Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**-

Sakura, now a strong, twenty-year-old woman, works at the Konoha hospital. Though so young, she's already become one of the top doctors there, because of her skill level. She lives in an apartment by herself. Her work had become her life, aside from her friends, Naruto, Ino, and the others.

Sasuke had returned home about a year ago. He brought along a young red haired woman named Karin. Orochimaru is still alive. Sakura was relieved that Sasuke had returned safely, but mostly glad because Naruto was so happy, having his best friend back-

**Chapter 1**

The first Thing Sakura noticed when she opened her eyes was the sunlight, it was so bright she immediately shut them again. Then she jerked upright, franticly looking for the clock. It read 9:37. She flew out of bed only to remember that today was her day off. Groaning, she crawled under the covers again. After lying there awhile, she decided it was already too late to go back to sleep.

Sakura slowly went about the house, getting dressed, choosing a grey tank top and a pair of jeans. She put her pink, shoulder-length hair up in a ponytail before preparing some breakfast. As she ate the cereal, she began wondering what she was going to do with her day.

She started by cleaning up the house. By the time that was mostly finished, it was 12:30. Sakura went outside and started walking towards the training grounds. Like Kakashi sensei had told her all those years ago, it was good to train the mind, but it was also important to train the body. She started with a few minutes of stretches, then proceeded to battle with an imaginary foe.

"Care if I join you?" a familiar voice sounded behind her. She stopped, turning to see Naruto, grinning like he didn't have a care in the world. "Sure, but don't blame me if you get any broken bones, you asked for it," She smirked back. "We'll see about that!" he laughed, before launching himself at her.

She easily dodged a punch by leaping above him, and got in a whack while she sailed over him. Naruto didn't even flinch, instead he grabbed her ankle before she landed and threw her back the way she came. Sakura righted herself and landed gracefully about ten feet away. Naruto made the necessary hand-signs and moments later three of himself appeared behind Sakura, grabbing for her arms.

Sakura quickly dispatched two of them with a kick and punch to the gut. They shrieked before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The third one managed to get a hold of her waist from behind. While she was struggling to get him off, a huge weight slammed into her, knocking her flat on her back.

"Shoot, I had forgotten about the real one…" The last doppelganger also disappeared, and the real Naruto sat on top of her, pinning her to the ground, a kunai pressed to her neck.

"No fair!" Sakura protested, playfully shoving him off her. "I didn't bring any weapons today." "Aww, I would have beaten you anyway, Sakura." He stood up, stretching his arms above his head. Sakura saw her chance and tackled him. One second later, he was the one on the ground. Sakura was over him, pressing her hand into his neck just enough to cut off his airway for a moment. Naruto stared at her dumbstruck, she raised an eyebrow, grinning.

Suddenly, they heard a gasp. Looking up, Sakura saw a red-faced Hinata dart behind a tree. "I-I-I'm sorry!" she stuttered. Sakura looked down at Naruto, he raised an eyebrow back at her. "Oh!" she jumped up, quickly realizing how that must have looked to Hinata.

"We were only training, don't worry." Sakura laughed. Hinata walked out from behind the tree. " Oh, I knew that, I-I was just… surprised to see someone else here." Naruto popped up from the ground. "Hey Hinata!" he grinned. "Hello, Naruto." Hinata, smiled looking at the ground. "Were you coming to train too?" he asked. "um, well, yes, I was." she said timidly.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed. "Will you spar with me? Sakura doesn't fight fairly." Said person shot him a dirty look. "I-I don't know." Hinata said shyly. "go on, do it!," Sakura encouraged. She knew Hinata would be dying to. The girls feeling for Naruto where obvious to everyone except the man himself.

They both stood for a moment, facing each other silently. Sakura went to sit in the grass to watch. With a, "Get ready!' Naruto jumped at Hinata. She quickly leaped out of the way, backing up as she went. Naruto threw some punches and Hinata blocked them gracefully, blushing each time their hands touched, though the contact was violent in nature. He made a grab for her and she danced out of the way again. This continued for a few minutes. Soon Naruto became frustrated. " Why aren't you fighting? You're only dodging!" Hinata lowered her eyes in embarrassment.

Naruto took the chance and again leapt at her with incredible speed. A moment later Hinata was on the ground looking up at Naruto who was holding her to the ground. Hinata's face turned tomato red. Naruto peered at her in confusion, "Are you… blushing?"

Impossibly, poor Hinata's face became even redder than before, and she turned her face away. He too, turned slightly red and quickly jumped off of her. "Sorry," he said quietly. "N-No, it's ok, This match was, fun!" she smiled before quickly running into the woods.

'Poor girl', Sakura thought, "She's probably hyperventilating over there." "Oy! Sakura!" Naruto bellowed from across the field. "Lets go get some ramen! I Haven't had any since yesterday, and I'm starving!" Sakura sighed, " Well, only if you're paying." "No fair, taking advantage of me like that." Naruto grumbled. They both headed back toward the village and soon arrived at the Ichiraku ramen stand.

-chapter 1 end

_**Ok, this was the first chapter of my first story, I hope it doesn't suck too badly. lol  
**_

_***I do not own the characters or anything, **_

_**Uhh…. Yeah that's it for now! ^_^**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke sitting at a table. A moment later, she saw the girl called Karin join him. Sakura quickly averted her eyes and hung back a little.

Naruto also spied them and boldly strutted over. "Oy! Are you guys on a date?" he grinned. "Of course we are!" snapped Karin, "Now go away before you ruin it, you blonde-haired idiot!"

Naruto looked taken aback for a moment, but then he got a sly look in his eyes. "Actually, I'm on a little date of my own." he grinned, right before he got a foot to the back of his head.

"We are definitely not on a date, and I apologize for bothering you." Sakura started dragging Naruto to the other side of the shop." By the way, nice to see you guys again." Karin smiled and laughed while Sasuke just nodded his head in acknowledgement.

About thirty-five minutes and eight bowls of ramen later, only two of which were consumed by Sakura, they left the stand and headed out.

And after a "So, are you gonna give me a goodbye kiss?" and a smack to the head, they parted ways. Sakura headed to her apartment where she anticipated a long shower and a soft blanket to jump on afterwards.

The next morning found Sakura working her shift at the hospital. She was sewing up a gruesome slice on a woman's arm. Ino was the assisting nurse.

"So, tell me again how you managed this while gardening?" Ino bantered, trying to distract the poor woman from her pain. The woman, Yohiko was her name, tried smiling but winced instead.

Well, I was looking for my shovel when I tripped over…" Sakura zoned the voice out, concentrating on her task.

She was almost finished when another nurse rushed in. "Sakura! We need your help! I'm not sure what to do, and, and, there's so much blood!" Sakura quickly turned to Ino, "Finish this up for me, ok?" Ino nodded her head, and took Sakura's place.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked while she followed the flustered young nurse down the hall. "He, he's bleeding a lot.

But when I tried to look he called me an idiot!" she said, starting to tear up. " What?" asked Sakura now slightly confused. "Where's the trauma? What kind of wound? How deep?" The nurse only answered, "We're here, you can treat him." with that she hurried away.

Sakura sighed and opened the door, preparing herself for anything. Or so she thought. Indeed there was enough blood, spots all over the floor, some smeared on the exam table, and that.

But there was Sasuke, sitting in the windowsill, glaring wickedly, with a hand holding the side of his face. Sakura burst out laughing.

"What? Why on earth are you laughing? I'm bleeding here…" Sasuke sulked, his frown deepening even more. Still laughing Sakura grabbed a clean cloth and walked over to him.

"We can sure count on you to scare our poor nurses away can't we?" Sasuke continued to glare at the floor. "At least come sit on the table so I can examine you properly," she chided. Surprisingly, he obeyed, also removing his hand.

Sakura let out a low whistle, "Ouch. Kunai, right?" "Yeah…" "Training?" "Yeah." "Naruto?" She guessed. "Shut up." Sakura let out a few more giggles then got down to business.

After cleaning the cut she said, " You're going to need stitches." Sasuke sighed and looked up at her. "Can't you just heal it?"

Sakura sighed, "You know Tsunade doesn't want me to use it on minor wounds, she says it will waste too much energy." "It doesn't feel minor." Sasuke protested.

"You just don't want to walk around with a fat band aid on your face saying 'somebody kicked my butt'!" Sakura accused.

"C'mon, just do it." he looked up, his eyes boring fiercely into hers for a moment. Sakura's heart skipped a beat and she looked away. "Fine," she muttered.

Concentrating, she felt her chakra flow into her hand. She gently pressed it to Sasuke's face. About a minute later she removed her hand, and sat down in a chair across from him. He put his hand to his cheek, pressing it experimentally.

He flashed her a grin and said a quick 'thanks' before leaping out the window.

Sakura remained where she was for a moment, shaking her head. 'Boys!' she thought, with both annoyance and amusement. The rest of her day went on without anymore interesting encounters, as did the rest of her week

_**Chapter 2 end-**_

_**Whoo! Yup, that's chapter two, I'm still not quite sure how Sakura's personality towards Sasuke will be, so sorry if her character is funky.**_

_**Also, I'm debating on whether on not I should add more Naruto-Hinata action, or just leave them be. what do you guys think?  
**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

On her way home from the hospital one afternoon, Sakura was stopped by Kakashi. "Hello Sakura." "Hello Kakashi sensei." she replied. "Tomorrow we're going to have a group training session and I was wondering if you would join us?" He asked. Tomorrow was Sunday, Sakura had the day off.

"Sure," she grinned, "sounds like a party." "Well, only if you consider beating on Naruto fun, it is." Kakashi joked. "Definitely." she laughed. "Well, meet us at the training grounds at 11:00 sharp then." with that, Kakashi disappeared.

