moor

AN: A ShisuiSaku fic (by me) based on sariasprincy 's "Under the Knife" fic (MadaSaku). Because I had to.

AN2: So, I didn't review/beta this. It just is what it is. Forgive me?

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Shisui faced Sakura across the mats he’d lain out on the floor. He had pushed back the furniture and removed all the breakables from the tables.

“You’re sure?” he asked, watching her carefully.

Sakura nodded, her face set. She wore a fitted tank top and yoga pants that ended at her calves, her feet bare.

“OK,” said Shisui, bending to untie his leather shoes. “We’ll start with learning how to take a fall.”

“I said I wanted to learn to fight, not fall.”

“Trust me,” said Shisui, his smirk faint and voice hinting at amusement. “You’ll be happy you learned this first.” He set his shoes and socks on the floor tucked beside the nearest leather sofa.

Sakura’s brow furrowed.

“Why—”

Her breath was knocked out of her as Shisui swept her legs out from under her, but caught her in a lightning-fast move before she hit the mat. Sakura swallowed her gasp as her hair tickled the mat beneath her, staring up at Shisui.

Intelligence, cunning and a hint of playfulness shone in Shisui’s dark grey eyes as he leaned over Sakura. 

“Trust me on this one,” he said, and winked at her.

Still gripping Shisui’s arms tightly, Sakura swallowed and nodded.

“Little warning next time?” she asked. 

Shisui’s responding grin was as warm as his hands on her neck and lower back, and she actually relaxed in spite of her awkward position. “Of course. For now.”

Sakura huffed a laugh. “Duly noted.”

With that, Shisui helped Sakura rise and set her on her feet once more.

“Ready? This time I want you to fall into a roll and protect your soft tissues from me, like this,” said Shisui, demonstrating. Sakura nodded.

“Ready,” she said, determined.
“Loosen up,” said Shisui, tapping Sakura’s shoulder. “Otherwise you’ll be tense when you—”
He swept his leg out again, and Sakura fell once more, but this time curled and rolled. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

“Just like that,” praised Shisui, eyebrows raised. “You’re a quick learner.”
“I need to be,” said Sakura, pressing herself up from the floor. Shisui offered her a hand.

“We’ll all help,” promised Shisui.
Sakura smiled at him in relief.

“Thank you.”

“Happy to help,” said Shisui genuinely. “Ready?”

“Mmm,” nodded Sakura.

And that was how they spent Sakura’s afternoon off work. 

***

It soon became how Sakura spent many of her afternoons off work. With Madara becoming so busy with the Tobirama situation, Shisui became her sparring partner, with Itachi occasionally tapping in or coaching her on her weak spots.
When Shisui moved on to more defensive blocks and even a few punches, they started their sessions earlier and by lunchtime, she was often dripping with salty perspiration. Shisui barely broke a sweat, of course, and it infuriated Sakura.

“You could at least pretend to breathe hard,” she muttered at him, dodging his punches and blocking the ones that came too quickly at her. Her hair was matted to her head and her yoga pants had switched to shorts once they started doing more footwork.

The mats were getting pummelled that day.

“Give me something to work on,” taunted Shisui. He swept a leg out toward Sakura to trip her and she nimbly leapt over it, automatically raising an arm to brace against and deflect the hit she anticipated him sending her way to send her off-balance.

Breathing hard, Sakura scowled at Shisui. “Come closer, let me show you,” she spat back.

Shisui laughed. “You’re gonna have to push for it, Sakura. Get closer to me. If you can.”

Baring her teeth, Sakura threw her training experience out the window as she full out lunged at Shisui, grabbing him around his waist and throwing them both to the mats with a guttural yell.

“Sakur—mph,” grunted Shisui, landing hard on the mat and automatically rolling with Sakura until he was on top, his legs on either side of her hips. He grabbed her hands, pinning her, as her chest heaved and her eyes sent sparks at him. He laughed, though the sound was hoarse from having the wind knocked out of him. 

