partner, living, breathing, was…
Sakura Haruno.
Suigetsu raised his eyebrow at Sasuke’s expression. “What’s the matter?” he asked, confused. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Sakura’s painted lips curved into a sardonic smile, and she tossed her pink hair behind her shoulders. “Yes, you do look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said, with a little laugh. “But for there to be a ghost, one would have to be dead, wouldn’t they?”
That same smile still upon her lips, she walked the rest of the way up the plank and passed him by. Sasuke’s head whipped around, and he stared after the girl he had thought was dead.
Suigetsu laughed and Sasuke’s blank stare. “Sex drive finally kick in?” he asked.
--
Sakura seemed to be the same - she had the same absurdly pink hair, styled the same way, the same green eyes, the same sinuousness to the way she moved. She still trained every day, making every use of the spaciousness of the deck.
Despite some initial awkwardness over their former allegiances, Sakura and Ino were once again accepted as a part of the crew. Ino flirted as she once had, and Sakura remained her distant self. To all eyes, it would seem she had never crossed Sasuke.
And yet she was different. Whenever he came topside to hone his own skills, Sakura disappeared below without a word. There was a chill darkness that rested in her green eyes, a kind of cold fury. Whenever she and Sasuke spoke, there was some amount of formal courtesy between them.
But no camaraderie, no silent understanding, nothing like what they had had before.
Sasuke sighed. He found himself unable to sleep, and spent increasingly more time on deck, watching the stars, listening to the creak of the wood and tar underneath him. The choppy water below spoke of unnamed, crushing fathoms - the terrible fury of nature, quiet but restless.
He wondered…
“Evening, Sasuke.”
Sasuke turned to face Sakura. She was leaning against the rigging, her green eyes glittering in the dark. “Admiring the view?” she asked, that sardonic note back to her voice.
“No,” Sasuke said quietly. His dark eyes flickered to her face, almost guiltily. “How did you… survive?”
“After you stabbed me?” Sakura’s caustic tone of voice almost made him flinch. “I’m not too clear on that, myself. I woke up to see a white-eyed girl, standing over me. She said that she’d brought me back, and that I should go and find my comrades. I don’t even know who she was.”
Sasuke’s expression went taut. So the Hyuuga had been there, then?
Sakura was silent, as though waiting for something. Sasuke was not sure what for. Still, he made an attempt.
“I didn’t mean to kill you,” he said, quietly.
Sakura snorted. “Yeah, well, great job you did on that one.”
Sasuke glared at her. “I mean, I didn’t want to,” he said. “But… you were in my way.”
She gave him a wry look. “Did it ever occur to you to ask me to move?”
Sasuke did not answer, and he turned his attention to the open ocean once again. Sakura sighed in annoyance.
--
Sasuke sat at the cramped desk in his quarters, and rubbed his temples out of sheer frustration. He had left it unlocked, which was always a mistake, but he had apparently temporarily misplaced his wits. The door opened, nearly colliding with the desk, and the blue-haired captain of the ship walked in.
“I just thought I’d let you know, we’re approaching the northern shore,” he said.
Sasuke nodded. “Is that all?” he asked.
Suigetsu smirked. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked.
Sasuke glared up at the blue-haired menace. He did not want to talk to Suigetsu right now.
“I’ll take your frosty silence as a yes,” Suigetsu said, closing the door and leaning against it. “Especially considering how Sakura’s been acting lately. Any idea why?”
Sasuke just gave a noncommittal grunt.
Suigetsu sighed. Honestly, it was like pulling teeth with this guy. “Did you do anything to her?”
Sasuke looked up, deciding resignedly that Suigetsu would not drop the topic until he had exhausted it. Besides, (and Sasuke would never admit it) he did kind of need the advice. “Well, I kind of killed her.”
Suigetsu chuckled. “No, really,” he chided.
Sasuke’s blank stare told him all he really needed to know. Suigetsu’s eyes went wide, and his jaw hung open for a moment. “You mean you really-?!”
Sasuke nodded, giving his subordinate a glare that suggested several expletives on his part.
“B…but she’s there. And she’s- she’s not dead-” he gesticulated wildly and spouted gibberish for a moment, language having apparently failed him for the moment.
Sasuke cringed, at the reminder. “Well, apparently I fucked it up,” he said dryly.
