Sakura quietly marinated the meat in the large stainless steel kitchen within the mountain lair. Across the kitchen, Sasuke maintained a serious composure. He was leaning against a counter, arms crossed, getting report of the day from his teammates on the other side of the kitchen. The few words that Sakura made out of the report, it seems things did not go well. Sakura kept looking up at his subtly angered demeanor from his side facing away from her. Sasuke did not reply much to his three teammates during the conversation. It was apparent Sasuke would have a busy night because they handled the day very poorly in his absence, from what Sakura heard.

Finally, placing the marinated meat into the large refrigerator, she washed all her utensils and cleaned the kitchen slowly. Every so often would look up to watch Sasuke's stern face in leadership mode. Sakura was admiringly enamored by his stoic look, his strong jaw and contemplative eyes made her heart flutter as he listened to his teammates. His iris shot over to Sakura quickly from the corner of his eye. She got caught gazing at him from afar. She frantically continued cleaning the same spot on the counter top for the 9th time. It seems none of this went unnoticed by Sasuke. He raised his hand up to Suigetsu's face mid sentence.

"Sakura. Done?" He suddenly asked her from across the kitchen. His teammates were stunned by Sasuke's sudden change of topic.

Sakura looked quietly at all the eyes on her from across the kitchen. A strange sensation of embarrassment overcame her as the silence got heavy, she nodded in confirmation.

Sasuke walked alongside her in shared silence back to his room. He eyeballed her a few times, as though he was thinking of what to say. Sakura fidgeted with the bags in her hands from the days adventure. Finally once they arrived to his bedroom door he looked down at her, "I'll be back but don't wait up for me" he commented.

She looked at him perplexed, "Working late because of me?", Sakura asked earnestly with a sweet smile.

"I had fun. Get some rest" he responded. Holding out his arm, directing her into the room. She paused at the cold gesture. She looked downtrodden as she walked into the room and turned her head back to say goodbye to him.

His warm gaze locked onto her smile just seconds before the door closed between them.… Sakura paused in silence as she stared at the door.

She had to shake her head to convince herself not to read into Sasuke's strange demeanor. She was obviously caught between two versions of him, the playfully kind and the cold villain.

Sakura placed her bag of grapes and plucked lavender flowers on top of the broken dresser then continued to her long awaited shower with her bag of new undies.

Once in the shower, she contemplated the day repetitively. She knew it would be her last night sleeping next to Sasuke, her plan was already set for escape. As wonderful as things had gotten between the two of them, by the end of tomorrow she would most likely be in his murder list...She had to savor their last memories to the fullest.

Strangely comfortable enough in Sasuke's room to relax, Sakura walked out of the bathroom wearing her new dark red cotton bralette with matching cotton cheekster panties. Struggling to open the top two drawers of the snapped dresser, she went elsewhere looking for some spare clothes to sleep in. After a few minutes of giving up, she finally opened the last drawer, pulling out the same white see-through shirt she had worn initially upon trying on Sasuke's clothes. She threw it on and quickly noticed the red color of her new underwear was vibrant underneath the sheer shirt and it did nothing to hide the outline of her slender figure underneath it. She began to take it off, but something in her decided against it. She slowly put it back on and shrugged with a smirk. Closing the dresser drawer with her foot, she carried the bag of grapes and the lavender flowers over to the desk.

The book about Sealing Techniques was still open to just where she had last left it, she was excited to continue her reading. Seeing as how they were a bunch of secret texts from the Uzumaki Clan, she was not going to let this rare opportunity pass her up. Her competitive edge also didn't want to lose to Sasuke on seals, which he obviously seemed extremely proficient at, given her current situation.

She moved the books to the bed and sprawled out comfortably. She nibbled on the bag of grapes lying next to her, she picked up reading where she had left off.

Hours had passed and the grapes were all eaten, Sakura was fast asleep with her face lying on an open page of the book. She was laid out diagonally across the bed, wrapped in covers resting peacefully.