Sakura went to bed early, and in the morning she made sure she ate a healthy breakfast. After putting on some clothes appropriate for their 'meeting', she headed out, arriving a little early.

Sai was already there, seated on the ground, working on another of his paintings. She walked over to him, saying a quick hello before crouching behind him to watch. The drawing was of two lions fighting.

"Will you use those today?" Sakura asked. Sai turned to her, staring for a moment with unblinking eyes. "Well, I think you are being… what was that word? Pushy? No… Annoying? … Oh!" an enlightened smile appeared on his face. "Nosy! You are being nosy Sakura. What I do with my art is none of your business."

He began chuckling to himself until he received a knee to the head. Sakura stomped away, fuming. A moment later she looked up to see Sasuke and Karin enter the clearing. Soon after, they were followed by Naruto and, unexpectedly, Kiba.

It was now ten minutes after eleven, and Kakashi had yet to show. "I knew he'd be late!" Naruto griped, "That is sooo like him…" Sasuke walked closer to the group, "Why wait? We can still spar without him." "You are so right Sasuke!" Karin smiled as she walked up from behind, latching onto his arm.

"Why don't we split into groups and do a few warm-up rounds?" Sakura suggested. "Sounds good to me." Kiba put in. "Let's just get started, I'm ready and raring' to go!"

"But how will we pick the partners?" Naruto asked, "I know Karin will just pick Sasuke, and I so do not want to be stuck with freaky Sai… He's so annoying and-" "Ok Naruto!" Sakura cut in, "We'll draw numbers." with that, Sakura stole a piece of Sai's paper and a pencil. She tore the paper into six pieces and wrote one, two, and three on them, then repeated that on the other pieces.

"There," she smiled, "Now whoever draw matching numbers will fight each other." "Great idea Sakura," Kiba praised, "Now lets just hurry up, I'm going to get bored." Sakura held the now folded pieces in her cupped hand. They each took a number until there was only one left for her.

"I got one! I got one!" yelled Naruto, "I guess that means I'm number one around here," he smirked. Sai held up his own piece. "Well, I guess that means I am also number one." "Aww man!" Naruto pouted flopping himself onto the ground.

"I got three! What did you get Sasuke?" Karin asked hopefully. "Two." he stated. Karin immediately started pouting. "I guess I'm fighting Karin." Kiba grinned, "Lets go girl." "Eww…" Karin grimaced, "I hate dogs."

She then turned to look pointedly at Sakura, "Don't you go touching my man." She warned, attempting to sound intimidating. But with her feminine voice, she wasn't very successful.

Naruto, having resigned himself to his fate, had already started fighting Sai. Except at the moment, he was running, with Sai's artwork (the lions from earlier) chasing him across the field.

Kiba had pulled Karin away from Sasuke and now, she was too busy fending off his blows to pay attentions to anything else.

Sakura turned to look at Sasuke, he was facing her, in a relaxed stance, as if they were about to converse, not fight. But Sakura knew him, and she knew that underneath the calm exterior, he was definitely ready for anything.

Throwing caution to the wind, Sakura launched herself at him, drawing her fist back, preparing to attack. He leaped back, seconds before she hit the ground where he had stood. Sakura didn't hesitate. She straightened up, but had to immediately dodge one of Sasuke's own fists. She felt the air rush past her face as she dropped to the ground.

Using the one second opportunity she kicked at his gut. Sasuke half-blocked it, but the force pushed him back a few inches. They grappled for a few moments, both fighting for domination over the other. Sakura managed to pull out a kunai.

Sasuke grabbed her wrist, disabling it. She attempted to free the weapon with her other hand but Sasuke took hold of that one too. There was no movement for a few moments, it looked as if they were merely facing each other, holding hands in mid-air. But if one looked closely you could see they were both trembling with exertion.

Eventually Sasuke's strength won over Sakura's and he began pushing her back. Knowing she was going to lose this pushing match, Sakura attempted to retreat. She struggled to get away, but Sasuke did not loosen his grip on her wrists.

Suddenly, Sasuke threw his weight forward again. Since Sakura had already been pulling away, she lost her balance at the sudden change and toppled backwards, Sasuke going down with her. She hit her head on the ground, momentarily seeing stars.

When Sakura opened her eyes again, they widened in surprise, Sasuke's face was hovering just inches above hers. He was straddling her waist, still clenching her wrists, which where being held to the ground on either side of her head.

They were both breathing heavily, frozen, staring at each other. Sasuke was the first to snap back into reality. "Well. I think I won this match." He stated, crawling off of her. Sakura sat up and looked away, her heart was racing even though her breathing had evened out. "Yeah… I guess." she answered.

She turned to watch the others finish their fights. Naruto and Sai were going at it like mad-men. Surprisingly, Karin was the one over Kiba, pummeling him into the ground. You could almost see him waving a white flag.

**Chapter 3 end-**

_**Okay! Chapter three is finished. I made it a bit longer than the last one, so that's good. **_

_**I swear I didn't mislead you in the summary! I'm just working up to it. **_

_**I already had some of the story written up, but now that's almost run out. So I'm not quite sure how soon I'll have the next few chapters up. I have short chapters but I can update them more often that way.  
**_

_**Ok, now I'm off to work on chapter 4! *bows and runs away. **_

_**Oh yeah, thank you for the reviews!**_

_**p.s. I do not own Naruto. **_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kakashi chose this moment to show up, appearing directly behind Sakura. "Where have you been?" she asked in exasperation, getting to her feet.

"Well.. You know, helping old ladies across streets…" he trailed off as Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, unconvinced. "Boy can those sweet old things talk!" he added before striding across the field to save Kiba from certain death. Sasuke followed, and Sakura did too.

"Ok Karin," Kakashi started, holding his hands up in an attempted calming gesture. "I think you've won. Clearly. You can stop now…" Sai and Naruto gathered around to watch as well.

Karin stopped when she noticed she had an audience. She stepped back to reveal a twitching Kiba on the ground. "Whoa! You are crazy woman!" Naruto yelled.

"Hey!" she yelled back in her defense. "Just look at what he did to my shirt!" with that she pointed at her side, and indeed there was a tear in it. "It was one of my favorites!" she whined. "It looked great on me, didn't it Sasuke?" she turned to him. "Hn."

She sighed and walked over to him, again latching onto his arm. "I feel dirty," Karin whispered to Sasuke. "And I think I smell like a dog now." she added, wrinkling her nose.

Then, facing the others, "Sasuke and I are leaving now." and with that, Karin started dragging him away. With a quick glance at Sakura, he allowed himself to be led.

Watching them go, Sakura heard a "Lets take a shower!" and a "That Sakura didn't do anything unseemly to you, did she Sasuke?" At this Sakura strained to hear what Sasuke's reply would be. "No, and let go of my arm." was what she heard.

"But, I just got here…" Kakashi complained after they left. "We haven't even started." "Maybe you haven't started Kakashi sensei," Naruto countered, "But we've already been fighting a lot!"

Looking down, Sakura remembered Kiba. "I think I'm going to take Kiba to the hospital, to make sure he doesn't have any broken bones…" With that, she kneeled down and helped him into a standing position. "I guess I'll help." Naruto offered, taking hold of Kiba's other arm.

The field was silent for a moment. "I would spar with you, if you like." Sai offered. Kakashi laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Naw, I think I'll just go back home and catch up on my 'Icha Icha'."

After that, Sai immediately departed, and Kakashi slowly but eagerly made his way back home…

**Chapter 4 end-**

**I know! I know! It's super short! *Hides behind bush.**

**It seemed like a good place to end. I promise I'll update again really soon! **

**The next chapter will be much longer, and a bit more exciting. **

**Also, in the last chapter when Karin said she hated dogs, she was just taunting Kiba, complaining about having to fight him. **

**I imagine Kiba would smell like dogs because of who he is. (Riding Akamaru around, etc.) lol**

**Karin's Character in my story is a bit stuck up, shallow, but not intentionally cruel, pretty close to like she is in the manga I think.  
**

** And in case you're wondering, I don't write about it, but Kiba was fine. It's the same black and blue that Naruto is after Sakura gets mad at him and dbeats him up. lol **

**It seems I'm talking a lot in this one... Also, I definitely do NOT like the Sasuke/Karin pairing, I just needed him to be with someone in the beginning of this story. Hmm… I think that's everything for now! **

**Thank you for the reviews! P.s. I do not own Naruto.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sakura was asleep, but soon, something was sucking her back into the world of the conscious. The telephone was ringing. Half in a stupor Sakura reached for the phone, missed and tried again.

This time she got it. "Hello?" she mumbled. "Sakura," came a vaguely familiar voice, "Tsunade wishes to see you, pronto." the person immediately hung up without waiting for a response.

Dazed and now a bit worried, Sakura looked at the clock. It read 7:30. "Rrrgh! And on my day off too!" she complained to herself as she crawled out of bed and hurriedly dressed herself. "Whatever it is, it's probably not good news." And then she was out the door, half jogging to the Hokage Tower.

When she arrived, she barged into Tsunade's office, not bothering to knock. To her surprise, Shino, Sasuke, and Hinata were there as well.

Tsunade was at her desk, putting together a stack of papers. At Sakura's arrival she stood, putting on the 'I'm about to explain something so you had better keep your trap shut' face.

"You four have a mission." She started. "A group of villages have been attacked roughly fifty miles from here. I received word of it less than an hour ago." pausing, Tsunade threw scrolls at each of them.

"These hold information on the villages and details of the attack." The four ninja's opened the scrolls. "The villages are small." Tsunade continued. " There are five altogether, three have been attacked, and we have reason to believe that the others will be too."

