Sorry I didn't update as planned. School just started and I'm already getting stuck!! AGH!!! Still, excuses don't make it any better. Let me just give you the heads up here: this is another chapter that I personally feel drags on. I need some ideas from you guys so I can bring in some real juicy stuff. (not necessarily perverted.) So for now, here's the next chapter.

recap

"We're snowed in.."

Sakura walked close behind him. Her hand instantly flew to her mouth out of shock. This was supposed to be an easy job. Very simple and possibly enjoyable! Spending a few weeks in a luxurious mansion would make almost anyone squeal. And now here she was: snowed inside with no exit..with the guy who broke in. Wait a minute.. it's a damn mansion! Upstairs couldn't possibly be blocked!

She ran up the stairs and towards the closest room. Suddenly, Sasuke remembered the open window. With all the wind and snow and whatever else was out there, it could knock the hell out of her and kill her!

"Stop!" She ignored him and ran into the room.

He heard her scream and practically flew up the stairs after her.

--Chapter 3--

She was sprawled out on the snow-covered flooring. The wind was raging in through the window he forgot to close. Even hail was being forced in. He skid to her side and picked her up. As he cradled her like a baby, he peaked out the window.

You couldn't even see the tree he used to climb in! So leaving the mansion was not a smart option if you valued your life.

He used his elbow to shut the window closed, making the everything seem deathly quiet. Carefully, he made his way out of the room that was now blown into a mess and downstairs to the sofa. The hem of her skimpy dress tickled his nose, making this all the more difficult.

As he placed her down, he noticed the goosebumps raised all over her arms, legs, and on the exposed part of her chest. He blushed a bit when he noticed them there, but distracted himself with pulling his jacket off and covering her with it.

Her breathing was light and even. He took this turn of events as an advantage and quietly poked back into the kitchen for some food. He still hadn't eaten yet.

The fridge was taller than him and had more food than what a school of sumo wrestlers could finish off. There was smoked salmon, caeser salad, chef salad, fruit salad, thin sliced turkey, juicy chicken tenders, gourmet grilled burgers...and tomatoes.

Now you have to understand. These weren't just your average tomatoes. They were now sliced and diced to perfection, but it was obvious they were plump and god-like. The mixture of sliced tomatoes was graced with a tap of pepper and a spoon or so of salt. Don't forget the oil and vinegar that had been drizzled in!

His mouth began to water slightly. He snatched out the large serving bowl of the red fruits and yanked a fork from the drawer and started to pig out.

Meanwhile, Sakura's eyelids fluttered to life and her vision began to focus. She was surprised by the thin, but warm jacket on her. 'Is..is he still here? Or did he just take what he wanted and leave?'

She felt a tug on her heart. At first it was because he had left her his jacket, and then because the house, no- mansion she was watching over had been robbed just as she started. The Yamanakas had only left a few hours ago, for God's sake!

It took her a minute to stand up since she was light-headed, but then headed to the kitchen for some water. But she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the supposedly-gone thief with his face full and covered in tomatoes.

He had a tight yellow shirt with the words, "No one to hold" printed in black Old English text across his chest. His charcoal black jeans couldn't have been much tighter.

"Why are you still here?" She was asking herself this more than him.

He stopped eating and swallowed what was in his mouth. "I was hungry." His gaze still was hard to meet. The eyeliner matching his inky eyes only made him look even more demonic and...hot.

She straightened her dress and huffed. "Well, I'm guessing you're pretty full now, so I advise you get out before I call the cops."

He was trying hard to hold back a snort. 'Did she forget what had happened to her a few minutes ago or something?' "Yeah. Sure. Whatever. I'm sure you will call them up. And with the storm outside, they have plenty of time and are prepared to take down a famous thief who is possibly highly dangerous."

Sakura felt the fear from when she first saw him come back. How would she know if he had any other weapons on him? "W-what do you mean highly dangerous?" She couldn't stop the tiny shake in her throat.