It was five in the morning when Sasuke finally made it back to his room. He quietly dragged his feet past the door, turning to ensure the closing door did not wake Sakura. His tired expression was hidden behind the blood and dirt smeared across his face and Akatsuki cloak. He tenderly sat on his bed, his whole body sore from the fight still fresh from his body and the long journey back home. He outran the rest of his teammates from the land of sound...His state of unrest and exhaustion was noticeably overtaking him. As he sat on the bed aching, he rested his head calmly against the sword his hands were holding to lean on. From the corner of his eyes he looked over to see Sakura asleep diagonally on his bed.

He sat there dumbfounded by her arrogance. Did she not expect him to come back home? He ran for hours to make sure he made it back before sunrise...he stared at her innocent face as she slept and felt his irritation melt away. How could he be mad at her? He continued to watch her sleeping face for until he couldn't resist falling asleep himself. The darkness called to him as he fell over, slumping onto the floor into an unconscious slumber his body pleaded for.

Sakura was startled awake by the overpowering cold sensation in her bones. She tried to cuddle into a ball for warmth, searching around her for the missing covers. The sheets were pulled off of her and dragged off the corner of the bed. Sakura grew tense as she tried to scan the room for an intruder, really wishing she was wearing more than a thin shirt at the moment. After a long silence, Sakura decided to crawl to the edge of the bed to restore her covers.

Then there he was, sprawled out on the floor with a sword loosely in hand, covered in sweat, rain, dirt and blood. His arms bent in odd directions as his head rested in a uncomfortable arch. Sakura sighed and took in the sight. He looked like he had too much to drink or something, she chuckled to herself. He was in such a deep slumber that he passed out on the floor! He laid on the floor with the covers pulling underneath him from his fall off the bed.

She could only sigh and shake her head as she stepped off the bed and kneeled next to his body. She placed her hand on his chest to feel his vitals, but only felt his rising chest. Covered in mud and guck, she pulled her hand away from his chest unable to sense anything. A bit startled, she forgot she couldn't use Chakra to sense his vitals. Without chakra she would have to touch his bare chest to get a quick assessment..She hesitated for only a moment as she watched him in a deep sleep. He probably wouldn't even wake if she check him quickly.

Slowly, she opened his Akatsuki cloak, exposing his white shirt underneath. She gingerly slid her hand in between the cloth fold to slowly feel Sasuke's bare chest. She felt his heartbeat was weak, his body was cold, his chest was barely rising though. She paused before lowered her head close to his chest, trying to hear if he was breathing fine. In the moment that her ear gently pressed against Sasuke's chest, she heard him inhale quietly. A few moments passed and not to soon after, Sakura was startled to feel an arm grip hers. She turned her head over to watch Sasuke's strong grip pull her upward towards his face. Frozen in shock, Sakura tried to turn her head to face Sasuke—but It wasn't fast enough, his teeth were already digging deep between her neck and her shoulder. Sakura let out a loud scream, not expecting him to bite her. She tried to push him off her but he pinned her arms down to his chest with a heavy strength that she couldn't fight. Sasuke appeared half asleep, sucking harder on her despite her protests and screams.

"SASUKE! STOP IT" she screamed, and vaguely got a moan in reply from Sasuke before the bedroom door flung open with a loud thud.

In moments Jugo and Suigetsu were in the room. Both were in Akatsuki cloaks, out of breath, covered in mud and wet with fresh.

Although they ran in with vivacious energy to tend to the scream, they froze for a moment, unsure of what to do once they surveyed what was happening before them on the ground. Jugo gave no hesitation to run over to Sakura and lift her up from the waist. Suigetsu considered not helping but had no choice other than to follow Jugo's lead. He ran behind Sasuke's head, trying to pull him off of Sakura.

"SASUKE! WAKE UP!" Suigetsu screamed as he smacked Sasuke's face with a handful of water.

Sasuke's jaw unclenched from Sakura's neck suddenly and she was pulled back thanks to Jugo. Sakura looked at Sasuke's face, blood dripping down the side of his mouth and his eyes even darker with his sharingan activated. He held the appearance of a rapid animal, breathing rapidly as Suigetsu tried to calm him and pull him away from Jugo and Sakura.

Jugo clung to Sakura in a protective stance, he held her close as though she was one of his fragile little animals. Sakura's eyes were wide in shock as she took in the scene- digging her head in Jugo's large chest.