“Sonofabitch,” muttered Sakura, her head straining as she tried to get up.

Shisui’s chuckle faded as he looked at Sakura with respect. “OK, you get a cookie for that one. For the record, that will only work in a fight once, and only if you have the complete element of surprise over your opponent.”

“I’ll cookie you!” growled Sakura, before letting her head down as she tried to catch her breath. 

There was a pause as Shisui looked down at her, his expression frozen, before he burst out laughing.
“That isn’t funny!”

“It is, it really is,” said Shisui between hearty laughs, his chest heaving. He fell forward and pulled Sakura’s hands in, absently stroking the loose hair from her face before resting his forehead on hers as he laughed himself out. “I’ll cookie you,” he repeated, breathless. Had anyone ever said that to him in a fight before? Only Sakura, he thought to himself fondly. 

“Am I interrupting?” asked a low, icy voice from the doorway. 

Shisui froze over Sakura before rising in a single smooth, controlled movement. He released her hands and stood to the side of her, not touching her, as he faced Madara’s far-too-controlled expression.

“Just a little sparring,” said Shisui.
“Sakura?” asked Madara.

“Just being a sore loser, literally,” answered Sakura from the floor. She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked up at Madara. “Were you looking for me?”
Madara nodded. “You asked about the new schedule while you’re training at work next week. I am free to discuss it now in my office.”

Sakura’s eyes lit up. “Right! Thank you, I’ll be right there. I’ll just go shower.”

Madara nodded and with a final look of warning at Shisui, he left.

Sakura and Shisui were quiet a moment as Sakura glanced after Madara and back to Shisui again.
“That was a look,” she remarked, looking at Shisui.

“Hm?”
“From Madara. Did something happen?”
“Oh, I probably forgot to put the keys away for the Jag,” said Shisui, waving off her concern even as he felt the telltale tingle of warning down his spine. “You go shower, I’ll clean up here.”

“Are you sure? I can stay a minute—”
“Go, he may not have much time. You know how his schedule gets,” said Shisui easily.
Sakura sighed and nodded. “Good point. Thank you for your help today, Shisui. This was a really good session. I’ll catch you later this afternoon if there’s time?”

“I’ll be here, unless I’m not,” said Shisui.

Smiling and giving Shisui a look, Sakura shook her head at him. “Later!”

Grabbing a spray bottle and some towels, Shisui waved goodbye and set to wiping down the mats. It only took a few minutes to wipe the mats clean, however it took nearly half an hour for his heart rate and the shivers creeping up and down his vertebrae to loosen up from the warning look Madara had shot him.

***

“The pool?” asked Sakura that afternoon.
Together he and Sakura walked through the luxury jewellers on the outskirts of Konoha. Sakura was looking for a gift for her friend Ino to congratulate her on her business anniversary.

“Yes. You’ve used it?”
Sakura nodded, eyeing a delicate opal pendant. It would look fantastic paired with Ino’s complexion and hair.

“Why?”

“I want you to start swimming laps to build up your endurance. You should start pairing it with running, too,” said Shisui thoughtfully. 

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and replaced it with a smile as the clerk meandered closer.
“Can I help you with anything you’d like a closer look at?” asked the pretty clerk, looking more at Shisui than Sakura.

“These two, please,” said Sakura, pointing.

The opal pendant and a matching watch were withdrawn from the cabinet and lain out for Sakura to examine, the clerk hovering for a moment before leaving to help another customer.

“You think it’s necessary, then,” said Sakura to Shisui. It came out as a statement, not a question.

Shisui nodded, his eyes kind but determined. “We’re on protection detail for you, so you will always be safe, Sakura. But anything you can do to help yourself will give you more confidence and help all of us take care of you can’t be discounted.”

Sakura’s shoulders slumped mildly as her chin tucked a bit, her hands pressing down on the counter. She let out a soft breath.

