Chapter 15: Calm Before the Storm

When I was a little girl, I used to sit at the window. Waiting, I'd watch the thunderheads roll in, great roiling masses of dark clouds. I'd wait while the humidity and heat increased and pressed in. I'd sit there and watch for that first drop of rain. As soon as that single drop of moisture fell, I would run outside into the deluge and revel in the break from the muggy air. I'd dance out there as heat lightning flashed and thunder rolled in the distance, the rain washing away my sweat.

It was my favorite part of summer. That break in the heat and humidity. Because no matter how wretched and unbearable it became, I could count on that rain to shatter that tense calm. I reveled in the storm until my mother would yell from the doorway, "Sakura Haruno, you get your butt back in here this instant!"

I opened my eyes the next morning and felt it. I blinked at the ceiling and wondered, What if this is it? Oppressive, it skulked about my thoughts. What if today was my last day here? What if today, I moved onto heaven or hell or wherever I was going?

The thought of leaving made my throat constrict. Because… I wasn't ready. Although Ino and I were speaking again, we hadn't really made up all the way. And Hinata had yet to confess to Naruto. And…

I halted there. Because of all things, the person who came to mind was Sasuke. I blinked for a moment as I thought of him, my heart racing faster and faster. The things I wanted the most were all focused on him. I wanted to get to know Sasuke Uchiha better, to kiss him, and just plain be with him.

But… dead as I was, I couldn't have him. He deserved someone like Ino. Someone who was still breathing and five feet above the ground, not six feet under it. And the thought that I had basically given Ino the go ahead was driving me nuts.

"Seriously? You don't like each other?" Ino asked after I had denied it.

I swallowed the sick feeling I was getting. "No," I lied flatly.

"You don't mind then if… If I ask him out tomorrow at school?"

A big fake smile after a frozen moment. "What? No! No, of course I don't mind! Good luck! You deserve him!"

I laid there for another minute, that queasy feeling still lodged in my stomach. Would he accept her? Of course! What guy could resist Ino? She's freaking gorgeous!

"Of course, we could interfere…,"My inner suggested.

No! I told myself. We are not doing that! That's low.

"Well, if you really want to see how it ends… we could spy."

I jumped up and popped into the school…

And found myself face to face with Ino and Sasuke in a hallway. I popped out quickly before they saw me. Safely hidden behind a corner, I waited. I frowned as I watched Ino's lips move. Darn it! I could see them, but I couldn't hear them!

I walked into the wall and moved closer. There. Now I could hear them.

"Will you go out with me?" Ino asked.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment before looking down. "I'm sorry, Ino. You're gorgeous, but… I don't feel the same."

Ino's blue eyes filled with tears. "Is it Sakura?"

"What?"

"Is it because you're in love with Sakura?" she asked.

Sasuke didn't answer for a moment as my heart raced in anticipation. What would he say? What did I want him to say? Yes? No? I waited, breathless.

"Does it matter?" he asked at last. "She's dead."

"I didn't ask that," Ino said. "I asked if you loved her. Whether she's dead or not is irrelevant."

"What does it matter?" he snapped, lifting his eyes. "I can't have her! She-!" He reeled himself in. "What do you want me to say? Even if I love her… she's beyond my reach. It's doesn't matter now how I feel now."

He walked away from her then.

Ino sighed. "It matters… because she's head over heels for you."

I was sitting in Sasuke's room, my electric guitar plugged in and in my lap. I had grabbed it only a few minutes ago, right after left the school. I strummed out a few chords idly, looking forward to several hours to think this over.

The door banged open to reveal Sasuke.

"Sakura." He sighed wearily. "What are you doing?" He spotted to the guitar. "Is that your electric?"

"Yeah. Want to take a look?" I floated it over to him.

"Thanks." He examined it. "Archer SS10?" He said after a moment.

"Yeah. You really know your guitars."

"Hn. I could do without the pinkness though."

"I like pink."

"So what were you doing?" he asked, settling in on his bed.

"Just playing."

"Thought you said that was hard?"

"It is, but it's sorta my way of calming down." I rushed on before he could ask. "Why are you home so early?"

"Tired, couldn't handle school anymore."

"Oh."

Silence fell over the room as we both drifted off into our own thoughts. I plucked at my chords again, concentrating on improving my control. But I kept messing up as I heard Ino's words. "Is it because you're in love with Sakura?"

I messed up a chord horribly as my concentration was broken. "Sorry."

I continued trying. "It matters… because she head over heels for you," echoed through my mind. Another atrocious sound emitted from my amp.

Sasuke sighed before getting up. "You want some help?"

"What?"

"Well… you said it was hard to play now that you're a ghost last night. So I was thinking…"

I looked into his eyes. "You were thinking what?" I probed gently.

The atmosphere between seemed charged as we continued gazing into each other's eyes. My heart began to pound. Sasuke seemed to be lost for a second before he broke the moment by clearing his throat.

