The Uchiha Secret

It was the one day Haruno Sakura swore to never forget. It was the day her first prince in shinning armor had saved her. A memory Sakura had come to love and treasure, even after becoming a strong kunoichi.

Three girls had caught her off guard when she was walking home, their intention of bullying her, visible on their faces. In her younger days, Haruno Sakura was not known for being the strongest or smartest girl in Konoha. Instead she was known for being the weakest. Once the three larger girls had stepped in front of her, blocking off her path, she had instantly become scared of what they might do.

Even now Sakura could recall that she had been scared of what they were capable of. The teasing was present in their conversation, each one of them being sure to mock her for her large forehead, while continually casting rocks upon her. Sakura winced and tears welled in her eyes, but before one could fall he had appeared:

A young boy about her age (yet a good four inches taller); with smooth jet-black hair and eyes darker than the oil paint on a painter's canvas. He had instantly shielded her from harm, and pinned her assailants to the trees behind them with shuriken.

Like a righteous prince he scolded them for picking on her, the harshness in his tone too mature for a mere seven year old. He spoke of "unity as a village," and how "the real enemies were outside the gates of Konoha."

He had then turned his attention back to her, his eyes narrowing slightly, "You're one of the girls in kunoichi training aren't you?"

Sakura nodded her head timidly in response.

"Some kunoichi. You're as helpless as a damsel." He then glanced at her again and sighed, "Guess it's a good thing I was around."

Sakura smiled up at him, about to ask him for his name, when an old hand had come from nowhere and grasped the boy's shoulder.

The owner of the hand was dressed in almost a monk style of robes, his face red with anger, "What are you doing here? Why did you run off?"

Before Sakura could blink he had dragged the boy away. When school in the academy had started in the fall, Sakura had almost thought it was too good to be true that her Prince Charming was in her class.

Sakura had walked up to him, her eyes traveling shyly to the ground as she made an attempt to thank him. "I wanted to thank you…"

He remained impassive, unimpressed with her courtesy.

She stole a glance at him, "Eh?" She stared at his hair which was now spiked in several different spots in the back, "Nani? You changed your hair?"

He had raised his eyebrow in response.

Her cheeks flushed, "I like it…"

Sakura collapsed her head down onto the table in anguish; being sure to repeatedly collide her abnormally large forehead into the extremely hard table.

The perfect day had gone perfectly wrong. Where she had been spending time and celebrating her anniversary of her first encounter with Sasuke, at the end of the day, Haruno Sakura had come to find out that the handsome boy that had saved her younger self was not the strong Uchiha she was in love with today.

Ino grimaced, "Come on Sakura, it wasn't that horrible."

Sakura stopped her masochist actions and placed her chin on the table to look up at her blond friend, "I finally got my chance with Sasuke-kun and I acted like a thirteen year old."

Ino shrugged her shoulders in defeat, "And you did run off with his vest."

Her cherry blossom friend threw her head onto the table once more: "Sasuke-kun probably hates me."

"Not that we'll ever know if you keep on avoiding him like this." Said Ino as she took a sip of her coffee.

Sakura huffed, "Well its not like I can face him. My first meeting with Sasuke-kun was a lie."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Its obvious he cares for you. And those feelings may not have started the minute he looked at you at the academy, or saved you in the spring, or whatever. But the important thing is that they are there, right?" Sakura remained still and silent as Ino grinned, "And the important thing is that no matter what, you have had feelings for Sasuke-kun all these years."

Sakura nodded, feeling very empowered and motivated by her friend's speech; she flung herself from her chair and stood. "You're right, so what if he wasn't the first boy to save me? He's still the Sasuke-kun I fell in love with, regardless of when we met." She threw her arms in the air to celebrate.

Ino cheered her on, "That's right!" She then waved her hand to shrug the matter off, "So he's not your first love? Big deal."

Sakura froze in the middle of her victory dance, "What?"

"Well," Ino began, "logically speaking, this boy that saved you was your first love, right?"

"Eh-" Sakura was stunned once more. "Well, I didn't even get his name so I wouldn't really…"

Ino sighed, "You can't deny it. This was the first boy you had feelings for."

Sakura rolled her eyes and averted the pale blonde's gaze, "Okay-fine."

