Another World 4

Sakura watched with soft content eyes as Naruto slipped the ring onto Hinata's trembling slender finger, a second before cheers and applause erupted around them in Konoha's main recreation center, privately booked for this night's event. The decorations, themes, lighting and everything were all selected by Hinata, Naruto didn't have any particular tastes for anything for the event except for the catering: Ichiraku Ramen of course.

There was an endless supply of ramen and ramen accoutrements spread out on three large horizontal buffet tables that spanned the length of one entire wall in the rec center. Available for everyone to customize practically any type of ramen known to mankind. Among them were a hundred different gourmet fish cakes, ten different broths that ranged from light and clear assari soups to thick and hearty kotteri broths made from hours of simmering animal bones until the marrow seeped out and infused into the liquid, next came optional flavor enhancements of shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso, tonkotsu and many more. Noodle varieties ranged from dried to freshly made, thin and wavy to thick udon, soba, flour, semolina. Toppings like chashu pork, kakuni, bacon, shredded pork, ground meat, chicken, seafood...vegetables like sliced cabbage, enoki mushrooms, spinach, menma (lacto-fermented bamboo shoots), green onions, kimchi, wood ear mushrooms, nori sheets...Sakura literally couldn't describe everything available. She hadn't even mentioned the giant assortment of pre-cooked eggs!

Naruto must have been the happiest he'd ever been in his life right now. Having his two most cherished loves side by side: Hinata and Ramen.

Even though this was technically not her Konoha and he was not her Naruto, she was still happy to see any version of Naruto getting his happy ending. She'd done research into the history of this Konoha and though it didn't have the Uchiha clan, everything else was virtually still the same. Naruto had still become an orphaned Kyuubi host and had had a rather lonely childhood just like the one in her world.

She was happy her friend but Sakura would be lying if she said her mind and heart were completely focused on the happy couple. Not even the majority of her mind, truth to be told, fell into this category: no, that honor belonged always on the man sitting to her left throughout this whole event.

Sasuke Uchiha.

Expression steely and unreadable, he only watched nonchalantly as the happy couple toasted everyone. That look scared her because she couldn't predict what he was thinking...what he could potentially do next....

His look in particular reminded her of those moments...back in that steel cage...whenever she disobeyed or unintentionally provoked him...and the consequences that followed afterwards.

Even at happy gatherings the man looked pissed off.

Even when everyone clapped and cheered, Sasuke just sat stoically staring off at the couple. Initially it was a mix of boredom and apathy but now it had transformed into that iconic steely resolve that reminded her so much of the past...

It was an engagement party, what reason could he possibly have to be unhappy about? She knew jealousy was completely out of the question because she knew Sasuke's feelings for both individuals of the couple before them. Nonchalant boredom for Hinata and combatative rivalry for Naruto, neither of them provoked any kind of romantic interest. And most importantly, Sakura knew the man could not be jealous because his obsession for her was still very much burning at its peak right now, as it always seemed to be.

With jealousy out, the next theory she came up with was resentment...but she hadn't made him accompany her here! On the contrary, she'd secretly hoped he would excuse himself. She'd known the reception would bore him but also, and more importantly, there would be drinking at the party. And what often happened when people got drunk? If some drunkard provoked Sasuke...if there was any sort of confrontation...

Sakura shuddered at the thought.

For this reason, she made sure to stay by the man's side during the entire event, in case she needed to defuse his anger at a moment's notice.

But thankfully, no such instance arose.

Well, except for his current intense gaze...

Tentatively, Sakura slipped a palm onto the man's knee, lightly shaking it to try and get his attention.

No response. Was he angry?

Sakura gulped.

She tried shaking a little harder. Still no reply.

Oh god.

Panic started to arise inside her, sweat beaded across her forehead. Feeling desperate, Sakura did the first thing that came into her mind.

Sasuke turned like a bolt of lightning when he heard Sakura's sharp yelp of pain next to him. His eyes widened at her deeply lacerated palm and the shattered glass in her lap that had once been her wine glass.

A few people nearby turned their head in curiosity and shock as well. Sakura quickly apologized and reassured everyone that she was okay. Before she'd even asked the man, Sasuke was helping her out of her seat and out onto the veranda to get the glass removed and her flesh healed.

Repairing the cut was no difficult feat for a room full of shinobis but making sure all of the glass shards were cleanly removed would still take time and focused precision from the person doing the mending, as such they needed privacy.

