He comes to her at night, when she's alone & vulnerable, trying to persuade her over to the dark side.
A sasusaku AU snippet. Devil Sasuke and human Sakura. (I will do a version of a devil Sakura and human Sasuke at some point... hopefully!)
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Sakura was lying in bed after a hard day of work...too tired to clean up as she had intended and instead chose to read a few chapters in her favorite book before going to sleep.
The pink- haired was on the final page of chapter ten when her eyes began to lower and before she knew it... she had fallen fast asleep.
She found herself in a dark labyrinth of corridors, aimlessly walking in the direction of a soft, glowing light that seemed to never grow closer; staying the same annoying distance ahead of her and completely out of reach. But just as she had grown frustrated and was ready to turn around, a door appeared before her and the soft glowing light seemed to be emanating from beneath it.
She hesitantly turned the knob before stepping inside of a large and fairly empty room; apart from a throne sitting tall in the center of it.
She took a deep breath and approached.
Her fingertips instinctively reached out and brushed across the delicate and intricate markings covering the entirety of its wooden surface; tracing along one before skipping onto the next until she had circled the throne completely before coming to a stop in front of it.
She looked it over, before her gaze settled on the top and she squinted slightly, tilting her head while her brows drew together in thought as she read the name aloud. "Sasuke." Her fingers reached up and brushed across the large S at the beginning of the name... and her lips parted when she felt a tingle race straight from her fingertip to the tips of her toes; causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. She involuntarily shivered at the unexpected sensation.
Her instinct urged her to turn around and so she did before stumbling back with a loud and audible gasp... falling onto her butt as she crawled away from the imposing stature of a man just inches away from her; seeming to be alight with hot, glowing flames.
'The same glow from before, but how—'
Her eyes widened as she took him in and her heart began to uncontrollably pound in fear. Sakura wished to wake up from this grim nightmare, but it was as if she was trapped, frozen in place and rendered helpless in front of this— this thing.
Flames licked at his skin (rising in height) while narrowed eyes, crimson like freshly drawn blood, shimmered behind a cold and calculated demeanor. The woman shrunk back in terror, finally able to move and desperately to flee... but his deep voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Do not fear, beloved Sakura. I do not wish to harm you. At least... not yet."
She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat as he took a calculated step closer; the flames kissing his skin follow, as if drawn to this man by some sort of "mysterious force". It was as if this man was somehow the reincarnation of fire itself, controlling it at will... like some sort of supernatural power.
'Some nightmare this is—'
"W-who are you," she questioned, while she shrank away from his approach. He halted, finally seeming to become aware of her fear, and she watched as he crouched down in front of her slowly; his eyes blazing a slow trail across her flesh as he took the time to scan her.
Her breathing increased.
His head slightly tilted, black spiky locks sliding with it, and the warmth of his flames reached her; almost soothing the increasing panic rising inside of her. It was a rather bizarre and strange feeling, but somehow familiar and comforting all at the same time. It confused her.
But then he spoke again and somehow everything seemed to fall into place.
"Sasuke."
Her eyes widened, but she slowly relaxed.
'Sasuke... like on the—'
"Yes...," he said, as if he could read her thoughts and she licked her lips nervously as she slowly leaned forward, off of the palms of her hands. Her lips parted as small puffs of air escaped her lungs and they simply stared at each other for a while before he spoke again. "You have questions."
"... yes. But how did you—"
She paused as he languidly stood to his feet and when his hand outstretched in offering to her, she cautiously took it. The flames surrounding him kissed her skin as they trailed over to her...winding first around her wrist before encasing her in much the same way they did their master.
She expected to feel a searing pain brought on by the heat touching her naked flesh...but it never came. Only warmth. A warmth that soothed the remainder of her anxiety almost instantaneously. An odd sensation started where their skin touched and she felt her body sway slightly as her grip on him loosened.