There was a panic in Sasuke's eyes as the surveyed the room, trying to figure out what was happening. Jugo and Suigetsu were both simultaneously trying to talk him down,

"You're not there anymore Sasuke. Snap out of it!" Jugo conveyed with withheld fear, holding a scared Sakura protectively his arms.

"You're in your room. DON'T destroy anything!" Suigetsu reiterated, "especially not me" he added quietly.

Sasuke watched Sakura's panicked eyes as she clung to Jugo. A bit alarmed she was in her underwear, his eyes noticed the blood running down her white sheer shirt from her neck. He tasted the blood in his mouth and quickly realized what had happened. He looked down in shame, realizing what he had done. His eyes shifted back to their normal black color, his breathing slowly began to calm down and Suigetsu finally decided let him go.

Sasuke sat on the floor looking down.

"Sorry...Sakura, I don't know what got over me. I thought you were someone else, I thought we were still in the middle of a fight" Sasuke said through panting breaths.

Everyone stood in silence, analyzing his words. Jugo looked down at Sakura, Suigetsu's eyes also scanned the fact that she was in dark red underwear and a sheer shirt. Her eyes caught him eyeballing her as a blush crossed his face.

Leaning over to into Sasuke's ear, Suigetsu whispered "...did we...uh,..interrupt something we weren't supposed to?"

Sasuke was confused by the stupid question, he didn't even dignify it with a response. He slowly stood up and walked over to Sakura, the bite mark he placed on her neck was definitely bruised and bleeding. Everyone tensed up as he approached Jugo and Sakura. Sasuke held out his hand to brush the hair away that was covering the wound, but Sakura flinched away from him. Jugo tightened his grip around her at the moment she flinched.

"It's fine. It doesn't hurt, I was just startled is all" Sakura said as she shrugged away from Sasuke.

Sasuke approached her closer and Jugo tensed up again, unsure if it was safe or not, he was ready to fight Sasuke. Suigetsu looked at Jugo with alarm, surprised by Jugo's offensive reaction towards Sasuke. Jugo could go berserk at any moment when he gets protective over his animals. Sasuke noted Jugo's response, he gave him a quick glare, warning him not to test his patience.

Sasuke then calmly continued to tenderly inspect Sakura's neck. Suigetsu was frightened by the heightened tension between the two teammates. He quickly made eye contact with Jugo and pointed to the door with panic. Jugo understood but hesitated, watching Sasuke closely as he released his hold on Sakura.

"Please be careful" Jugo said to Sakura as he joined the nervous Suigetsu to the door. They both turned back slowly at the doorway to see Sasuke with his arm on her shoulder examining the bite mark. He held her chin up with the other hand then slid the white shirt off her shoulder gently. Sakura was tense. She wasn't sure what came over him but it shook her.

He took a moment to look at the wound but then his eyes followed downward towards her breasts, the bare curves of her waist, the long V shaped muscle outline on her lower abs that lead his eyes straight to her small panties. He inhaled deeply, trying to call the blood internally escaping him back into his cheeks. He looked back at how tiny her neck was in comparison to his hands. In this long moment of contemplation, Suigetsu and Jugo looked at each other in worry. They said goodnight in a hurry before closing the door behind them.

"That is the last time we go in there when we hear screams, Jugo" Suigetsu complained once they were safely on the other side of the door.

"I don't think it's safe to leave her in there" Jugo mentioned before adding, "We can't overpower him so easily, I think if Sasuke didn't snap out of it she could've been killed"

"Are you kidding me?" Suigetsu interrupted. "You know what happens when you take a toy from a kid? Let alone a homicidal teenager with freakish strength and raging hormones. That's a suicide mission Jugo" he explained as they both started walking towards their own rooms just down the hall.

"If he kills her then he kills her" Suigetsu explained, "we don't speak about it and we definitely don't intervene!"

Suigetsu analyzed Jugo's worried face and shock overcame him.

"Jugo, don't tell me that girl has got you too?" Suigetsu shouted out in alarm.

Jugo looked concerned at Suigetsu's bewildered words.

"She is so kind and soft...like a rabbit" Jugo quietly said as he gazed down at his hands.

