Yes I have another fic I'm supposed to be working on. I do plan on finishing it. In fact I plan to start writing it again in the coming month. But for now this is a challenge to myself to get my butt writing again. Yes this one is also fire themed, it seems I am inspired to write about it a lot even though it is not my favorite element. I plan to post one chapter a day, which means there may be some very short chapters. There will be days I can not post, but I expect at least 4 posts a week. This is practice so please feel free to help me improve with any comments you have. Enjoy.

The flames of a fire can dance atop a candle, seemingly tamed. In this supposedly controlled environment they are beautiful, mesmerizing; and tantalizing. Flames call to men like sirens simply because they are untouchable. To touch a flame without its consent is to be burned.

Fire is a raw power one would wish to wield, if possible for them to control. However; once a fire has been released from its container, it is almost impossible to capture again. It is a wild force; one which can never be truly tamed nor contained. It is a force which can quickly elude even the most clever of souls.

Fire is the cunning trickster of the elements.

It is an enigma; the most misunderstood of the elements. What is seemingly destructive actually reshapes the world as new. What is seemingly death, is but a new beginning. It is never what you think, and always what you know.

These are all of the qualities the God was looking for in the one who was to be chosen to receive his powers. The God of Tricks and Witt could not simply pass on his power to any mere mortal. It required someone with special characteristics. It required an affinity to his particular magic.

Unlike the other gods who had many humans under their guidance; gifted with their powers; the trickster God only received one human every hundred or so years. To receive his gift was a blessing, and yet also a curse.

It was the day she was born, that he had finally found the one who would be gifted with his powers. The human that shined brighter than any other before her. Within her was a fire ready to dance upon the earth, destroying everything in her path. Her flames were flickering, just waiting to scorch all around her to build the world anew. She had a fire that when released had the potential to be a catalyst for a new beginning.

And he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

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Dancing Embers

Chapter I

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Sasuke Uchiha had always been a man of order, much like most of his family. He liked to ensure that Konoha's citizens were safe, and that its streets were clean of any criminal rats. It would be a lie however; to say that he did not answer to the call of chaos. It was in his nature after all. No, he often danced with chaos in order to extinguish it.

There was always the thrill of the chase, and an even greater thrill of ridding the world of those who did not follow order. Adrenaline was also one hell of a drug. Even those most opposed to it were always enticed by its effects.

It was one overly bright and sunny day however; that he came to his first encounter with a chaos that would seduce him into an endless chase of cat and mouse. The roles however; of who was which would be blurred beyond recognition.

Naturally upon seeing a large crowd of people gathered, Sasuke investigated to see what had captured their attention. As he made his way to the front of the crowd, a flash of pink caught his eye. There in the middle of the crowd was a woman dancing with fire. It was obvious she was doing a street performance, as he laid his eyes upon the box beneath her feet where members of the crowd tossed in various coins of currency. He became entranced as he shifted his gaze to watch her. She twirled the raw fire around her with ease, the flames shaping themselves into that of a dragon. It danced across her body as she moved, just barely gracing her skin.

It was odd, though not uncommon to see those who wielded the magic of fire. The God of Death and Justice was he who controlled the element of fire. Madara. He was the God who either brought you to the entrance of the heavens, or to the fiery pits of hell itself. Most of the humans who wielded the power of fire were those of the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha clan were the descendants of the God of Death and Justice, and so carried not only his power but also his duties here in the human realm.

However, there were those who were gifted with his power outside of the clan when the God deemed them fit. This fact only made this woman more interesting to Sasuke.

The woman's muscular and curvy body were clearly visible, as she wore a deep red tub top, which exposed her abdomen, and a long deep red skirt which had slits that ran up either side; giving a glance at her long and muscular legs as she danced. The long fabric of the skirt swished against the ground to her movement, just as her bare feet did, both barely grazing the earth beneath them. As if teasing the ground that it could never hold them hostage.

Her pastel pink hair was held in a high braid which cascaded down her back; swishing to her fluid movements. On either of her upper arms where thick gold cuff bracelets, and gold bangles jingles around her left ankle.

She moved with as much grace as the flames she was magically controlling. Together they moved like liquid fire. Never in his life had Sasuke seen someone resemble the element of fire as much as this woman before him.

He watched her as she danced across the earth like the element she wielded. Beautiful, passionate, sensual, and the promise of chaos flickering in her eyes.

Emerald caught ebony as she twisted around him. With a smirk and a knowing gaze she sauntered over to Sasuke with the aura of that of a panther toying with its prey. She stopped in front of him with amusement dancing among the glow of embers in her eyes.

"Imagine seeing you here young Captain Uchiha." She giggled with a wink. "I hope you enjoyed the show".

She flipped backwards away from him, the fire dragon lifting above the crowd growing into an enormous size. The amount of magical control it would take for such a show impressed and awed Sasuke, which was a rare feat indeed. As she lifted her hands above her head the dragon burst, sending tiny sparkling embers to rain across the crowd, extinguishing themselves out just before touching them. She bowed as she picked up the box of money off of the ground below her, and disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossoms...

...and that was when he realized she had stolen his wallet.

Sakura Haruno paced back and forth in a dark alley in aggravation.

Leave it to that damn God to tempt me into such idiocy.

As though thinking of him was in fact her summoning, a flash of golden hair alerted her to his presence. The Trickster God was laughing, amusement and playfulness apparent in his deep blue eyes. Sakura was not so amused.

"Naruto what the HELL was that?!"

