Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto.

So again, I'm sorry it's taken so long to update. I know it's a random Thursday, but it's the first day I've had off to proofread through this chapter to publish it. I got a job at a friend's clinic so I go to work in scrubs everyday and help people in physical pain and people with addictions. It's an anesthesiologist if any of you have heard of that? I get paid $12 an hour to check patient's in, organize patient charts, fax stuff, relay messages, and run around the facility doing other random things in my incredibly comfy scrubs.

On another front, I've also been busy most weekends cause I'm hanging with this guy I really like. It's one of those awkward things, cause I know a lot of you on here underage drink, I'm 18 and he's 22 so he goes and buys alcohol and the two of us get shit-faced drunk and pass out cuddling each other. Clothes stay on, hands don't wander (on purpose anyway), and the only kisses exchanged are on the cheek and forehead. But still, I can't help feeling scared to admit how I feel. I just keep doing things that make it blatantly obvious that I like him, and hope that he picks up on it. Hopefully my love stories turn out better than my own love life lol.

PLEASE REVIEW I LOVE T HEAR FROM YOU GUYS

Sasuke awoke in the morning to sore muscles and a pounding headache. He wasn't much for hard labor. It'd made his muscles sore and his pride even tenderer. It didn't help that he had a bad feeling when he looked at the clock and saw that it was 10am and no one had yet to disturb him. Weary that the pinkette was going to pop out at him with yet another bucket of horse crap, he crept out of his bed slowly and took his time to survey the room before making any sudden movements. He peaked out the curtains of his window into the back and saw Sakura neatly folding the sheets off the clothes-line that he'd washed days before into a basket. He was too lazy to bring them back in himself. Satisfied that the girl wasn't in close proximity to him, he decided to start his day with a bowl of cereal instead of directly hopping into the shower. He came down the stairs in his pajama pants and no shirt (his usual bed time attire) and Itachi just quirked a brow at his younger brother.

"Good morning sunshine, any reason you decided to go topless?"

Sasuke just gave his brother an expression of irritation with half-lidded eyes and retorted, "It's too early in the morning for your shit Itachi, just tell me where the cereal is."

Itachi scowled. His brother's attitude was going to wind up getting him a beating before lunch.

"Unless you'd like me to cram a bar of soap down your esophagus I suggest you metaphorically wash that vocabulary out of your mouth. And when asking for something you could add a simple 'please.' Even father says please to people and he's the head of an entire corporation. A spoiled nobody like you can afford that one courtesy to others as well."

Sasuke just opened cabinets in the kitchen randomly scouring for breakfast foods not bothering to reply to his brother's morning lecture for him. He was tired of every person in the house having a nugget of wisdom to cram down his throat. The only person who hadn't verbally bitten his head off yet was Sai, but he'd hardly seen the kid since he practically locks himself in the basement except when they're doing chores or eating.

Itachi eventually grew tired of watching his brother rip open every cupboard and knew if the trend continued he'd get so irritated that he'd eventually break one of them.

"The cereal is the pantry over there" Itachi pointed to a cabinet around the corner near the dining room.

Sasuke huffed and closed all the cupboards in the kitchen and plodded over and scanned the shelves. There wasn't much to choose from, nothing particularly satiating. However the colorful fruit loops were what he decided on and he carried the box into the kitchen and started scanning the cupboards again for a bowl. Itachi stopped him before he opened the second one and went ahead and got a bowl down for him and a spoon as well.

"I don't think I need to tell you that the milk is in the fridge" he added as he walked out of the room to go outside onto the back porch.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he poured the cereal into the bowl, followed by the milk, and begrudgingly walked back up the stairs into his room, where he flipped the lid of his computer up and hopped onto his social networking site. He'd already had several notifications and hash-tags of "whoa he disappeared" and other things that made Sasuke slap a hand to his face. He had to answer all of them before someone filed a missing person's report.

Sakura had folded the sheets neatly into the basket and was about to head back inside when Itachi stepped out onto the porch with a cup of coffee in his hand and smiled at her.

"Come join me" he said as he patted the seat next to him.

Sakura sheepishly smiled as she set the basket down on the porch and sat in the seat and closed her eyes taking a deep breath, "It's days like this where I can smell the freedom."

"What does that mean?" Itachi asked with chuckle taking a sip from his coffee mug.