"There were casualties, and kidnappings. I'm sending two different teams to the villages that haven't been attacked yet. Your job is to assist the attacked villages, gather information and attempt to retrieve the ones who have been kidnapped."

"From the reports, I have no idea who would have done this. But it definitely doesn't sound like bandits. Hopefully things will become clearer once you arrive. Everything else you need to know is in those scrolls. Sasuke will be team leader. You depart in half an hour, any questions?"

The four were quiet. "Ok then, I Expect reports regularly. Good luck, you are now dismissed." With that, Tsunade dropped back into her seat and began sifting through more paper work.

The four quickly exited the building. Sasuke turned to face the others, immediately taking charge. "We will meet at the city gates at eight fifteen. Go get your gear together." They all flew off in different directions.

Hundreds of things were going through Sakura's mind. 'Those poor villagers. Who could be behind this? The ones that were kidnapped, they were all women, two of them pregnant. Why?'

Sakura had been reading her scroll while jogging back home. Six women had been kidnapped. Two in the first village, three in the second and one in the third. The scroll had no other information on the victims. They would have to get most of their data once they arrived at the village.

And less important things also ran through her mind. 'What a strange group. Why was it us four? Perhaps because so many of us are out on missions? She had to scrounge up a last minute team?' Sakura knew that Naruto was out on a mission with Kakashi. 'Perhaps Guy's team was sent to protect the remaining villages.'

By this time, Sakura was at her house. She pulled out her special backpack she kept ready for times exactly like these. It contained food, medical supplies and some tools such as paper bombs, shuriken and kunai.

Sakura quickly ran a brush through her hair, throwing it into another bag when she was done. After a moment she added a change of clothes and her sleeping bag.

Grabbing a couple of power bars on her way out the door she headed for the city gates. Sasuke was already there. Sakura stood by him in silence. A minute later Hinata arrived followed by Shino who was, as always, hidden behind his coat and sun glasses.

Sasuke nodded his head, facing the others. "ok then, lets head out!" He took off at a fast pace down the path, the others hot behind him.

The four traveled in silence for the first few hours. When they stopped for a break they exchanged any information they knew that would be helpful.

Hinata was bold and confident in speaking, all business. It surprised Sakura but then she realized this was the first time she had ever had a mission with Hinata. She smiled at the thought.

Ten minutes later, they headed out again, Sasuke re-checking the map to make sure they were headed in the right direction.

The trip there was uneventful, none of them noticing anything suspicious. They arrived at the first village by nightfall. According to Tsunade and the map, it was called Higashi.

**Chapter 5 end-**

**Whoo! On a mission! **

**This chapter was still pretty short... please forgive me! T_T**

**Again thank you for the reviews, and again, I do not own Naruto. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The sun was setting, and it was getting dark quickly. They wandered through the village, expecting someone to meet them. No one did. In fact, they were the only ones on the streets. They also noticed that some of the buildings had been burned down recently.

Soon they came to what looked like an inn, and the four headed inside. There was a man there, sitting at a desk, with his head resting on some papers. He looked up when they entered, looking slightly alarmed.

"We were sent from Konoha." Sasuke stated. The man looked instantly relieved. He got up and walked to the group. "We were told you would be coming. Thank you so much." The man replied. "My name is Hiroki. Please, you must all be exhausted from your trip. Let me show you to a room. We even have a hot springs out back."

Nodding, Sasuke and the others followed the man down a short hallway. "Here," he said, gesturing to a door with his hand. "I'm afraid we don't have many rooms to choose from. A lot of families are staying here because they lost their homes in the fires."

"That's fine, thank you." Sasuke replied. With that, the man left and the four entered the room. It wasn't small, but it wasn't spacious either. There was a small table in one corner and four sleeping mats in another.

"Ok, lets rest up for the night." Sasuke said. "We will start our investigation in the morning." "Sounds good to me," Shino said, dumping his gear in a corner, thus claiming it as his own.

"I think I'm going to check out the hot springs." Sakura said. "Do you want to join me Hinata?" The purple haired girl looked up from digging in her own bag, "T-that sound great!" she smiled.

Sasuke laid out his own mat, sat down on it, and pulled out some papers. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought you were the one who told us to rest up." Sasuke looked up at her. "I'm writing our first mission report." He stated. "Oh…"

Sakura sighed, "I hope he doesn't try to take all the work upon himself." she muttered to Hinata on their way out. "True," the girl replied, looking at Sakura, "You seem worried about Sasuke." "Well, I guess…" Sakura said, "It's just that- I know how he is. He never relaxes, always all business and so stubborn!" Hinata giggled.

Sakura blushed. "I'm just worried about him as a friend. That's all." she said. "I don't like him anymore." "I never said you did." Hinata got a mischievous look in her eyes. "You're the one talking about liking him." she grinned. "Hey! I never said that!" Sakura got even redder.

"But what about you and Naruto? You guys got pretty close back at the training grounds." Sakura put in, trying to take the attention off of herself. It was Hinata's turn to blush. "I-I that is- that was… We were training!" She stammered. "Besides, you fought N-Naruto too." "Yeah, but I didn't like it, like you did." Sakura smirked.

By this time they were already undressed and in the hot-springs. "Wow… The water feels so nice!" They both exclaimed after stepping in, momentarily distracted.

Sakura's face went serious as she turned to Hinata. "Why don't you just tell him?" she asked. Hinata blushed again and looked away. "Seriously," Sakura continued. "Because he's so dense, he wouldn't get it unless you told him outright." 'Maybe not even then…' She laughed to herself. "Maybe, I-I just get so embarrassed." Hinata answered timidly.

They both sat in companionable silence, soaking in the luxurious water. About ten minutes later, they heard a commotion outside the doors. "W-what do you think that is?" Hinata asked. "I don't know, but lets go find out." Sakura answered.

They both stood, wrapping towels around themselves and crept to the door. Opening it quickly, they discovered a puppy, rustling around in their clothes. "Hey!" Sakura shouted, as it picked up her bra. Startled, the dog took off down the hall, with bra in mouth. Sakura chased after it, but only made it a short way before she became dizzy, then her vision went black. 'Shoot,' she thought, 'the water…' then she fainted.

Sasuke and Shino had heard their teammates shouting and ran to see what was wrong. Sasuke stopped short, his eyes widening at the sight before him. There was Sakura, clad only in a towel, out cold outside of the bathroom. Hinata was leaning heavily against the door, similarly clad. And to top it off, there was a puppy, parading around with a- he blinked, a pink bra in it's mouth?

Just then a little girl came running up. "Chiko! Oh Chiko! There you are!" The little girl scooped the animal into her arms. "What have you got there?" She gave the dog a stern look. "You had better give it back." She warned. The little dog whined then dropped the bra.

As if noticing the others for the first time she smiled and said, "Hi!" Shino had retreated to a far wall and Sasuke was still standing dumbstruck. "My name is Shiori, and this is my dog Chiko. Thank you for looking after her." and with that, the girl ran off, just as suddenly as she had arrived.

"Hinata?" Sasuke managed to spit out. "What the hell going on?" She looked up weakly, for she too was dizzy. "T-the hot springs… we got out too fast…" Sasuke turned to Shino, "Will you help Hinata back to our room?" Shino nodded, then pointed at Sakura, "What about her?" "I guess I'll carry her back to the room. She can't be sleeping out in the hall all night." With that, Sasuke strode over to Sakura's unconscious body and picked her up bridal style, careful to keep the towel in place.

Shino went over to Hinata, taking hold of her arm. "Come on. Lets get your stuff and get back to the room." He helped Hinata gather their clothing and supported her as they slowly made their way back to the room. "Th-thanks, Shino, sorry about this." Hinata murmured. "Any time." he grinned.

As Sasuke carried Sakura, he tried to look everywhere else. He tried not to notice the warmth of her body, and her wet hair soaking his arm sleeves in water, and that scent. 'Wow, I wonder what she uses in her hair, it smells so good.' He thought, inhaling deeply, then mentally smacked himself. 'Gah! What am I thinking?'

He tried to make it back without passing anyone, but had no such luck. He looked down as he passed an elderly man in the hall. "Can't you young'uns at least keep it in the rooms?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. Sasuke didn't reply, and quickened his pace. Soon he was back in the privacy of their room. "Thank god." He muttered aloud.

'Now what?' Sasuke looked over at the folded mats. Sakura had yet to set her bed up, and now she wasn't able too. Sighing, Sasuke placed her on his own bed, then went to set up hers. When that was finished, he picked her up again, and very carefully covered her with the blankets. After that, he sat crouched beside her, relieved that she had not awakened in his arms.

Shino and Hinata entered the room, and Hinata stumbled off to her bed. Sasuke quickly crawled back to his own, now determined to fall asleep quickly. Shino stayed up for awhile reading something with a flashlight. Then he too went to sleep, where they all remained until dawn.

**Chapter 6 end-**

**Oy. I hope this at least halfway makes up for the last two chapters.**

**p.s. I don't own Naruto!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

** -Thank you guys so much for the reviews, they seriously keep me going!-**

**Chapter 7**

The rays of morning light shined on Sakura's face, awakening her. She started to sit up, but looked down in surprise when she felt cool air brush her shoulders. 'What on earth? I have not shirt, or pants…' That's when the memories of the previous night flooded back to her.

She and Hinata had been in the hot springs for way too long. She had been exhausted from the trip, and then she was chasing a dog, and felt dizzy, then blank. 'I must have fainted.' She thought. 'But I wonder how I got back here?'