"What's happening," she drawled, her voice slurring as her body became lax with the desire to sleep. She felt his arm encase her side as her hand fell from his, and he held her up next to him... his hand closing tightly around her bicep as he pulled her against his side tightly, to help support her weight. Her head tilted back and up to look at him directly and she found that he was looking down at her as well; his crimson eyes unmistakable even to her blurring, dimming vision.
Sasuke's expression was one she hadn't seen before and so she couldn't easily decipher it, but she somehow felt safe in his touch and wanted nothing more than to snuggle against him; burying herself in his warmth. But an outside force had other intentions.
"Sakura? Wake up! Wake up, Sakura!"
'Ino—'
"Tsk, troublesome pest."
"Sakura!!! Come on... answer me! Please... just wake up! Open your eyes! Sakura!!!"
She felt a tugging on her from the inside and groaned as her eyes slowly shut; her body going completely limp in his arms.
The last thing she saw was his eyes and the last thing she felt was his touch encasing her fully before she shot up out of bed... panting (sweating profusely) as she tried to catch her breath. "Thank god...," Ino cried in relief as she pulled her friend to her chest.
"Ino, what—"
"Sakura, I've been trying to wake you up for hours now...," the blonde said as she leaned back, holding Sakura by the shoulders to look her over. "Hours!" Sakura then saw tears running down her best friend's cheeks and pulled her in for another tight hug.
"I'm okay, everything is fine now. Shhh."
"I j-just...," Ino gulped before leaning back to swipe at her eyes. "It's just that you were growing so pale... so cold to the touch... I was starting to panic. I-I didn't know what to do... I called your grandma—"
"Ino, why would you do that!?! It was just a nightmare."
"No...," Ino declared as she shook her head adamantly. "It wasn't just a dream, Sakura. This was... something else. I have never seen you act like that before."
For some odd reason, she felt annoyed that she had been woken up from her dream (not knowing why)... though she understood that Ino was only looking out for her well-being and so she took a deep breath... attempting to repress her annoyance as she reaching over for her lamp to switch on the light. One quick glance at her phone showed her that it was 3:23am.
"How long until she gets here," she decided to ask instead while running a hand through her tangled locks.
"About ten minutes..."
"Fine, let me know when she gets here. I'm going to get dressed."
"I'm really sorry... I just didn't know what else to do."
"It's okay, Ino. Can you just start some coffee? I think we are going to need it."
"Sure. I'll call for you when she gets here."
But even after Ino left, and even after she had time to calm down and get dressed, Sakura still felt unusually agitated; while the need for sleep grew stronger by the second.
Sakura simply couldn't shake the feelings from her dream, and the pinkette couldn't help but feel like it was some sort of premonition or something (having had similar nightmare type dreams prior to this one) and so to try easing some of her growing anxiety, she decided to go to the bathroom to get a drink of water; needing something else to occupy her wayward thoughts.
She held the glass under the facet for a moment and then took a drink, but as she was lowering the glass, she saw a familiar pair of eyes staring back at her...through her own eyes. The reflection of his eyes overlapping her own (as if she was the one with the crimson, blood-red eyes) caused a sharp gasp to escape her lips; followed by a low, terrified scream resonating around her as she dropped the glass... shattering it as it hit the bathroom floor.
Astonished couldn't even begin to describe the wild, frantic feelings racing inside of her, and she staggered away from the mirror, until her back pressed against the wall behind her. Both of her palms began to sweat where they pressed against the tiles as she continued to stare at her reflection, with those eyes.
As if her nightmares had somehow become her reality.
'What in the—'
"Sakura, she's here!"
The pink-haired shook her head relentlessly and rapidly... closing her eyes and counting to ten, before opening them again. When she did...the eyes were now gone. Confused and frightened, Sakura fled her bedroom and ran down the stairs to meet with her grandmother... her heart pounding with each step she took.
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Notes:
More than likely, I will do another part or so to this one. So sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger until then! 🙏