Suigetsu paused from his ranting to stare at Sasuke. He laughed. “You really do suck at everything, don’t you?” he said, and then began counting off on his fingers, “Pirating ships, relationships, killing…”
Sasuke drew a knife and sent it sailing in Suigetsu’s general direction. It landed with a thunk in the wooden wall of the cabin. Suigetsu turned and looked at it. “… throwing knives.”
“Fuck you,” Sasuke muttered.
Suigetsu rolled his eyes. “Look, stop being such a bastard for two minutes, and look at the big picture,” he said. He took Sasuke’s continued silence as encouragement to go on. “She didn’t kill you. You killed her. Or tried to, at least. And you don’t see why she’s angry?”
Sasuke scowled. “I fucking apologized, didn’t I?” he demanded.
Suigetsu’s eyebrows shot up. “You apologized?” he asked, incredulous. “What did you say?”
“I told her the truth,” Sasuke said. “I didn’t want to kill her, but she was in the way of my goal.”
Suigetsu gave him a nonplussed stare for a long moment. “That’s what you said?” he asked.
Sasuke’s blank scowl said everything that needed to be said.
“You suck at apologizing, too.”
For a moment, Sasuke fought the urge to punch out the captain of the vessel. Probably the thing that saved him was the fact that Suigetsu was right. And Sasuke knew it.
“Look at it this way,” Suigetsu said patiently. “You two were always sparring together, and when you weren’t sparring, you would just sit together in creepy silence. You guys would stay up at night and watch the sea, and she brought you a blanket when we sailed up north. You taught her swordsmanship, she taught you her… ninjaskills. You moped when she was gone-- yes. You moped.”
He paused, for dramatic effect, Sasuke supposed. “And then you killed her.”
Sasuke glared at Suigetsu. “I did not mope,” he snapped, irritably.
Suigetsu gave him a nonplussed look. “Fine, if to you moped means you acted normal,” he said. He sighed. “The girl’s an assassin - she could have easily taken you down. Why do you think she didn’t?”
Sasuke had no answer for that.
Suigetsu grabbed the knife from the wall, and twirled it between his fingers. “Methinks the lady doth have a heart after all,” he said, and then he turned and left the cabin, still twirling the knife, whistling a sea chantey.
Sasuke returned to staring at his desk in abject confusion.
--
Sakura had finished tautening the line on the jib, and was making her way steadily back to the deck, when she found her way blocked by Sasuke. A very intense-looking Sasuke. He had been quiet since his strange apology, and she was still trying to figure him out. Sakura smiled her most flattering smile at him, and attempted to brush past, with a quiet, “Excuse me.”
Instead of moving past him, she found herself pressed up against his chest, and fighting her blush with all of her might. Why did he still affect her so much, even after…?
Her thoughts were cut off by a swift kiss.
Sakura gasped in surprise, allowing Sasuke to deepen the kiss a margin. Mmm, he wasn’t a bad kisser, really, this was pleasant-
She shoved him back suddenly, breaking the contact between them and sending Sasuke forcefully toward the ship’s rail. He looked surprised, and just a little hurt - or at least it seemed that way. “Excuse me?” she demanded, flabbergasted. “What the hell was that?”
Sasuke donned his trademark scowl. “Nothing. Nevermind. Go away.”
Sakura grabbed a fistful of his shirt, to keep him from running away. God damn it, she wanted some answers! “You can’t just kill me, kiss me, and then tell me to go away!” she shrieked.
Sasuke crossed his arms, doing his best to ignore her fist in his shirt. “I can do whatever I want,” he said, irritably. “Go away.”
Sakura glared at him. “You go away.” She let go of his shirt. Sasuke just stood there, infuriatingly nonchalant. “Fine, then,” she muttered. “If you’re not going to leave - when I was here first - then I can do whatever I want!”
She threw a hard right hook directly at his face. Sasuke ducked underneath her fist, and began to concentrate hard on her swift moves.
As she whirled around to kick at him, and he ducked underneath her, allowing her to spin into the railing, he realized that they were falling into their old pattern. They exchanged more blows, blocking and advancing, using the deck and the rigging to their advantage. Sasuke did not draw his sword, though it remained at his side.
And then suddenly, she grabbed him from behind, and in a flash move flipped him onto the deck. Sasuke blinked hard, at the sunlight in his eyes, and the sparks at the edge of his vision, remnants of the wind being knocked out of him.
“Now then,” Sakura said smugly, “why did you kiss me?”
Sasuke rolled his eyes, and sat up on his elbows. “Suigetsu said you wanted it.”
“Suigetsu also says you’re a fucking bastard. Does that make it true?”
Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her.
Sakura winced. “That was a bad example.”
Sasuke snorted. Sakura wondered vaguely when he started listening to Suigetsu.
“Well, I’m sure Ino or Karin would appreciate your efforts a lot more. Why don’t you go kiss them?” she suggested.
“I don’t care what they want,” Sasuke said, matter-of-factly.
Sakura’s surprise showed on her face. “And you care what I want?” she asked. “What separates me from them?”
Sasuke’s dark eyes would not meet hers. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “You’re… you’re different, that’s all.”
“Different.”
Sakura gave him an inquisitive look.
Sasuke met her look with a glare. “Yeah, different.”
“Do I want to be different?” Sakura demanded. She was fighting hard to keep her voice from trembling. This was treading into difficult territory.
Sasuke shrugged, and stood up. “Suigetsu says you do,” he said.
“Well, what do you say?” Sakura met his night-black eyes with her own, challenging him to come up with an answer. Sasuke replied with that quizzical furrow in his brow, and a stony silence. Sakura waited - she knew his reticence well enough.
Still, he was taking quite a long time. She sighed quietly to herself, berating herself for ever thinking that she would get a straight answer out of him, and turned to walk away.
“I want you to be different,” he said suddenly.
Sakura stopped in her tracks, and turned back to him. “What does that mean?” she demanded. If she couldn’t get an answer out of him-
The look that Sasuke gave bordered on haughty, but didn’t quite make it. “I don’t fucking know,” he muttered, in the irritable way he had. “In case you hadn’t guessed, I’m a bit new to this.”
Sakura grinned slowly. “New to… what?” she asked, almost teasing.
“You… being different.”
Sakura rolled her eyes to high heaven. Oh, really, he was so hopeless.
“I… I feel like I could lose you,” he said, quietly. “Like it could hurt, to lose you.”
Sakura trained her eyes on him, waiting for him to elaborate more. Instead, he answered her with a question.
“Why didn’t you kill me, when we were fighting? You had the chance.”
Sakura stared out at the deep ocean, thinking, for a long time. Why hadn’t she killed him? He obviously had no compunctions about the act. And yet, when the moment had come for her to fulfill her mission, she had disobeyed.
“I think I love you, but I’m not sure,” she said, quietly, not taking her eyes from the sea, and thus missing the look of shock on Sasuke’s face. “… it might have been indigestion.”
There was silence for a long moment. Sakura wondered if he had left, but dared not face him if he hadn’t. She studied the grain of the ship’s planking, until she heard a booted footstep beside her, and then he was there, standing next to her - not touching, but close enough that she could feel his warmth against the chill ocean breeze.
“Maybe we’ve both got indigestion,” he said, his voice soft.
Sakura smirked, her eyes flickering to his face. “Next time we won’t let Suigetsu cook dinner,” she said, teasingly.
(That is, after NaNo, and with all of the other fics I am supposed to be writing!)
The genre is fantasy (because that is my onetruegenre, and I can probably never quit it?), and included a world where the Sharingan, Byakugan and Rinnengan are all jewels of immense power, Naruto is the future king, Neji is an amnesiatic swordsman, Hinata is a priestess, Sakura and Ino are assassins and Sasuke and his posse are all pirates!
(You understand why this idea was too awesome to ever leave alone, right?)
Sasuke is the financier of the vessel Hawk, whose mission it is to look for the legendary jewels. Suigetsu is the ship's captain, of course (and a snarky one at that). These shots take place after a large battle wherein Sakura and Ino revealed their true motives for joining the crew of Hawk (they were assasins sent after Suigetsu). During the battle, Sasuke stabs Sakura and (ostensibly) kills her, but... well, not for long!
Anyways, enjoy?
Port was a dirty place, as always - dirty and rambunctious, smelling vaguely of garbage and seawater. No matter the time of day, it was easy to find someone who was drunk out of their wits, and a dozen more who were halfway there.
The cerulean-haired pirate aboard the broad-hulled schooner leaned on the railing and sighed. “Ahh, my kind of place,” he said.
Suigetsu turned, a little lazily, to the dark-haired, stony-faced noble’s-son who stood beside him. “Will you be coming ashore, then?” he asked.
Sasuke’s dark eyes whipped toward the pirate, and he gave the vaguest shake of the head. “This is your errand,” he said flatly. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Suigetsu shook his head, in a mournful, resigned manner. Sasuke merely remained stoic. The captain’s theatrical manner was annoying, but he would not let it show. Best to let Suigetsu be his own self, and ignore him - if Sasuke did anything else, it was bound to encourage him. That was one thing he did not want to do.