Looking up, she saw that Shino and Hinata were still asleep, Sasuke's bed was empty, and he was nowhere in sight. Wrapping the blanket tighter around herself she crept to her bag, searching for clothes. After finding her black shorts and red vest she made her way to the bathroom and quickly put them on. She then returned to the bag and retrieved her brush, pulling it slowly through her hair.

Sakura turned when she heard a slight rustling. "Oh, good morning." Hinata said sleepily. Sakura walked over to her. "Morning." She whispered back. "Hey, do you know what happened last night? I think I must have blacked out."

Hinata sat up then, she was dressed in pajama's almost the color of her hair, though slightly lighter. "Yeah, you did black out, in the hallway." she answered. "Oh no!" Sakura whined, embarrassed, knowing she had only been wearing a towel.

"What happened to that little dog anyway?" She asked. "It belonged to a girl, she came and got it shortly after you fainted." Hinata replied. "Shino and Sasuke came, because of the shouting." she continued. Sakura's face turned beet red, the poor girl was mortified. "What!" She all but shouted. Shino groaned and rolled over, but stayed asleep.

"Shh!" Hinata scolded. "I didn't feel well either. Shino helped me back to the room. Sasuke carried you back." Sakura was speechless, never in her entire life had she been more embarrassed. "Oooh! How can I face him now! I think I'll die!" The girl moaned. "You still had your towel," Hinata said, trying to soothe Sakura, "It's not like you were naked."

Sakura closed her eyes, 'breathe in, breathe out.' She began chanting to herself, trying to calm down. It did help a little. Now Shino was awake, yawning and stretching. He looked over at the girls. "Yo. I hope you slept well." "Yes." they replied in unison. With that, he headed to the bathroom.

"I think I'll go get some breakfast." Sakura said. Hinata nodded in acknowledgement. 'I need to clear my head,' Sakura thought, 'We're on a mission, not a slumber party!' She went to the lobby and walked outside, this time, there were a few people on the streets. Sakura quickly scanned them, checking for Sasuke, he was not among them. 'I wonder where he went off too?' she wondered. 'Come to think of it, I guess I'm lucky he brought me back to the room, instead of leaving me in the hall.' She smiled at the thought.

There was a small shop nearby and Sakura entered it. It had some groceries and a partial bakery. She purchased a bread roll and went back outside. To her dismay she found a restaurant right next door. 'If only I had walked a little further! Oh well, I'll just save the roll for later.' she thought, putting it into the bag she was carrying.

The first thing she saw when she entered was Sasuke, he was sitting at one of the tables eating some sort of soup. He looked up when she entered, meeting her eyes. His face was free of emotion and Sakura could not tell what he was thinking. She walked over to him, gesturing to the seat across from him, "May I?" She asked. "Hn." He nodded his head.

"Umm…" Sakura started. "Hinata told me about yesterday, sorry about that. But thank you for taking me ba-" She stopped when he held his hand up. "it's fine, don't mention it." He said, standing up. Sakura sighed, but looked up again when he continued speaking. "Hey, you want the rest of my soup?" He asked, pushing the bowl toward her. She took the bowl, it was only half eaten. "Thank you." she smiled. With that, Sasuke walked away. "Be back at the room in fifteen minutes." He said, pausing at the door. "We'll start our investigation then." Sakura nodded.

-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-

The four of them split into two groups and headed to separate sides of the village. Sakura went with Shino and Hinata with Sasuke. Then next village was ten miles away, so they would meet up before noon to travel there.

The people were happy to help, giving as much information as possible, hoping desperately that these ninja would rescue their missing friends.

After regrouping, they shared their information. Sakura started. Pulling out the scroll she had been taking notes on, she said. " Two of the women that were kidnapped were from this village. Their names are Emi and Kazumi." "They were both very athletic, they had superior skills, compared to others in this village." Shino added. Sasuke nodded. "We were told the same thing."

Sakura pulled out two pictures, "These are the women, the dark haired one is Emi, and The blonde is Kazumi." She passed them around for everyone to see.

"From their description, the attackers were definitely experienced ninja." Hinata put in. "Though they could not describe them." she sighed. "Only dark, terrifying shapes in the night." Sasuke ended.

After a quick lunch, the four departed, hoping that the next village would hold more clues as to who the attackers were.

The trip to the village, which was called Haan, was over in an hour. Haan was like the previous one, small, with a few burned buildings, and anxious people.

There was a leader in this village, and after a few minutes they managed to get directions to where he was located.

With Sasuke in the lead, they entered the building. There was an old man sitting at a desk, and a small boy was playing on the floor nearby. The old man looked up after a moment, his face a mass of wrinkles. "We are ninja sent from Konoha." Sasuke stated.

The man stood, smiling, "Hello! My Name is Hideki." he walked over to them. "Just tell us what you need and we will try to help the best we can."

"Then we'll get started right away." Sasuke replied. "We'll need pictures of the women, and some of their history. Also, we would like to speak to anyone who may have seen the attackers." Hideki nodded and hurried out the door with a "Wait here, I'll be right back."

**Chapter 7 end-**

**I know, I know, It's a horrible place to end. _**

**Oh, well…**

**Hmm… I don't Own Naruto…**

**That's it I guess! So, until next time, bye for now!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok. I realized I've been going into too many boring details, and I don't want to drag the story out unnecessarily, So I'm going to just brush over investigating the remaining villages and jump right into the action- both battles and other. ~_^**

**Chapter 8**

This village had more information to offer than the last one. They verified that there had been four ninja, wearing forehead protectors, which bore the mark of sound. Sasuke seemed deeply perplexed at this.

After collecting more information, and photos of the kidnapped women, they headed for the third and last village in their investigation. It too, was located close by. The two other villages that had not been attacked were about twenty five miles away.

"D-do you think it might be Orochimaru?" Hinata asked, while they were running through the trees. Sasuke was silent for a moment, "It's very likely, though I have no idea why he would be collecting average women, he usually goes for ninja with strong kekkei genkai." Hinata nodded.

Sakura frowned, she had noticed something about the pictures. "All of the women so far have been athletic, and their eye color, they all have green eyes. I don't know if that's a clue, but they all definitely have similarities." "Hopefully this last village will finish the case for us, and we can track the ninja, rescue the women, and go home." Shino said. The others nodded in agreement.

This village definitely had enough information for their satisfaction. Someone described one of the ninjas as: 'White hair, in a pony-tail, glasses, Sound headband.' "That sounds a lot like Kabuto…" Sakura said. The others nodded in agreement.

After getting pictures of the kidnapped women from this village, they headed for one of Orochimaru's bases. "He has several of them, but we might as well try the closest." Sasuke said, "I know where it's located, so follow me, and be on your guard at all times." The others nodded.

About thirty minutes later, Sasuke stopped them. "We're close," He said, sitting down. "It's about a mile away. Lets rest awhile before we go in." The others immediately sat down.

Sasuke took this opportunity to fill them in on his knowledge of the base. "The prison, and lab are underground. There will be guards stationed outside of it. They will be hidden. I'd like it if we could take them out silently. Then, we have the ones at the entrance." He began drawing a map in the dirt. "I doubt they will prove to be much of a threat, lets just try to remain undetected as long as possible. Hinata, your byakugan will be very important to us here." said girl nodded at this. "I h-hope the women are ok, if this is where they are." she said.

"Once we're inside, stick as close to me as possible, unless I tell you otherwise." Sasuke continued. "I'll lead you down. If the women are there, we are to retrieve them and then run like hell." Shino smirked at this. "If nothings been changed, this is one of his less important bases, meaning there will be fewer people there."

"Sakura, Hinata, you two will stay with the women and lead them out, Shino are I will take out anyone standing in your way. If need be, we will send a messenger hawk to Guy's team for assistance. Tsunade informed me they were one of the teams guarding the remaining villages, so they'll be close by"

After a little more planning, Sasuke stood, indicating it was time to go. The others followed, a silent line running through the forest. Their faces were tense, and very serious.

Sakura could almost see a clearing up ahead when Sasuke stopped them. He held a finger to his lips, then pointed to a tree about thirty feet away and pointed to Shino and Hinata. He motioned that Sakura was to follow him to a separate tree, thirty feet in the opposite direction.

It was time to fight.

Sakura flexed her muscles, masked her chakra, and strode after Sasuke. There was a man sitting in the tree, he was leaning against a katana, and it almost seemed as if he were sleeping. At Sasuke's direction, she slunk around to the other side and prepared to jump. She was a wild cat, a silent demon, the sweetness from her face drained away as she closed in for the kill.

They leaped at the same time. The surprised ninja jumped up, seeing Sasuke first, he attempted a swing but Sasuke caught his arm, crushing it. Before the man could scream, Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, cutting off his airway, then breaking it. The dead ninja became limp and Sasuke placed his body back into a sitting position on the branch.

He looked at Sakura, black eyes sending wordless messages. The kunoichi followed Sasuke to see how Hinata and Shino had handled theirs. They already knew the answer though, because of the silence. No warning cry, no screams.

When they arrived, Shino was wiping blood off of his hands. Hinata looked up at their approach, her byakugan was activated. "Do you see anymore ninja?" Sasuke asked," Hinata turned in a circle, her white eyes blank, yet all-seeing. "No, there are only the two at the entrance." She confirmed. Sasuke nodded, "Ok then, lets go. Do it like I said." He turned to Sakura.

The others hung back, barely enough to stay out of sight, heavily masking their chakra. Sakura boldly strode into the open, prancing up to the two -now very surprised- ninja.