Which was exactly what Sakura had planned.

She could actually take care of such an injury in the blink of an eye but she still let Sasuke attend to it, acting like the damsel in distress she always somehow ended up being around him. Oh well.

When you were already soaked to the bone in sea water, what was the point in avoiding a puddle?

"And I thought you had outgrown your klutzy side," Sasuke commented as he worked; his words were not quite mocking but also not quite constructive either. Was that reproachment or admonishment? She watched as Sasuke searched meticulously for each shard with his sharingan, picking them up one by one with delicate streams of dark blue chakra.

"Sasuke..." she started tentatively, knowing this was her chance.

"Hmm?" he hummed to indicate she had his attention as his eyes stayed focused on the task in front of him.

"Why...um...I mean...did...someone or me...do something to anger you tonight? At this party?"

Sasuke finally raised his gaze from Sakura's bleeding palm. "What makes you ask that?"

Was that sarcasm? Or genuine confusion?

Sakura's cheeks flushed with warmth at his gaze; she looked away while answering: "You...you just seemed...um a bit...angry...just now?"

Silence followed. After a bit, Sakura dared to sneak a gaze back; Sasuke's expression was unreadably stoic. She felt like the tension was thick enough to be cut by a knife when the man suddenly chuckled, it was light and airy. One of the few times where he was genuinely amused by something and not laughing in condescension.

Sakura only felt more confused.

What was he laughing at-

Her thoughts were cut off by the man taking her lips against his via a strong palm against the back of her neck; the kiss was intense but involved no tongue and lasted only for half a second. Then Sasuke just barely separated, keeping only a few millimeters of air between them, his hand moved from the back of her neck to caress her trembling cheek.

"I thought you would know better than anyone when I'm actually angry Sakura."

Sakura didn't know how to process that light and yet extremely morbid statement (given everything that had transpired between them) -the only thing on her pounding mind was that terrifying gaze he'd had.

"If you weren't angry then why were you practically simmering just now?"

Sasuke emitted another light chuckle, gave her another light kiss before answering: "I was reviewing jutsus mentally in my head; it helps me keep my edge when I'm unable to make it to the dojo. Plus, I was really bored just now."

He added that last statement with another lighthearted chuckle.

In any other circumstance, with any other friend, Sakura would have ended up laughing alongside them in this moment...but with Sasuke...

She felt woozy and actually needed to balance her head in her non-bleeding hand to keep from fainting. Sasuke's amusement immediately dissipated, replaced by concern once more.

With ease, he lifted Sakura's weak form so that she fit right in between his legs. His head fit into the crook of her neck while he cradled her smaller frame inside his chest. This way he could hold her while still continuing to work on her hand.

Sakura made no attempt to resist him; she just stayed silent as he worked, watching him with deep emotional exhaustion.

It had all been in her head. He hadn't ever been angry.

If it hadn't been for their dark history together, Sakura knew she would have just laughed this mistake off. If it hadn't been for their dark history...she probably wouldn't have made the assumption to begin with.

"You were worried I was going to hurt someone?" Sasuke asked her without meeting her eyes as he finished picking up the last shard.

Sakura bit her lip while he summoned new chakra to knit the flesh back together; since he had never really done much healing jutsus in his life, the chakra he summoned worked very slowly to stitch her skin back together.

Sasuke felt internally embarrassed (as he always did whenever he wasn't number immediately good at something) but he had more pressing matters now to address in the moment. "Did you think there was a chance I would renege on the second part of our deal?"

His deep black eyes finally met with her trembling green ones. Sakura tried to look away but he forced her gaze back by a hand on her chin. "Sakura, answer me."

Was it anger this time?

Maybe it was the wine she'd drunk but Sakura couldn't tell anymore. She felt so tired and steamrolled around this man, especially when they were out in public together.

"I'm sorry," she whispered at her lowest voice possible, her gaze portraying her exhaustion and fear.

Sasuke kept his gaze hard on her for a long moment. Then he sighed and looked away.

___________________

That night, as Sakura laid sleeping next to him in their bed, Sasuke kept a pensive intense gaze on the rotating ceiling fan above their bed. The night felt hot even with the fan on its highest setting. To keep their bills down, Sakura said it would be best to only turn AC on in rare occasions. Sasuke was used to enduring hot intense temps across all the deserts he'd traversed in his previous life so either way made little difference to him.

