Only have KinkyK to thank for…erm…to put it lightly…this dash of citrus. :D

Cause if it wasn't for her, Sasuke would have been cockblocked. Again. XP

..:花:..

Chapter Twenty

Shamelessly, We Fall

..:花:..

He gulped, and looked down at her pink head.

She only smiled daringly back at him.

"Are you…no, that's a silly question." she giggled as he paled when she pressed against him even more.

He was growing hard, and the Uchiha weakly struggled to have a little space from her.

"Cat got your tongue? Let me loosen it for you."

And she kissed him.

At that moment, full-on aggressive participation came from Sasuke.

Their lips firmly melded together, two tongues flicked and licked and poked each other.

He ran his across the slick walls of her mouth, revelling in her delicately sweet-sour taste.

She intentionally ran her tongue along and on his teeth, pricking herself several times but that only encouraged Sasuke more as miniscule drops of blood coated his insides.

They finally broke apart, heaving unnecessarily, the pair of them gripping the banister with trembling force.

Sakura looked up at him.

His stark black eyes were sparkling something rather devilish, something that she had never seen in him before.

So when he unexpectedly pulled her to him, before she could blink, and he was laying spidery butterfly kisses in a pattern-less manner all over her neck, her collarbone, her cheeks, and her eyelids.

She nearly screamed out loud, for this kind of kissing was so disconcerting, she was starting to get dizzy.

She hoarsely spoke a single word with the little rationality she had left.

"Bedroom."

A second later, she was none-too-roughly tossed onto her eyelet-coverlet bed.

Smirking at the way her large green eyes hungrily searched his face, the Uchiha lazily meandered towards the bed, working all the buttons off his shirt.

Tossing it aside, his bare chest was certainly a delicious sight to see, as it looked as it was lovingly sculpted by an artist of expertise.

He was whiter than her scarcely-sunned self, with each muscle defined and flexing with every step he took.

He made it to the bed, and pounced on her.

"Why, Sakura, you're overdressed. Let me help you."

He mimicked her manner of words as he deftly slid his hands under her back, and tore down the zipper to her dress.

He slowly tugged her straps down, deliberately dragging the fabric across her skin.

She wiggled to try and make him go faster, but he only smirked as he continued at the same pace.

She swore at him in several languages, but he continued his slow dragging, his fingertips scraping sweetly down her spine.

She ripped his hands off of her, and ripped her dress off.

"I was wondering when you'd do that." he chuckled darkly, and licked one of her straps to her pale blue bra as he pinned her down.

She shuddered.

"Front clasp? Handy." he murmured as he dipped his crow head down to toy with the clasp with his teeth and tongue.

Tiny miss-licks were starting to piss Sakura off, but she couldn't move.

"Fuck you, Sasuke! Hurry up!" she hissed angrily.

He stopped for a moment. "Wait till I pull your panties down with my teeth. You'd better not kick me in the face." he countered rudely.

She let out a sharp breath when her breasts finally popped free of its blue apparatus.

"Mm." Sasuke licked his lips. She was a decent size, topped with two small, perky pink nipples.

He gently suckled at one while he fondled the other and switched.

She squealed and arched her back, forcing him to follow her twist.

"A curve is the loveliest distance between two points." he chuckled again, and began to trail kisses down the valley between her breasts to her bellybutton.

She felt much too over-sensitive.

It was very new for her, as she had never bothered to seek out the pleasure of foreplay.

Now she could see why it was something to be admired, because Sasuke's skill was definitely beyond what she knew.

As if on cue, he scraped his teeth lightly towards the apex of her thighs.

She shrieked.

Sasuke was definitely enjoying himself. He liked that she didn't mewl or whimper out words. She definitely wasn't faking it with all the wordless sounds she was making. Hopefully he could work her into a scream or two, he mused as he swiftly yanked down her matching blue underwear.

He gave a quick kiss to her nether lips, and she hissed, closing her eyes.

He tapped her clitoris with a single finger, and felt her shiver. He gave it a mischievous flick.

He carefully inserted the same finger into her, watching with amusement as her big green eyes flew open, her mouth dropping open in shock.

She was already wet, he noted with some pride.

He inserted another finger, and she cried out.

"Sasuke!"

Sakura wiggled her hips, trying to ease a little of the sudden stimulation, but only achieved an increase.

He didn't move a centimetre, smirking as she helplessly stared at him.

He sneakily added another digit, and she moved to kick him.

"You…you are…you are going to have to do something other than stick…oh!" she said in surprise as he began to idly pump his fingers.

She felt as if a coil was winding up tighter and tighter in pressure in her stomach as Sasuke continued his steady pace.

He suddenly pulled out of her, her climax only half-built, and she frowned at the loss.

"You asshole, you…" she trailed off as he licked off his appendages, wickedly grinning at her.

"Yum." he wanted another taste, but his erection was starting to pain him a little.

She watched in fascination as he unhurriedly slid himself to align with her entrance.

He seemed to hesitate.

But as already over-frustrated as she was, and angry at his hesitation, she sheathed him into herself, smiling as he filled her.

