Author's Notes: I feel like things are happening a little slowly and I have to keep reminding myself these are short chapters, and it's too be expected. That said, please tell me if you think it's going to slow or too fast. :)
Read, love, and review! ^_^

Chapter Four. A Moment of Pleasure.

The trail they were following had led them into the land of frost. Sasuke Uchiha, being the only one with an ability to track the enemy without leaving any evidence, had taken the lead. But Sakura Haruno had her doubts that even he could follow… nothing. This cold blooded assassin with ninja abilities who was going around and picking off teams that carried the insignia of either Konoha or Kumo was incredibly good at keeping a low profile. The pinkette had had an idea on how to lure this assassin out into the open, and Sasuke dismissed her idea out of hand, while she fumed silently at his indifference to her plan.

Naruto Uzumaki had agreed with her. But the blonde's earlier attention seeking tendencies had caused Sakura to hug and kiss him (ahem, NOT the way she liked to kiss Sasuke), wanting to make Sasuke jealous. Well it worked. And this was how the raven haired dealt with jealousy; he either got angrier and angrier until he forced Naruto to visit a local dingy hospital, or started to ignore the object of his jealousy. He had decided on the latter today, and promptly pretended Sakura wasn't with them. Why did he have to be such an arrogant prick? If he could just take a joke once in awhile…

Sakura growled audibly and Naruto sighed heavily.

"Sasuke," the blonde said, causing the Uchiha to stop walking. "We need to go with Sakura's idea. There's no sign of this guy anywhere."

The last bit of solid intelligence they'd received was three days ago. This was wearing thin and they needed the money. It was a lot of yen for a single assassin, and Sasuke didn't want to underestimate the man. The high reward meant he was top of the range, and he would need his Sharingan for this one. He glanced at Naruto, his eyes drifting to Sakura, despite himself, and sighed inwardly. They were right of course, but he didn't want to give the blonde the satisfaction of thinking he'd outthought him.

This idea… it was a very Naruto idea, and the Uchiha was surprised that Sakura was the one to suggest it. She'd been hanging off the blonde dobe's every word for too long. Sasuke sighed outwardly this time, his eyes watching the trees around them. They were off the beaten track, walking along the forest floor, stepping over exposed roots and moving in the manner that civilians would, if lost in the forest. But they weren't lost. This was just another thing they did every now and then so they could sneak up on people without drawing suspicion to their ninja origins.

Less than a mile up ahead the sparse woods would open to a field and they needed to make a decision on where to go next. It wasn't often that Naruto wasn't the odd one out; this time it was Sasuke disagreeing with them. From the first day they had started calling themselves Kitsúne, so few moments had presented an opportunity for the Uchiha to be surprised by the blonde. The knucklehead was crazy after all.

Sasuke turned to look at Sakura, who was staring at him expectantly.

"This idea of yours," he said slowly, "is insane."

Sakura giggled softly, happier now that he was looking straight at her. "You mean it's a Naruto kind of idea."

"Hey!" Naruto whined. "There's nothing wrong with this idea!"

The pinkette laughed. "No, nothing really. But Sasuke's right, it is insane."

Sasuke spared her a small smile, his hand going instinctively to hers. This drew the warmth in her body to her hand and she gripped his fingers tightly, grateful.

The blonde huffed, glaring at the Uchiha. "Just because she won't fuck me doesn't mean all the insane ideas come from me."

Sasuke couldn't help himself as Sakura berated Naruto and proceeded to belt him over the head. He chuckled ever so softly. Maybe this idea wasn't so bad after all. Once Sakura had calmed down, the Uchiha let go of her hand; though he hadn't forgotten she hadn't let go to hit Naruto.

"Let's do it then," Sasuke said and the mood brightened.

Sakura's idea was to find the Kumo ninja they knew was nearby (via the information that had originally led them to the land of frost in the first place), and follow them to see where they were headed. This would put them in an easy position to interrupt if the assassin was nearby and struck the Shinobi or, as Naruto had suggested as an alternative if that went wrong, to steal their clothes, and pose as them to draw the assassin out. Now that he put the idea into more cohesive thought, Sasuke could suddenly see why Sakura had posed the idea. But he kept quiet; Naruto wasn't the only one who got smug when their ideas panned out.

