A/N: To see a pic of how Sasuke and Sakura look, go to my profile and click on the link .

Previously on Adolescence:

So he went back to the bridge and gently laid the unconscious Hyuuga Heiress down. Alarmingly, all the hairs on his nape stood up, as he sensed a dangerous aura behind him. He turned around...to face a pale figure with glowing white eyes.

'Kuso.'

Chapter 2: Encounter with a Hyuuga

Naruto scowled at the sight of the Hyuuga prodigy, but it was replaced with a nervous gulp. Hyuuga Neji was giving Naruto a 'you-have-five-seconds-to-explain-before-I-beat-you-to-a-bloody-pulp' look.

"W-what do you w-want, Hyuuga-b-ba-bastard?" That didn't come out as brave as it should have…

Neji glared harder at the now doomed blonde, then looked down to the unconscious form of his little cousin lying on the bridge. Naruto looked over his shoulder to Hinata's limp form, sweat-dropped and he looked back at her way too overprotective cousin. He scratched the back of his neck.

"I didn't do anything to Hinata-chan, I swear! She said she would pay for my ramen so I hugged her and she just fainted."

Wrong answer. Neji's freaky--yet somehow cool--white eyes were even scarier when they were burning with a killing intent. He cracked his knuckles and ever so slowly took a step forward, while Naruto once again gulped and took a step back.

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There was a wide-open yet serene clearing in Konohagakure no Sato that was normally used for meditative-training purposes. Its grass was a vibrant green and it was filled with varieties of field flowers and scattered with apple blossom trees. No one was training today, but two former students of the Copy Ninja could be found lying together in that clearing, under the shade of an apple-blossom tree. Above them, wisps of clouds moved throughout the clear azure sky in a snail-like fashion.

Sakura gazed up at the mesmerizing blue, supporting her head on her partner's outstretched arm and resting the back of her own hand on his warm chest.

Remembering her blonde friend, she sighed and turned her head to face Sasuke, who had his eyes closed.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have left Naruto alone. He probably forgot his wallet again."

"Did you want to see that dobe shove all that ramen down his throat?"

"No…"

"Didn't think so."

She turned back to look at the clouds and sighed. Her now boyfriend turned to her and just kept on staring. After a few minutes of his staring, he looked back up at the sky and spoke.

"What d'you do while I was gone?"

Taken by surprise with the random question, she faced him and intelligently muttered, "Wha?"

"While I was gone, what were you doing?"

The pink-haired Anbu wondered why he would ask that but answered anyways.

"Uh…nothing much. Just trained hard to get stronger...and bring you back."

Sasuke didn't seem satisfied with her answer. Sakura sat up and looked down at him with an inquisitive stare.

"What's up with you?"

He averted his eyes to the sky and spoke in a casual tone.

"What else d'you do?" He ignored her inquiry.

"Well, I worked in the hospital a lot…why're you asking?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering."

Sakura lied back down unsure, only to sit up again at the Uchiha's next question.

"Were…you…seeing anyone?"

Her stunned expression soon changed to a sly one. Sasuke mentally cursed himself for asking that.

"So…that's what you wanted to know. Why? Is the all-mighty Uchiha jealous?" She snickered at her newfound teasing subject, who just glared back.

"No. Now answer."

She sighed exasperatedly.

"You're no fun. Fine. A lot of guys asked me out, but no. I didn't go out with anyone."

Sasuke smirked smugly, turning to her with an arrogant look.

"Waiting for me, hn?"

That got her annoyed.

"Don't you go and get smug Uchiha! I was just too busy to-----mmph!"

She was cut off when he abruptly raised his head and pushed his lips against hers. Immediately his tongue entered her already open mouth and he balanced himself with one hand on the ground. His other hand went to the back of her head to hold her in place.

After a few seconds, Sakura recovered from her shock and tried to get away, but alas, Sasuke's hand just pushed her in more. She then used both her hands to push his balancing arm away. That made him fall back, but unfortunately, he pulled the cross girl down with him. Sakura looked down at him angrily, which in his opinion made her look even cuter.

"You should've just told me you wanted to get on top," He teased in a low, husky voice that he only used with her.

Sakura turned bright red, both from embarrassment and fury, and sat up right, followed by a slyly smirking Uchiha. She glared at the arrogant teen sitting next to her, who in turn only smirked back.

"Uchiha Sasuke you egotistical jerk! You are so infuriating! Now I know how Naruto feels!"

Sasuke leaned closer to her face until he was a few inches away and used his low seducing voice once again.