"Hey!" Sakura called to the two men. "I think I'm lost, could you help be out?" The guards were dumbstruck as she came ever closer. "W-who are you?" one of them asked. Sakura smiled, she was about ten feet from them now. "I'm lost." she repeated. The guards drew their weapons, focusing all their attention on the pink haired girl. It was a bad mistake.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Sasuke and the others appeared behind them. Sakura gave them each a kick to the gut. Sasuke beheaded one of them with his katana. Hinata expertly placed her hand over the others chest, exploding his heart. Hinata wiped the blood spatter off of her cheek. "Well done, lets go." Sasuke said, dashing inside, the others again followed silently.

**Chapter 8 end-**

**Ok! Oy, battle scenes are difficult for me, I haven't been making them long. I hope they're not too bad. Thank you guys for the reviews again! **

**p.s. I don't own Naruto!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The hall was dimly lit, old fashioned torches lined the walls every few feet. Sakura could feel herself going downward. 'Definitely a basement…' She thought.

There was a corner right up ahead, Sasuke slowed and tensed up. "Watch out!" he warned, seconds before a ninja was upon them. The man was armed with an object that resembled a mace. He took a swing at Sasuke and missed. Sasuke unsheathed his sword, countering a second blow. Hinata, who had been directly behind Sasuke surged forward. "No wait!" Sasuke yelled.

Hinata aimed for the mans chest, but she was thrown back by his weapon. It caught her arm with a sickening ripping sound, cloth and flesh. She cried out as she was flung into a wall, collapsing.

Shino unleashed his swarm of beetles upon the man. Startled, he paused, desperately trying to shoo the insects away. Sasuke used this opportunity and expertly thrust his blade into the mans chest. After the blade was removed, the man fell, dead on the floor, blood slowly pouring from his lifeless body.

Sakura was by Hinata's side the moment the threat was eliminated. There was a deep slice on her upper arm. The blood flowed freely around her fingers. It wouldn't be fatal if it was taken care of immediately. "Hold still, I'll heal it." Sakura murmured. Hinata nodded and held her arm out for Sakura to examine, choking back a yell. Sakura placed her hand over the wound, emitting a green chakra. After a moment there was nothing left, except dried blood and a tattered sleeve.

Hinata moved her arm experimentally. "Thank you." she smiled, getting up. "Lets move." Sasuke commanded. "I'm sure almost everyone here is alerted to our presence now." They continued through the hall, soon meeting two more ninja. These proved easier to defeat than the other one. "Just as I'd hoped." Sasuke muttered, "This is one of the low-maintenance hideouts."

Sasuke stopped them at a large door, and motioned to Hinata. "Can you tell us how many people are in there?" She stepped forward, activating her Byakugan. "The room is large…" she stated. "I see nine… no, ten people in there. I can't tell you which are prisoners and which are guards though." "That's fine." Sasuke replied. He then burst unceremoniously through the door.

The scene before them was like this. The six women were in a corner, crammed in two small cells. There were four sound ninja. Two were seated in chairs, and the others were arguing over a stack of papers. The two that were seated immediately leaped up, drawing their weapons.

Sasuke and team surrounded the two immediate threats. After quickly defeating the first one, Sakura and Hinata turned their attention on the other two. One ran to a corner screaming, while the other drew a kunai. Sakura was grinning like a mad woman. "This is almost too easy to be fun." "But we're not finished yet." Hinata warned. "Don't get too excited."

It almost seemed unfair, the two kunoichi defeated the man like it was nothing. They stalked to the one in the corner, standing over him in a terrifying way. "Don't kill him yet," Sakura said, "I have some questions."

Sakura had the man by the front of his shirt, but dropped him when she heard a yell. It was Sasuke. This last opponent was much stronger than the others. Sakura's eyes widened in horror when she saw a sword protruding from Sasuke's gut. Sasuke stared at the sword for a moment, astonished. Then the pain came.

Sasuke crouched down, an arm covering his bleeding torso. Before the enemy could make any further move he was blindsided by Sakura. She knocked into him with enough force to throw him to the ground. Shino used the surprise and finished him off with a kunai to the throat. Hinata was still guarding the last, very pathetic, man.

Sasuke's face was distorted in pain. He was on his knees now, one hand holding his waist, the other holding the sword, still imbedded inside of him. "Sasuke! Sasuke!" Sakura cried, crawling toward him. "Don't move! Let me see." She began pulling his arms away. Sasuke's hand shot forward, stopping her own, his eyes a blazing red.

"Sasuke, it's ok, I'm going to help you." Sakura soothed, wincing at the tight grip he had on her. "Let me help you." she whispered. He seemed to finally realize who it was and loosened his grip. Sakura pulled his arm away and gasped. There was so much blood.

"This is going to hurt, a lot." She whispered, placing one hand on his chest, and the other on the sword. Slowly and gently she eased it out. Sasuke's face contorted, overwhelmed by this new wave of pain. He bit his lip, drawing blood in his attempt to hold back a scream.

Once out, the blood flowed freely from the gaping hole. "Shino! Water! I need water!" She barked out, immediately placing her hands over Sasuke's torso. She began searching out the veins, sealing them off to prevent further bleeding. Sakura focused with everything she had, pouring her healing chakra into him.

Shino kneeled by her side holding a sealed water bottle. "Will this work?" He asked. "Yes, now pour it into the wound, we need to clean it so I can seal it closed." Sasuke's body jerked when the cold liquid touched him. Sakura then focused on healing as much as she could. .It took a long time, and when she finally slumped forward with exhaustion, Sasuke was stable, but he definitely wasn't at his best.

Shino had been guarding the door while Hinata was interrogating the man. Slowly, as the intense pain ebbed away, Sasuke was able to think coherently again. "We've got to get out of here." he moaned. Sakura was sitting on the ground in front of him, a glazed look in her eyes.

Sasuke slowly stood, almost stumbling from exhaustion. He tested the wound, it hurt when he moved, but the pain was bearable. "Sakura." She looked up at him, smiling weakly. "Do you feel better?" "Yes, now come on. Lets get the women and go!" He grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet. This seemed to snap her back to reality.

"Hinata, if your done interrogating him, finish him off. Shino, open the cell doors." At hearing this, the man started begging. "Please! You heard me! I'm just a researcher! Not a ninja!" Hinata paused, pity flashing through her eyes. At her pause, the man reached into his coat, pulling out a paper bomb, and hurled it at Hinata. She quickly dodged it, then attacked the man, her previous qualms gone. "It was painless." she murmured, after she was done.

The women had been cowering in fear, but looked understandably relieved when Shino told them that they would be taken home. "Lets just pray there are no more ninja." Sakura sighed. She was leaning heavily on Hinata while Sasuke was doing the same to Shino. The women were clustered in a tight circle behind them. In this manner, they slowly made their way out of the base, and into the forest.

**Chapter 9 end-**

**Uhh… I really suck at battle scenes lol, **

**Don't worry, it gets better.  
**

**Please review! ^_^  
**

**P.S. I don't own Naruto! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The mission was a success. The six women were safely returned to their villages, which were now guarded by Konoha shinobi. After resting in one of the villages for a night, Sasuke's team headed wearily, but eagerly for home.

Even though the only thing Sakura wanted to do was go home, take a shower and pass out on her bed, she knew they had to report to Tsunade before anything else. Upon reaching the door to the hokage's office they all straightened up, before Sasuke opened it.

Tsunade was at her desk, as always, rummaging through paperwork. She jumped up at their arrival, putting on a huge smile. "You all made it back safely!" she beamed. "Was the mission a success?" Sasuke nodded, handing her a scroll. "You guys go home and rest awhile, we can debrief in a hour." Sakura and Hinata sighed happily, while the boys nodded. They all but ran out of the room, with a quick 'thank you'.

Once Sakura was in her house she immediately began stripping, all the way to the bathroom. Once in the shower, she stayed there for a good forty minutes. Her body ached everywhere from the strain of healing Sasuke's wound.

After dressing and drying her hair, she headed back to the hokage tower. She met up with the others on the way and they entered the building together.

Sasuke began with a quick description of their investigation at the villages, the others filled in when needed. When it came to the fight, they all pitched in, Sakura adding in Sasuke's 'encounter' with the sword, much to his distaste.

Hinata began telling what she had found out from interrogating the last man, the researcher. Sakura listened curiously, for Hinata had been saving the details.

"They were researching a certain blood type." Hinata started, "That's why all the women were similar." Tsunade raised her eyebrows at this. "He didn't seem to know much, he said he was told to collect blood samples from the women and would receive further directions at a later time. Apparently, Orochimaru was supposed to pay them a visit in a weeks time." Sasuke frowned at this.

"So he was just doing more of his disgusting experimentation?" Tsunade summed up. "That seems to be it." Shino said. "We'll see soon enough how important his 'test subjects' were to him." Tsunade said. "I've got squads guarding the villages at the moment, in case he returns to try kidnapping them again." "So now we just wait?" Sakura asked. Tsunade nodded, "But you guys have finished your part, so go enjoy your time off." she said, waving a hand to dismiss them.

And enjoy they did. All four of them went back home and immediately crawled in bed. Except for Sasuke. He was just drifting off when a loud knocking at the door disturbed him. Groaning, he sat up, yelling, "Come in!" Karin burst through the door.

"Sasuke!" She leaped at him, but Sasuke dodged her flailing body. "I can't believe you didn't even tell me you were back!" she pouted. "I haven't been back for very long." he mumbled, laying back down. "Plus, I'm exhausted, go away and let me sleep…" This made Karin pout even more. "But Saaaaasuke! I missed you so much!"

"Argh! Tomorrow! Ok? We can do something tomorrow! Please let me sleep right now!" Sasuke growled, covering himself with a blanket. Karin sighed in defeat and trudged out the door. "And don't come over before noon!" he added as a last minute warning.

