Author's Note: Sasuke realized that it was wrong of him to treat Sakura like that so please forgive him (insert puppy eyes). And forgive this writer who had made some of you uncomfortable with the previous chapter! I will try to avoid that. Oh, I have recently started a new fanfic featuring the Sasuke/Sakura pairing which is set in the medieval times, asma raya. I will be very happy if you and everyone else will check it out! Of course, do check out my other Naruto fanfic as well (insert happy grin). Anyway, thank you for your reviews everyone and also the follows and favorites. I'm really happy!

P.S. I know I mentioned that I would add more intimate scenes in this chapter. But the chapter turned out to be longer than I expected. So those scenes will be added on chapter 12 instead. Sorry about that!

Chapter 11: Field Trip

Sasuke's POV

I knew this was going to happen but who was I to blame other than myself.

My manager called to inform that filming was cancelled the next day due to some technical problems. So, naturally, I headed over to school.

And right after I stepped into school, the first thing I heard was rumors about Sakura and I, which were spreading around like wild fire. I was aware that some people had witnessed me dragging Sakura away from school. What was worse was the fact that someone actually saw what happened with Sai as well.

How could I forget the very meaning of the word 'self-control'?

Like usual, countless pairs of eyes were on me as I walked through the hallways. But it was different this time. It wasn't the usual love struck kind of stares, but there were curiosity in their eyes as they looked at me.

When I got to the classroom, I immediately noticed the odd look on Sakura's face. She didn't even notice that I had sat behind her. She was too engrossed in her own thoughts and you didn't have to be a genius to know what she was thinking of.

It was Ino who told Sakura that I had arrived. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head towards me. She tried to act as normal as she could so she wouldn't attract more attention than she already did.

Unfortunately for her, her efforts to keep a low profile was futile.

Pairs of eyes followed us so closely that it was effortlessly making us feel uncomfortable. For someone like me who had always had people staring at me, I must admit I felt frustrated with my surroundings. I couldn't even begin to imagine how Sakura was feeling about it.

Sakura shot me a look before turning back to face the white board.

She was definitely troubled.

From the corner of my eye, I managed to catch a glimpse of Sai. He appeared indifferent, as if he was unaware of the things going on around him. It was impossible for him to not notice, of course. With these rumors around, he would be disturbed as well.

As if he could stay that calm for long.

Sakura's POV

When Sasuke had drove me home last night after we made out and cuddled, I was in bliss. I went home to take a nice warm bath, ate supper and had a wonderful sleep.

Then my happy self disappeared once I reached school.

I sort of had expected there would be words going around about Sasuke dragging me out of the school, but never would I have thought someone had saw what happened with Sai.

Why had things gotten so out of hand?

I sent Sasuke a message to meet me at the roof after he finished his lunch. I could have just dragged him with me but that would just make the whole situation worse, wouldn't it? And that was the last thing I needed.

Sasuke was already at the roof before I arrived. He was standing at the end and turned his head around when he noticed my presence. He had his usual expressionless face on but I could clearly see that he was troubled.

Who wouldn't if they were in Sasuke's position?

"Sorry about all this." Sasuke was the first to speak up. I heard him sighing and he was running his fingers through his dark hair.

"Nothing will be solved by blaming yourself for what had happened. It's more important to think of a way to stop these rumors."

"Hate to break it to you, Sakura. But the rumors seem to be getting out of control."

I groaned at Sasuke's words and hung my head in defeat. What Sasuke had said was true. There were more people talking about us during lunch period compared to when I had just arrived at school. And the things they talked about were getting out of hand.

I actually heard a girl said that I seduced Sasuke and another was ridiculous enough to say that I had hypnotized him. Who in the world did they think I was?!

"What do we do now?" I sounded desperate and I really didn't care if I did. My mind was getting messed up and not even a day had passed. How was I supposed to survive?

Sasuke reached out to pull me into an embrace. It felt comforting to be in Sasuke's arms. He was silently telling me that everything was going to be alright and I found myself calming down.

That was until I remembered where we were at that time.

I quickly pushed Sasuke away and narrowed my eyes at him.

"We're still at school and you're hugging me. Aren't you afraid someone might see us?"

"Well, you looked like you needed a hug."

I pinched Sasuke on the cheeks and it was his turn to narrow his eyes at me. I didn't mind surprise hugs from Sasuke but it would be bad if someone was to suddenly appear.

"Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine." Sasuke reassured me and I let go of his cheeks. I giggled when I saw that I had left red marks on his handsome face and he was rubbing them to ease the pain.