But tonight he did find the air stiflingly hot.

Or maybe it was just because of his own burning thoughts that made the room feel like an absolute oven.

Unable to take it anymore, Sasuke got off the bed and stepped onto the balcony of Sakura's apartment. He was wearing only a thin loose pair of pajamas pants with nothing on his top half so the cool night air felt like a cool wave across his torso.

Ah.

If only it could have the same effect on his thoughts that still revolved and raced around Sakura.

She didn't trust him.

She still thought him unstable.

She still was afraid of him.

Given everything they'd been through, this could only be expected...but still he could not help the frustration inside him.

When would he be able to get Sakura to feel comfortable around him? When could they be a true couple, not only physically but also emotionally?

Sasuke hadn't even succeeded in the first part of that equation yet, let alone the second. He'd stayed with her for already six weeks now and he was still the only one initiating all their intimacy. While she never denied him, Sakura also never truly accepted, merely just going along passively. He knew it was just so she could uphold their deal.

Sasuke knew she always kept her promises. (Why couldn't she believe the same in him?)

He didn't want her to give into the sex just because she had to but because she genuinely wanted to. He wanted her to want him.

How much longer did he have to wait until this occurred?

Sasuke sighed as he leaned his throbbing forehead against the balcony's steel hand rails, hoping the cold metal would mitigate his headache. As soon as he hunched over a flash occurred from the balcony adjacent to the one he was on right now.

Sasuke tsked. It was that fucking looney again.

Ever since he'd moved in with Sakura there'd been way too many disturbances like this from all sorts of thirsty desperate women. Love letters, candy, gifts, edible underwear, all sorts of disturbingly personal presents were left at Sakura's front door. Didn't they have any shame? He was obviously in a relationship already and yet they had the audacity.

From the very beginning, he'd wanted to announce their marriage to everyone in her social and familial circle but Sakura had explained to him that 'things simply didn't work that way.'

Because he was technically a stranger to everyone in her life, if she suddenly announced that she'd not only married him awhile ago but also that she'd done it secretively, everyone would go crazy in speculations. (Truth be told, just the fact that he'd moved in with her had already caused wide waves of gossip to fall down the grave vine...but Sakura didn't mention this to him). She explained that they would either think she'd lost her mind or...he had somehow forced her into the marriage...which, even if it was the truth, was not something Sakura wanted her friends and family to know about.

Not this time around. Not now that they were given this chance to start over.

In the end, Sasuke had sighed and made a deal with the pinkette: two years from now they would announce their engagement and then "officially marry" as soon as possible. Cohabitation had never been brought up in the discussion because it was implied that he would always be by her side, both Sasuke and Sakura knew this but for very different reasons.

Another annoying flash occurred from the adjacent balcony and Sasuke couldn't help himself; with one insanely fast fire ball jutsu, the camera the neighbor had been holding burst into flames. The skinny glasses wearing neighbor dropped the camera but the fire caught her hair in the process and soon her entire scalp was in flames.

Sasuke smirked as the neighbor ran screaming back into her apartment.

If it wasn't for his promise to Sakura, he would have long since taken care of this bitch -along with most of his admirers. It was only because of her that they were still breathing.

As he stepped back into their bedroom, Sasuke coincidentally stepped on one of his stalker love letters that had escaped the weekly incineration.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed as he picked up the pink envelope, burning it instantly and tossing the ashes down the garbage disposal.

Though it was still a nuisance, the letter did give him an idea.

***

"You...want to go on a date?"

Sasuke inhaled sharply, his eyes averting away from her own in the process. "Look if you don't want to then forget I said anything."

He looked around himself for a bit, left and right, hands tightening into fists at his sides and then loosening.

Opening and closing. Opening and closing.

He started looking for something around the small living room, fumbling through old stacks of magazines Sakura had never read, dried out pens, paper clips, candles searching for whatever something he wasn't searching for.

A moment later Sasuke dropped everything and straightened to his full height, about to leave the room angrily; his cheeks a tinged redder than they were normally. He wasn't able to make the exit he so desperately wanted because a hand reached out and wrapped around his wrist.

Sakura's hand.

She could hardly believe her eyes and ears. Sasuke was embarrassed. He was actually dropping his outer shield and putting himself on a cliff right now, vulnerable and open, making himself available for rejection. This was something she knew the Sasuke that had imprisoned her would have never done.