Sakura shrugged as she spaced out looking at the barn, "I still remember those lonely controlled days in the orphanage. The patron was a mean and bitter woman. Every day was planned to a T and if you violated it, you were severely punished. There were never any surprises, because everyday was scheduled misery. Ever since I've lived with you, everyday, every sunrise, brings a fresh start, a new adventure. I might know what chores I have to do, or know I'm going to school, but that doesn't mean something exciting and unexpected won't happen. I have the freedom go riding on Shenandoah whenever I want. I can scream and shout like a wild animal if I want to. I'm allowed to express myself. I have everything provided for me, and more. I'm beyond grateful, but the best part is, with this freedom I'm able to express my thanks as well, in everything I do. I'm happy to help. I'm happy to work. I enjoy having the freedom to do what I want, but what I want is to contribute. Living with you, Sai, Shisui, and Kisame have been some of the best days of my life. I can never give enough back."

Itachi actually had to sip his coffee to keep his eyes from watering. He'd never heard her say thank you to him so eloquently.

"I wish my brother shared your sentiment" he stated with an exasperated sigh.

Sakura just smirked, "He's always had a silver spoon in his mouth, so he doesn't know what dirt tastes like. You can't expect him to appreciate what he has if he doesn't know what it's like to not have it."

"That's true, I suppose. It's partially why my parents sent him out here. They shipped him off to me to work him to death and beat some sense into him. If he's away from the pristine city of spoils and out here where he can't get to it even if he wants to, then when he comes back he might have more appreciation for it, particularly more respect."

"I can see why they sent him out here. I wouldn't want to deal with his crappy attitude either."

Itachi chuckled, "You've been a huge help slapping some sense into him. I can tell he's slowly changing."

"How? I haven't seen anything in him change at all…"

"He ate fried chicken."

"And? Who wouldn't? It's delicious."

"It's what Sasuke would call 'commoner's cuisine,' and if he had a choice he'd rather eat sirloin steak or prime rib."

Sakura scowled, "So how has he changed?"

"After he made that remark the first night and wound-up eating it anyway, he hasn't complained about the food since. Not once that I've heard."

Sakura put her finger to her chin. He was right. That's only one thing though, and if he complains he probably knows that he'd starve anyway, because no one was going to give him money to go eat at a five star restaurant. The nearest one was deep in the city over three hours away.

"Well I have to go put these up in his room and wake him up before he sleeps the day away."

"He's actually already up, but I'd be careful. His mouth is already in good form this morning."

"Oh?" Sakura asked with an expression of interest, "Well, we'll just have to see how long that lasts, now won't we?"

Itachi smirked as he watched the pinkette scurry back into the house. The antics between those two kept him thoroughly entertained.

Sakura walked towards the egotistical brat's room to deliver his sheets and put them on his bed, but she was slightly disgruntled at what she found. He was shirtless.

Sakura knocked on the doorframe of his open room before entering and asking, "Any reason you're half naked?"

Sasuke just looked up from his computer screen and breakfast, annoyed, replying, "Any particular reason my partial nudity seems to bother all of you?"

"I'm guessing Itachi poked at you too?" She chuckled as she walked over to strip his sheets off the bed and put on the new ones.

"Hn" came his bland catchphrase of acknowledgement.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him and proceeded to smooth out his comforter and place his pillows back onto the bed. Sasuke silently watched her in contemplation. He'd yet to see this side of her; the housewife. She was swift and precise like a true domesticated woman, yet he still had images of this girl riding up to the house, covered in mud, screaming like a wild banshee. She was like a yin-yang; wild, but responsible. It's like she knew exactly when to unleash each part of her personality. It peaked Sasuke's interest in the girl to a degree where he wasn't sure he was comfortable. Sakura looked up after putting the dirty sheets in the basket and saw Sasuke's heated gaze locked on her and let a tint of pink rise to her cheeks.

"Staring is rude you know..." she grumbled as she went over to his closet and emptied his hamper into the basket as well.

Sasuke drew his eyes back to the computer screen as he said, "I'm sorry. It's just rare to see you behaving like a person instead of a wild animal."

"I have manners too, mind you, if that's what you meant. If you keep making fun of me I won't show you a good time this afternoon after work."

Sasuke quirked a brow asking, "Work? I thought today was my day off."

Rolling her eyes Sakura answered, "We let you sleep in. That doesn't mean you're off the hook."