Tipping his red hat at his commander, Suigetsu turned and began to give orders as to bringing the ship into the docks. Sasuke remained by the rail, his dark eyes on the blue water stretching endlessly to the horizon.
--
The sun was already dipping below the horizon, and Suigetsu had yet to be seen.
Sasuke was scowling, pacing, and very annoyed. He had his hand on the pommel of his sword, and a murderous look on his face, that kept most of the crew (those still alive and on ship) away from him. He was muttering to himself.
“-where is that insubordinate, annoying, philandering-”
“Did you miss me?”
Sasuke whirled, to face the illustrious captain. Suigetsu was grinning like a Cheshire cat, beneath his floppy red hat. He was trailing several people, who concealed their faces.
“We brought the supplies on board hours ago,” he snarled, his hand on his sword to give the message extra effect. “We should have been underway-”
“Easy, easy,” Suigetsu said. “I know my men, and they need a little rest and relaxation once in awhile. Besides, I was chatting with some old friends of ours.”
This statement was confusing enough that it spared Suigetsu’s life long enough for Sasuke to get a look at the two girls Suigetsu had brought with him. They uncovered their faces, and Sasuke realized that he did know them, he knew them very well--
“The Guard has a warrant on our heads,” Ino said, pulling the hood from her long blonde hair. She smiled, the winning smile of a charmer. “Suigetsu offered to take us on once again.”
Sasuke stared at them, dumbstruck. His pale face had gone whiter, and his hands were trembling just the slightest bit. Because, standing there next to her partner, living, breathing, was…
Sakura Haruno.
Suigetsu raised his eyebrow at Sasuke’s expression. “What’s the matter?” he asked, confused. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Sakura’s painted lips curved into a sardonic smile, and she tossed her pink hair behind her shoulders. “Yes, you do look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said, with a little laugh. “But for there to be a ghost, one would have to be dead, wouldn’t they?”
That same smile still upon her lips, she walked the rest of the way up the plank and passed him by. Sasuke’s head whipped around, and he stared after the girl he had thought was dead.
Suigetsu laughed and Sasuke’s blank stare. “Sex drive finally kick in?” he asked.
--
Sakura seemed to be the same - she had the same absurdly pink hair, styled the same way, the same green eyes, the same sinuousness to the way she moved. She still trained every day, making every use of the spaciousness of the deck.
Despite some initial awkwardness over their former allegiances, Sakura and Ino were once again accepted as a part of the crew. Ino flirted as she once had, and Sakura remained her distant self. To all eyes, it would seem she had never crossed Sasuke.
And yet she was different. Whenever he came topside to hone his own skills, Sakura disappeared below without a word. There was a chill darkness that rested in her green eyes, a kind of cold fury. Whenever she and Sasuke spoke, there was some amount of formal courtesy between them.
But no camaraderie, no silent understanding, nothing like what they had had before.
Sasuke sighed. He found himself unable to sleep, and spent increasingly more time on deck, watching the stars, listening to the creak of the wood and tar underneath him. The choppy water below spoke of unnamed, crushing fathoms - the terrible fury of nature, quiet but restless.
He wondered…
“Evening, Sasuke.”
Sasuke turned to face Sakura. She was leaning against the rigging, her green eyes glittering in the dark. “Admiring the view?” she asked, that sardonic note back to her voice.
“No,” Sasuke said quietly. His dark eyes flickered to her face, almost guiltily. “How did you… survive?”
“After you stabbed me?” Sakura’s caustic tone of voice almost made him flinch. “I’m not too clear on that, myself. I woke up to see a white-eyed girl, standing over me. She said that she’d brought me back, and that I should go and find my comrades. I don’t even know who she was.”
Sasuke’s expression went taut. So the Hyuuga had been there, then?
Sakura was silent, as though waiting for something. Sasuke was not sure what for. Still, he made an attempt.
“I didn’t mean to kill you,” he said, quietly.
Sakura snorted. “Yeah, well, great job you did on that one.”
Sasuke glared at her. “I mean, I didn’t want to,” he said. “But… you were in my way.”
She gave him a wry look. “Did it ever occur to you to ask me to move?”
Sasuke did not answer, and he turned his attention to the open ocean once again. Sakura sighed in annoyance.