A warm feeling radiated across the center of her bosom in that moment.

It was small, barely noticeable. If not for the mind numbing silence that permeated the room, Sakura would have never recognized the feeling was present.

But she did.

And she could not deny what emotion was inside her along with the warmth.

A small smile spread across Sakura's face as her hand gently slid into Sasuke's, fingers interlacing with his.

"Yes, let's go out on a date."

Because neither of them had much romantic experience, they had a bit of trouble deciding on where to go. With limitations in finances (as well as Sakura's unspoken fear of going anywhere with a lot of people), they both settled on a midnight stroll.

"Couples do this sort of thing, right?" Sasuke actually asked her as they started their walk, hand in hand. Sasuke had initiated the contact and Sakura hadn't rejected but somehow the action was still awkward enough for the man to quickly offer a perfunctory excuse of: 'just for safety.'

His question about couples caught her off guard. Since when did he care about what typical people did? He'd literally defected from his village and spent years travelling as an outcast fugitive, impervious to the judgement and thoughts of others.

"Um...maybe?" Sakura answered sincerely after a bit of thought. "I'm not really sure."

They walked down the street of her apartment complex which happened to be located on a steep hill and so they descended slowly down the incline. The cool night air washed across both of them and minutely calmed their racing beating hearts.

"I thought you would know all about these kinds of things," Sasuke proffered without much thought.

It didn't land quite as casually as he'd hoped.

"Why?" Sakura furrowed her brows in genuine confusion.

He mistook her tone for offense and he could feel sweat beading across his back. Sasuke stuffed his free hand into the pocket of his cotton sweat pants as they continued their stroll as he swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat.

He answered her cautiously: "Because...of our Genin days."

Oh god. Sakura could not stop herself from cringing and literally groaning her embarrassment into the center of her palm as she buried her face in it, wishing she could be swallowed up by the planet right then.

God she really hated remembering any bit of her past self. What a moronic simpleton she'd been back then. Always Sasuke this, Sasuke that. Spouting about nothing except romance and fantasies of marriage and happily ever after. Saccharine naïve ignorance. That's what she'd been made of. 100% nothing else.

Real life had proven to be very different from those fantasies. Much darker. Much crueler.

She'd had no choice but to strengthen her resolve and mindset as the world hurt her, unconsciously burying her past and all memories of that simple-minded fool in as deep a hole as possible within her mind. Occasionally, she'd be reminded but she would immediately push those memories back down, acting like it had been someone else's childhood.

Oh the shame.

Her embarrassment had lightened the atmosphere around them; she heard a small chuckle next to her. He was laughing at her. More heat filled her cheeks, she looked away and an uncomfortable air fell between them then; Sasuke realized his mistake and quickly stifled his laugh.

"Sorry."

Sakura quickly met his gaze. "No, no, it's okay...I just...don't like...being reminded...of my past behavior."

If it had been anyone else that reminded her, Sakura was sure she'd have ended up laughing alongside them but there was too much history between her and the man beside her. Plus, he'd had a very personal connection to that version of herself back then.

Honestly, at the reminder of this, Sakura felt like she owed him an apology. An apology that she'd never actually had the chance to say after everything else that had happened between them...

"I'm sorry." Sasuke suddenly heard Sakura speaking softly between them.

His brows crossed in confusion. "What for?"

"For...the way I'd acted back then...you were right, I was annoying. Really annoying, everyday...revolving around you. And- and-" her breath caught in her throat; she took a shuttering breath. "I was extremely selfish too, asking you to give up your entire life's goal just so I could have you next to me. Avenging your clan was everything to you at the time, I had no right to ask you to abandon it for me."

Sakura couldn't meet his eyes as she spoke, too ashamed, but Sasuke at the end of it suddenly stopped their steps and tilted her head up so that he could look into her remorse filled orbs.

At first she thought he was going to say something, and honestly Sasuke thought that too. That was his original intention but when the time actually came, he found his words stuck in his throat.

He hadn't thought about that day for so long now and there was really no need to apologize because he'd done far worse things to her afterwards. Far worse things that he was still doing to her...

Sasuke was a very straight laced, calculative person, positives and negatives, right and wrong. His sins to her had long since outweighed hers to him. If there was a balance scale in between them, he knew it would be completely tilted to his side, probably irrevocably so.