Sasuke just scowled at her and turned back to his computer not even bothering to reply to her.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Sakura curiously inquired as she looked at Sasuke's computer screen blown up with a recently uploaded picture of Karin.

"Not quite."

"But you like her?"

"Hn"

That question hit a nerve with the Uchiha, which caused him to close the lid of his computer and physically remove the pinkette from his room. Sakura let out a few grunts of protest escape her lips before the door was closed right in her face. Sasuke really wasn't in a good mood now. She let out a discontented sigh before trudging back downstairs with everyone's laundry. That was mainly her and Shisui's chore realm; housework. However Sakura did do extra things with the horse and cattle. She also saw the mess Sasuke had left in the kitchen after making his breakfast. He'd left the milk and the cereal out. Sakura just decided to put it away instead of going up and giving him more grief.

"You ready to do the laundry?" Shisui asked in his happy tone of voice that he usually greeted the pinkette with.

She nodded and Shisui carried out the baskets of laundry he'd collected along with the baskets Sakura had collected, and they both headed outside to the washbasins and boards to wash the laundry by hand. They could've invested in a washing machine. However Itachi just didn't see why. Sakura actually enjoyed doing laundry by hand, because it gave her time to talk to Shisui who was like a more gentle fatherly figure to her. She talked to him with confidence almost as if he was her mother. As odd as that sounds (no he's not gay, just slightly more feminine).

Sakura set the basket of her, Sai, and Sasuke's laundry and started with the raven haired boy's.

"Wow" Shisui commented, "I guess you really do like him."

Sakura looked up from her wash board with a quizzical expression as she asked, "Who?"

"Sasuke. You're washing his underwear, aren't you?"

Sakura hadn't really realized that she had pulled cloths out from his basket first but blushed when she realized the garment that was in her sudsy hands.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked with a blush.

Shisui smiled already having intuition on where this conversation might be going, "Of course."

Sakura hesitated a little while scrubbing Sasuke's clothing then finally asked, "How do you know if it's worth pursuing someone?"

Shisui stopped scrubbing the shirt he had on his washboard and looked at Sakura a little astonished at her rather deep question, "I don't know… I suppose it's when you touch them in the littlest ways, and it feels like nothing else you've ever come into contact with. When every word that pours out of their mouth is like a story you never want to end or stop listening to. When being in their presence brings you comfort. Sometimes love is instant, and sometimes it needs room to grow, but as far as pursuing someone, if they even give you the slightest inclination of feelings you should always investigate. You'll know what to do when a situation presents itself."

Sakura nodded and scrubbed in silence, reflecting on his advice. Shisui made a mental note to himself to talk to Itachi about it later. Sakura had never taken an interest in boys before, and Sasuke didn't give him the impression as being a boy who played by the rules. The last thing he wanted was for Sakura to get caught up in a bad boy's ego and come crying home with a broken heart.

"So what bit you in the ass?" Kisame asked as he and Sasuke were stacking boards to build a new chicken coop.

Sasuke wiped some sweat off his brow answering "Hn"

For that, Kisame threw a hefty two-by-four at the raven haired boy's face.

"What the hell was that for!" he shouted irritated, cupping his already bruising cheek.

"When an adult tries to hold a conversation with you, you don't brush them off like that. You don't seem to learn well when people tell you things, so I'll just beat it into you. Bruises and all."

Sasuke was appalled at his blatant disregard for his safety. What if that board had hit him in the eye? What then? Sasuke was struck speechless.

However after moments of silence he gave Kisame his own little nugget of wisdom, "Child or adult, no one likes having their personal life pried into. If I wanted you to know, I would've told you."

"Fair enough" came his raspy reply.

The two seemingly worked in silence the rest of the afternoon and finished about 80% of it. There were some fine touches left to do and the painting as well.

Sweaty and exasperated, Kisame and Sasuke walked back into the house to find lunch already on the table.

"Wash your hands" Shisui chirped as he got down plates, but took one look at Sasuke and cringed, "What happened?"

Sasuke pointed to his bruised cheek with a questioning expression, "This?"

"Yes, that."

"Ask fish-face" he sneered as he made his way towards the bathroom to wash his hands.

"Sasuke wait, could you go get Sai and Sakura from the barn before you wash up?" Shisui asked.

The raven-haired boy rolled his eyes but went out the back door, across the yard, and into the barn. The large door creaked open and Sasuke saw the five or so stalls, each with a horse head sticking out of it. He patted a few until he came to a stall with a horse being groomed by none other than the pinkette herself.