Shimogakure was nearby, but they weren't interested in ninja from this land. Shimo had a tentative alliance with Kumo however, and a squad from the village hidden in the clouds was supposed to be spending the coming night in Kurakuta Town, a quaint place with enough background "music" to keep secret conversations secret without having to whisper. It was the perfect place to meet, greet, and never be overheard doing so. This in and of itself led Sakura to guess that it was the meeting place of both Kumo and Shimo ninja and the prospect of possibly listening in on their discussion was very tempting.

But they had a bounty to earn, and nothing that Kumo and Shimo might be up to concerned them.

They planned to intercept the Kumo ninja when heading out of the land of frost, given that the assassin didn't try first. That would leave Naruto's thieving idea as "plan B". So they continued, out of the woods and into the field, moving faster now and headed north, toward Kurakuta Town. Shortly before the town, they decided to clean up, not having the yen to spare for a night in the local hotel; they rarely did, sparing their money for the necessities rather than the luxuries. Still, Sakura wished they could find a town that wasn't dingy and splash out on said luxuries. The reward for this bounty would give them this, and was incentive enough that even Naruto was keeping his eyes on the prize, so to speak.

They stopped near a stream, and Naruto took off, carrying their gourds and heading toward the stream, a bounce in his step and Sakura took Sasuke's hand, pulling him along with her as the blonde disappeared. She hadn't been alone with him for days and the desire to hide from the knucklehead and act on her physical needs was so strong that it took even Sasuke by surprise. He didn't protest as she moved toward the nearby trees. They weren't a forest, or even woods, but were still ample enough to hide them.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, once they were out of view of the stream.

Sakura silenced him with a kiss. He always tried to stop her when she came onto him out in the open. He valued his privacy. But she wasn't relenting, so he indulged her, recognising also that he was grateful to be out of range of the dobe for the first time in days. Who knew when it would happen again, at least until they killed this assassin and collected the reward. Sasuke needed a moment to vent, so started running his hand down Sakura's top, his fingers brushing her breasts. She moaned into his mouth and pulled him tighter to her, her back against a lone tree.

Sasuke's hand slid down between the pinkette's legs, tugging on the tight black shorts she wore under her pink skirt, eager to get inside of them. He pulled them down to pool at her ankles, leaving only her skirt to protect Sakura's bare ass from the coarse bark of the tree behind her. She realised a moment later just how much he'd pulled down and wrapped her legs around his waist after collecting the said items and keeping them from falling to the ground, breaking their kiss as she did so. Sasuke started to undo his own pants and Sakura leant backward against the tree.

"Slow down a little Sasuke-kun," she roused, earning a grunt from the Uchiha.

She rested her arms on his shoulders as he slid his fingers into her, getting her ready for what he was more eager to thrust into her. She mewled in appreciation, pulling Sasuke toward her and resuming their kiss. She wanted to feel loved, even if she doubted his heart sometimes. But this was just sex right now, just a quickie to vent the tension they'd both been feeling the last few days. And when Sasuke finally undid his pants and thrust deeply into her, Sakura threw her head back, screaming his name.

So much for staying out of sight. The blonde knucklehead came back from his trip to the stream a few minutes later, but continued to be ignored by the very vocal lovers. Sasuke gave a final, forceful thrust and grunted in pleasure as Sakura moaned at the familiar sensation of him releasing into her.

Naruto snapped out of his stunned reverie finally, at the sounds of their copulation.

"Oh for fuck sakes, get a room you two!"

X X X

A/N: Only Kitsúne this chapter, sorry. I realised their story was coming out slower than the one for the Konoha ninja, so they get another chapter all to themselves. And, I couldn't help myself, an extremely "eager" SasuSaku moment too. A mere taste of a longer lemon I plan to write a little later. ;)
The summary for this story hints to an upcoming chapter that I'm BUSTING to get to, but it has to wait it's turn. *sighs*

Please review and stay tuned! You won't regret it! ^_^