"…but that doesn't stop you from being hot for me," He was smirking even wider now, recalling the event at Suna.

Sakura's face turned even more crimson, if that was possible. So red infact, she thought she must've looked like a cherry, or a tomato, or a cherry tomato, or a strawberry, or maybe even a chematoberry, if that existed. Point was, her whole face was scarlet.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before looking at her smug boyfriend.

"You know what? I liked it better when you barely talked at all."

"Right."

She glared at the raven-haired young man but all of a sudden put on a smug smile like the Uchiha had. Said teen raised an eyebrow at her sudden change of mood.

"Think what you want, but who's got a picture of this morning's lit-tle incident?"

Sasuke's eyes widened and then narrowed at her, his mood also taking on a dramatic change. He was, after all, a human being.

"Sakura, get rid of that dammed picture."

"No can do Uchiha-san. That's perfect blackmail material."

"Sakura. Get. Rid. Of. It."

"Is that an order Uchiha-san?"

"Sa-ku-ra."

"Sa-su-ke."

"Dammit! What'll it take for you to get rid of it?"

"Not-a-thing. That shot is priceless."

Sasuke did a kind of frustrated/annoyed animalistic sort of growl/grunt that actually sounded quite disturbing. Now, it was Sakura's turn to smirk.

"Ha, who's in control now?"

He made that sound again.

"…..you are so annoying."

She stuck her tongue out at him. Bad idea. Sasuke immediately lunged at her and seized her poor tongue in his mouth, with more french-kissing and beyond planned in his horny little mind. They both fell back down, this time with him on top, and started another one-sided make-out session. Sakura still didn't kiss him back, but wasn't struggling either. She was just having her revenge.

'Note to self: No sticking out tongue in front of horny boyfriend'

Sasuke pulled away and looked down at the non-responding young woman below him. She smiled up at him innocently. He frowned at her stubbornness.

"You just don't give up."

"Of course not."

"Fine, then. I'm…sorry."

"Gasp! The Uchiha Sasuke? Apologizing? Orochimaru's not gay!"

"Sakura."

She just giggled and raised her head up to kiss him lightly, which he returned eagerly. She pulled back and put her finger on his lips.

"You're forgiven."

As soon as she withdrew her finger, he dived for her mouth to yet again start another make-out session, this time with her responding. Lips locked, tongues swirled, moans and groans were bit back, and deep breaths were taken. After about ten minutes, Sakura pulled back.

"I'm still not getting rid of that picture."

Sasuke made that sound again.

-------

Hinata slowly parted her eyes as she felt herself moving. She lifted her head up only to get a face full of long, dark brown hair. As she took in her surroundings, she was shocked to find herself being carried on the back of her overprotective cousin Neji, walking through a path in the woods that led to a training area.

"N-ne-Neji-n-nii-san?"

He abruptly stopped moving and let her down on the pavement, while she still had a look of confusion on her face. He just ignored her confusion and signaled her to keep moving.

She stood glued to the spot for a minute until she gradually started to follow him. She gathered up all her courage and walked to stand in front of her tall cousin.

"N-Neji-niisan, wh-what h-happened? Wh-whe," She gulped. "Where's Na-Naruto-kun?"

At this, she looked directly at him with a determined and anxious face. Neji frowned at his cousin's obvious concern for the dobe.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill him." He speaks!

The shy Hyuuga released a relieved sigh but turned back to him.

"Th-then, wh-what did you d-do?"

-------

Uchiha Sasuke was currently very occupied in pinning down the object of his affections and desire, a.k.a. Haruno Sakura, to the grass-covered ground in a rather intimate position. They shared a number of deep, passionate kisses. The occurrence at Sunagakure (Sand Village) had led them to getting quite…er…close with each other…when given the chance. But…what exactly happened at Suna after Kakashi left with Naruto? No one will ever know…at least not in this chapter. Anyways, back to the currently-making-out couple.

His arms were wrapped tightly around her small frame underneath her white tank top. One was on her flat stomach and the other was on her back. Both slowly moved in large circles against the soft flesh that was his cherry blossom's skin. Their legs were tangled together and their cloth-covered genitals were lined up, allowing Sasuke to make himself home in between her legs.

That act made Sakura gasp and unintentionally give the Uchiha more access to her mouth. Her own arms were already enfolded securely around his neck, their lips deeply linked together in multiple make-outs, and their tongues clashed and swirled around each others'.