“How often?” she asked tiredly.

“Every other day, if you can. Or alternate swimming one day, running the next.”

“And practice with you on my days off?” asked Sakura, staring at the glass cabinets without seeing their contents.

Shisui shifted on his feet, casually performing a periphery scan. “Preferably.”

“All this protection is going to kill me,” she muttered. “I work twenty-hour shifts, Shisui.”

“Itachi or I can join you, if it helps?”

“How about you two run for me?”

Shisui chuckled under his breath. “The swimming is the lesser evil?”

“I can out-swim all of you,” said Sakura confidently. She was focusing on the opal jewellery once more. “I can exercise two or three times a week, max. I’m just not home enough for anything more.”

“We’ll start with that,” agreed Shisui. “Besides, you may find you like it.”

“I know I’ll like it,” answered Sakura. “I just need time.”

She looked up at him, then, and saw understanding in his eyes. Understanding and sadness. Time was the one thing they didn’t have.

“I’ll race you next time you go swimming,” he promised instead.

Sakura huffed. “You think you can impress me, Shisui? Wear your fastest suit, if you think you can keep up.”
“You just want to see me in a Speedo. It’s ok, you can admit it, I’m a fine specimen,” teased Shisui. He leaned in close to her ear, and whispered, “And I always impress.”

Sakura’s eyes widened comically before she burst out laughing.

Her easy, honest laughter left a warm swelling in Shisui’s chest that lasted the entire drive home, Sakura occasionally giggling to herself as she clutched the pendant case and bag in her hand. He couldn’t help the smile that rested upon his lips as he held the door open for her to help her down from the Jag once they were safely in the carriage house at Madara’s home once more.

To Shisui’s surprise, Madara was waiting for them when they returned.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” asked the clan patriarch as Shisui and Sakura passed through the main hallway. 

“Yes, it’s perfect. Thank you for suggesting the shop, Madara,” said Sakura, reaching up on her toes to kiss his cheek as she lifted the bag. 

Madara’s expression softened minutely as Sakura did so, and he reached a hand to her hip, holding her close a moment before releasing her. “I’ll see you upstairs in a moment, you can show me,” he murmured quietly to her.

“Sure,” said Sakura, still smiling widely. “Thank you very much for the escort, Shisui!”

“Anytime,” said Shisui, lifting a hand.

Sakura disappeared around the corner and Madara remained, facing Shisui.

“She had a good time,” remarked Madara.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. You’re free to do as you please for the rest of the evening,” said Madara.

“Sakura and I were going to train this afternoon, swimming—” began Shisui.

“That won’t be necessary,” said Madara. “She will be occupied.”

Shisui’s smile slipped. “It’s to help her with her end—.”
Madara’s expression sharpened, though his voice remained soft. “It won’t be necessary,” he repeated, holding Shisui’s gaze. 

A heaviness settled in Shisui’s stomach as he bowed his head. “Thank you for the evening off.”

Madara left, and Shisui chewed the inside of his mouth a moment before straightening and heading back to the carriage house. He went for a long, hard drive.

***

Several mornings later, near four-thirty, Sakura yawned and pushed the door open to the indoor pool at Madara’s home, her towel slumped over her arm, flip flops on her feet. Her hair was braided back and her goggles were slung around her neck, her phone tucked in her shorts, a bathrobe around her shoulders because she was too tired to find a shirt to wear over her plain black tankini. She didn’t bother illuminating the overhead lights, choosing instead to leave the LEDs around the perimeter of the pool the only lights. It was far too early to be up, but Shisui had a point. She had to get in shape. She already found her attention span and focus improving at work due to her improved fitness. Even her target practice was improving—which reminded her, she needed to ask Shisui for pointers on how to hold her gun better to reduce the blowback on the larger calibre weapons.

With a quick stretch or two, Sakura set down her things on a nearby chaise longue beside the pool and was about to dive in when she heard the door open.