He clenched his teeth.

"What is the matter, darling?" she mocked.

He pulled out almost all the way, and slammed into her.

"Oh!" she uttered, stunned at the movement.

He gave a shameless grin, and continued.

She snaked her legs around his waist, letting out a pleasured wail.

He could feel her starting to tighten around him in near-climax, and feeling himself start to throb as well, he moved much faster.

She gave a keeling scream, and clamped her legs around him even more.

She became wetter, a feat that Sasuke didn't anticipate, and the contractions from her orgasm was his undoing.

With a hoarse yell, he collapsed on her, being careful not to squish her completely as he released.

They both rested for a minute before Sasuke rolled off of her onto his side.

His fathomless eyes were glittering in satisfaction as he took in her sex-mussed hair, half-lidded eyes, bitten-red lips, and her flushed body.

He traced quick patterns on the inside of her wrist, the pair of them simply enjoying the moment.

"Jealousy suits you."

She smacked him hard enough to roll over.

"It does not!" she seethed, her emerald eyes alert and flashing with anger. "I am not a jealous person!"

She slid off the bed, and stalked to her closet.

That cad. She was not jealous! She didn't even really understand what the word felt like! She might have understood, she thought vehemently, if she'd ever embodied that foreign emotion at any point of her life.

Sasuke smirked behind her back, silently thanking Ino who cleared his brain of his previously passive state.

He knew she had felt that possessory consciousness. He'd had it several times before, during his old relationships. And of course plenty of women had it too, to extreme proportions upon occasion.

He hopped off the bed, throwing on his boxers on the way.

He padded towards her, and whispered into her long pink hair.

"Jealousy suits you. It's…adorable."

"It does not!" she spun, baring her teeth at his knowing smile.

He stroked a single finger along her naked arm before turning to the floor to pick up his clothes and put them on.

She turned back to the closet, yanking out a fuchsia dress.

He unexpectedly wrapped his arms around her from behind, and licked her collarbone, a reminder of what they just shared.

He slipped out of the room with a cat-ate-the-canary smile on his face.

She let out a loud, angry noise of indignation at the flare of heat that surged into her when he licked her before flopping backwards onto her bed.

..:花:..

"You hold it like this, right here in the middle, so it's easier to throw and aim."

Tenten pinched the middle of the antique dart with her thumb and first two fingers like a pencil.

She watched as both children struggled to copy her.

Satoshi finally got it, his fingers gripping the dart too tightly.

"Loosen your fingers a bit, Satoshi, otherwise you won't let go in time."

She quickly glance at Kari, and helped her inch her fingers forward a centimetre.

"Hold it too far back, it's not balanced enough, and it's harder to get a bull's eye, or in your case, pop a balloon. Too close, and your fingers might get in the way of the route of the dart. Watch."

The bun-haired girl held the dart close to the tip, and threw it at the board of balloons she blew up an hour ago.

Her hand let the pointy plaything go, but her digits got caught in the way of the trajectory, and it bounced harmlessly off a blue balloon.

She picked up another one, and holding it too far back, she let the white-feathered missile loose, and completely missed all the balloons.

Lastly, Tenten grasped a third dart, and holding it correctly, swiftly popped a purple balloon.

Kari clapped in delight, giggling at the sound.

Satoshi readied himself to try, and missed.

"It takes a little practice." Tenten encouraged warmly. "I had trouble when I was your age."

Kari tossed a dart, and missed as well.

"Take turns, okay? I don't want any injury!" Tenten called out to them.

"You're quite the patient teacher, mademoiselle." a voice behind her caused her to jump.

"Who are you?" she asked cautiously, staring at the two newcomers.

A man with pale, sandy-brown hair, and dark eyes grinned at her.

He had lightly tanned skin, a stocky-sort of build and was a little shorter than his companion. He had nearly the same innocent features as Sakura. However, they were marred by some odd purple face paint he was wearing.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle." he bowed deeply, his eyes twinkling.

The other looked suspiciously like Gaara, save for his height and eyes, which were dull amber instead of jade.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle." he said rather detachedly. "Quel est votre nom?"

"I don't speak French." she said apologetically.

"Ah, then. I am Sasori." the redhead that looked like Gaara said with some difficulty.

"Kankuro." the brown-haired man reached out to touch her hand, which was gently resting on the armrest of the chair. "We are Sakura and Gaara's older brothers. Who are you?"

"I'm Tenten." she smiled at them.

"Sasori-nii! Kankuro-nii!" Kari cried out happily, rushing towards them.

Sasori scooped her up. "Comment ca va, ma petite princesse?" [How are you, my little princess?]

She buried her face into his shoulder, and gave a muffled reply.

The two men laughed.

The little Uchiha peeked out from Tenten's legs, gripping her hand with the same force as he held the dart, watching the little bronze-girl being liberally doused in affection.

He bit his lip, and tightened the hand he was holding.

She was so…loved.

She was lucky compared to him.

And as if the bun-haired girl could sense what he was feeling, she picked him up and cuddled him in her arms.

Satoshi shyly laid his head on her thin shoulder. "Thank you." he whispered.