Ino's hand held her chin up gracefully as she sat there in deep thought, "What I would like to know is who this boy was." She glanced at Sakura who remained unfazed. "And why he looked like Sasuke so much."

Sakura nodded her head slowly, "Although, now that I think about it…It is quite possible that it was one of his distant relatives. The Uchiha massacre would certainly explain why our paths never crossed again."

Ino grinned, "Speaking of crossing paths with Uchiha's…"

Sakura followed Ino's gaze to the street corner where her emerald eyes fell upon the last living Uchiha. Sakura instantly started backing away from the table she had been seated at.

"Sakura?" Ino questioned.

Sakura waved her arms in a frantic motion, "I'm not ready to face him…I'm still too embarrassed, ya know?" She then glanced back at the street and noticed that Sasuke had spotted her from the distance and had already started to make his way to their table. "Besides, I gotta go meet Sai before my late shift at the hospital," With that she took her exit hollering a quick "I'll call you later" to her companion.

Ino sighed in response, while Sasuke ran up to her, an annoyed expression playing across his features.

"Why is she avoiding me?" The question was as cold as his dark eyes, and as blunt as his honesty.

With a cheerful smile displayed across her face, she replied politely: "She was late for a meeting with Sai." When he raised his eyebrow, as if questioning her story she went on: "Seeing you had reminded her?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and snarled in response.

Clearly, that had not been the correct answer.

As Sakura approached the door to Sai's floor level apartment, she contemplated if running from Sasuke had been the correct choice. She played out a few scenarios in her head, of what he might have actually said once he had approached her.

There were, of course, only two responses possible with Uchiha Sasuke: The direct approach; where he would ask her why she was avoiding him. Or the indirect approach; where he would act completely oblivious to the incidents that had taken place during the previous night.

In the case of both circumstances however, Sakura concluded she wasn't interested in dealing with either of them at the moment.

"You're early Ugly."

She lifted her head to see Sai standing in his doorway, staring down at her. Ignoring his remark she invited herself into his complex. "I can't stay long, I have a shift at the hospital in a few hours." She then glimpsed around his one-room home. She glanced at the bed suspiciously. "So what do you need a slave for so badly?" Sakura asked as she crossed her arms.

Sai shook his head and walked over to the corner of his room. He held up his sketchbook.

"Modeling!" Her eyes widened in shock.

"You wish Ugly." Sai laughed, "I need you to carry my supplies and assist me while I go out sketching today."

Sakura's shoulders slumped slightly forward, "Carry and assist?"

Sai then pointed to the three bags of equipment and tools in the corner behind her.

"And this is what I'll be a slave for till the end of the month?"

Sai squinted his eyes, "Well you'd poison me if you cooked, and Konoha knows I'm not interested in anything physical from you."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, "That's because Konoha knows you're not interested in anything physical from any woman."

Sai's lips twisted up into his familiar fake smile, "That's probably because I have to be paired up with such a manly woman for a teammate."

Sakura gritted through her teeth and tried to convince herself that killing Sai was not worth the hell Tsunade would put her through. But do to his ruthless and emotionless up-bringing, his personality had made it quite difficult for her to complete this task. And Sakura found herself trying to hold back her murderous fists as they walked to the desired location the artist was itching to sketch.

Upon coming to the opening of the clearing, Sakura noticed it as one of the many relaxing spots team seven often lounged at after training. This particular spot was by the creek, with a few Cherry Blossom trees scattered around the clearing.

Sai moved to settle himself on the grass, underneath one of the large trees' shade. "Shit down hag," Sai commanded.

She followed his orders, letting her legs rest under her as she perched herself upright enough to be able to see over Sai's shoulder, at what he would soon start sketching.

If Sakura had to give Sai credit in anything, it would be in his ability to capture the most scenes animated in life, and keep them timeless forever.

"Ugly, my paintbrush."

The brow above Sakura's left eye began to twitch slightly, moments ago she had just been mentally complementing him, and here he was, insulting her. She rolled her eyes and reached inside one of his bags for his utensil. It was a good few minutes before she had correctly found the proper bag, in which all the brushes were supplied. Once she handed him the paintbrush he stared at it for a minute and tossed it back to her.

"I need a thinner one, dog-face."

