I'm aware that this chapter is much sorter than my most recent ones. While I was writing it actually just became too long so I split it in half, plus I think the timing between chapters works better this way.

I didn't get any feedback, besides one person, on my idea to write a complete chapter from Sasuke's POV but I plan on doing it a few chapters from now anyways, so I hope no one is super surprised by it.

Enjoy!

Sakura sat on some mats that had been stacked on top of each other, inside of the large gym built on the corner of the Uchiha's property. At the moment she was watching Naruto attempt to spar with Itachi. She couldn't stop staring at the spectacle the two boys made. Naruto kept charging forward at him blindly with no real plan at all, and Itachi kept dodging him with ease. Ducking and weaving almost as if he was predicting Naruto's movements. Naruto never once landed a single hit on him, and Itachi kept flipping him on his back to the mats beneath them. Naruto didn't give up until Itachi pinned him to the floor with a knee in his back and turned his arm at an unnatural angle.

"Okay, okay!" Naruto whined. "You win. Just don't break my arm."

Itachi grinned and got off the blond, then helped him stand once more.

"I would never actually hurt you Naruto." He informed.

"Tell that to my back. I think it's permanently bruised now." He complained, rubbing at a particularly sore spot. "Couldn't you have pretended to let me win at least once? Now Sakura won't stop laughing at me."

"Why don't we let her spar with you then?" Itachi suggested. "Maybe then she won't laugh anymore."

Sakura immediately sobbered at the idea of fighting Naruto. Sure, he couldn't hold his own against Itachi, she didn't think anyone could, but he would probably fair much better against her. She wasn't a seasoned fighter the way Itachi was; who'd been winning various types of competitions since a young age.

"Don't be ridiculous." Sakura said. "I'm sure Naruto wouldn't find fighting me much of a challenge."

"Come on Sakura. Tsunade told me about the kickboxing classes you've been taking. I bet you'll do better than you think." Itachi encouraged.

"I don't know..." Naruto said skeptically. "I don't want to hurt her, and she's right. I like more of a challenge."

Sakura felt a hint of anger spike at his words even though it was her who'd said them first. She was trying to just avoid the sparing match altogether. She didn't actually think Naruto would wipe the floor with her. Hearing his confidence in the matter hit a nerve.

"Actually, I think I'll try it." She decided, earning wide eyes from Naruto and a large smile from Itachi.

"Okay." Naruto began. "I won't go easy on you though."

"We wouldn't be friends anymore if you did." Sakura joked.

Taking her place opposite of Naruto on the mats, she rolled her shoulders a few times and took an open stance. Like he had with Itachi, Naruto charged at her the moment they were told to begin. She neatly dodged his fist that came flying towards her face, and grabbed his wrist twirling under his arm and coming up behind him to kick the back of his knee causing him to kneel on the ground. She let go and took a few steps back to prepare for his next attack.

"This might actually be pretty fun." She said happily.

Where Naruto's fighting style was more aggresive in nature, Sakura's was lighter and more acrobatic. It almost appeared as if she were dancing around Naruto. If Itachi didn't know any better he would think that the match had been coreographed by the way she easily sidestepped him and would twist away before he could get a grasp on her. Only a few minutes had gone by when Sakura had knocked Naurto to the floor and Itachi declared that the fight was over.

"No fair!" Naruto cried. "She was practically using her hair as a weapon. Didn't you see the way it kept smaking me in the face while she was spinning around? I was completely blind!"

Unlike most days Sakura was wearing her long hair pulled up into a ponytail. While she hadn't been planning on sparing, she did dress for a workout today, and stood in her black yoga leggings and red sports bra. Her chest was heaving slightly from her fight with Naruto and a light layer of sweat was glistening on her skin.

"Just looking at her is distracting." Naruto continued. "It's no wonder I lost."

"What, exactly, are you trying to say?" Sakura asked him, a threatening look on her face.

Naruto gulped, but kept going.

"It's just that...well, I'm a guy, and your standing over there without a shirt on. It makes it a little hard to focus. That's all."

"All the estentials are covered Naruto." She said with a roll of her eyes. "If you want to I'll go put a shirt on and make sure my hair is out of your way, and we can go again."

"No. That's okay." He rushed out. "I'm really tired, so maybe next time."

Itachi and Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the obvious fact that he was just making an excuse to not get beat again. Wiping away her tears of mirth she noticed Sasuke opening the door and entering the gym. He looked between Naruto, who was still sitting on the ground, and Sakura and Itachi's light laughter.

"Itachi beat your ass again dobe?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

"No." Naruto grumbled. "I just spared with Sakura."

Sasuke turned to look at the girl in question, and saw her standing in a triumphant manner next to his brother.

"Pathetic." He stated simply.