It was late morning when Sakura awoke. After lying there for a bit more, thoroughly enjoying the peace and comfort, she arose. She made herself some eggs and toast, then went to take another shower, just for the hell of it.

'humm…' she thought aloud. 'I wonder of Ino is here? Or if she's still on a mission?' Sakura tidied up the house a bit, throwing out old food from her fridge, vacuuming her small living room.

"I wonder how Sasuke's feeling?" Sakura said aloud, remembering his wound. "I never did heal it completely." With that, she decided to give the man a visit. 'It was only to finish healing him… purely professional.' she told herself as she began fixing her hair, applying a little make-up… After drying her hair, she set out for Sasuke's house, it was a little past noon.

On the way, she ran into Naruto. "Hey Sakura! I see you're back from your mission!" "Hey, Naruto." she replied, grinning. "Was the mission a success?" he asked. "Yeah." "That's great! So was mine! We should celebrate and go eat ramen!" Sakura frowned at this. "Naruto…" she started, but paused when she saw Hinata walking nearby.

Sakura made a grab for the poor, startled girl and shoved her in front of Naruto. "Hinata was on the mission too!" She started cheerfully. "Why don't you take HER out for ramen?" Hinata's face turned red and she looked at Sakura questioningly.

"Sure! Sounds great!" Naruto said grabbing Hinata's arm. "Let's go!" Hinata followed meekly after him, too shocked to say a word. "Phew." Sakura sighed when they were out of sight. She then continued on to Sasuke's house.

Upon arriving, Sakura knocked on the door. She opened it after hearing a muffled, "Come in!" Sasuke wasn't in sight, so she walked to the open door of his bedroom. He was still lying in his bed, wearing nothing but a pair of dark blue shorts. 'wow.' she thought to herself, but then noticed the look he had on his face. It was wary, he looked like he was bracing himself for something.

Once he realized it was Sakura, he looked relieved, and sat up. "Thank God… I thought you were someone else…" Sakura raised her eyebrow. "What are you doing here? And so early too?" he squinted at her. She walked into the room. "What are you still doing in bed?" She countered. He glanced at the clock, "Wow, I don't usually sleep in this much." he stood, but sat back down with a wince.

"It still hurts, doesn't it?" Sakura whispered. Sasuke looked away. "That's actually the reason I came over." she continued, walking over to him. "To finish healing it." He looked up at her, "Seriously?" He asked, raising his own eyebrow at her. "How sweet." He said sarcastically. Sakura frowned, "If you make me mad, I'll just leave and you can suffer though a week or two more of pain!" "Ok, ok," he conceded, reclining back down, putting his hands behind his head. "Do with me what you will." he smirked.

Sakura punched him. "oww!" he whined. "Don't say things like that!" She steamed, "Don't you have a girlfriend?" Sasuke laughed. "Speaking of her, I'm surprised she's not here now… she must be dead or something." Sakura punched him again. "You are so full of yourself!"

Sakura closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm here to heal you, so just shut up and let me do it." Sasuke was silent for once. Sakura sat on the bed and put her hands on his bare stomach, trying desperately not to blush.

Her hands began to glow green as she examined the wound, feeling out all the places that had been cut. She paused, frowning. "Oops…" she muttered. Sasuke's eyes snapped to her face. "What?" he asked. "Uhh... Nothing, it's just gonna take a little longer than I thought." she said quickly.

"What Sakura?" he demanded, a little louder, sitting up to look at her. Her hands were still on him. "well… I just connected a few things wrong." She said in a nonchalant way. "What? What's that supposed to mean?" he yelled. "Oh be quiet!" She yelled back at him. "You here badly hurt, I was in a hurry, I was tired! Don't worry, I can fix it." she finished in a softer voice.

Sasuke sighed, laying back down, letting her finish in silence. After she was done, she got up to leave. Sasuke stopped her at the door. "Hey Sakura," She turned to look at him, "Thanks." She left with a smile.

After she was gone, Sasuke pulled on a shirt and ate a quick breakfast/lunch. It really was odd, that Karin had not been over hounding him yet. He decided to go to her apartment, to see what was up.

When he reached the house, the door was unlocked, so he let himself in. It was dark and empty, Karin was not there. He got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Sasuke was about to leave when he noticed a note on the table. 'Maybe she had to go somewhere.' he pondered. He picked the note up. It read:

_"Dear Sasuke, _

_I just hate it when people take my toys away, don't you?_

_Since you've decided to toy with me, I think I'll do the same to you._

_ I'll let you know more about my little game soon enough._

_Sincerely, Orochimaru"_

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

**Chapter 10 end-**

**Ahhh! Cliffhanger I know! Heheheh**

**I'll try to update soon! **

**Reviews are appreciated! **

**P.S. I don't own Naruto!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Ok Sasuke!" Ino shouted, slamming her fist on the table. "What happened to Karin?" Sasuke was silent. Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru simply stared, dumbstruck. "No ones seen her for two days!" The blonde women continued, "She hasn't been home either!" Sasuke sighed, and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to Ino. After reading it, she gasped, shocked. Sakura took it from Ino's frozen hands.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. "You should have let us know sooner! How long have you known?" "I found it… Right after you left from healing me." Sasuke murmured. "I didn't tell you, because I don't know what he's planning yet."

"Whaaaaaat?" Naruto yelled after reading it, "Nasty Orochimaru kidnapped Karin? Why?" "He think's he's playing a game…" Sakura whispered, "Since you helped rescue his prisoners, he's taking this out on you." She turned to Sasuke, with a fierce look in her eyes. "You have to tell us, if he sends you anymore messages. We'll help, in any way we can."

Soon, Most of Konoha knew of the kidnapping. Tsunade was furious. "That fiend! How dare he! What a freak!"

Two days after the others had learned of the kidnapping, Sasuke was walking slowly down the street. His shoulders were hunched, he was carrying something. Soon he arrived at his destination, and knocked on the door. It was quickly opened by a pink haired kunoichi.

"Sasuke! What's up? Has something happened? Come in!" Sakura asked in a rush. Without a word, Sasuke entered, closing the door behind him with an ominous 'thud.' "Sakura." he breathed, leaning against a wall, eying her in a strange way. She walked closer, confused. "You said before, that you would do anything to help?" He smiled then, a twisted, pained smile. Sakura nodded hesitantly. "I want to help save her, if there's anything I can do…"

Sasuke held up the item he had been carrying. It was a video tape. "This is from Orochimaru…" he stated, "I think you need to watch it…" Sakura's heart skipped a beat, the tape suddenly seemed threatening and vile.

Sakura led Sasuke into the living room, showing him where her TV was located. He slid the tape in, pressed play, and retreated to the other side of the room. "This isn't my doing… so don't kill me." was all he said. Sakura, now more confused than ever, hesitantly turned to the television.

It looked like a typical home video, jerky, with a quiet buzz in the background. Except home videos didn't normally show cold, dark dungeons. The camera fell on a figure, it was Karin. She was chained to a wall, looking dirty and exhausted. At a grunt, Karin looked up, she didn't have her glasses, and she had been crying. "Why are you doing this?" She screamed at the camera. Maniacal laughing started, coming from an unknown source. The camera turned, and fell upon Orochimaru.

Sakura gasped, visibly flinching, even though she knew he couldn't actually hurt her from a TV screen. "Hello Sasuke." Orochimaru spoke, looking at the camera. It felt like he was looking at her, Sakura shuddered. "I told you I would let you know more about our game." He smiled, showing pointed teeth. "I know you have a relationship with this little redhead, quite funny, actually. My two runaway workers…"

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, he was still in the corner, refusing to look at her. Orochimaru continued with his speech. "You know the woman, Sakura Haruno? Your ex-team mate?" He chuckled, as if her name was a joke. Sakura's blood went cold when he said it. "If you want Karin back ALIVE, you must bed with Sakura."

The screen continued talking, but Sakura didn't hear it. Her world was spinning. She attempted to stand, but fainted instead.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sakura was lying in her bed, she sat up, confused. "Did I take a nap?" She murmured to herself. She stood, walking into the living room. Sasuke Uchiha was sitting on her couch. Her memories of before she fainted flooded back, and a tight knot formed in her stomach.

Hesitantly, she walked closer to Sasuke. "W-was that real?" She whispered. Sasuke looked up at her, and nodded. "How? What? WHY?" Sakura put her hands to her head, shaking it back and forth, as if trying to wake herself up again. Sasuke was silent through the rest of her rant.

"He's insane!" she shouted. "Demented! How would he even know if we did it or not?" Sasuke stood, facing her, "He told us to send him a sample of your blood…" He towered over her, and suddenly she felt very small. Sasuke walked nearer, stopping when he was less than a foot away. Sakura flinched, looking at the floor.

"Would you go through with it?" Sasuke asked. Sakura was silent, starring at the floor with flaming cheeks. Her mind was a train wreck, she couldn't seem to process anything. Sasuke put his hand on her shoulder. Sakura began trembling, without meaning to. "I will not force you, even if it means her life." he whispered, then turned and swept out the door. Sakura collapsed on the floor the moment he was gone.

A wave of guilt washed over Sakura. A persons life. She was responsible for it. If Karin died, it would be her fault. Sakura curled into a ball on the floor, hot tears streaming down her face. She was confused, so confused.

**Chapter 11 end-**

**Oy! What will Sakura do? dun dun dun duuuun...**

**The summary finally makes sense now!  
**

**I made another short one! sorry 'bout that! I thought it was a good place to end for now. **

**This chapters kinda choppy, I don't like it very much, but it's better than being stuck and not writing at all...  
**

**p.s. I do not own Naruto.**

**Please review! =D  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Ino found Sakura sitting on the couch. "Hey billboard brow! Since you didn't answer the door I just-" She stopped when she saw Sakura. "What happened? What's wrong?" She asked running over to her. Sakura's eyes were puffy and red from crying. She looked up at Ino, and immediately teared up again. "Oh, Ino!" Sakura told her everything.