She softly stroked his messy hair in response.

Kankuro studied her.

She had quite the maternal instinct, sensing that interesting midnight-boy's anguish, and comforting him immediately.

But before he could muse further, Kari was foisted onto him, and all his attention was redirected.

"Sasori! Kankuro! You have arrived!" a slightly irate Sakura flounced down the stairs, her dinner dress of royal purple revealing undertones of bell-blue.

She embraced her oldest brother first, air-kissing him, and did the same to her middle brother without the hug to not crush the child.

"Your disgusting face paint, Kankuro." Sakura disdained. "I wish you would not wear it. It is most slovenly."

"Yes madam." he rolled his eyes. "I will strip it off my face and display all my womanly features for all to see."

"You may wish to obey her, Kankuro. I agree, it is very disturbing, and as a fully-grown man of twenty you are ghastly."

"Fine! Jeez! You both seriously don't appreciate-"

"A man in makeup is feminine and, to put it bluntly – Kari and Satoshi cover your ears, please – has no balls to speak of." Sai interjected from the doorway to the dining room.

"Sai! A surprise to see you here!" Kankuro set the little girl on the floor before going over and clapping a hand on the other male's back.

Always nice to see you, Kankuro."

"Speaking of seeing, where is Gaara?" Sasori asked no one in particular.

"He's upstairs." Sasuke walked down the stairs.

"I will go see him. Excuse me." Sasori leapt up the stairs with minimal effort, and disappeared into the corridor above.

..:花:..

Gaara put her in his bedroom, setting her gently onto his thickly grey-quilted bed.

He boldly lay beside her, and swept the stray strands of hair from her lovely face.

He felt incredibly guilty for stressing her.

If only he wasn't so suspicious or gullible.

Of course she and Sasuke would hug in such a way, given that they were best friends. It was a logical answer.

He traced her cheekbone, gazing at her shut eyes.

She was ever-so-sweet, it hurt his teeth.

She was so different from his brash sisters and the various women that were part of his life.

She was like a breath of fresh air.

He silently thanked Sakura for her easy boredom. For if it wasn't for his twin and her short attention span, he would have likely never met Ino.

He fingered her thick, blonde locks, and leaned over.

A flutter of her eyelids, and he immediately drew back and sat up.

She sensed that someone was leaning over her.

Judging by the smell, it was Gaara for sure.

She opened her blue eyes, and pushed herself off the bed, only to be gently nudged back down.

"I apologize for waking you." Jade eyes stared fretfully into her baby blues, speaking volumes of apologies.

"It's quite alright!" she said hurriedly, understanding perfectly what he actually meant. "I was just really tired earlier, that's all! Normally I'd put up a much, much better verbal fight." she babbled on.

Her last phrase alerted his interest.

"And what could you verbally debate about?" he asked, slightly amused at this different side of Ino.

"Just about anything, even things I don't know." she said albeit cautiously.

"French gardening?" he queried.

"The one about proximity of the plants?" she challenged, her eyes sparkling at this welcome stimulation.

"If you wish." his eyes narrowed at her. "The closeness of the plants placed prevents weeds from appearing."

"Not completely. You still have to pull weeds that are strong enough out."

"But there is less work involved."

"Then what's the point of having a garden if you don't do any work?"

"I did say there was less work involved. However, I did not say there was no work involved." he grinned at her slight mistake.

She bit her lip in thought. "But then you waste time sitting there, watching a garden grow without interruption. I'd prefer to be up close and personal and dealing with weeds as my garden grows. There's no fun or enough satisfaction involved."

"One could watch in satisfaction as their careful planning blossomed without the disturbance of weeds."

"One could easily do that with the help of nasty pesticides." she wrinkled her nose.

"You do not agree with pesticides as well?" he asked, clearly delighted at this.

"Frankenflowers!" she giggled. "Give me horse manure or something any day."

"I agree."

She calmed down from her giggly fit, and smiled at him, causing his heart to soar. "I'm glad someone agrees with me."

He leaned in. "So do I."

She copied his action.

They were just barely brushing lips when the door eased open with a screech.

They both jumped back, a ruby blush staining the Yamanaka's cheeks.

Sasori walked into the room, oozing obliviousness.

"Gaara." He nodded at his youngest brother. "And who is this lovely lady?" he asked, looking at her with slight curiosity.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka. And you are?"

The older redhead drew away his cloak, knelt and took her pale hand, irritating Gaara to give him a death glare.

"I am Sasori, the twins' oldest brother. Pleased to make your acquaintance." he stood up, letting go of her hand.

"Likewise." she smiled at him.

"It is nearly dinnertime for the children, so you may wish to join us downstairs, the pair of you." he strode out the door.

"Still overpowering, my brother." Gaara growled, irritated at his show.

"He's brotherly. Bit like Sasuke when he's using his manners." Ino laughed.

..:花:..

For no reason whatsoever, but I really dislike contraction words. :3

Once again, I am extremely grateful for my beta oxsilvermoonxo for getting me out of that rut XD

And I thank you so much for your patience, reviewers. ILY.

:E hypheniated