"He tried his best." Itachi disagreed. "Sakura was just better than anyone expected."

Sasuke gave her his normal expressionless face, but Sakura somehow knew he doubted she was that skilled of a fighter, and obviously blamed Naurto's lack of ability for her win.

"I bet I could take you on." She challenged.

He just scoffed for a response, but Itachi spoke.

"I don't know Sakura. He normally only spars with me because no one else can keep up. Naruto's an exception because he knows how to take a hit."

"I'll take the risk." She assured. "Besides, with any luck he's as easily distracted as Naruto."

Sasuke raised his brows at that but otherwise kept quiet.

"Are you sure?" Itachi asked once more. "You could actually get hurt this time."

"I'll be careful." Sasuke said from the doorway. "If she gets hurt it's her own fault."

This time it was Sakura's turn to scoff. Having made up her mind she went to stand on her side of the mat once more, and watched as Sasuke walked across the large gym to take his position, slipping his shirt off along the way.

'Fuck.' Sakura thought. 'If this is how Naruto felt it's no wonder he was distracted.'

Her green eyes followed his movements of their own accord. She couldn't help but admire his physique. The way his rock hard abs rippled and contracted with each step he took, and how his arms seemed to be in a constant flexed state without any effort on his part. She also couldn't help but notice the way his gray sweats rode low on his hips. Even just standing across from her he radiated power.

'The man is too attractive for his own good.' She thought darkly. 'It's no wonder he has a fan club. If they saw him like this they'd probably faint on the spot.'

"Okay. Fight fair." Itachi stated, giving Sakura a pointed look.

"What?" She asked dumbly.

"He means don't kick Sasuke in the balls in order to win." Naruto explained with a laugh.

"As if." She responded, slightly upset that Itachi thought she would resort to such tactics.

"Begin when your ready." Itachi said stepping back.

She and Sasuke began to circle each other around the mats. When neither one had made a move Sakura decided that she would have to attack first, since Sasuke was obviously sitting back in order to assess her skills. She ran at top speed, and had the pleasure of watching his eyes widen slightly in surprise. However, he effortlessly caught her quick jab in his hand and spun her so her back was flush with his front, and held her arms crossed in front of her chest. She gave a light shiver at the skin contact, but tried to come up with a quick escape plan.

"Is that the best you can do?" Sasuke's low voice asked, his lips right next to her ear.

"Not a chance." She returned, and quickly slammed her foot down on his instep, which loosened his grip enough that she could land an elbow to his ribs. Turning out of his grasp she faced him and threw a kick towards his stomach, but he recovered just in time to grab her foot and shove her backwards.

She stumbled back a few steps, and felt a slight twinge in her right ankle when it came back to the ground, but ignored the pain in order to continue. She managed to regain her balance just in time to look up and see him coming towards her, fists flying. She dodged his as neatly as she had Naruto's, and just like she had with him she eventually caught one his punches and slipped under his arm, but instead of kicking his feet out from under him, she used his forward momentum against him and flipped him over onto his back. He hit the mat with a heavy thud, but didn't miss a beat. He spun and swiped his foot under her legs, causing her to fall flat on her back and knock the breath out of her. Before she could even get her breathing back under control Sasuke straddled her and pinned her hands on either side of her head. Their faces only inches apart.

"I win." He taunted, and she felt his breath fan the loose hairs around her face.

She didn't respond, too distracted by how close thier faces suddenly were. She watched as a bead of sweat slowly rolled down from his temple, falling lightly on her cheek. She looked into his onyx eyes and saw something that she couldn't quite identify, but quickly forgot about it when she noticed how his eyes had followed the small movement of her tongue when she'd lightly wet her lips in order to speak.

"I want a re-match." She whispered, her eyes now locked on his own smooth lips, just inches apart from her own.

"Why don't we save that for another day?" Itachi's voice spoke, effectively cutting through the tension.

"Fine." Sasuke agreed, although it was unclear if he was answering Sakura or Itachi.

He slowly stood up and then held his hand out to help up Sakura. She placed her hand in his and let him pull her from the floor, but quickly began to fall back down when she felt a sharp pain shoot up from her right ankle. Sasuke slid an arm around her waist, and slung the other over his shoulders before she hit the ground.

"Shit." She muttered, placing her weight on one leg.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Naruto asked, quickly following Itachi over.

"I sprained my ankle."

"Are you sure?" Itachi asked, kneeling on the ground and gently grabbing said ankle in order to examine it.

"Yeah." She breathed out. "Fuck. This is the last thing I need right now."

All the boys eyebrows lifted slightly at her langauge, but stayed silent.

"It's definitely sprained." Itachi agreed. "Can you put any weight on it?"

"I can try."