"Lunch is ready" he nonchalantly grumbled as he crossed his arms leaning up against the stall door.

Sakura was a bit pre-occupied and didn't even look at him, but replied, "Thanks, I'll be in in about fifteen or so minutes."

Sasuke looked around then asked, "Where's Sai?"

"In the back, polishing and cleaning the riding gear."

"Hn."

Sasuke walked away from Sakura's stall and made his way towards the back room where all the leather riding gear and other horse grooming items were kept. He opened the smaller sliding wooden door to find Sai sitting on a bench with a cloth, polishing a saddle.

"Lunch is ready."

Sai looked up from his work and just stared in silence.

"Fish-face hit me with a two-by four. It's not that big of a deal, stop staring."

Sai then got up and put the saddle down and was walking towards Sasuke and put a hand on his shoulder, "Kisame's a little rough around the edges. You'll just have to excuse him, I'm sorry."

Sasuke just slapped a hand to his face in irritation but wound up slightly hitting his bruise and cringed. Damn that blue skinned bastard. After Sai had headed towards the house, Sasuke assumed Sakura would follow him out, but when he only saw Sai walking into the house he turned around and walked back into the barn to find Sakura still grooming the horses.

"You take a long time."

Sakura was still shuffling around the stall and snipped at him, "Just go, and I'll be there in a minute. I'm almost done."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. She could be so stubborn sometimes. He just decided not to bother arguing with her, it's not like he would really help her anyways. He hated working. He walked back into the house and stood next to Sai and washed his hands then dried them off on the kitchen hand-towel and sat down at the table.

"I would say grace, but Sakura isn't here yet…" Shisui sneered while giving the youngest Uchiha a critical sideways glance.

"Don't look at me like that" he replied irritated, "I went out there and told her the food was ready."

Right after he said that the Pinkette came bursting into the kitchen from the back porch and went over to the kitchen to wash her hands then hastily sat down across from Sasuke and looked around the table at everyone and stopped right on Sasuke's bruise on his face.

"Oh my god" she huffed, "What the fuck mauled your face?"

"Language" Itachi hissed firmly, slapping Sakura behind the head.

"Sorry…" she whispered with a sheepish face of guilt.

Sasuke just rested his head on his hand to hide the bruise on his face. Truth was, he wasn't embarrassed about it until Sakura saw it. Why did he care so much what she thought? She was always rude to him anyway. The rest of lunch was filled with chitchat of Sai's paintings, how many of the livestock would give birth in the fall, and weird gibberish about the farm that Sasuke truly didn't understand, so he tuned it out and thought about back home. That picture he saw of Karin this morning was haunting him. She was smiling into the camera with her friends with peace signs like she was having a good time, but Sasuke knew better. Her eyes weren't smiling. He even got several messages from her telling him how much she missed him, but he knew if he replied it would make it lonelier for both of them. Besides, she still had Suigetsu. That bastard wasn't good for much, but in this situation, Sasuke figured he had some use in making Karin carry on. He even got messages from that scum telling him how Karin was more difficult and moping around everywhere she went.

"Earth to Sasuke" Sakura cooed while waving her hand in front of his face.

Sasuke swatted the intrusive limb away with a "Hn."

"I was asking if you wanted to go swimming with me?" she repeated herself for the third time.

"Sure" came his bored reply.

Swimming beat the hell out of painting the chicken coop.

After lunch Sakura grabbed a backpack and stuffed what Sasuke considered rather random items into it. Then in her bikini top, cover up, and shorts, ran out the back porch. He wouldn't lie, she had a hot body. She wasn't built like a fragile, skinny girl, she was toned with muscles, but not so much that she didn't look feminine.

"Hurry up!" she shouted as she ran to the barn.

Sasuke grumbled as he threw on his board shorts and put on a t-shirt and threw on his sneakers and followed Sakura out to the barn. He was surprised when she had a white mare out instead of her own horse.

"You aren't taking Shanondoah?" he asked quizzically.

Sakura shook her head and answered, "I'm taking her out later with Sai, so I'll let her rest for now. Besides, ol' Magnolia here hasn't had much exercise. You can't keep these animals cooped up all the time, ya know?"

Sasuke shrugged then asked, "Are you putting a saddle on her?"

"Of course. She's a quarter horse, so she's saddle broken."