"You've never held a naked girl before, huh Jugo?" Suigetsu asked with a sly look on his face. He jabbed Jugo's arm with his elbow.

Jugo shook his head.

"Alright! Get it out of your head, that's Sasuke's toy! You can't save her from him, you could've got killed for that little stunt in the room back there. You're playing with fire Jugo, not just any fire- Amaterasu kind of fire!" Suigetsu scolded him sternly.

"Besides, our lives have gotten a lot easier since she came around, Sasuke's in a much better mood all they time. Don't screw that up for us" Suigetsu added.

Jugo smiled at the reminder, "...he is pretty happy. I don't think he even realizes it".

They both stopped in front of their doors across the hall from each other.

"I'm going to pretend like this entire event didn't happen Jugo. I think you should do that same. Find some time alone to get it out of your system and forget about it" Suigetsu told him before entering into his room and closing the door behind him.

Sakura was busy in the bathroom scrubbing the white blood stained shirt in the faucet with hot water. Sasuke stood behind her at the doorway, watching her closely from behind as she vigorously scrubbed the shirt.

"Stop it already. I told you that you don't have to do that" Sasuke told her in a tired voice. His head heavy as he rested it on the doorway frame.

"Just a second more,I can get it out! I'm sorry for ruining your shirt" Sakura pleaded as she scrubbed.

Sasuke scoffed.

There was silence. Sakura jumped as Sasuke's grey shirt landed on the faucet suddenly. Confused, she stopped scrubbing and raised her head. She turned over to Sasuke, who had his dirty Asatsuki cloak lying the floor next to him as he stripped his pants past his knees. Sakura's mouth shot open, her expression held back none of her bewilderment.

"Wha..what..are you doing?" Sakura asked staring at him from the faucet as he stood before her in his form fitting boxers. He grabbed his cloak and his pants from the floor and threw it to the faucet as well.

"THOSE are ruined. It's covered in blood, dirt, rain and sweat." He said with a smirk while he crossed his arms at the doorway in his black briefs, "That white shirt is the least of my problems. If you want to save some clothes, you could start there instead".

Sasuke soaked in all of Sakura's complete shock as she eyed him up and down, it was hard to hold back his own smile despite how tired he was. He crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Y-you should put some clothes on" Sakura muttered as she gazed at the scratches and scars across Sasuke's muscular and thrashed body.

"I should say the same to you. Why are you in your underwear?"

"W-w-why are you!" Sakura was baffled by the question.

"This is my room" Sasuke quickly replied with a matter of fact tone.

Sakura stumbled in her retort. She had nothing to return to his comment.

Sasuke smiled at her silence and rubbed his face in a tired manner.

"I'm going to sleep then. Keep scrubbing if you want, but it you're not going to save it" Sasuke said as he stopped leaning on the doorframe and turned to the bed.

"Wait wait wait" Sakura said, expanding her palm outward to stop him.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of going to sleep like that" Sakura added in disbelief.

Sasuke looked at her in confusion, "You..don't like the briefs?", he asked with shock. He put his hands on them, making the motion as though he was going to take them off.

"NO" Sakura exclaimed, the words jumped out her mouth so fast she was also startled by the volume of her voice. Sasuke chuckled.

"I mean, you can't sleep on the clean sheets when you're dirty" Sakura argued. She quickly turned to the bath and opened up the hot water faucet.

"It's my sheets" Sasuke complained. Sakura ignored him and threw loads of liquid soap into the running water collecting in the bath. She looked back over to Sasuke as he watched her in silence and slight annoyance. She threw in more soap after looking at all the dirt he was covered in.

"Ew. No. You're not sleeping next to me looking and smelling like roadkill" Sakura complained as she watched the bath fill up with bubbles and hot water.

"You can sleep on the floor then, princess. I'm too tired to shower" Sasuke said peering into the bathroom. He was admiring the view of Sakura in her underwear squatting down at the side of the bath, throwing in soap and feeling the water. An evil thought crossed his mind in that moment. He covered his face with his hands, hiding his tired dark grin. He only hesitated for a moment before deciding to creep up behind her silently.