"Do you think the rumors will reach outside the school?"

I saw Sasuke grimaced at the thought and the sight made me sigh. Judging from Sasuke's reaction, I knew his answer to my question.

"Like I said, don't worry. I'll handle it."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I wasn't sure if I would be useful but I didn't like the idea of sitting back and letting Sasuke do all the work.

Instead of being serious, Sasuke had a smirk on his face and I had an idea on what he was thinking.

"If you insist, there are things you can help out with back in my apartment."

I punched Sasuke on the chest and glared at him.

"You pervert!"

I guessed that was Sasuke's way of saying he wanted to handle things on his own. But I was ready to help out in other things other than that whenever he needed me.

Sasuke's POV

After school ended, I went to the garden to pick up my manager's call. He definitely didn't sound very happy.

"What did you this time, Sasuke?"

"How bad is the situation?"

"So many people are talking about it in the internet. I am sure it'll be worse than the previous scandal."

I groaned in frustration but I had expected things to turn out this way. This time, there were more eyewitnesses and hence, the rumor was more reliable.

"Can you handle things this time?"

"I doubt it. But I'll try to see if there's anything I can do. For the time being, can you please behave?"

"Hn."

"By the way, the director just contacted me and said that some changes had to be made to the script. And we're ahead of schedule so he decided to resume filming next week to settle everything."

"Alright."

I hung up and sighed again. If Orochimaru wasn't confident that he could handle the rumors, it just showed how bad the situation was.

"Sasuke." I was so distracted that I didn't realize that Sakura was sitting beside me. She looked at me with concern in her eyes and I smiled a little to assure her that I was fine.

It didn't fool her, of course. But I was glad she chose to leave the topic be for now. She could see that I didn't want to talk about it.

"So are you going this weekend?"

I raised an eyebrow at Sakura in confusion.

"Where?"

Sakura pinched me on the cheeks for the second time that day.

"Did you pay attention to what Kakashi-sensei was saying during homeroom?"

I stayed silent and Sakura took that as a 'no'.

"Our batch will be having a field trip to Hakone from Friday until Sunday. Are you available to join?"

"I am. Filming will only resume next week."

Sakura didn't even bother hiding her excitement and was grinning widely at me.

"That's great! It's been a long time since I went to Hakone. And we're going to stay at the best hot spring resort during our trip! I'm glad you're coming as well."

I ruffled Sakura's pink hair as she continued giggling to herself.

With everything going on around us, a trip to the hot springs sounded very appealing.

Sakura's POV

It was Thursday night when Ino decided to come over to my house. Sasuke had been spending most of his time back at home with his family. After all, it was rare of him to have so much free time and his family definitely wanted to spend more time with him.

The rumors about us and Sai had yet to die down. I began to wonder if we should just reveal that Sasuke and I were dating so people could stop coming up with their own stories. But I knew better than to make such decisions without thinking it through.

For the past few days, I convinced myself not to get too affected by the words circulating around me and just focus on living my life.

"Have you finished packing, Ino?"

Ino suddenly came over to my house without informing me beforehand. She often did this so I got used to it already. We were inside my room and she was just watching me packing my things for the trip the next day.

"I got so excited for the trip that I finished packing yesterday! What are you bringing with you, Sakura?"

I had gotten all the clothes I wanted to bring along and placed them on my bed. Ino was looking through them and brought some up to get a better look.

"These are really cute dresses. Are you going to bring along cute lingerie as well?"

I turned my head over my shoulder to look at Ino when I sensed something unusual in her tone. She had a smirk on her face as she looked very suspicious.

"What are you trying to say, Ino?"

"I heard Sasuke will be joining this trip too." She still had her smirk on as she placed my dress back onto the bed. I rolled my eyes at her and had an idea on what she had in that dirty mind of hers.

"He is." I closed my wardrobe when I got all the clothes I needed. I turned around to face my smirking blonde friends.

She wasn't planning to make things easy for me, was she?

"Speak your mind, Ino."

"Well, we're going on a trip to a hot spring resort in Hakone. The atmosphere will be peaceful and romantic. And with Sasuke with there with you, who knows what will happen."

"What in the world are you implying, pig?" Ino had always been a straightforward person so when she was indirect that way, it got on my nerves.

"Must I say it so bluntly, forehead? What I'm trying to say is that you might lose your virginity during this trip."

I knew she was thinking of that.

"Shut up, Ino."

I turned around to hide my flushed face and went to get my luggage. I took out a small pink luggage, which was enough to carry everything I needed for the three days and two nights trip.