"Are we doubling up?" He asked yet another question.

She smiled wickedly remembering how uncomfortable he was the last time, "No, not this time. I'll let you ride Nightingale."

After she'd bridled and saddled Magnolia Sasuke watched her go to the back room and pull out another set of riding gear and a helmet as well. She hung the saddle and bridle next to a stall then threw the helmet at Sasuke.

"No offense city-slicker, but since you aren't an experienced rider I'm going to have you wear that. Better safe than sorry."

Sasuke just raised a brow at her in a slightly condescending manner since she was partially insulting him. It didn't really hurt his ego, surprisingly. The only times he'd been on a horse were a pony at a festival when he was little and the night before with Sakura. He'd never actually controlled a horse himself, though he wouldn't tell Sakura that. It'd hurt his pride even more and she'd just treat him like a child.

Sasuke looked at the beautiful brindle coat stallion Sakura led out of the stall and started to gear up.

"Oh you…" Sakura grumbled before kneeing the horse in the ribs and tightening the saddle.

"That's a bit harsh" Sasuke grunted not liking the violent behavior towards the horse.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the ignorant boy then told him, "They puff out their chest when you put the saddles on, then they suck their stomachs back in and the saddle slips off and you go flying. If I didn't knock the air out of him before tightening it then you would've gone flying too. It doesn't hurt him like you think it does. I've done this enough times to know how."

Sasuke just put his helmet on then waited for Sakura to finish bridling the horse before he got on. She gave him a leg up and helped him into the saddle then grabbed the reigns of both his horse and hers and led them outside the barn and closed the door behind her.

"Is this your first time?" She asked curiously.

"No" he scoffed.

"Well ok then" she sighed hopping onto her own horse.

Itachi was watching from the back porch with a smirk on his face, Shisui standing next to him.

"What's so amusing?" Shisui asked Itachi.

"She doesn't know Sasuke's never ridden a horse."

"Oh dear, and she gave him Nightingale. God save him."

Itachi just shook his head and took a sip from his iced tea and headed back inside. They still had work to do around the house if it was going to be pristine.

"Have you thought about it?" Shisui asked

"About what?"

"That proposal your mother made you over the phone?"

"Yeah I have, and you know I can't say no. But don't tell Sai or Sakura yet, I don't want to upset them longer than I have to. They'll be fine if I just tell them a week in advance."

"Can I tell Kisame?" he asked curiously testing Itachi's width of patience.

"No. You know as well as I do how he has a soft spot for Sakura, and he'll tell her then she'll tell Sai and it'll defeat the purpose of keeping it a secret."

"Hn."

"No!" She shouted, "You don't need to pull on the reigns that hard. Just slightly pull it out to the side. They detect the slight shift and understand what to do. God you're impossible. I don't think you've ever handled a horse in your life."

Sasuke grumbled in dissatisfaction as his horse continued to ignore his every command. It was a good thing Sakura had verbal commands to correct the horse to keep it from veering away. Sasuke was beyond frustrated and was about to give up and ask Sakura to switch horses with him, but he was too full of pride to quit. He had to make Sakura believe that he'd ridden a horse before, even if it wasn't the truth.

"What was the point of bringing me anyway?" he asked somewhat begrudgingly that he'd been drug out of the house slightly against his will.

"I'm going to teach you how to live."

"I know how to live. I'm breathing."

"You exist, but you aren't living."

At that point, Sasuke for once had no retort. He couldn't argue with that assessment. There was a long pause of silence riding through the woods before Sakura added, "I want to show you my world."

Sasuke was surprised at that. For all the mean and rude comments she made, she wanted to share something as sacred as her world with him. He'd be surprised if she even shared one bite of her mashed potatoes at dinner. It astounded him even more that he was actually excited to get inside her head. Getting to see how this banshee functioned would be a worthwhile investment of his time. Though why he was so intrigued by this one girl was beyond him. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with it, but for once in his life he just felt like going with the moment instead of logic.

After a time Sasuke saw a clearing in the distance. When they broke through the final row of trees, Sasuke saw a shimmering lake. Sakura quickly dismounted her horse and threw her light cover-up, backpack and shorts off and ran onto the dock but stopped.

"Crap" she hissed, "I forgot these horses need to be tethered. Tie them to the tree over there, Sasuke."