A cynical and sick grin took over his lips. "Don't you ever watch the news? I'm usually being talked about once a week or so. Reporters always warn the public about me and my sneaky abilities. Think about it, why were you hired to stake out in an empty place for two weeks?"

Just like before, she began to back up from fear. It's not like he just felt like scaring the crap out of her. He just wanted to make sure she knew he wasn't afraid of her and that she would feel he was in charge. Judging by the strength of those winds and the amount of snow blocking the doors, they were gonna be here awhile.

"I-I've seen the news. I knew a-about all those robberies, b-but then I just never th-thought you'd come here." She was walking backwards, clutching the silky fabric of her dress and bumped into a chair in the dining room. She continued to babble as he continued to approach her with that creepy and haunting smile. "P-plus, how could th-they know you're dangerous? No one e-ever spotted you."

He was using a sickeningly sweet voice that scared her even more. "Heh, but every now and then, women had gone in saying I had raped them before I left with the stolen goods."

Her back came in contact with the cold beige wall and he was coming closer. "D-did you r-rape them?" The quiver in her voice was even stronger.

By now he was almost pressed against her and had both her wrists clamped in one hand in front of her chest. His voice was hoarse as he whispered close, "Who knows..?"

Just then, they power went out and the room became dark. The fingers wrapped around her wrists unraveled. She calmed down a bit and her eyes could barely make out her surroundings. He was no longer in front of her. He was loose in this maze a rich family calls home.

Her kitten heels clicked and echoed as she cautiously tried to feel her way around into the kitchen. (Popular room in the place, huh?) She pulled open a drawer and whipped out the emergency flashlight. Light flooded the place to her relief. But now she had to find him. Or find a place where he wouldn't find her.

'Crap.. I can't hide out for long, though. I'd need to stay hidden for who knows how long!' She bit her lip as she made her way to the winding staircase. 'Maybe I can convince him not to hurt me.. Yeah, bargain a bit. It's not like he's killed someone before... I hope..'

She wanted to stay as quiet as possible so she could listen for him and so he'd have a harder time finding her, so she kicked off her shoes in the hallway. The wood floor was freezing to the touch and made shiver. The heater wasn't working, so it wouldn't take long before the temperature really dropped.

He was used to working in the dark, so the fact that the power was down didn't bother him. Since he was going to be stuck here for a few days at least, he decided to get more "familiar" with his suroundings.

The room he was in was large like all the others and seemed to have plush carpeting. He brushed his bangs from his eyes as he examined the top of the dresser. Pearl necklaces, diamond earrings.. plenty of the good stuff. What actually caught his attention was the perfume bottle sitting there. It was shaped like a heart with a ribbon tied around the neck.

He took a sniff at it and rcognized the over-priced and insanely powerful odor. This was definitely Ino's room. "Gross." He help but mumble. Before he started to even smell like her room, he walked out and down the hall. He was starting to regret wearing the thin yellow t-shirt today.

Sakura peered into the room and snuck around against the walls. Quickly, she snapped open the closet, prepared for a killer to jump out at her. ... ... ...Nothing. She sighed and walked back out. She slid down and rested her back against the icy wall.

This had been her 32nd room to search. The thief was still no where to her knowledge specifically. He could've been in the room across the hall for all she knew. It was tiring, but she wasn't about to give up.

She could vaguely remember when she had fell, but she had an idea.

A high-pitched scream reached every inch of the billion-dollar structure. "Again?" Sasuke ran down the hall to the scream's source. Sakura was no where to be found. He heard some shifting in a room close by, so he went to check it out. "Where are you? I know you're in here, so there's no point in hiding."

He wandered inside the guest room and opened the closet, expecting her to be in there. Sakura snuck up behind him from behind the dresser with a rope in hand. Her chances were slim, but yes, she was going to try to tie him up. The cold was definitely getting to her head.

As soon as she threw the rope in front of him, he grabbed it and pulled her right into his chest. A very firm and defined chest, might I add. "Were you planning to tie me up with that?" He whispered curiously.

