Author's Note: Is it just me, or am I taking Chemistry way too seriously? Once again, I have managed to make a story that has Chemistry in it and it's kinda freaking me out. LOL. Maybe I'll make a Math or a Physics fic next time. :)) Happy reading! :D

Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters do not belong to me.

Warnings: AU. OOC.

Acid Spill

By Zagoorian Athena

(Sakura's POV)

'Screw you, Uchiha Sasuke,' I say to myself as I continue flushing my hand with water for ten minutes now. The pain's finally lessening but there's still a wound on my left hand and I definitely wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for my jerkwad of a lab partner.

Okay, so I guess I deserve it…maybe. I mean, he was concentrating on our experiment for Chemistry Lab as usual and because he (of all people) became my lab partner, I just spent the entire period staring at him as I would oftentimes do when I'm not making a complete fool of myself whenever I attempt to do something and end up being so nervous that my hands shake uncontrollably.

But really, who could blame me? It's the Uchiha Sasuke we're talking about. His level of hotness should be illegal!

Still, he didn't have to 'accidentally' spill hydrochloric acid on my hand. Like, what the hell? I was only inching closer to him just so that I could get a better view of what he was doing (or rather, *cough* get a better view of his gorgeous face *cough*), but for him to just pour the acid on me…!

What's up with that?!

Luckily, the concentration of the acid wasn't enough to cause any severe injuries: just a mild burn. But it still stings, though; it's a strong acid, duh!

What a douche bag he turned out to be. He wasn't even sorry! I repeat: screw you, Uchiha Sasuke.

(Sasuke's POV)

"…and after you've cleaned this mess up, you can go to Sakura and take her to the nurse's office for proper treatment. Got it?" Kakashi, their laboratory instructor, says.

"Hn," I reply nonchalantly. I get a damp cloth and wipe it over the tabletop with the spill on it and smirk inwardly at what I did to that unsuspecting fangirl-slash-lab partner of mine.

Honestly, that Haruno girl's just so annoying.

Earlier I was doing the work again, as usual, while she was busy drooling over me. If you don't find that annoying, go see a doctor, because nothing's more annoying than a lab partner who won't do any of the work (or ends up screwing what she's made to do) and just stares at me.

Creepy? Definitely.

And so I did what any annoyed lab partner would do: I poured a bit of HCl on her hand. Okay, so I'm the only one I know that would do that, but it still was a kick seeing her panic and cause a commotion. That'll teach her a lesson. Hn.

(Normal POV)

Done with cleaning as well as the experiment of the day, Sasuke made his way towards the girls' bathroom where he assumed Sakura would be.

Five minutes later, Sakura emerged from the girls' washroom only to see her dark-haired lab partner waiting beside the door.

Sending a death glare toward him, she hurried towards the nurse's office where she was to get proper treatment for the injury.

Sasuke had no trouble keeping up with her pace, though, and so she found herself debating with her inner self as to whether she should say something or not. On the other hand, her unwilling companion had managed to notice the way her breasts were pushed together as she clutched her burnt hand close to her chest, causing a disturbance in his resolve to remain emotionless.

In a totally un-Sasukelike way, he actually blushed and turned his head toward the other direction in fear of being found out; because in all honesty, the stoic Uchiha actually has feelings—and for a certain pink-haired lab partner of his nonetheless. Despite the cold demeanor, his insides actually do back flips whenever she would come too close for his comfort.

A soft cough from beside him interrupted his train of thoughts and he looked at her from the corner of his eyes while attempting not to let his hormones get the best of him.

"Umm… I'm sorry…" Sakura mumbled, apparently not angry with Sasuke anymore, but instead, embarrassed of her shameless actions.

"Hn," Sasuke replied.

Sakura took it as an acceptance of her apology when in reality, it actually meant 'I don't know why you're apologizing; I'm the one who spilled hydrochloric acid on your arm, dummy'.

The rest of their walk remained awkwardly silent. Luckily, the hallway was deserted at that very moment and so no one else could sense the tension in the air.

After what seemed like forever to them, they finally reached the nurse's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," they heard from the other side.

Sasuke opened the door for the both of them and stepped aside to let Sakura in first. In response, Sakura raised an eyebrow at his odd gesture, thinking that since he was supposed to be annoyed as hell at her, such gentlemanly acts only happened in her dreams.

"How may I help you?" asked the school nurse, Ms. Shizune, warmly as she waved them to the seats in front of her desk.

"Acid burn," Sakura explained as she took a seat and held out her hand for the nurse to inspect.

"And how," asked the nurse again as she stood up to get some medical stuff from a cabinet behind her, "did you manage to get an acid burn?"

"It was my fault," interjected Sasuke. "I accidentally spilled some HCl on her while we were conducting an experiment."

The short-haired nurse sat back on her chair and eyed the male student warily before turning her head towards Sakura's burn.