Instinct had her seizing her bathrobe and phone before she glanced up and noticed who had joined her.

“Shisui?”

“Morning sunshine,” called Shisui, approaching with a tired grin. “Care for some company?”

A smile tugged at the sides of Sakura’s lips.

“You really showed,” she said. With her hands on her hips, she watched him stretch for a moment in his track pants and t-shirt, then pull his towel from his bag.

Setting his bag on the chaise beside hers, Shisui faced Sakura.

“Of course,” he said.

Sakura’s shoulders relaxed, her smile warming. “Thank you, Shisui. You didn’t have to.”

“I won’t ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself,” promised Shisui. He glanced around.

Figuring he was looking for a place to put on his suit, Sakura pointed to the side. “There’s a change room over…”

Sakura’s words dried up in her throat as Shisui reached down to pull his t-shirt over his head, revealing a chiselled abdomen dotted with scars and mapped with shadowy tattoos in the dim lighting of the pool area. She couldn’t help staring as he shimmied out of his track pants revealing… tropical-printed board shorts with little bananas in hammocks on them. He kicked off his flip flops and turned to face Sakura again, who was still staring.

“Women are always fascinated by my banana hammocks when I swim,” deadpanned Shisui.

“I don’t know how Itachi lets you out on your own,” said Sakura.

“With an exasperated, hearty shove, to be honest,” replied Shisui.

Sakura threw her head back and laughed aloud.

With a grin, Shisui slung an arm around Sakura’s shoulders and pulled her to the pool’s deep end. “Last one to the end and back makes breakfast.”

“Konan makes breakfast,” countered Sakura.

“Has to wake up Konan to make breakfast,” clarified Shisui.

Sakura straightened.

“You’re on,” she said, grinning.

“On three,” said Shisui. “One. Two. Three—”
Sakura shoved him to the side and dove in with a laugh.

Laughing also as he surfaced, Shisui took off after Sakura.

By the time they made it back and forth across the Olympic-sized pool, Sakura and Shisui were neck and neck, ploughing through the water. It sluiced over their skin as they cut through, and Sakura felt the satisfying burn in her muscles with every stroke. The challenge, Shisui’s ability to relax and motivate her, and Sakura’s determination combined to form something akin to rocket fuel inside her. She pushed hard, but at the same time, didn’t want the race to end. How long had it been since she had forgotten everything around her, all her worries, in the past months? Being with Shisui did this for her. He made her so much stronger.

Before she knew it her hand tapped the edge of the pool and she broke the surface to see if she had won against Shisui, just as he did the same. His hand was a meter from hers on the gunwales, and for a second they simply tread water, panting and grinning at each other.

“Tie?” gasped Shisui, his teeth gleaming in the low light entering the pool area through the floor to ceiling windows. Dawn would be upon them shortly.

“Round one,” said Sakura, her chest heaving as hard as Shisui’s.

Shisui laughed, to Sakura’s delight, and she beamed at him.

“OK,” he agreed. “Just gimme a minute to catch my breath and we go again. Best out of three?”

“You’re on,” said Sakura.

They raced twice more, Sakura winning the second match. On the third race, Shisui had a tiny lead. They kept getting closer as they swam, in spite of how much their wakes interrupted each other’s pace and visibility. Whether it started accidentally or not, by the return lap on the third race, they were actively splashing and working against each other. Shisui reaching out to tap Sakura’s head with his front stroke as Sakura grabbed at Shisui’s side as he tried to pass by. She accidentally caught his shorts and immediately released him, but he’d stopped dead in the water to stare at her. 

“If you wanted to race that way, you should have said, Sakura,” Shisui teased, laughing as Sakura gaped at him with her lips opening and closing like a fish. A very embarrassed fish.

“I’m so sorry!” gasped Sakura, cheeks red as she gasped and tread water.

He grabbed for her foot. “Fair’s fair, Sakura,” he said, reaching for her foot again when she squealed and twisted away.