They broke apart to catch their breaths, and stared at one another other. Sakura's short pink hair was scattered all over the grass around her head, her lips swelled and parted for deep breathes, and her eyes were slightly lidded, staring right into her lover's bottomless black ones. As he looked down at her beautifully flushed face, he couldn't help but let his features soften and allow a rare genuine smile to escape. The kunoichi under him just sent a gentle smile back and let him kiss her again--a sweet, loving kiss.

Sasuke then moved his lips over to her jaw, and delivered light butterfly kisses along her jaw line. His kisses became wet and solid as he went lower down to her throat, then back up. When he reached the base of her neck, he started sucking and nibbling the tender skin. Several red marks were left on her neck as his trail to her collarbone, where he started sucking and biting harder. Sakura just moaned slightly and tightened her grip on his neck as he continued to nibble her skin and made it down to her chest.

Meanwhile, inside of Sakura's shirt…one of Sasuke's hands started fingering the back strap of her bra while the other moved down to her petite belly and then up to cup her fabric-covered right breast. He gave it a firm squeeze and once again made her give off a light moan. She moaned once again when his index finger started circling the hardening nipple, and again when he pinched it. He then took her lips in his own once again, coaxing her tongue into another battle. Her arms let go of his neck and she directed her hands under his black vest. Her fingers slowly crawled up his bare abs in a wave-like motion, making him give off a small grunt at the contact. It's pretty obvious where they were heading…that is if something--or someone--didn't stop them…

A loud, piercing scream erupted through the air and they instantly broke apart in surprise and quickly stood up. That scream sure sounded familiar. They both looked to the sky, then at each other, speaking at the same time.

"Naruto."

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The Hyuuga Prodigy continued walking and glanced at Hinata from over his shoulder.

"Nothing, really. Just sent him flying somewhere."

He kept on walking down the path as if it was no big deal. Hinata sweat-dropped at his nonchalant behaviour and quickly caught up to him, still worried about a certain blonde she was crushing on.

-------

The Uchiha and the Blossom both looked to the sky. They saw a shiny object flying down at an enormous speed. Upon closer inspection, Sakura saw that it was orange and black, with a tint of yellow…and it was heading straight for them! She took three steps to the right, away from Sasuke, the landing target. Said teen only gave her a questioning stare. He looked back up at the sky and his eyes widened in realization, but by then, it was far too late.

"HOLY CRAP!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The screaming object turned out to be Naruto--gasp! He landed straight on poor Sasuke as he was turning around and they both landed on the ground with a loud and painful 'thump'. Sakura burst out laughing and quickly took out her handy-dandy camera. With a quick flash, she got a perfect picture of the scene before her. This time on the screen, Naruto could be seen rubbing his head with a dizzy expression, sitting Indian-style on the back of an equally dizzy Uchiha, who had his arms and legs stretched out on the ground. She smirked evilly before putting the tiny digital camera away in her kunai pouch and walking over to the woozy pair.

Naruto recovered and smiled when he saw his friend/teammate, but then frowned at her, as if his memory just came back.

"Sakura-chan! You and the teme ditched me at Ichiraku!"

Something growled under him and shoved him off from where he was sitting.

"Who're you calling teme, dobe?" Sasuke sat up and glared at him.

"You! This is all your fault!" Naruto glared right back.

"I didn't do anything."

"Yeah you did! On purpose too!"

Once again, a glaring contest started between the two.

"Dobe."

"Teme."

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

"TEME!"

Everything went quiet. Then…

"Dobe."

"That's it! I'm gonna rip your frickin teme-throat out!"

Before Sasuke could retort back, Sakura stepped in and smacked both of them upside the head. Instinctively, they both snapped their hands to the back of their heads and looked at her. She glared at them intently and both immediately bit back their words. She shook her head at their child-like behavior and turned to Naruto.

"What happened to you?"

He sighed.

"I hugged Hinata-chan 'cuz she said she'd pay for my ramen but then she fainted! Then-----"

"Let me guess. Hyuuga came and sent you flying." Sasuke snickered at the predictable blonde.

"Shut up, jackass!"

"Make me, dumbass."

They couldn't see it because her hitai-ite covered it, but a vein was throbbing on Sakura's forehead. She then spoke in a threatening voice.

"Naruto. Sasuke."

They both stopped their verbal battle and slowly turned to her.

"Will. You. Both. Please. SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Everything went quiet again. Naruto cleared his throat.

"So…anyone wanna' spar?"

Sakura calmed down and nodded.

"'Kay, Sakura-chan. "

Both the participants put some distance between them.

"Maybe I should've checked if Hinata-chan's okay…" Naruto thought out loud.

Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned his back against the tree. He then sharply turned his head to the side and glared at the path in the woods that lead in and out of the clearing. Sakura and Naruto stared that way also.

"You won't have to. She's coming right to you."

As Sasuke said this, two figures walked out of the woods and into the clearing. One was frowning and the other was blushing bright red. Both of them walked towards the members of Team Seven. Neji glanced at each of them. The Uchiha was glaring at him; he glared right back. The dobe frowned at him and grinned at Hinata, who flushed like crazy and made a small smile back. Sakura smiled brilliantly at both of them, looking as striking as ever.

"Ohayo, Neji-san, Hinata-chan." She greeted them when they were near another tree, approximately three meters away from Sasuke's.

"Good to see you Sakura-san."

Neji nodded at the pink-haired girl and resumed to glaring at the Uchiha. From behind him, Hinata timidly stepped out and quietly greeted her back.

"O-ohayo, s-Sakura-chan."

She noticed Naruto was looking at her and blushed even harder. The fox-boy walked up to her.

"Hinata-chan, are you all right?"

She looked down to hide her chematoberry-red face and nodded a couple times.

"Why d'you faint today?"

His voice was full of genuine concern mixed with curiosity. She bravely looked up at him and smiled softly.

"I-I'm a-all r-right. I-it's r-really n-nothing."

He frowned but left the subject for now since he and Sakura were about to fight. He walked back to his spot and got in a fighting stance. Sakura started it by jumping up and throwing multiple shuriken at him. He blocked them all with a kunai and dodged the kick that she send him and instead tried to kick her when her back was turned. She poofed and turned into a log and appeared right behind him with another kick. This time, Naruto turned into a log and appeared behind her. She blocked his punch and he blocked hers.

"Stop fooling around."

"You got it."

They then both disappeared. They continuously reappeared and disappeared at different places in an incredible speed, each time with both engaged in various taijutsu moves, and each time getting faster and faster. It was really hard to even see them. The only proof they were yet still here was the occasional blur of orange and pink here and there. Sasuke had his Sharingan on and the Hyuugas had their Byakugan on. Suddenly, Naruto and Sakura appeared in front of them. Sakura was in a handstand and was whirling her legs towards Naruto's face. He caught her ankle and they disappeared again. They re-emerged a few meters away. This time Sakura's right arm was extended but caught by Naruto and his left arm was extended but caught by her. And both of their right knees were forcefully met. Sakura then jumped up and threw kunais at him. He dodged them easily but then realized her plan, and jumped just as all the kunais touched the ground and exploded. This was getting intense. Sakura did some hand symbols while still in the air and Sasuke immediately recognized them.

"Katon: Karyu Endan no Jutsu !" (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu)

Sakura took a deep breath, circled her hand around her lips, and her mouth became a flame-thrower directed right at the blonde below her. He quickly used substitution and then had to dodge the fire that followed him as she blew it towards wherever he went. Sasuke smirked.

'She should do that more often.'

He was referring to the fact that she looked truly lovely when executing one of the attacks he was known for. He then watched Naruto make his own hand symbols.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shadow Clone Jutsu)

Seven more Narutos appeared and ran towards their opponent head on. Sakura used Dragon Flame Jutsu once again to burn them all. She then noticed there were only seven Narutos in front of her. She gasped and quickly turned around to block a kick aimed at her stomach.

The three bystanders watched the battle attentively. The Uchiha prodigy carefully surveyed their movements. He had to admit, the two opponents had gotten a lot stronger then he remembered. Sure, they helped him eliminate Orochimaru, but he was concentrating on fighting back then, not checking out how strong his team-mates had gotten. He was impressed by their speed, but mostly surprised that Sakura had gotten this good with taijutsu. The frail little flower he had left when he went to the Snake-Sannin had grown over the years and was now fully bloomed. He secretly smiled at her. That is until he noticed he wasn't the only one examining the pink-haired kunoichi.

-------

White-eyes followed the kunoichi's movements with interest. The way she swiftly moved her slender arms and legs before striking at her target appealed to him somehow. The way she gracefully soared up in the air made her look as if she were flying. Anyone could just jump high, but the way she did it was like she had invisible wings attached to her back.

All of a sudden, Neji felt a hole burning through his head. He turned to his right and was met with the shocking sight of the Uchiha glaring at him. But not just a glare, a lethal, deadly glower, that hurled knives, arrows, axes, kunais, shuriken, senbons, katanas, pitchforks, laser-guns, lightsabers, maces, and all kinds of weapons, right at him. The teme probably caught him looking at his girlfriend.