Itachi shook his head after a moment of thought. "Actually, it's probably better if you stay off it for now. We'll have Tsunade take a look at it when she gets home tonight. You should get back inside the house and put some ice on it."

She nodded in agreement, and suddenly felt an arm behind her knees scooping her off the ground. She looked into Sasuke's eyes in surprise, not expecting him to be so uncharacteristically kind.

"Go put her on the couch, and grab an icepack from the kitchen. Naruto and I will pick up everything here and be along shortly." Itachi ordered.

Sasuke gave him a single nod, and proceeded out the door while Naruto held it open for them, and began the trek back to the house.

"I guess I got hurt after all." Sakura pouted, glancing up at him once more.

"Hn."

"Seriously?" She demanded. "I thought we were finally past that. Why can't you just talk to me like a normal person?"

"About what?" He questioned.

"Anything!" Sakura exclaimed. "Like maybe how you've been ignoring me ever since I hugged you at school last week, or I suppose we can always talk about the weather if you get desparate."

"Hn." He responded once more.

"Ugh! You are so-"

"Annoying?" He finished for her.

"Actually, I was going to say frustrating." She retorted. "Your so damn frustrating it's driving me insane."

"Really?" He replied sarcastically.

"Yes! I can't figure you out. One day your apologizing and making me cookies, and the next your back to your asshole-ish, 'I don't give a damn' attitude."

"I didn't make them." He explained, sounding bored with the conversation. "I bought them."

"Whatever." Sakura grumbled. "You get my point."

They reached a side entrance of the house and she felt Sasuke shift her weight in his arms in order to open the door. Instintively, she tightened her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall.

"I won't drop you." He assured her. "Your almost too light; I could probably carry you with one arm."

Sakura wasn't sure how to take his comment. It certainly wasn't a compliment, but it didn't sound like an insult either. She wasn't the shortest girl she knew, but standing at 5'4 she wasn't all that tall either. She'd always liked her body. She had just the right amount of womanly curves, but was slim enough that they didn't look too round on her small frame. Her stomach, arms and legs were all nicely toned ever since she'd taken up kickboxing and yoga, but she wasn't overly muscled. While not being above average height Sakura's legs were long and slender, and her butt was small and perky. Her breasts weren't overly large, but her c-cups were the perfect size for her body. She wasn't the prettiest girl she'd ever seen, but she thought she had a fairly attractive body. It was clear Naruto agreed if his earlier reaction was any indication.

"How much do you weigh?" Sasuke asked, his expressionless mask still in place.

"Around 120 pounds I guess. I'm not exactly sure." She answered.

He said nothing as he made his way to the living room and lowered her to the couch, grabbing a few pillows to prop her foot up with. After making sure she was comfortable he headed into the kitchen to get an icepack as Itachi had instructed and returned with it a moment later. Sitting across from her on top of the small coffee table, he placed the icepack on her ankle which was already an angry red color and starting to swell.

"Aunt Tsuna's going to kill me." She groaned, her head flopping back onto the armrest behind her.

She saw Sasuke's questioning look and went on. "My idea to take kickboxing classes weren't exactly a hit with her. She only let me go because I promised to be extra careful. Now she's probably going to try and make me quit...again."

"Your not bad." He said, to her shock. "If you'd been fighting against anyone else you probably would have been fine."

"Thanks...I guess."

They sat in silence, and Sakura once again noticed that Sasuke was shirtless. He was too busy carrying her into the house after their match to put it on. She tried her best not to let her eyes wander but she would occasionally catch herself looking at the hard muscle of his six pack, or noticing how big his hands were compared to hers, as his fingers intertwind themselves in front of his mouth. Itachi and Naruto came in at that moment, and asked Sakura what she wanted them to do with her stuff that had been left in the gym, and tossed Sasuke his shirt, which he promptly threw on. She asked them take her shoes and bag into her room while putting her water bottle back in the refridgerator. They followed her instructions and came back, sitting down on the loveseat diagonal from her place on the couch.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Naruto asked.

"The ice is helping. It's pretty numb right now, but I'm probably not going to be able to walk on it for a while. I'll need crutches." She sighed heavily, closing her eyes in annoyance.

"How long?" Itachi questioned.

"Four weeks at best. Aunt Tsuna will have to wrap it for me when she gets home."

"I thought you were going to be careful?" Itachi suddenly growled at his younger brother who was still perched on the coffee table, his back turned to him.

"It's not his fault." Sakura interjected. "I felt a pain in my ankle during the match. If I'd just stopped I probably would have been fine, but I decided to push through it. There was probably no serious damage done until Sasuke kicked my feet out from under me at the end, but he couldn't have known. Don't be mad at him Itachi, okay?"

"Fine," He huffed. "but there won't be a re-match."

She opened her mouth to argue but Itachi silenced her with a single look and she snapped it shut. When he got like this there was no disagreeing with him, and everyone knew it.