Sakura noticed his long silence and peeked her head over her shoulder inquisitively. It took no effort for him to give her a quick push into the hot soapy water in front of her. Unsure of what exactly just happened, Sakura was completely submerged in the bath water. She collected herself and rose her head slowly out of the bath water covered in bubbles. The glare she gave Sasuke was deadly, but the bubbles really made it hard for Sasuke to take her stare so seriously.

Sasuke had his arms crossed, he laughed to himself as he watched her tiny anger. It was adorable.

She watched his childish delight, and although it was hard to be upset with him she did her best to stay in character, an angry frown drawn across her face. She raised her arms up offensively at him, threatening to pounce and jumped out of the water, covered in bubbles.

Sasuke appreciated her wet figure until he noticed her pouncing stance. He quickly turned to make a sprints for the bathroom door, but Sakura was even quicker to jump out the bath and grabbed his arm. Sasuke turned to release her grip from his arm, but Sakura pressed a handful of bubbles onto his face. Quickly, she twisted his arm and maneuvered it over her shoulder, tossing his weight over her and launching him into the bath. In that moment in the air, Sasuke gripped the only thing he could grab blindly- Sakura's hair.

Hitting the bathroom wall and submerging into the hot soapy bath water, Sasuke popped his head out to catch some air.

Sakura had her head dunked into the bath water along with half her body. Sasuke semi successfully pulled her in with him when she tossed him in the bath. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled the rest of her in the bath water as she struggled to get up for air.

Sasuke laughed out in delight as Sakura's head menacingly appeared out of the bubbles.

He knew he made a bad decision and tried to dash out of the water before her miniature furry was unleashed. In the split second that Sasuke charged out of the bath tub, he was pulled back in from his waist into the water, creating a large splash.

Sakura pinned him in the water, successfully squeezing his lower chest between her legs. Sasuke poped his head out of the water and tried to push her off him, Sakura pressed her weight on his shoulder- submerging his head. She grabbed his wrists and pressed it on the wall of the bath.

With her free hand, Sakura grabbed the loofah and pointed it at Sasuke's glaring face, barely able to surface above the water.

"Keep fighting me and I'm going to put this somewhere you won't want it" she threatened him. Sasuke sunk his mouth underneath the bubbly water, looking up at her.

"You're tired, you're already wet, you're tired, just give up" she tried to negotiate. She let go of his wrist and loosened her legs grip on sides of his chest. Sakura reached over him to grab the shampoo bottle, Sasuke popped his head out of the water to watch what she was doing. He did not ignore the view of Sakura's wet body stretched out over his. Before he could organize a thought, Sakura poured a gallop of shampoo on Sasuke's exposed hair. He was about to protest but he was silenced by the feeling of Sakura's hand running the shampoo through his wet hair. His closed eyes rolled over in acceptance of the the warm feeling overtaking him. This was the first time he had ever received a head massage by a wet girl pinning him down in hot water. He couldn't deny he was enjoying it. Sakura felt his body start relaxing and his head lean back in enjoyment. He rested his arms comfortably on Sakura's thighs as she straddled his chest during the massage. He slid up to rest his head on the end of the tub and placed Sakura's hands back on the top of his head.

Sakura froze to notice she was sitting over his briefs, she looked up at Sasuke's face. His eyes were closed, his wet hair was slick back, face relaxed and he looked like he was in heaven. She assured herself that this was perfectly innocent, despite the unusual position. Sasuke seemed tired and didn't seem to mind, she thought to herself with her hands on his head.

Sasuke opened one eye inquisitively, wondering why she stopped the head massage. He cleared his throat.

Sakura caught the demanding look on his eye and resumed her massage. A smile overtook his face as she resumed lathering the shampoo on his scalp. She ran her hands through the back of his neck upward towards the back of his ears. She caught his mouth open and his eyes roll upward behind his closed eyelids.

"You spoiled brat" Sakura whispered to him.

Sasuke chuckled with his eyes closed.

"You could've just said that I was going to get bathed and I would've made this a lot easier for you" he said to her, keeping his eyes closed.

"I wasn't ever planning on bathing you" she grumbled.

"Less talking. More touching" Sasuke commanded her.