"N-no." She squeaked, failing to hold back a major blush. Who would? His face was barely a few inches away.

"Well I don't appreciate it. Nor did I find your fake scream amusing." The same demonic grin came back to his face as he crept a hand to her back. She didn't dare to make a move, even though his fingers were crawling down her spine. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for him to further violate her.

But as soon as his hand reached the lower part of her back, barely above her butt, it stopped.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him completely confused. His smile was now more cocky than evil, but still one of a devil's. His hands slid to her upper arms and gave them more space. He let go and started to walk to the bed as he chuckled. "Let's go make some heat. I'm sure you're freezing in that piece of tissue."

"W-what do y-you mean?" She felt scared by his obvious intentions.

"Now what'd I do?" He stopped crawling on it and hopped off.

"I can't. I really can't. Please, please don't make me..!" She became fidgety and went back to clutching the hem of her skirt.

"Tch, I'm not trying to get you in bed. Trust me, if I did, I would've done so by now. But with that dress, I'm actually surprised you don't want any. Help me grab some sheets and pillows."

"O-oh. Sorry." She felt her face get red again and went to collect a couple of fluffed pillows and a blanket. "Hey! I'm not a whore! It's like I choose to wear this!" Well, she recovers fast.

"Hn." He just walked out the door and down the stairs with her fuming behind him. It was darker down there since the windows were blocked, so she switched on her flashlight.

Her teeth began to chatter as they reached the grand living room. "Geez, it's so cold.."

"Hn." He tossed everything in his arms on the sofa and checked out the pile of chopped wood by the fire place.

"Would you stop saying that, please?" He turned around and sighed.

"There's only enough wood for a few days. Odds are it'll be a week or so before we can get help, or the storm stops and I can get out."

"Like I'll let you leave without the police!"

"Point is, we shouldn't use the wood unless we really need it. I think we should save it for emergencies if either of us starts to get ill or something."

"So what do you suggest we do now, while it's still freaking frozen down here!? Why don't we just stay upstairs?"

"First off, we could go upstairs, but I don't want you to go run and hide." He said, folding his arms over his chest. He was feeling the cold, too.

"Me run and hide? You're the one who disappeared when the power went out." She pulled one of the blankets from the pile around her shoulders.

"Whatever. Let's go back up. It's not like it'll last long, but it's kind of warmer up there." She nodded in agreement and trailed after him.

He led her to one of the larger guest rooms that was basically the size of a hotel room with two beds, except this room had only one huge king sized bed. She eyed him carefully, still not trusting him.

"Now what?" He complained, feeling her stare.

"There's only one bed." She shifted her weight to one foot.

"Great observation skills. What's the problem? Don't tell me you still think I'm gonna try and bang you."

She remained silent, keeping her eyes fixated to the floor. Sasuke walked up to her and sighed. "Your name's Sakura, right?" She nodded, still not looking up. "I'm not some crazy murderer who wants to rape you, okay? Those women lied for attention. I never touched them. They never even saw me! I'm just a thief who steals for a living. I don't hurt people. Understand?" As he said the last word, he lifted her chin to meet her gaze.

She quietly replied, "Yes.." and he let go.

"Sharing body heat is the best way to stay warm. But seeing as you're so twitchy and crap about it, w'll save it as a last resort."

Sakura visibly loosened up. He rolled his eyes and gave her a pat on the head before walking out. When he reached the door, he turned back at her.

"Dinner will be ready in two hours. I advise you dress more appropriately for the weather in the meantime."

She just glared at his retreating and smirking form.

Which would be good to bring in later in the story??? U can pick more than one.

1. Sakura gets sick, sasuke freaks and babies her for a bit.

2. Sasuke makes food, but its nasty. trying her best not to bruise his ego, she decides to be in charge of meals.

3. while theyre sleeping, the storm temporarily calms down and sum people actually get in. more thiefs! muahahhaaha

happy unbirthday

--frumpyrox