Sasuke dismounted his horse and casually walked over to the tree Sakura pointed to and double knotted the end of the reigns of the horses on a thick branch. Her backpack and clothes were in a pile at the base of the tree, and Sasuke added his helmet and shirt to the pile. Sakura ran to the edge of the dock and stopped yet again when the shirtless Uchiha was just scowling at her with his arms crossed at the base of the dock.

"What's that face for?" she asked slightly frustrated with his attitude.

"This isn't my idea of 'swimming'." He snarkily answered her, "I have no intention of jumping into that murky lake water."

Sakura got a malevolent smile on her face as she answered, "Oh yeah? Guess I'll just have to make you."

"Let's see you try" he egged her on.

Sakura pulled a necklace out of her bikini top that just so happened to be Sasuke's prized dog tags. She dangled them over the water with a wicked grin, "Want to play scuba diver?"

Sasuke's eyes widened then snapped into a murderous glare as he asked, "Where did you get those?"

"They fell out of your sheets when I was making your bed this morning. Don't worry princess, I didn't find them next to your diary and tampons."

"Give those back" he sneered, "You have no idea what that is."

"I don't need to" came her saucy reply, "I just know I need them to get you in the water."

Sasuke had heard enough. He charged at her with the full intention of getting his dog tags back He managed to pin her under him with her head hanging over the ledge above the water, but as soon as he grasped the chain and ripped the necklace from her hands, she put her feet on his stomach and flipped him over her head into the water. He fell into the lake with a splash. Luckily, he managed to hang onto the dog tags and quickly put them on around his neck then swam to the surface of the water.

"So how cold is it?" Sakura asked sheepishly as Sasuke spat some of the lake water out of his mouth.

"You're an asshole."

"I only asked how cold it was" she cooed as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"How about you feel for yourself?"

Sakura laughed as Sasuke jumped out of the water, pulling himself up onto the dock and chased after her. She got half of the way down when he caught her, slung her over his soggy shoulder, and ran back down the edge and jumped into the lake, taking her with him. Sakura came up to the surface of the water gasping for air, but she had yet to see the Uchiha break the surface.

"Sasuke?" she called skeptically, "Sasuke, this isn't funny…"

Finally she saw some of his skin break the surface, but it wasn't his face. It was his back.

"Sasuke! she shouted, panicked she grabbed him and struggled to pull him up onto the dock.

His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. Sakura leaned down and put her ear by his mouth. She couldn't hear him breathing.

"No… no no no no no" she whimpered repeatedly before she leaned down to resuscitate him.

Sasuke cracked open on of his eyes smirking, "You wanna kiss me that badly, huh? That you would do it while I was unconscious?"

Sakura gasped in surprise then hissed, "The nerve!"

For the first time in a long time Sasuke let out a hardy laugh and even put a hand over his stomach. He kept laughing until he coughed up a bit of water he'd swallowed. It was too easy pulling her chain.

"Or did you want me to kiss you so badly that you would fake drowning?" She corrected him while dipping her face down towards him.

Sasuke stood up with his back to the lake and got an inch from her face, "Is that what you think?"

Sakura didn't know what demon or angel had taken possession of her body at that particular moment, but on a whim of compulsive curiosity she closed the one-inch gap between them and put her lips onto his. The Uchiha was startled to say the least, but what he expected even less was for the pinkette to try and shove him off the dock right afterwards. He grabbed her arm while falling and pulled her in along with him with a slight yelp of surprise from Sakura.

"What was that?" he asked when both of them had gotten back to the surface of the water.

Sakura's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink as she mumbled, "Nothing…"

"So you just put your mouth on everything?" he asked quirking a brow.

"No" she grumbled, "It's not likethat."

"Then what is it like?"

"I don't know…"

Sakura at this point was full on blushing and had no idea how to reason her behavior.

"Let's just go back. We've been out here a long time. I'm gunna get sunburn if were in the heat much longer" she whined.

Sasuke shrugged and was more than happy to get out of the lake water. It was cold and refreshing, but he couldn't get over the brown color and plants that tickled at the bottoms of his feet.

"Carpe diem?" he said quizzically reading the tattoo he saw.

Sakura's eyes grew wide as she slapper her hand over her left shoulder blade and spun around shouting, "You can't tell Itachi!"

"Oh-ho-ho" came Sasuke's mockery, "Well it looks like I've just dethroned the Queen-B with a valuable piece of intel."