“I said I was sorry!” called Sakura, really racing back to the wall now, to haul herself out of the water and out of Shisui’s teasing reach.

His laugh and hands followed her until they both reached the wall. Sakura had pulled her torso out of the water but Shisui caught her around the middle and yanked her back into the water before she was fully out. With a laughing shriek, Sakura beat at his hands as she slipped under the water again, twisting in Shisui’s grasp.

Beneath the shadowy depths she grinned at him and found him smiling widely at her in return.

For a second, in the quiet warmth of the water, they stared at each other, completely at ease as if in their own private world. It was silent but for the hum of the filters and jets that circulated the water. Above them dawn spread its waking tendrils over the water, lighting it around them like its own aquatic magic.

Sakura reached out to try and tap Shisui’s firm, defined chest as a teasing slap as Shisui reached for her to play fight, too. But the water resistance slowed her down, leaving her slap more of a delayed caress across his pectoral, and Shisui caught her hand. Sakura’s cheeks warmed further and she called herself an idiot and resigned herself to having to apologize to him again, an awkward twisting in her stomach until she realized he hadn’t let her hand go yet.

Instead, Shisui pulled Sakura’s hand, and Sakura, closer to him, meeting her halfway.

The teasing expression he usually wore around her had faded to something more focused, and yet more hesitant. With strong fingers, Shisui brought her hand to his chest, over his heart.

Startled, Sakura looked up, holding Shisui’s intent gaze.

Sakura, his lips mouthed.

Something low in Sakura’s belly warmed at Shisui’s proximity, the way he held her hand.

As he leaned down, Sakura’s heart threatened to burst in her chest.

She needed air, she realized desperately. 

With a quick kick-push, Sakura headed for the surface, Shisui at her side. Their faces burst through the surface of the water, and Sakura dragged in several deep breaths, her heart fluttering in her chest. It took a few seconds before she noticed Shisui had remained close, possibly closer still than beneath the privacy of the water.

“Sakura,” said Shisui, so softly she almost missed it.

He still held her hand.

“I’m okay,” Sakura said quietly, squeezing his hand.

And Shisui tilted his head down, closing Sakura in, his arms on either side of her at the edge of the pool as she turned to face him. Her other hand came up to his shoulder to steady herself.

“Are you?” asked Shisui, caging her in his arms. His dark eyes were hooded as he watched her, his head leaning down until their foreheads touched. The muscles of his chest pressed against hers, and Sakura felt him from toe to collarbone through the flimsy material of their swimsuits, setting something thick and warm coursing through her blood.

“Shisui,” murmured Sakura as Shisui’s lips brushed her cheek. Her breath shuddered through her as something inside tightened, clenched.

“Sakura,” whispered Shisui shakily, swallowing as he pressed himself against her. He squeezed her hand again, then more tightly as Sakura noticed what else he pressed into her. “What you do to me,” he breathed. 

Sakura swallowed next, her thoughts scattering as she felt Shisui’s breath ghost across her lips.

Slowly, unconsciously, Sakura lifted her chin, trembling against Shisui as they closed their eyes.

From the chaise longues a dozen meters away, an electronic alarm began to sound.

Sakura’s exhale escaped her almost painfully. Half a hair and she and Shisui would…

“Is that your alarm for work?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

As Sakura looked up at Shisui, she noted that his eyes were open barely to slits. Still, his entire focus was on her.

After another half beat, he lowered his arms from around her, releasing her. His hands trailed down the skin of her shoulders as he did, burning himself into her wet skin. 

“You better get ready,” he said, leaning back just enough to let Sakura take a deep breath.

Her stomach, her heart, her head heavy with something she couldn’t name, Sakura pulled herself from the pool, Shisui following after her. He collected his bag and watched Sakura leave back to her room before he went to the change room attached to the pool to have a cold shower.