--
Sasuke sat at the cramped desk in his quarters, and rubbed his temples out of sheer frustration. He had left it unlocked, which was always a mistake, but he had apparently temporarily misplaced his wits. The door opened, nearly colliding with the desk, and the blue-haired captain of the ship walked in.
“I just thought I’d let you know, we’re approaching the northern shore,” he said.
Sasuke nodded. “Is that all?” he asked.
Suigetsu smirked. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked.
Sasuke glared up at the blue-haired menace. He did not want to talk to Suigetsu right now.
“I’ll take your frosty silence as a yes,” Suigetsu said, closing the door and leaning against it. “Especially considering how Sakura’s been acting lately. Any idea why?”
Sasuke just gave a noncommittal grunt.
Suigetsu sighed. Honestly, it was like pulling teeth with this guy. “Did you do anything to her?”
Sasuke looked up, deciding resignedly that Suigetsu would not drop the topic until he had exhausted it. Besides, (and Sasuke would never admit it) he did kind of need the advice. “Well, I kind of killed her.”
Suigetsu chuckled. “No, really,” he chided.
Sasuke’s blank stare told him all he really needed to know. Suigetsu’s eyes went wide, and his jaw hung open for a moment. “You mean you really-?!”
Sasuke nodded, giving his subordinate a glare that suggested several expletives on his part.
“B…but she’s there. And she’s- she’s not dead-” he gesticulated wildly and spouted gibberish for a moment, language having apparently failed him for the moment.
Sasuke cringed, at the reminder. “Well, apparently I fucked it up,” he said dryly.
Suigetsu paused from his ranting to stare at Sasuke. He laughed. “You really do suck at everything, don’t you?” he said, and then began counting off on his fingers, “Pirating ships, relationships, killing…”
Sasuke drew a knife and sent it sailing in Suigetsu’s general direction. It landed with a thunk in the wooden wall of the cabin. Suigetsu turned and looked at it. “… throwing knives.”
“Fuck you,” Sasuke muttered.
Suigetsu rolled his eyes. “Look, stop being such a bastard for two minutes, and look at the big picture,” he said. He took Sasuke’s continued silence as encouragement to go on. “She didn’t kill you. You killed her. Or tried to, at least. And you don’t see why she’s angry?”
Sasuke scowled. “I fucking apologized, didn’t I?” he demanded.
Suigetsu’s eyebrows shot up. “You apologized?” he asked, incredulous. “What did you say?”
“I told her the truth,” Sasuke said. “I didn’t want to kill her, but she was in the way of my goal.”
Suigetsu gave him a nonplussed stare for a long moment. “That’s what you said?” he asked.
Sasuke’s blank scowl said everything that needed to be said.
“You suck at apologizing, too.”
For a moment, Sasuke fought the urge to punch out the captain of the vessel. Probably the thing that saved him was the fact that Suigetsu was right. And Sasuke knew it.
“Look at it this way,” Suigetsu said patiently. “You two were always sparring together, and when you weren’t sparring, you would just sit together in creepy silence. You guys would stay up at night and watch the sea, and she brought you a blanket when we sailed up north. You taught her swordsmanship, she taught you her… ninjaskills. You moped when she was gone-- yes. You moped.”
He paused, for dramatic effect, Sasuke supposed. “And then you killed her.”
Sasuke glared at Suigetsu. “I did not mope,” he snapped, irritably.
Suigetsu gave him a nonplussed look. “Fine, if to you moped means you acted normal,” he said. He sighed. “The girl’s an assassin - she could have easily taken you down. Why do you think she didn’t?”
Sasuke had no answer for that.
Suigetsu grabbed the knife from the wall, and twirled it between his fingers. “Methinks the lady doth have a heart after all,” he said, and then he turned and left the cabin, still twirling the knife, whistling a sea chantey.
Sasuke returned to staring at his desk in abject confusion.
--
Sakura had finished tautening the line on the jib, and was making her way steadily back to the deck, when she found her way blocked by Sasuke. A very intense-looking Sasuke. He had been quiet since his strange apology, and she was still trying to figure him out. Sakura smiled her most flattering smile at him, and attempted to brush past, with a quiet, “Excuse me.”
Instead of moving past him, she found herself pressed up against his chest, and fighting her blush with all of her might. Why did he still affect her so much, even after…?
Her thoughts were cut off by a swift kiss.