This was something he'd already accepted.

Along with the fact that he was still hurting her. He'd forced her to agree to let him rape her whenever he wanted to after all. Ultimately, there was no avoiding this fact no matter how much he tried to rationalize his actions.

And though he always tried his best to not physically or emotionally hurt her, Sasuke knew that sometimes when he was too excited, he'd fail in both. In a small fatuous bid for penitance, he'd always tried to take care of her physical pleasure before he did his own. Not that that counted for much.

So really, she didn't have to apologize to him for anything.

Sasuke's long lashes fell halfway in his guilt and rumination as he continued to lock eyes with her.

All this while, Sakura waited for him to speak with her trembling green eyes staring quaveringly into his black ones. When he continued to stay silent, the awkwardness grew so uncomfortable Sakura instinctively tried putting distance between them. Immediately, she was pulled back and her mouth got sealed by a hard searing kiss.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. Her mouth parted open in habit, expecting his tongue to ravish her the next second -but it never came.

Sasuke just kept their mouths pressed together as his hand moved from lifting her chin to cupping her soft cheek, stroking it tenderly and affectionately. Lovingly.

A moment later, Sasuke broke the kiss to bury his head into the crook of her neck, his breaths shallow and intense even though he hadn't ravaged her mouth like he'd usually done.

No, his heart was pounding and beating madly across his skull for another reason: guilt.

I'm sorry.

"I love you so much Sakura," he whispered into the juncture of her neck, right above her clavicle. His words were heavy and breathy while his arms wrapped around her, as tight as he dared without hurting her. If he could, Sasuke wished to be able to fuse his soul to hers and never part.

In life or death.

Sakura blinked her eyes in rapid succession for a second; a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden changed atmosphere.

Usually, at times like this, she'd look to her left and right, self-conscious of any potential passerby seeing them because she'd be sure Sasuke had only one thing on his mind with the sudden embrace.

But no, not this time. Sakura could tell there was nothing sexual in his intentions.

He just solely wanted to hold her, whisper his affections to her.

Suddenly, she thought back to when they were in Aukerbad, the abandoned snow resort, when he'd forced her into compliance at the threat of what she'd thought were her parents' lives.

That day...

"Act like it," he suddenly said.

Sakura blinked. "Act like what?"

"Like you love me."

That had thrown her for a loop, confused on what to do or say, eventually she'd settled on asking him if he wanted to have sex because she'd thought that would satisfy his request.

But it'd done the opposite.

His expression turned dourly grim and Sakura gulped as he sat up quick, turning away. He made towards the door and Sakura realized he was leaving. She quickly hopped off and stopped him in the doorway.

"WAIT! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I was just meaning, if-if you wanted to- we could-" she was stammering, desperate to get back on his good side.

Sasuke had his back turned against her but his knuckles were chalk white as he clutched the edge of the open door.

In a second, he'd slammed it shut before whirling on her, grabbing her by the upper arm. She winced at the bruising force.

"Act like it." He barked out the command this time, devoid of patience.

"That's why I said we should-"

"Is that all you think I want from you?" He was furious, his grip on her only getting tighter. "Is that all you think I'm interested in you for?"

At the time, or actually for a long time, that was indeed what she'd rationalized his interest in her was about. Of course, she'd been proven wrong, time and time again. And every time she was forced to admit that Sasuke Uchiha was indeed wholeheartedly, genuinely, irreversibly in love with her, Sakura felt her heart moving minutely closer to his.

Closer and closer...

How much longer until she forgot every wrong he'd done to her?

How much longer until she was unable to hate him anymore?

Did she even still want to hate him?

Sakura asked herself this question as Sasuke hugged her, her gaze falling dazedly onto the nearby street lamp with small bugs flying back and forth across the surface, then to the nearby bench...

She realized then that this was the exact same spot he'd parted from her all those years ago; that same bench that he'd placed her on after knocking her unconscious.

Was this poetic fate? Destiny?

If you have to go...take me with you.

Sakura's heart pounded in her chest at that memory and in a second she was crying. Silent continuous streaks that drew straight down her face.

Sasuke looked up when he felt the moisture, shocked to see those tears.

It took him a moment later to realize the moisture wasn't just from Sakura's tears but his own as well.

Author's Note:

Unsure of this chapter, I don't know how realistic it is.