"Well, I was thinking I could… let you possess me. You'd be able to touch the chords then, right?" he said, avoiding my eyes as a light blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Oh… you… you'd let me?"

"Yeah. So, do you want to?" He seemed stiff, as if afraid of my answer.

"Thank you." I said, getting up. "I'd like that." I moved closer, preparing to enter him. "Just relax, okay?"

"All right." He took a deep breath, and I fell back into him.

If possessing Ino was like fighting against a current, then possessing Sasuke was like moving with that current. While Ino's body fought back, Sasuke's welcomed me, like I was coming home, meant to be there. There was also this shiver of pleasure that I couldn't tell if it went down his spine or mine or even both.

After it was done, I sighed. "That was…"

"Was?"

"Nothing." I grabbed the guitar. "Let's just play."

"What song do you have in mind?" he asked.

"You'll see," I said, getting an idea.

I struck a chord and began to strum the chords.

"My best friend gave me the best advice,

He said each day's a gift and not a given right," I sang, trying to ignore how odd it felt to be hear a guy's voice singing the words I thinking.

"Nickelback. Not bad," Sasuke commented as I finished the first verse.

"If today was your last day,

Tomorrow was too late,

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?" I sang, Sasuke's fingers skillfully moving across the frets.

A tear slid down my cheeks as I continued singing. Because I was reminded of that feeling from this morning. I knew… today was my last day. And I wasn't ready. I hadn't done the things I needed to… wanted to. I was clinging to yesterday.

It wasn't fair that my life had been cut off so early by that idiot driver. If he hadn't…

"Even if I love her… she's beyond my reach."

If that damn driver had been more careful, I would still be alive, able to tell Sasuke that I loved him, that I had ever since he had helped me that first day. I wouldn't have to stuff it all inside and watch him with someone else.

My voice faltered as I came to the second verse, and Sasuke's voice filled my mind, supplying the words I couldn't say.

"Against the grain should be a way of life,

What's worth the prize is always worth the fight."

Would this week, this day, this moment with Sasuke be worth the risk of vanishing? Was it worth going to hell? Was staying with him worth that much? And I knew… it was. Every moment spent with him, every risk I took for him, was precious, too precious to waste because of fear.

"Every second counts 'cause there's no second tries,

So live it like you'll never live it twice," he sang.

This is it, I thought. Today is the day I jump.

"If today was your last day

Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?" I sang with him. I could picture that smirk of his as we belted out the rest of the song together.

As the last chord echoed through his room, we stayed still for a moment.

"Thank you," I said before leaving his body, setting the guitar aside.

I left his body and stood there, breathless. He stayed still as well, staring into my eyes with that nameless emotion. I wished I could tell him somehow… let him know that my time with him was ending. I didn't want to say it though, because… then how would I be able to admit my feelings for him? Tears stung the backs of my eyes.

...Would you live each moment like your last?...

So much to say, so little time in which to say it. Tell him how much I cared, how he had saved me whenever I was lost…

…Would you find that one you're dreaming of,

Swear up and down to God above, that you'd finally fall in love…

At the same moment, we both moved. His lips covered mine, his hands pulling me closer. Mine went up to his hair as our mouths moved. My heart pounded faster and faster as our kisses became more heated. What began as chaste, closed mouth kisses were quickly turning into open-mouthed ones.

In between kisses, I tried to catch my breath. "S-sasuke…"

His tongue flicked against mine on the next kiss. "You…" Another kiss. "Are driving me crazy."

"I am?"

His reply was to kiss me again, gently backing me up until my legs reached the bed. We fell onto it, still kissing. Things were heating up fast as we moved on to French kissing.

At this rate, we'll end up doing it… Can ghosts even do that? My thoughts broke off as one of his hands gently squeezed my breast.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked from the doorway.

We both froze, his hand still cupped around my right breast.

I moved first, squirming out from under him. "Ino! What are you doing here?"

"I thought I was coming to talk to you. Only to find out that you two apparently are an item. And you both lied to me."

I opened my mouth to tell the truth when a blinding pain seemed to rend my skull. I distantly knew I had hit my knees on the floor. I could hear Ino and Sasuke calling my name as if I were underwater.

"Wouldn't it be nice if they just disappeared?"

"If only we could show that driver what it's like to die…"

"Serves Ino right… he loved me from the start…"

"They all deserve to feel my pain…"

"They should all die…"

"Shut up!" I shouted at the voices whispering in my head. "Just shut up!" The pain tripled.

"Because if you do not let go of the living, you will become a demon. Once that happens, you go straight to hell."

In a panic, I realized that my feeling had been because I was falling. So I did the last thing I could to protect them. I went back to the spirit world.

A/N: Well! After delaying this for months, I finally finished it. And we finally see the scene that wouldn't leave me alone, that screamed "Write me!": Sakura possessing Sasuke. And the next chapter… Will be from Sasuke's perspective! Because… Sakura's basically insane…

Oh yeah! And the lyrics are from "If Today was Your Last Day" by Nickelback.

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