Chapter 5
* * * Ino’s POV
Sakura laid back on the down comforter of my bed sinking in softness and a relaxed expression passed over her dreamy countenance. Short wisps of pink shoulder length hair fanned out in all directions, in magical tufts and waves like an angel’s wing on snow.
A few strands light as a spider’s thread wove their way around her thin elegant neck, hair tips crossing just above the hem of her dress collar. Its fabric, the shade of deep wine in the darkness contrasted strongly against her white, almost alabaster skin. Somehow the dress’s crimson brought out any color her complexion might have had in a faint rosy glow. The soft tones that carved her matched perfectly the pale pink hue of cherry blossoms, right at the dawn of their flowering in spring.
As I neared, the scent of roses clung in the air about her. Perhaps it was from the flowers outside. A gentle breeze blew in through the open window by Sakura, bringing her smell to my nose. I shut my eyes, breathing in its entirety. Slowing down, I did my best to live each moment fully, relishing the time spent together, just Sakura and I.
I crept over on all fours, sinking in the bedspread, with the rise and fall of each foot and hand, drawing ever closer, vigilant not to wake her. Only a single foot divided us, an intrusion from time and space. Time and space had divided her from Sasuke, hurting her very deeply. I wouldn’t let it do the same thing to her now. Poor Sakura. She’s been through so much pain, abandoned by the boy she loved. I don’t want her to feel lonely or sad ever again. That’s why I have to show her just how much I care. Now, in the moment, with thoughts once imagined, part of a dream but now sweet reality.
“Don’t…leave me,” she murmured half asleep, tossing towards the window, away from me onto her side.
She must have fallen asleep when I crept over, fearing I’d wake her. I placed a light touch on her shoulder that faced away. Her entire body quaked beneath me, like a cornered animal below the jaws of its prey. I pressed down a little harder, feeling her body calm down. Her breathing slowed, deeper and normal. She rolled languidly on her back, opening one eye, then the other. Still half shut, gazing out tiredly.
“I dreamed that…Konoha was…attacked.” Sakura’s features stiffened. “And everyone left me.” Then her gaze fell to the foot of the bed and the dresser on the other side of the room.
“I…I’m sorry, Sakura,” I replied, reclining on my side next to her, bending one arm under my neck for support. Extending the other towards her, I planted my index and middle fingers on her lips. “What did I say before?” reminding her tenderly.
“That you’d…” She searched hard for the words. “…Never leave me, I-no.” Her voice dropped, softening as she said my very name, breathed in low and labored syllables.
“And why is that?” I prodded, running my fingers from her mouth across her cheek, along her smooth round jaw line, down to the bottom of her chin.
Sakura shivered, mind racing, unable to speak. I shifted a few inches nearer, now completely beside her. She turned onto her side again, facing me directly. Her arms, pressed against the comforter, were held in close toward her chest, with hands clasped together like an angel’s in prayer. Moonlight streamed in, causing her skin to stand out whiter, washing out the rosy tones her dress might have brought. Lightening her hair and dress to complement the paleness.
In her eyes the moonlight sparkled, forming little silvery twinkles that danced across the deep green pools of her irises. Further in her wells, under the glimmer of light, in her soul a yearning hid beneath. Quelled by the fear of what others might think. The fear of loving how you truly want to. I want to help her overcome that. I want to because I love her. Just say it, Sakura. Say you love me, and I’m yours! I cried within.
“Ino-chan…” Her girlish voice carried the latent desires expressed in her soul, through barely moving lips, glistening in the moonlight. She lifted an arm above her head, placing another on her stomach, crossing one leg over the other. Smiling sweetly, no longer an angel but my enchantress, from whose lure was no escape. “Come here,” she cooed softly.
I inched over, feeling our arms pressed together on the bed. The warmth between us intensified, heated to a new level, like flames spreading over every expanse of skin. In Sakura, it burned down to the very base of her spine, where the primal life force resided, awakening its desire. Now kindled by it, she came alive, slowly at first, then fully with a bright glow in her eyes.
Her eyes, no longer a subdued jade green, burned like fiery emeralds. Blazing a path from head to toe that ran along the planes of my face, down the neck, across the heart, over the stomach, around thighs and legs. Taking in my image, she smiled. Head slightly lowered, a giggle escaped her, still the Sakura I’ve come know and love.
She wound her arms around my neck, pulling me close, her breath hitting my lips as her mouth descended on mine in a deep searing kiss, scorching me to the core. She broke the kiss for a moment whispering in my ear. “Ino, I love you,” in the softest passionate voice a person could muster.
Tears rolled down my cheeks. “That’s what…I wanted to hear, Sakura.”
Sakura pressed her face to mine, her arms holding me tighter. She slipped a hand between our bodies, reaching up to wipe away my tears. Her touch felt light as a feather, hot with emotion at the same time. I knew then she shared the same feelings as me.
“Sakura, I’m yours,” I said breathlessly.
Hearing this, she grinned. “Then tell me, Ino-chan. About those dreams.”
“Dreams?” A blush rose in my cheeks. How should I describe them? If only I found a way to tell her.
Perhaps nature heard my plea. A nightingale alighted on my windowsill, his soulful song penetrating the silence of the night.
“Dreams are like how he sounds.”
“Then…take me there, now.”
Somehow, the nightingale’s song guided me. I closed my eyes, feeling his music flow through me. Drawn into my senses, I forgot all other things as Sakura became my world and I became hers. Every movement was fluid, a dance of the divine in cloaked in material bodies.
I kissed her deeply on the lips, telling her how much she meant to me. Tears of joy threatened to spill from the rims of her eyes, but never did, as her emotions manifested in hot kisses down my neck. In each kiss, she poured out her deepest feelings, drowning me in love. As I kissed her back, I felt myself sinking into it.
Lying beneath me, between kisses, she reached up tugging at the ribbon, which tied my hair in a bun. White-blond hair, bleached lighter by the sun, tumbled freely past my shoulders in Sakura’s round face.
“It’s gotten so long,” Sakura said, burying her face in my hair, breathing in its scented coils.
“Mm, I know. Now what about yours?” I asked softly, lost in her kisses.
“Want to see?” she teased, breaking away from me.
She stood in front of the window bathed in a shaft of moonlight. Once again, washing out the rosy tones in her skin. She raised an arm, taking out the ribbon I tied in her hair. It fell in wisps and layers about her face and chest. The red fabric beneath her long feathery locks slipped lower, until finally, the entire red cloth fluttered towards the floor, pooling around her feet. Clad without a single stitch in full beauty was her delicate little figure, a goddess in the moonlight. The scent of roses about her smelled lovelier, and the nightingale sang ever sweetly.
“You’re so…beautiful,” I gasped. I could hardly breath. I never imagined the sight of her to be this wonderful, stealing me back into a dream again. “Want to see me?”
A modest smile broke out over her fair features. “Yes,” came her hushed reply, under the nightingale’s magical song.
With eyes shut, by the foot of the bed, I faced away. I trembled from the cool night air hitting my arms, as I pulled at my arm coverings. The coolness licked at my neck, then slowly down my chest, and entire body, with purple fabric slid off, settling by my feet. I felt myself, bare and unclad shake from the cold. Sakura hugged me from behind me driving out the chills, for her touch warmed me. Her beauty flooded my vision. Her voice sang in my ears. Her love melted my heart.
TBC