"Ah Sakura that was great! The look on temes face! He's been really getting on my nerves lately with that's stick up his arse. Imagine him being swindled by a young attractive woman! He's ego will never live it down."

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.

"Your affairs with humans are none of my business. Why did you tempt me like that?"

Naruto's eyes lit up with even more mischief, if such a feat were even possible. He broke out into a wide grin which made his whiskers stretch out across his face. Sakura knew that look on the damn fox Gods face was nothing but trouble for her. In fact HE was trouble for her.

"I never took away your free will Sakura. I just simply dangled the string in front of the cat's face. It was your own choice whether or not to pounce." He chuckled, which further grated on her nerves.

Leave it to the idiot to be so cunning when it involves my annoyances.

"You know I can't resist messing with the 'high and mighty'. Playing with my weakness is not fair game." Naruto's face only broke out into a wider grin.

"Ah but Sakura you know very well that it is fair game when you leave your weaknesses out for others to use against you."

Sakura sighed knowing that he was right. She glanced down at the wallet with a hint of satisfaction in knowing that the young captains ego was most definitely bruised. He who thought himself so high and mighty above others; who looked down upon them as though they were nothing but the dirt beneath his shoes. Many of the Uchiha held this sort of view over others. Sakura could see nothing more tempting than to be the rock they trip over due to their own arrogance; holding their head so high.

"See Sakura you're more like me than you care to admit". Sakura scrunched up her face in distaste.

"No, rather you have started to RUB off on me. "

Naruto chuckled at Sakura's disgruntlement, hanging on to her side of the argument they have had for the past 14 years.

Sakura Haruno had always been an intelligent child, and it was perhaps because of this fact that she was also extremely curious. Mischief wasn't exactly in her nature, as much as it was a direct repercussion of it. It was at the young age of four that the trickster God had first introduced himself to her.

It was no fun to simply stay within the God realm and watch as the human he bestowed his powers upon carried out her life. No, it was much more his style to go to the mortal world and stir things up a bit. He had gone to her after her parents had passed away in a magicians accident. They had been called to protect Konoha from a large attack from elemental demons, just as all the magicians of Konoha had at the time.

Unfortunately they were among those who did not return.

He had grown up beside her in his human form, playing together and getting into mischief. He enjoyed playing many tricks on her in fact because she had been so intelligent. It was much more challenging to pull one over on her, which only made it all the more fun.

He watched her as she counted the money from her performance. Her body visibly sagged as she sighed.

"I'm still a long way away from having enough for the entrance fee to the magicians academy."

Naruto watched her as she pocketed the money. Sakura had been working hard the past few years to make enough money to enter into the academy for magicians. Once humans turned 18, they were able to go and become a registered magician; if they held the affinity for magic.

Due to being an orphan Sakura had grown up rather poor. Yet she was also stubborn and refused the Gods help unless completely unavoidable. Instead she worked long shifts, and tried street performing on the side.

"I keep telling you that I can just give you the money. I am a GOD." Sakura shook her head, placing a hand on her hip as if she was a mother about to scold her child.

"Naruto I've already told you I want to do this on my own. I know I could be a famous magician already just by mentioning that I am the new possessor of your magic, but I don't want people to think it's just been handed to me. I want them to know how hard I've worked. I want to make my name for myself before introducing you into it."

Indeed she had worked extremely hard, he marveled. She trained along side him for years, unwilling to give up on anything he taught her.

Naruto laughed, used to her stubborn ways. "They are going to think something is up when they realize you have control over all four elements Sakura."

She stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

"And that is exactly why I won't be showing them all the tricks up my sleeve for a while to come."

Naruto smiled his mischievous smile once more at the pink haired girl.

"I guess that just means you're going to have to work double shifts at Ichiraku's then." Sakura's body slumped forward even more at the realization, and it took all of the Gods willpower not to laugh at the sight.

Sakura wearily picked up Sasuke's wallet.

"I wonder what he has in here. I won't take the money though, I wouldn't take it illegally."

She looked up at Naruto with serious eyes.

"Would you please make sure he gets this back. I'll place a note in it saying sorry. Maybe then he won't try and arrest me."

Naruto smirked.

"I can do that. I'll drop it off at his doorstep. Though I think he will be a bit paranoid, trying to figure out how you got it back to the compound. It'll be even more fun to watch him be frustrated over it for the next few days. Serves him right."

Naruto knew Sasuke because he had joined the police academy as a younger version of himself. Gods had the ability of foresight, which meant they could see a humans future. However, Sakura's future was unclear. Only one factor was accountable for the uncertainty of her future, and that happened to be Sasuke Uchiha. There was no clear answer to what Sasuke had to do with her future either.

Curious, the God decided to get closer to the Uchiha descendant to learn more about him. Sasuke's future was also unreadable to Naruto which made it all the more fun and interesting. Naruto was unsure of what the future brought for the first time in his life, which was a fun gamble for him; if not a steep one.

Naruto had plans to help Sakura's inner fire release its intentions on the world around her, and he wasn't about to allow anything to stop her potential. He figured if things were to go right, he'd have to move the pieces of the game in his favor.

In his time with the Uchiha, Naruto actually grew somewhat close to the human male. They had become somewhat friends. Pissing off the stoic young man had become a hobby of Naruto's. It was harder to play tricks on those who didn't emotionally respond to them, but even more fun to find the buttons which needed to be pushed.

Today Sakura would probably be exactly that button. It was finally time they met, but on Naruto's terms. He smiled brightly and affectionately at Sakura as she handed him the wallet with the note tucked neatly inside.

She was his cherry blossom, and he would ensure she got the chance to bloom.