"Sakura…" Ino started, "I don't see what the big deal is, just sleep with him once, and forget about it if you want." Sakura looked up in shock. "It IS a big deal!"

"How come?" Ino interrupted. "He's absolutely gorgeous, seems like a good excuse if you ask me." she turned sly, "Unless, you've never done it before." Sakura blushed.

"You haven't, have you!" Ino's teasing air vanished, and she became more serious. "It's just that," Sakura murmured, "I'd be doing it with someone who doesn't love me, and who already has a girlfriend. Geez! He'd be doing it with me BECAUSE he has a girlfriend! It just seems so wrong!" Sakura huffed.

"You'd be doing it to save a life." Ino whispered, "The decision is up to you." Ino stood up, walking to the door. "Hey," Sakura called, standing as well. "Why were you coming over in the first place?" Ino's eyes widened, "Oh yeah! I completely forgot!" She smacked her forehead. "We were going to go swimming at the lake, I was going to ask if you wanted to come." "Whose 'we'?" Sakura asked.

"Just me, Choji, Hinata, Naruto and some others." "Is Sasuke going to be there?" Sakura asked, getting to the point. "I don't know." Ino answered honestly. "But probably not, he never comes to these kind of things, though I would LOVE to see him in nothing but a pair of shorts!" Sakura narrowed her eyes, "No, I don't want to go, I have a lot on my mind right now." Ino nodded, "I understand, I'll see you soon girl, good luck." She gave Sakura a kiss on the cheek and walked out the door.

About twenty minutes after Ino left, Sakura was still sitting on the couch. Sighing she got up, and went looking for her bathing suit. "I might as well go," she muttered to herself, "It's better than sitting here sulking." She put on a pink bikini, then she put her clothes back on, over it. "I hope they went where I think they did." She sighed, striding out the door.

They were there, Sakura watched the group for a moment, hiding behind some trees. She took a deep breath. 'Good, Sasuke's not here.' she really didn't want to face him at the moment. She walked into sight just as Naruto was doing a cannon ball off a small cliff. "Look at meeeeee!" He squealed on the way down.

Ino ran over to Sakura as soon as she saw her. "Hey! I'm glad you decided to come!" Ino smiled brightly. She took the pinkette's hand, pulling her toward the others. Sakura did have fun. That night she sprawled onto her bed and fell asleep blissfully fast.

The next afternoon, Sakura left her house, slowly walking toward Sasuke's, to give him her answer. She tried looking determined, but knew she was failing. All too soon she arrived. She reached up to knock, but froze. She stood there for quite awhile. Finally she did it, a quiet thump on the door. A moment later, Sasuke opened it, dressed in a black tee-shirt and baggy jeans.

"C-can I come in?" Sakura choked out. Sasuke nodded, stepping back. She shyly entered, her hands folded in front of her. She looked up at Sasuke, he was staring at her, his black eyes revealing nothing. Sakura looked back down, silent. They stood there, two feet apart for a few moments, until Sasuke broke the silence.

He stepped closer to her. "Have you decided?" he asked, in a husky voice. Sakura nodded, "I'll do it." she whispered. "Well then," Sasuke started, reaching to touch her face. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. "I'm… I don't know," She blushed. Sasuke smiled, though only slightly. "Now?" He asked. When Sakura refused to answer he took her hand, leading her to the bedroom.

She followed, though her mind was screaming at her. Sasuke stopped in front of the bed, and turned to face her. Sakura flinched when he brought his lips down, brushing them against hers. He pulled away. "Don't think," he whispered, "Just feel."

Sasuke brought his lips down again, this time brushing against her neck. She gasped aloud, not meaning too. "I'm sorry," She whispered with closed eyes, "I don't know, I haven't…" Sasuke pulled away again. He laughed bitterly, "What do you mean?" he asked, "You haven't done this before?" Sakura nodded, her cheeks flaming. Sasuke groaned, "Now I feel bad." Sakura looked up at him, leaning closer. "Don't think, just feel." She whispered his own words at him, sounding much braver than she felt.

A glimmer flashed through Sasuke's eyes and he picked up the kunoichi, setting her on the bed. Sakura was surprised, but her mind went blank as his lips crashed into hers. At first she was unresponsive, terrified and amazed at the same time. Slowly her arms reached out, wrapping themselves around his neck.

Amazingly Sakura found it easy to 'not think', in fact, she was sure she wouldn't be able to, even if she had wanted. Sasuke's mouth felt amazing against hers. She closed her eyes, unconsciously tightening her hold on his neck. Her hands twisted in his hair. Sasuke put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her down onto the bed. Sakura's eyes flew open when he crawled on top of her, straddling her waist. She began to get nervous again.

Sasuke took her hands, slowly moving them to rest on either side of her head. Sakura's eyes were wide as she watched him uncertainly. He slowly brought his face back down. He began kissing her neck, slowly moving up, back to her lips. She could feel his body heat everywhere, smothering her, but it was a good feeling.

After a few minutes Sasuke pulled away, Sakura opened her eyes again, confused. He quickly removed his shirt, then began kissing her again, moving down to her collar bone. Sakura hesitantly touched his bare skin, marveling at how smooth it was.

Suddenly Sasuke pulled them both up. "Your turn." he whispered, and began unzipping her shirt. Sakura's breath hitched, and she gripped Sasuke's arms, looking away from him, embarrassed. Sasuke held her to him, their half naked bodies pressing against each other. Sakura rested her head over his shoulder, eyes closed, hands still on his arms.

Sasuke began kissing her again, this time slower, deeper. Sakura whimpered quietly. Their bodies were pressed tightly together, their breathing becoming faster. Sakura tried to ignore her fear as more clothes were removed, feeling Sasuke's flesh against her own.

Now, they were completely unclothed. She tried not to cry out when he slid into her, but failed. After a few moments the pain faded, and he began moving inside of her. Pain, heat, fire, fear, passion. So many feelings engulfed Sakura at once. Her hands had the sheets in a death grip, and her jaws were firmly clamped shut, attempting to hold back her moans.

When they were finished, Sasuke collapsed on top of her, unmoving. Sakura lay there, her eyes open, staring at Sasuke's hair. Slowly, her mind same back to earth, and reality crashed down on Sakura. She squeezed her eyes shut, holding back tears. Knowing that this was not for love, that he belonged to someone else.

After a few moments, Sakura tried to sit up, pushing Sasuke off of her. He sat up, staring at her with clouded eyes. "Umm…" Sakura started, at a loss with what to say. What was she supposed to say anyway? 'Thank you, I hope you get your girlfriend back soon. I'll take my leave now. Have a good day?'

Sasuke blinked, "Oh, sorry, you probably want to go…" He crawled off of her, pulling his pants back on. Sakura did the same, quickly pulling her own clothes on.

Sakura pulled a vial and a small knife out of a bag she had brought. She sliced open the tip of her finger, letting the blood drip into the vial. When it was almost full, she placed a lid on it, handing it to Sasuke. "Here."

She felt slightly shaky when she stood, and wobbled a bit. Sasuke grabbed her arm. "I'll walk you home." He said calmly. Sakura focused on the floor. "No, please, I can make it on my own." She whispered, pulling away.

Sasuke stood holding the vial, staring at the now closed door, long after she had left. Finally he pulled out a scroll that had come with the tape Orochimaru had sent. It was a reverse summoning scroll. He placed the vial on the circle, performed the necessary signs and poof, it was gone. Sasuke frowned, feeling disgust at Orochimaru touching anything of Sakura's.

Now all he could do was wait, and pray Orochimaru would keep his end of the deal. "A life…" he whispered to himself, lying back in his bed. He pulled his hand over his eyes, blocking out the light. He felt ashamed, he didn't know what was right. He felt he had tainted something beautiful, but it was to save a life, right?

He closed his eyes, but only saw a pink haired kunoichi, writhing underneath him. Groaning, he got up and headed to the training grounds, in an attempt to work out his frustration.

**Chapter 12 end-**

**Whoo! there ya go! Sorry it took so long to post. (I've been super busy, lol)**

**Sorry if it's a little dissapointing in the romance department, lol.**

**Please tell me what you think! **

**p.s. I don't own Naruto!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Two days later, a beat-up, exhausted red-head stumbled through the village gates. She was quickly surrounded by people, welcoming her back, helping her to the hospital.

Sakura was already working at the hospital, so when she heard of Karin's return, she quickly searched out her room. Tsunade was there, healing a few bruises and asking her questions. Karin looked up when Sakura entered, giving her a blank stare. Sakura smiled, "I'm so glad you're back safely." Karin didn't answer, so Sakura went back to her duties.

"You seem ok, so you can go home and get some rest." Tsunade said. Karin nodded, silently getting up. After she left the hospital, she straightened her shoulders, held her head a little higher, and aimed for Sasuke's house.

Sasuke opened the door a moment before Karin could knock. They stood staring at each other for a moment. She looked down, reaching out to touch his arm. "Orochimaru kidnapped me, and held me against my will." she whispered, eyes still on the ground. "I know." Sasuke replied. Karin looked up at him again, "I wonder why he suddenly released me?" She asked, a strange look coming to her eyes. "Would you have any idea, Sasuke?" He was silent, staring at her with dark eyes.