"Come on, Sakura! It will be the perfect chance! It'll be so romantic." Ino walked over to the drawer where I kept my lingerie and began rummaging through it. I glared at her but she completely ignored me. I watched her as she took out a few pairs of lacy lingerie.

"Bring these with you, Sakura. It'll make your first time even better." Ino's earlier smirk came back and I knew she wouldn't stop talking unless I agreed to do as she said. I snatched the lingerie from her hands and threw them to the pile of clothes I would be bringing with me.

There wasn't any harm in bringing them along with me anyway.

I began blushing even more furiously as Ino continued talking about that. She just wouldn't stop no matter how much I told her to.

At times like these, I wondered if having Ino as one of my closest friends was a blessing or a curse.

Sasuke's POV

I arrived at the railway station at 8 AM, as told by Kakashi-sensei. Sakura was already there when I arrived and she waved a little at me. I nodded in response before walking towards my friends.

Naruto wrapped his arm around my shoulder and was giving me one of his signature foolish grins.

"What?"

"What are your plans during this trip?" Naruto's grin was slowly turning into a perverted smirk. I glared at him when I realized what he was trying to say.

"I don't understand what you're talking about." I removed Naruto's arm from me and decided to feign ignorance.

"Shikamaru is your roommate, right? And Sakura will be roommates with Ino. I'm sure Shikamaru and Ino don't mind to do a roommate exchange." I was glad that Naruto had the brain to make sure he was speaking in a low voice. His words would definitely cause the rumors to escalate in the wrong direction.

When I felt another arm around my shoulder, my eyebrow twitched in annoyance. I was about to give Naruto a piece of my mind until I realized it wasn't Naruto.

It was Shikamaru.

"I just want to say that I don't mind exchanging roommates."

"Are you losing your mind like Naruto? I expected more from you, Nara."

"Unlike you, I'm a healthy teenager with normal teenage needs, Uchiha."

"Don't talk as if I'm different in that aspect."

"Does that mean you agree to exchange roommates?"

I must be out of my mind as well to have agreed.

Sakura's POV

I spent the entire train ride talking to Ino, Tenten and Hinata. Tenten was talking about her date with Neji few days ago and Ino was forcing her to give us details. After much forceful persuasion from Ino, she told us more details than she wanted.

Then the conversation led back to the rumors on Sasuke, Sai and I. I had told them about what really happened few days ago but kept quiet about the event back in Sasuke's apartment. They said it would take a long time before the rumors would die down. And for now, I should just be careful and avoid creating more chances for people to gossip.

I made eye contact with Sai inside the train and quickly looked away. I really didn't want to have anything to do with him. Not only did he said something really weird the last time we interacted, if people saw me talking to him, who knew what sort of rumors would be spreading around again.

"It's the safest to just ignore him."

The train ride wasn't a long one and before we realized, we had already arrived at Hakone. We were taken to the hot spring resort to put our things down before starting the day. There were four teachers with us; Kakashi-sensei, Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei and Gai-sensei.

I was put under the supervision of Kakashi-sensei, along with Sasuke, Naruto and much to my displeasure, Sai was in the same group as well. We were supposed to stay with our group throughout the trip to make supervising easier. I was quite disappointed that I wouldn't spend a lot of time with Ino, Tenten and Hinata but at least I have Sasuke and Naruto with me. And just like what I had decided, I would ignore Sai as much as I could.

I received deadly glares from Sasuke's annoying fan girls when they found out that I would be in the same group as their Sasuke-sama. It annoyed me even more when Sai's fan girls joined in the glaring game. All of them just couldn't stop being irritating and continuously labeling me as a 'seductress'.

Well, like I cared what they thought. They weren't worthy of my precious time.

We went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch and I sat between Sasuke and Naruto. Sai sat rather far from me but I knew he was looking at my way once in a while. Sasuke must have noticed it too and I saw him glaring at him. I pinched Sasuke's lap to stop him from what he was doing. We were under the observation of people around us and Sasuke wasn't doing a good job in being discreet.

As for me, I was so used to being glared at by numerous pairs of eyes at once that I had grown the ability to ignore them. That was a good thing since I ended up being able to enjoy myself during the trip.

After we left the restaurant, we were brought to the Hakone Shrine. I had been there before with my parents but it was a long time ago. I found the place to be very peaceful and the breeze from Lake Ashi was comforting.

Kakashi-sensei asked Sasuke and Naruto to help him carry some boxes of water so I walked around by myself first. I decided to walk over to Lake Ashi to enjoy the beautiful view. There wasn't anybody around since most people decided to visit the shrine first.