"Go ahead and take her upstairs Sasuke. I'll call Tsunade and let her know what happened."

"Please don't." Sakura begged.

"If I tell her now she'll have the rest of the day to cool down. If she finds out when she gets home, you'll feel the full force of her anger." Itachi explained.

Sakura cringed at the idea, and nodded in agreement. She braced herself as Sasuke bent to pick her up in his arms once more. He ascended the stairs and quickly made it to her room on the third floor despite the extra weight he was carrying. He automatically turned towards her bed in the center of the room, but Sakura stopped him.

"Could you take me in the bathroom instead? I'm dying to take a shower right now."

"You can't stand. How do you plan on taking a shower?"

"Fine. A bath then."

He gave a small sigh of exasperation, but carried her to the bathroom as she asked. He sat her down on the edge of the large tub and turned the water on for her. He straightened and went to the linen closet to get a few towels and placed them within reach of the tub. Luckily, she'd already brought her pajamas in here earlier. Planning to shower as soon as she got back from the gym. However, she wasn't planning on having company so they were slightly more revealing than she would have liked, but she certainly wasn't going to ask Sasuke to go through her clothes and find new ones. She gave him a small smile and told him she could take care of it from here.

Once he had left and closed the door behind him she began to shed her clothes. Taking extra care while slipping off her pants around her sensitive ankle. Once every article of clothing had been deposited on the floor she turned on the edge of the large tub and slowly sunk into the hot water. She couldn't help but sigh in pleasure at how nice it felt against her skin, and sunk her head below the surface in order to wash her hair, which was now free from the pony tail she'd had it in earlier.

After washing every surface of her skin and rinsing the conditioner from her hair Sakura pulled the plug, and gingerly pushed herself up out of the tub to sit on its edge once more. Reaching for the towels that Sasuke had left folded on a nearby rack she began pulling one around her hair and twisted it up on top of her head and then proceeded to dry off with the other. Once that was done she grabbed her pajamas for the night, which consisted of a black silk camisole that showed a few inches of her midriff and a matching pair of silk shorts that fell just below her butt. She blushed at the thought of Sasuke seeing her so scantily clothed, but decided it couldn't be helped.

At that moment a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in!" Sakura called, and watched Sasuke make his way back into the room. He hesistated only for a moment upon noticing what she was wearing, but then continued and picked her up and carried her to the bed.

"Would you mind getting my brush for me?" She asked shyly, pointing to wear it laid on top of her dresser across the room.

He stood wordlessly and got it for her, and then sat on the edge of the bed when he returned and watched as she took her hair down and began to brush the tangles out. She tried her best to ignore his presence and just go about her usual routine, but somehow it felt like he filled her enitre room to capacity. Once she had finished brushing her hair she twisted it on top of her head into a ballerina bun, a few curling tendrils escaping and brushing against her cheeks and neck.

"Thank you for helping me. I'm sure it's a bit of a chore, but I appreciate it." She told him gratefully.

"Hn." was his his response.

"Were back to that again I see." She huffed and leaned back against her numerous amount of pillows.

"Itachi had dinner made. I'll go get it." He spoke softly, and then left the room before she could say anything.

He came back about ten minutes later, carrying a tray with her food on it, and sat it on her lap. She looked down to see a plate of spaghetti with a small side salad and brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and hot fudge drizzled on top. Her mouth immediately started watering. It smelled absolutely delicious. She grabbed the dessert first and took a small bite, letting out a small moan of delight at how good it tasted. She looked up to see Sasuke staring down at her intently, or more precisely her mouth. He slowly reached a hand out and lightly ran his thumb across her bottom lip causing Sakura to let out a small gasp. She watched in wonder as he brought his thumb to his own mouth and licked off the small drop of chocolate he'd wiped off her. Sakura licked her lips at the action, feeling a warmth low in her belly. Noticing her reaction Sasuke placed a hand under her chin and raised her head just enough so that her emerald green eyes locked with his onyx ones, and once again began to brush his thumb across her lips; back and forth, back and forth. She sat there mesmerized by him and his actions. The longer he touched her the more she felt the urge to toss her food aside and pull his lips down to hers.

"No." He said softly, almost as if he'd heard her thoughts, and suddenly his hand left her face and he was gone. Leaving her sitting there in the bed letting out the breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.

So? How was it? Did I do okay with the fight scenes? I tried my best. I didn't think they were that bad, but I can be a little biased. Sorry for the abrupt ending of the SasuSaku moment. I promise there is plenty more to come in the next chapter, so prepare yourselves! I just didn't want them to go from fighting straight to having intense feelings for each other. I felt like it needs a bit more time to build. I hope you all liked it, and please review! They're my favorite!