Karin pulled her hand away from his arm, clenching her fists. "Is it true Sasuke? What Orochimaru told me?" A cold, disgusted look replaced her blank one. "Tell me it's not true, What Orochimaru said you did… with Sakura." "It is true." Sasuke answered.

Karin recoiled as if he had hit her. "Why! How could you?" She yelled. Sasuke frowned. "You know why! I did it to save your life! He said he would kill you if I didn't!" "It's disgusting!" She yelled back, "How could you?" She repeated. "Would you rather be killed?" Sasuke asked through clenched teeth. "You were with her… I can't stand even thinking it. You're disgusting!"

Sasuke's temper flared. "If I'm so disgusting, then why don't you get away from me?" He roared at her. "I will." She spat at him, "I don't think I want to be with you anymore. I can't stand it!" With that, Karin stomped away. Sasuke stumbled back inside, slightly dazed. "Welcome home…" he muttered bitterly.

Karin stuck to what she said. Soon, almost everyone knew she had broken up with Sasuke and unfortunately, a lot of them knew why. All of Sakura's friends were still kind to her, thought they were shocked at first, and sorry for what she had to go through.

The following week after Karin's return, Sakura barely saw Sasuke at all. She buried herself in her work, trying to ignore her sadness. She felt slightly bad for him, losing his girlfriend after what he did for her. Whenever she passed Karin, she received a cold glare. Luckily, their paths didn't cross that often.

One day, Sakura met Sasuke coming up the street. She was returning home from getting groceries, which were almost spilling over her arms. She was determined to look cool and impassive in front of him, but instead, she tripped on a rock, the bags flying out of her arms.

Utterly mortified, Sakura knelt and began picking them up. A moment later, Sasuke was at her side, assisting her. Now she was utterly shocked. Sasuke held onto one of the bags. "I'll help you carry them the rest of the way." He stated. Sakura resisted the urge to tell him to buzz off and merely nodded her head.

For awhile they walked in silence, then Sakura spoke. "I'm sorry." Sasuke looked at her questioningly. "That she left you, I mean." Sasuke just smirked, "It's her loss." "You are so egotistical!" she scoffed at him. Sasuke chuckled, dodging a half-hearted punch.

Sakura opened the door, standing aside to let him enter first. He set the bag down on the kitchen table. "Thank you." Sakura smiled warmly. "Well," Sasuke mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "It's the least I can do after what…" Sakura held her hand up, halting his words. "Ok, See you later." He said, walking out the door.

Another week passed uneventfully, aside from the occasional cold stare Sakura got from some people. She tried to ignore them. One day she was walking down the hospital hall when a man stopped and laughed. "You're Sakura right?" She frowned, nodding her head. He laughed again, it was rude, and obnoxious.. "It must be nice to 'get it on', to save lives" he grinned, "Or so they say."

Without thinking, she raised her hand, intent on decking him across the face. Hot angry tears pricked at her eyes. They widened when a hand shot out from behind her, stopping her. She turned, it was Sasuke. He pulled her behind him, stepping up to the rude man. Sakura gasped in surprise when Sasuke punched him, hard. The man went flying into the opposite wall, where he slumped, bleeding from his nose and lip.

Sasuke then grabbed Sakura again, pulling her away from the scene. "You have a patient waiting over there." He said to a passing nurse. Sakura smiled a little. He finally stopped when they were a couple halls away. He dropped Sakura's hand, turning to face her. "I'm sorry." he said, his face a jumble of emotions. "You don't have to take that, not from anyone." Sakura looked at him, smiling faintly. "I know, and thank you, but I have to get back to work." Forcing her legs to move, she began walking away. Sasuke continued standing there, watching until she was out of sight.

Sakura was relieved that Sasuke was still friendly to her, at least, as friendly as the Uchiha could be. She still had a sick, gnawing feeling in her chest. Giving up something precious to her, and it had seemed to all be for nothing. Another week passed and they heard that Karin had left the village. Sakura wasn't surprised, since Sasuke had been her only reason for staying before.

It was almost eleven o' clock when Naruto knocked on Sasuke's door. He didn't answer right away, so Naruto let himself in. Sasuke was sitting on his couch, flipping through a book. He looked up when Naruto sat in front of him. "Y'know, it's rude to barge in like that." Naruto smirked, "Yeah, whatever, you knew it was me. I know you wouldn't have opened it." "Hn." Sasuke acknowledged.

"Is it true?" Naruto blurted out, going straight to his point. "About forcing Sakura to do it with you, to save Karin?" Sasuke stared at him for a moment. "First of all, I did not force her. Second, you only heard about it now?" Naruto's eyes widened. "So you did! And you got dumped in the end anyway." He started laughing, but quickly turned serious. "That's probably why Sakura's been acting so depressed lately." "I know." Sasuke muttered, eyes on the floor.

Naruto's mouth dropped, "You know? Then why the hell aren't you doing anything about it?" He yelled. Sasuke frowned, "I'm the one who caused her pain, so if I tried to approach her, I think it would only make things worse." Naruto looked slightly smug. "Ino said that you should talk to Sakura, that, that was what a woman would want." Sasuke's frown deepened. "You've been talking to Ino?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side, "Yeaahhhh. Who do you think told me about all this?" he asked, waving his arms at Sasuke. The black haired man sighed. Naruto stood up, "You should, you should!" the blonde chanted. "Ino's a girl, so she's got to know something." Sasuke stood as well, "I want to, but I'm afraid she hates me." He said, glancing away in embarrassment.

Naruto grinned. "You like her, don't you!" Sasuke turned to face Naruto. "Idiot, go away before you hurt my brain." "I think I will." Naruto beamed, edging for the door, "I've got a little ramen date with Hinata at noon." Sasuke laughed a little at this. "Anyway, I better get going, I want to eat a few bowls before she gets there!" Sasuke sent him off with a punch to the shoulder.

Naruto's words nagged at Sasuke for the rest of the day. Finally, he decided to confront Sakura. He had no idea what he would do, or say, but he would do something damn it!

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

It was another one of Sakura's days off. She wandered around her home, tidying it up until it was noon. The pinkette had no idea what else to do. Ino was on a mission with her team and Naruto was supposed to be having a date with Hinata. Finally, she decided to take a shower, even though she had taken one the night before. When she got out, she dried her hair, fiddling with it until it was perfectly smooth. It was still only early evening.

On a whim, she decided to visit the lake. She didn't bring her swimsuit, instead, she could look for shells or something. She left a note, stating where she was, in case Naruto showed up to tell her how the date had gone. Then she left.

When Sakura arrived, she walked along the waters edge, but didn't have much luck finding shells. After a bit more searching, she gave up and sat down in the sands near the water. The sun was just starting to set. It reflected off of the water in brilliant, beautiful rays. She drew her knees to her chest, draping her arms over them. Her loose hair swirled over her face in the slight breeze. She turned her head when she heard someone coming.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Sasuke slowly made his way to Sakura's house. It was closer to evening than to morning now. There were no lights on inside when he arrived. Cursing under his breath he turned and almost walked away before a note caught his attention. He took it in his hands, smirking as he read it. 'I'm at the beach.' "To the beach it is." He said aloud before turning on his heel.

He stopped when he saw Sakura. He was still about twenty feet away, she hadn't noticed him yet. She was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees. Her light blue tank top hugged her body attractively. Sasuke smiled. It was beautiful, like a scene from a movie. She was beautiful. He began making his way towards her. She turned her head when he came close.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke approaching her. He continued walking, eyes on hers, until he was right next to her. She was even more surprised when he sat down, inches away. He was wearing a white tee-shirt, with a pair of blue jeans. He sat with his knees up, hands behind him, propping him up. He never broke their gaze and neither one of them spoke.

Finally, Sakura decided to break the silence. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asked looking away, pointing at the sun that was setting over the waters. "Hn." he agreed, looking away from her for a moment. They again sat in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

Deciding to be like Naruto for a moment, Sasuke dove straight to the point, to what he was dying to know. "Sakura?" She turned to look at him, her eyes soft. "Do you hate me?" She smiled at this, then laughed. "I could never hate you Sasuke." He let out an audible sigh of relief, and smiled back at her.

Sakura blushed a little, then turned her head back to the lake. Without warning, Sasuke leaned forward, now on his knees, and grabbed Sakura's chin, turning her face to him. Before she could say anything, he pressed his lips against hers.

Sakura's heart stopped, then went into overdrive. Her eyes widened and she pulled away in surprise. She stared at him, mouth open, breathing heavily. Sasuke was still leaning in her direction. He didn't say anything, only stared back at her, like he was watching her reaction. After a moment, she slowly slid back to her previous position, her eyes never leaving his.

Sasuke slowly tilted his head toward her again. She didn't move. He stopped when their foreheads were touching, black and pink strands mingling together. To his surprise, Sakura closed the distance, her lips brushing against his. He shuddered and closed his eyes, reaching up to touch her face again, pulling her closer. It felt like this was their first kiss, like they were just getting to know each other. And maybe they were.

**Chapter 13 end-**

_When I walk softly, I need to hold your hand._

_When I open my eyes, I need to see where you stand._

_When I am weak, I need you to be strong._

_I guess I just realized, it was you all along._

_When I fight, it needs to be for you._

_And if it's your blood, then take mine too. _

**Story end-**

**Yup, that's the end! I've had that beach scene in my head since the beginning of the story. I hope you guys liked it! Thank you all of my readers! Especially my reviewers, you guys kept me going. =D**

**I made that poem up at the end, hope you liked that too! Sorry if it ended quite suddenly, but this is the longest chapter I've written yet, which is one of the reasons it took so long to post. I wanted it to be good! ^_^**

**Love you guys!**

**~Ame-uta**


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Naruto, Romance