"You intend to blackmail me?"

"Of course. Now I'll get some peace and quiet and no buckets of horse shit dumped on me."

"That was one time! Would you just get over it already!"

"After experiencing that fetid odor and unpleasantly dank texture? Never."

"My God you're such a five year old. Just don't tell him and I'll find ways to make living out here bearable for you, ok?"

"How?"

"Well you had fun swimming today, right?"

Sasuke crossed his arms and glared to his right at a tree on the shore of the lake. He couldn't deny that he had enjoyed himself more than he had expected to, but he couldn't admit it out loud due to his ego.

"It was alright."

"You laughed" she grunted, frustrated to get the truth out of him, "I've never heard you laugh until today."

"I've only been here a few weeks, not an eternity" he rolled his eyes.

"Most normal people have a good laugh everyday."

"You should know more than anyone that being normal is overrated."

Sakura was fuming mad. There was just no way to get through that thick head of his. Eventually, she took a deep breath and realized whether he wanted to say it or not, he did have a good time.

Sasuke and Sakura walked through the back door to find Shisui already beginning to cook dinner.

"Want to be my su-chef?" he asked Sakura sheepishly.

Sasuke just went strait upstairs to get a shower and wash off the murky water. Sakura nodded at Shisui and washed her hands then put on her green kitchen apron and started slicing vegetables and was put in charge of making the salad and mashed potatoes. She was pretty tired from work and play, but she knew she had an obligation to help. Eventually she finished making her share of dinner and headed upstairs to her own room to wash up. She didn't consider the lake water disgusting like Sasuke did, but if left on her skin for too long, it started to smell a bit funky. She got in the shower and scrubbed from her strawberry locks to her toenails. She knew she was going back out that night with Sai to see the wild horses, but she wanted to feel fresh.

"Dinner's ready" Sasuke said after he knocked on her door while Sakura was naked in her room.

Sakura grabbed her towel off her bed thinking he might come in but answered, "I'll be down in a minute."

She rushed to get dressed in her grungy rolled up sweat pants, a t-shirt that was two sizes too big, and a jacket. It was supposed to get cold that night, very cold.

When she came shuffling down the stairs, everyone was already sitting at the table. She sat in her usual spot across from Sasuke and then everyone said grace, "Itadakimasu" and dug in.

"Sakura," Itachi called as she and Sai were headed out to the barn, "Don't stay out too late. It's going to get dark soon, and it's supposed to be below freezing tonight."

"Alright" she complied with a smile as they went out to the barn.

"Where are they going?" Sasuke asked from over Itachi's shoulder, looking out the window.

Itachi crossed his arms watching them ride away and shrugged, "Hell if I know. Just as long as they're together I don't care where they ride. Sai will make sure she's safe."

"He's that protective of her?"

"Very."

"I haven't seen it."

"He hasn't needed to show it, yet."

"Yet?"

"He might come after you, at some point."

"Why?"

"I talked with Shisui earlier today, while you two were at the lake."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Don't play dumb. Everyone sees you two better than you see each other and yourselves. I'm just going to lay down the law right now: keep it in your pants."

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he scoffed, feigning ignorance.

"I just told you" Itachi grunted, "Keep it in your pants. And you do know what that means."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. It's not like he had intentions of reproducing with that pink-haired banshee, though the thought did make the blood rush to his cheeks.

Sai was feeding the horses carrots from Sakura's bag while the pinkette just sat on the ground, weaving grass into bracelets.

"What's wrong with you?" Sai asked curiously as he sat in the grass next to her, watching her weave.

Sakura let out a huff of air before grumbling, "I think I made a mistake, but I don't know…"

"Well, what did you do?"

"I kissed Sasuke."

Sai slapped a hand to his face. He knew something like this would eventually happen between the two of them, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.

"You know" he sighed, "I'm not sure I like him. He seems decent enough as a person, but he strikes me as the 'misunderstood bad boy' type who sucks you in, uses you, then tosses you aside."

"But…" Sakura sighed, "You don't know him like I do."

"You don't know him" Sai scoffed, "He's only ben here a few weeks. Don't kid yourself, Sak."

Sakura just looked depressingly at the grass. As much as she would love to agree that Sai was right and move on, it was too hard. She had to see that boy's face every morning, everyday, and every night. It would be too hard for her to just avoid her feelings for him like he doesn't make her uncomfortable. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.

To Be Continued...

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