"Don't tell me what to do" Sakura replied as she grabbed a water cup to pour water over his head, rinsing the shampoo from him.

Sasuke shook his head in shock from the rinse. He gasped for air.

"Warn me next time, I almost swallowed the water" he told her.

"No" she replied before pouring a large cup full of water over his face and head again. He was enjoying this far too much.

Sasuke gathered the water that entered his mouth and squirted it out at Sakura's face.

She leaned back and held her hands up, dropping the water cup, trying to block the water squirt. He sat up, grabbing the water cup and filling it up with water. He slid his forearm behind Sakura's back and pulled her closer to him, pressing her to his chest. She locked eyes with him in disbelief, he bit his lip with a smile before pouring the entire container of water over Sakura like she had done to him. She tried to escape this strange type of waterboarding. She pushed his chest away from her and tried to lift up out of his grip with her legs, straining to release herself. She could hear him enjoying her struggle, once the water ran out she opened her eyes to see his face in front of hers, genuinely smiling.

She tried to snatch the empty container from his hand but he stretched his arm behind himself, past her reach. She leaned her weight on his chest trying to reach for the cup. She tried to sit up from his lap to reach further for the water cup but was forcibly being pinned down by him. Sakura began laughing, trying to wiggle out of grip as she reached for the water cup. Sasuke reacted with a sharp exhale. She kept squirming and trying to escape his grasp. He adjusted his placed his hand, wrapped around her back pinning her down, higher on her waist just under her breast to get a better grip. Sakura flinched and pressed her elbow between his shoulder and neck. Sasuke painfully groaned and leaned forward to adjust himself. His face was just next to her neck and he suddenly let go of her and stopped moving. He put the cup down.

"..are you okay?" She asked with a pause.

Sasuke shook his head with a no as he closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing.

Another deep exhale with his eyes closed.

"Can we just go back to shampooing my hair?" Sasuke pleaded quietly, unwilling to move.

Sakura was a bit startled by his sudden change in demeanor, she wasn't sure how to respond. He seemed like he was in pain or something.

"Uh.. sure" Sakura slowly replied, confused. The energy died down and Sakura watched Sasuke focusing on his breathing with his eyes closed, a few centimeters from her face. His wet hair slicked back exposed the gorgeous facial features he normally hides behind his hair. His skin was so fair, he cheekbones pronounced and a perfect nose to match. She was waiting for him to unwrap his arm around her waist so she wasn't so tight against his chest but he didn't move at all.

"I don't think I can shampoo your hair like this" Sakura told him gently with a sweet voice in the silence of the bathroom. Sasuke inhaled again deeply.

"Why not?" He asked innocently.

"I think I'm sitting on the shampoo bottle" Sakura whispered to him, trying not to break whatever concentration he was focusing on.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. His eyes opened to meet Sakura's face in front of his.

Sakura met his big black eyes as it gazed at all the parts of her face, searching for words.

"Okay. Nevermind. Get out. Right now" Sasuke ushered her.

"Wha" Sakura began to ask, she was cut short by a demanding Sasuke.

"OUT. Out now" he said as he lifted her off of his lap.

Sakura stood up and stepped out of the bath quietly. Sasuke took in every detail of Sakura dripping wet in her underwear trying to leave the bath. He ran his hands through his hair in distress as he closed his eyes. He waited a moment before opening his eyes again, he turned to look at Sakura who was now bent over toweling the water off her legs innocently.

"Do that outside!" Sasuke yelled at her.

Sakura wrapped the towel around her head and began walking out of the bathroom with irritation written all over her face.

"Stop being such a demanding prick Sasuke!" She yelled out at him.

"Lock the door when you leave" Sasuke told her.

Sakura looked back at him before leaving him alone in the bathroom and gave him the middle finger. She noted the shampoo bottle out had been flung out the bathtub earlier and took a mental note as it laid on the tile floor. Her eyebrows rose in disbelief just before closing the door.

From the writer: Hope this chapter was worth the wait ;)

Sorry for the two month delay in updating the story. I have been very busy, but now am able to focus again.

As always, please leave a review if you enjoyed something about the story or if you wish something was different, I really look forward to them.

Thanks