' Possessive fool.'

He smirked and turned back to watching Sakura…er…the battle.

He saw her punch the earth, and with her inhumane strength, the ground shook violently before cracking under the force and breaking apart for quite a distance. Naruto jumped up when she pummelled the ground with her fist, but when he landed back down to what he thought would be a safe distance, the earth under him broke apart and even with his reflexes, he stumbled to get away.

Sakura sneaked behind him during his stumble and kicked his back, hard, right onto the ground near the woods. She raced to him and drew her arm back to punch his face. He avoided it, and instead, her fist slammed against a tree and instantly snapped it in half. He appeared next to her and gave her multiple punches aimed at her jaw that she blocked with an arm. But his last punch held even more power and it sent her airborne. He then emerged above her, linked his hands together, drew back his arms, and came forth to strike her forcefully on her upper back. That sent her crashing back down to earth with a very loud thud where she met the ground. She immediately got back on her feet and vanished.

Naruto looked to his left, his right, his back, and his front. He couldn't sense her chakra; she was masking it really well. She then abruptly materialized in front of him, running head on with a kunai in her hand. He took a few steps back and got ready to fight back but she just as suddenly disappeared again. He then felt the tree roots under his feet moving. He tried to jump out of the way but the roots grabbed both his ankles and dragged him across the earth floor closer to the tree. He tried cutting the roots with his kunai, but they then trapped his wrists also. He was flipped right side up and smashed into the tree where a great number of thick branches ensnared every bit of him. He couldn't move any of his body parts, not even his fingers. Over his right shoulder, Sakura's upper body materialized from within the tree, a kunai grasped in her right hand. She pressed the weapon against his neck, visibly upset.

"Stop holding back! It's not fair to me!"

"I can't help it Sakura-chan!"

She huffed and he smiled.

-------

Sasuke Uchiha smirked at the blonde boy for losing so easily. He knew Naruto held back more than what was necessary in a sparring match. He just couldn't seriously fight someone whom he loved like a sister. Sasuke was surprised though; by the way Sakura used her chakra to manipulate that tree and her body cells to make her go through it. That was unexpected, but she all ways did have perfect chakra control, since they were mere genin.

The two said shinobi left the battle scene and poofed in front of him and the other viewers. Naruto walked over to a still red Hinata.

"Ne, Hinata-chan? Are going to train too?"

"N-no."

"Okay then. Wanna go eat ramen with me?"

Her whole face turned scarlet but on the inside, she was bursting with joy. Her cousin glared at him but he ignored it.

"O-o-k-kay."

"Naruto, didn't you just eat ramen before coming here?"

Sakura was exasperated by his ramen-dominated appetite.

"Yeah, but all that fighting made me hungry again! And I know that Hinata-chan won't abandon me like some other people I know. C'mon, Hinata-chan!"

"Wait."

He faced with Neji a determined look.

"Anything happens , and there's gonna' be a repeat of this morning."

Naruto nodded and grabbed Hinata's hand, then both of them poofed out of there to probably poof again at Ichiraku.

Sakura sighed and turned to the Hyuuga prodigy.

"Neji-san?"

He switched his attention to her and made an attempt at a small smile. He succeeded. Hurray for the Hyuuga prodigy!

"No need to be so formal, Sakura-san."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"You're being formal too, you know."

"So I am…Sakura."

She smiled.

"So…Neji. Are you going to train?"

"Why? Do you wish to train with me?"

She was about to answer 'yes' but Sasuke pushed in front of her and cut her off.

"Let's fight, Hyuuga."

If looks could kill, Neji would be smashed to the ground in a bloody heap with thousands of knives, arrows, axes, kunais, shuriken, senbons, katanas, pitchforks, laser-holes, lightsaber-burns, mace marks, and all other kinds of weapons, imbedded all over his body, and then burned to a crisp by a fire style jutsu. But unfortunately for Sasuke, looks can't kill, and the Hyuuga was standing there, still among the living, regrettably two inches taller, right smack dab in front of him. And he was smirking too.

'The bastard.'

"Fine, Uchiha. If you really want to embarrass yourself."

There was a growl from Sasuke.

"The only one I'll be embarrassing'll be you."

They then both proceeded to glower at each other and get in a fighting stance. Sakura sweat-dropped and sighed. It was still a long, long ways away until sunset.

'It's gonna be a long day.'

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A/N: That one scene was soo embarassing to type...kyaaa...Review plz, it inspires me to be less lazy!