The water from the lake was as clear and blue as I remembered them to be. The rustling of the leaves and the sound of the soft currents hitting the shore filled the air around me.

I was just taking in the sight in front of me when I suddenly heart Sasuke's voice. I was surprised at how angry he sounded.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I blinked at Sasuke in confusion and realized that he wasn't talking to me. That was when I noticed the presence of another person behind me.

I turned around and saw that it was one of Sasuke's fan girls, who had been glaring at me a whole lot. I also recognized her as one of those girls who had been going around and saying all those horrible things about me.

She looked completely startled and shocked at Sasuke's appearance and she ran away after glaring me for one last time.

"What was that about?" I muttered to myself as Sasuke walked over to me.

"When I got here, I saw that she was about to push you into the lake."

"What?!" I exclaimed louder than I intended but I couldn't hide my shock.

"It's my fault that this has to happen. I won't be able to forgive myself if anything bad happens to you."

Sasuke was looking at me with apologetic eyes and I felt touched and sad at the same time. I could feel his love towards me but somehow, I managed to sense his guilt as well. I reached out to caress his face lovingly, wanting to tell him that it wasn't his fault and I would be alright.

"Come on. Don't blame yourself. You saved me just in time! Look, I'm well and alive."

Sasuke gave me a smile before holding onto my hand. He started to walk in the direction of the shrine.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?" There would be so many people at the shrine and holding hands while we were there didn't sound like a good idea.

"We're going to the shrine."

"No! I mean, why are you holding onto my hand?"

"So I can keep you close to me and make sure you stay safe."

I released my hand from Sasuke's and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Are you out of your mind?! It is a bad idea. If those girls see us holding hands, my life will be in greater dangers."

Sasuke stayed quiet for a few moments, looking like he had contradicting thoughts inside his head. He must had realized how big of a mistake he was about to make. He closed his eyes for a while and spoke when he opened them again.

"Fine. But stay within my sight."

"Alright."

I smiled at Sasuke and walked to the shrine with him. Seeing Sasuke getting worried for me was touching and I had a strong urge to hug him tightly.

But that could wait for now.

Sasuke's POV

The first day was filled with sightseeing activities and we got back to the hot springs resort by 7 PM. We had dinner in the resort and were given some announcement from our teachers before we were dismissed. We were told to stay inside the resort and meet up in the lobby at 9 AM the next day.

When I entered my room, Shikamaru was already sitting on the bed. The room was not very big but had a homely atmosphere. There was a king sized bed in the middle and there was a wardrobe on the left side. There was a door on the right, which I assumed led to the bathroom.

"Remember the plan, Uchiha?"

Shikamaru's words were vague but I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You were serious about that?" I had to ask one more time for confirmation.

"Don't be so troublesome. I'm deadly serious."

"Fine."

It wasn't like I minded sharing a room with Sakura. But I wasn't confident that I would be able to control myself. What if Sakura wasn't ready to take the next step?

But Shikamaru Nara wasn't taking no for an answer so might as well play along for now.

"The teachers are currently having a meeting. This is the best time to switch rooms. Sakura isn't informed about this yet so I suggest that you'll be the one to go to her room."

I was holding onto my luggage when there was a knock on our door. I pulled my luggage with me and opened the door to reveal a smiling Ino.

"Hello, Sasuke. I hope you'll treat Sakura gently."

I heard Shikamaru's slight chuckle and I narrowed my eyes at Ino. I was about to leave when Shikamaru suddenly called out to me.

"I have something for you, Sasuke."

I turned my head over my shoulder and successfully caught the object Shikamaru threw towards me.

I looked at the object in my hand and frowned.

"Are you kidding me?" I wasn't sure if one should be feeling anger or embarrassment when their friend gave them a condom.

"You can thank me later."

I chose to not respond at the smirking Shikamaru and left the room after keeping my 'present' in my pocket.

I groaned when I arrived in front of Sakura's room. But I knew it wasn't safe to be loitering outside in the hallways. The trouble I would get myself into if I were to be seen was unthinkable.

I knocked at the door a few times and waited for it to be opened. And when it did, I saw Sakura wearing a sleeveless light pink pajama dress which barely reached her knees.

"What are you doing here, Sasuke? And why do you have your luggage with you?"

With this, what were the chances that I could control myself?

No chance at all.

Author's Note: Are you curious as to what will happen inside the room? (insert mischievous grin) If you do, please look forward to the next chapter! Please leave a review as well. Follows and favorites are highly appreciated too! Thank you for reading and have a nice day!