Sakura gasped in surprise, allowing Sasuke to deepen the kiss a margin. Mmm, he wasn’t a bad kisser, really, this was pleasant-
She shoved him back suddenly, breaking the contact between them and sending Sasuke forcefully toward the ship’s rail. He looked surprised, and just a little hurt - or at least it seemed that way. “Excuse me?” she demanded, flabbergasted. “What the hell was that?”
Sasuke donned his trademark scowl. “Nothing. Nevermind. Go away.”
Sakura grabbed a fistful of his shirt, to keep him from running away. God damn it, she wanted some answers! “You can’t just kill me, kiss me, and then tell me to go away!” she shrieked.
Sasuke crossed his arms, doing his best to ignore her fist in his shirt. “I can do whatever I want,” he said, irritably. “Go away.”
Sakura glared at him. “You go away.” She let go of his shirt. Sasuke just stood there, infuriatingly nonchalant. “Fine, then,” she muttered. “If you’re not going to leave - when I was here first - then I can do whatever I want!”
She threw a hard right hook directly at his face. Sasuke ducked underneath her fist, and began to concentrate hard on her swift moves.
As she whirled around to kick at him, and he ducked underneath her, allowing her to spin into the railing, he realized that they were falling into their old pattern. They exchanged more blows, blocking and advancing, using the deck and the rigging to their advantage. Sasuke did not draw his sword, though it remained at his side.
And then suddenly, she grabbed him from behind, and in a flash move flipped him onto the deck. Sasuke blinked hard, at the sunlight in his eyes, and the sparks at the edge of his vision, remnants of the wind being knocked out of him.
“Now then,” Sakura said smugly, “why did you kiss me?”
Sasuke rolled his eyes, and sat up on his elbows. “Suigetsu said you wanted it.”
“Suigetsu also says you’re a fucking bastard. Does that make it true?”
Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her.
Sakura winced. “That was a bad example.”
Sasuke snorted. Sakura wondered vaguely when he started listening to Suigetsu.
“Well, I’m sure Ino or Karin would appreciate your efforts a lot more. Why don’t you go kiss them?” she suggested.
“I don’t care what they want,” Sasuke said, matter-of-factly.
Sakura’s surprise showed on her face. “And you care what I want?” she asked. “What separates me from them?”
Sasuke’s dark eyes would not meet hers. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “You’re… you’re different, that’s all.”
“Different.”
Sakura gave him an inquisitive look.
Sasuke met her look with a glare. “Yeah, different.”
“Do I want to be different?” Sakura demanded. She was fighting hard to keep her voice from trembling. This was treading into difficult territory.
Sasuke shrugged, and stood up. “Suigetsu says you do,” he said.
“Well, what do you say?” Sakura met his night-black eyes with her own, challenging him to come up with an answer. Sasuke replied with that quizzical furrow in his brow, and a stony silence. Sakura waited - she knew his reticence well enough.
Still, he was taking quite a long time. She sighed quietly to herself, berating herself for ever thinking that she would get a straight answer out of him, and turned to walk away.
“I want you to be different,” he said suddenly.
Sakura stopped in her tracks, and turned back to him. “What does that mean?” she demanded. If she couldn’t get an answer out of him-
The look that Sasuke gave bordered on haughty, but didn’t quite make it. “I don’t fucking know,” he muttered, in the irritable way he had. “In case you hadn’t guessed, I’m a bit new to this.”
Sakura grinned slowly. “New to… what?” she asked, almost teasing.
“You… being different.”
Sakura rolled her eyes to high heaven. Oh, really, he was so hopeless.
“I… I feel like I could lose you,” he said, quietly. “Like it could hurt, to lose you.”
Sakura trained her eyes on him, waiting for him to elaborate more. Instead, he answered her with a question.
“Why didn’t you kill me, when we were fighting? You had the chance.”
Sakura stared out at the deep ocean, thinking, for a long time. Why hadn’t she killed him? He obviously had no compunctions about the act. And yet, when the moment had come for her to fulfill her mission, she had disobeyed.
“I think I love you, but I’m not sure,” she said, quietly, not taking her eyes from the sea, and thus missing the look of shock on Sasuke’s face. “… it might have been indigestion.”
There was silence for a long moment. Sakura wondered if he had left, but dared not face him if he hadn’t. She studied the grain of the ship’s planking, until she heard a booted footstep beside her, and then he was there, standing next to her - not touching, but close enough that she could feel his warmth against the chill ocean breeze.
“Maybe we’ve both got indigestion,” he said, his voice soft.
Sakura smirked, her eyes flickering to his face. “Next time we won’t let Suigetsu cook dinner,” she said, teasingly.