For her part, Sakura forced herself not to hurry from the pool but rather to take her usual route and pace back to her room. Her cheeks burned the whole way, and her heart seared a hole in her chest.

What was that...

***

Madara poured another glass of wine for Sakura, smiling as she shared another story from work. His own work was on a tentative hold for the evening while he waited to hear back from Izuna, and he took the opportunity to spend time with Sakura.

“You used the move Shisui taught you?” repeated Madara slowly, watching Sakura’s expressions shift to excitement. It made him smile, but confused him.

“Yes! The take-down disarm. The police missed a weapon on the man who came in. It was a mental illness case, so he wasn’t entirely responsible for his actions, but we couldn’t let him keep a knife on him, not when he had already threatened two of the nursing staff,” said Sakura, her lips twisting a bit sadly. 

“But you’re a surgeon,” said Madara, his heart beginning to race.

“Yes, but I was in the ER when he came in. I caught him before he injured anyone.”

Madara nodded quietly, the room quiet between them. Outside night had fallen. There were a few of his men, family members, about the house on perimeter detail, but it was a relaxing evening. Until now. He had agreed that Sakura wouldn’t have her security detail at work, but this was serious. And he didn’t like it.

“When did Shisui teach you this?” asked Madara. 

“During our self defence lessons on my days off. He’s been helping me with my disarms, falls, and shooting,” said Sakura.

“Oh, is that all,” teased Madara. He knew Shisui had been looking after Sakura, but this was more extensive than he’d realized.

“And swimming before work, three times a week,” added Sakura.

“Shisui has you swimming three times a week? Sakura, you’re exhausted,” said Madara. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a break?” He was concerned. “Are you getting enough sleep?”

Smiling gently at Madara, Sakura nodded. “It’s been helping, actually. I’m so exhausted I just drop right off.” She shrugged. “And I feel better, overall. Stronger,” she said, nodding to herself. “It’s fun beating Shisui, too.”

Madara took a sip of his wine. 

“Shisui swims with you?” he coaxed.

“Yes. We race.”

Nodding, Madara raised his eyebrows. “I’ll have to thank him for going above and beyond the call of duty,” murmured Madara.

“Mmm,” said Sakura, pressing her lips together and smiling at Madara. 

“You look happy,” remarked Madara after a moment.

He noted the way Sakura’s shoulders relaxed and filed it away for later.

“I am,” she admitted. “Thank you, Madara.”

He reached for her then, slipping his hands into her hair. With a sweetness he rarely displayed, he drew her in for a kiss, swallowing Sakura’s sigh of pleasure, before deepening the connection, pulling her into his lap. Her gasps of pleasure, wanton and free, were soft and intimate, and he lifted Sakura in his arms. With Sakura’s arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist, Madara twisted as he stood, Sakura’s back to the doorway.

As she writhed against him, her panting gasps begging him by name, Sakura missed when Shisui passed by the doorway and caught sight of her splayed in Madara’s arms.

Rooted to the ground, Shisui could only stare. 

Peering around Sakura, Madara’s eyes opened precisely at the moment Shisui swallowed, and held the young man’s gaze for an agonizing moment before Madara cradled Sakura’s head, twisting her away from Shisui and pinning her to the wall before grounding into her, leaving her begging, clawing at Madara’s clothes to get them off.

“Please,” whimpered Sakura, yanking on Madara’s tie.

“As you wish,” purred Madara, reaching between them.

By the time the sound of Madara’s belt had fallen open, Shisui had disappeared.

Sakura’s cries, however, could be heard through the entire main floor.

With his back against the wall several rooms away, Shisui was haunted by Sakura’s voice, leaving him imagining it was his arms embracing her, him inside her, him satisfying her.

But even as Shisui bit down on his fist to contain the sound of his own release when he heard Sakura’s final cry, a shiver ran down his spine. As he spilled himself, pulse after pulse, warm and sticky, into a wad of tissue, a certainty left him chilled to the bone. 

… Madara knew.