"You, Mr. Uchiha?" she asked as if it were impossible for the Uchiha to have done so. "I would never have thought of you as the clumsy type. But then again, if you have a lab partner as pretty as Ms. Haruno here, I guess I can't blame you for being distracted," she teased and winked at Sakura who only blushed at what she said.

The obsidian-eyed boy managed to keep up with the stoic façade even while a blush threatened to creep unto his cheeks as well, and only grunted in response.

"Now, this is going to hurt quite a bit, Sakura," she said as she motioned at the burn ointment in her hand, "so I'd like you, Sasuke, to hold her hand in order to comfort her."

Sakura's eyes widened and her cheeks became even redder at what Ms. Shizune said while Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why don't you hold her hand?" he asked in a commanding tone.

"Because, Mr. Uchiha, I'm going to apply ointment on Ms. Haruno's burn," she replied, clearly annoyed at the Uchiha for his lack of respect.

"I can do that, and you can hold her hand," he said with the same commanding tone again, making it obvious that he didn't want to hold his classmate's hand.

"You're not the nurse, Mr. Uchiha, so I'm telling you to hold her hand while she endures the pain that you accidentally inflicted on her," she retorted.

"Aa."

Sasuke remained emotionless but shifted in his position to get closer to Sakura who tried hard not to look hurt at how Sasuke didn't want to hold her hand.

Sasuke then took a firm grip on the hand that didn't have the acid burn and she couldn't help blushing at the sudden contact. With her heart thumping loudly, she took notice of how her hand seemed to fit perfectly in his and how his hand was actually soft contrary to her expectation.

She continued staring at their hands when a sudden jolt of pain in her left hand caused her to wince and stop thinking about their intertwined hands. At this, the dark-haired boy held her hand tighter and finally felt guilty for what he did.

After a short while, though, the pain stopped, and Sakura could feel a kind of numbness on her left hand.

"Well, that's that. We're lucky that you managed to attend to the burn rather quickly," the nurse pointed out after putting back the cover of the ointment's tube.

"Thanks a lot, Ms. Shizune," said Sakura sweetly as she and her companion stood up to leave. Again, Sasuke opened the door for her and they walked back to their classroom together in awkward silence once more.

This time, however, Sakura saw that one of her hands was still being held by the guy next to her. She looked at him with curious eyes but saw nothing that could give her a hint as to why he still held on to her. Sakura just let it be, however, choosing to savor the feeling as it would probably be the first and last time he'd do something like that.

'He probably just feels guilty for what he did,' Sakura thought dejectedly.

When they entered the classroom, they found it to be empty and they realized that classes must have already ended while they were still in the nurse's office.

And since it was already their last period, Sasuke let go of her hand and made his way to the back of the classroom where their bags were to be placed during experiments. The emerald-eyed student sighed sadly, missing the warmth of his hand on hers, and followed him to the cabinets where they gathered their belongings.

When she was done, she turned her back on him and walked away without even saying goodbye. Sakura was already by the door when she heard her name.

"Sakura," he called out to her.

Said girl stopped in her tracks and turned around, secretly loving the way her name sounded coming from him.

They made eye contact and remained silent for a moment as he was mesmerized by the way her eyes sparkled with …was it hope that he saw in those gorgeous pools of emerald?

"What is it, Sasuke?" she softly asked when he didn't say anything.

Snapping out of his reverie, he walked to where she was by the door and stopped when he could hear her uneven breaths that were caused by the close proximity of their bodies—she could literally feel the warmth of his body as he leaned down and brought his face closer and closer...

Eyes widening in shock, Sakura could barely comprehend that Uchiha Sasuke, the Uchiha Sasuke, was kissing her! But when Sasuke's arms snaked around her waist and brought her nearer, her mind shut down and all she could feel was his soft lips against her own as she wrapped her own arms around his neck.

Her legs were starting to feel like jelly and if it weren't for Sasuke's hold on her waist, she would have collapsed from sheer happiness the moment he swooped in. When they finally parted for air, Sakura blushed for the nth time that day and stared at the boy in front of her in shock.

"I'll walk you home," Sasuke stated as he grabbed the hand he had been holding earlier and sort of dragged Sakura, who was still thinking about what had happened, out of the building.

And when it finally registered into her brain that she was kissed by the guy of her dreams and was being accompanied home by him too, said guy made her stare at him in disbelief again when he apologized for spilling the acid on her.

With an oh-so-innocent smile, Sakura responded, "it's alright Sasuke-kun. If I get to be kissed like that by you again, I'd gladly have acid spilled on me anytime."

THE END

A/N: Don't bite my head off if it turns out that HCl really does burn, even with a low concentration, okay? Like I said in Entropy, I almost failed my Chemistry class so I can't really be counted on for reliable information. :P Oh, and I would like to say that I actually got my inspiration for this story from my lab professor who I'm seriously crushing on. Hahaha. And yes, I wanted him to spill acid on my hand so that he could hold the other one while I wince in pain. :)) Anyway, reviews are highly appreciated and I do hope you enjoyed reading! :D