Sakura bit her lip and restrained her aggressive need to make him what he so often called Naruto: a "dickless wonder". At the same time she was making a mental note to never gamble with Sai again.

She fumbled through the bag once more, until she held a thinner brush in her hand. He then stared down at this one even harder.

"And yet a slightly thicker paintbrush than this one." He said while flinging it back to her. "Really that's about as small as Naruto."

Mentally, Sakura felt her patience start to crack as she rummaged through the supplies and equipment once more. She then held up one paintbrush that complied to both his stubborn needs.

He then took it from her grasp without even muttering a "thank you." And then proceeded to his sketch. He just sat there, staring at the blank white sheet.

"Hag-ink would be nice."

In the minutes it took Sakura to control herself, it only took mere seconds of dealing with Sai for her to snap completely. She reached inside one of the bags and pulled out the jar of ink he was so rudely asking for.

And she planed to give him all the ink he asked for.

Without thinking any further, she unscrewed the cap of the jar.

"Here!"

Before the jar could be completely separated from her hand, Sai had reached up and caught her wrist in an attempt to stop her from splashing him with ink.

A small rain shower of night sky colored ink poured down upon them, staining and tainting their clothes and skin.

"What the hell was that for?" Sai hollered at her, his wrist still clutching hers.

"What do you mean? You're the one who grabbed my wrist!"

"You were about to throw the ink on me, ugly!"

Sakura tore her wrist free from his grasp, "And I would have been successful and clean if you hadn't grabbed my wrist!"

Sai sneered, "Well we're both covered in the ink now, so there is no use in arguing." Sai then unzipped and removed his shirt from his body frame, and then began to unbuckle his pants.

Sakura's face tinged itself with a pink hue. "W-What are you doing!" She stammered, trying to avert her gaze. Although Sakura was becoming used to seeing Sai shirtless, she was not familiar, nor accustomed to seeing any other parts of his body. Her eyes drifted from his abs to the well-toned creases on his hips-which led down passed the beginning of his pants.

Sai glanced up at her, "The creek is just over there." He then started to walk down the hill towards the water. "Well? Do you want to go into the hospital looking like that?" He asked.

Sakura looked down at the huge ink spot on her red shirt. She grimaced at the thought of being partially nude in front of Sai, but when it came to time and connivance, she couldn't argue. She dragged herself to follow Sai down the hill to the small creek, where he was already splashing his shirt into the water, ringing it out with his hands, and then repeating the process.

Hesitantly, Sakura's fingers trailed up her shirt to rest on her zipper. She pulled it down slowly, until her shirt was completely open, leaving her bound chest and flat stomach exposed. She shrugged the fabric off her shoulders and took it in her hands as she walked to the edge of the water. She glimpsed up at Sai to see his black eyes on her.

"W-What are you…?"

"You're wearing green." He pointed to her ninja sports bra.

Sakura blushed in response, "So?" She made an attempt to cover herself with her arms.

Sai smiled, "I told you green would look better than black."

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, unsure if he was actually complementing her.

"It's amazing that a color can upgrade your looks from scary to ugly."

"Why you-" Sakura lunged at him, her fist about ready to collide into his face when she slipped suddenly, about to plummet into the water.

Sai's arms reached out immediately and snaked around her, crashing her to his chest. Sakura dropped her shirt immediately, her hands now on Sai's chest.

She felt his heart beat beneath her palm, calm and steady. She felt his muscles under her hand flex, and she blushed.

"Jeeze ugly, you are so clumsy." He pulled back his head to look down at her. "Honestly, some kunoichi." He mumbled.

"Huh?"

"You're more like a damsel."

This time Sakura froze. She looked up at him. Suddenly more aware then ever how close they were, and how much he resembled her once prince charming, with the same ebony hair and eyes.

"W-what did you just say…?"

Sai was about to speak when a cough interrupted him. Their heads turned in the direction of the cough, their eyes falling upon a dangerous looking Uchiha.

He narrowed his eyes at them, "Why is it whenever I find you with Sai, you're always shirtless?"

Author: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. Sasuke is a hard character to write. This chapter was a problem, so I am hoping the next one will run more smoothly. Expect faster updates, my classes end this week. Take care everyone, and thanks once again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I claim to own any characters therefore owned by Masashi Kishimoto.