Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, made no money.

Set about 8-10 years in the future. Hope its good.

There were three kunai coming for her, she knew.

She knew it was three because she had personally relieved him of all his others over the last 40 minutes. Currently, they were all buried in the ground beneath them, but he didn't know that.

A noise whizzed by her temple, too close. She had barely gotten out of the way. Her labored breathing was deafening to her own ears, her chest heaved painfully from exertion. Another kunai caught her in the her calf, piercing, sinking deeply into the toned muscle there, bringing her to her knees, she cried out.

Without delay Sakura jutsued herself the hell out of there. Trying to stifle the moan of pain, she pulled the kunai out, wiping it sloppily on her shirt. Now he had 2. And she had all the rest.

Her clone was still in the open clearing, doubled over in pain on hands and knees, coated in blood, desperately trying to stand up. She did, only to be knocked back down flat on her back, the 2 remaining kunai pinning her to the ground by the cloth at her shoulders.

"You're done, Sakura." The blonde stood over her, hands on hips, his own breathing shallow.

The clone struggled weakly, making a show of trying to get up. Sakura's own hands were already flying, fingers bending and folding into the proper seals. And suddenly, the ground beneath Naruto's feet was shaking, dirt flying everywhere. Kunai exploded from the ground, blocking out the light as they whipped across the clearing, stringing chakra threads into an impenetrable web that knocked him to the ground and held him securely in place. It was too tight for him to form a seal, much less shimmy out of.

Sakura appeared above him, one kunai at her belt, the other twirling on a finger. Blood was flowing freely from her leg, as well as many other parts of her bruised body. Her hair was a tangled mess, dirt covering most of her body.

She had never felt more beautiful.

"You were saying?" She asked, the smile she couldn't keep back breaking open a cut on her lip. Her own blood had never tasted so sweet before.

Sasuke clapped once, twice, three times. He approached from his perch on the sideline.

"Good." He said blandly. It was the highest of praise from him.

Sakura was already retracting the threads.

Naruto sat up, smiling wryly. "Lucky shot." He muttered, reaching up for a boost.

Sakura pulled him up easily, last vestiges of adrenaline making her feel light and powerful. He was right, she had gotten lucky. But a few years ago she would never had gotten that far, actually taking him down like that. She'd changed.

She was someone now. Someone they trained with again, and not because they had to. Someone they respected.

"You owe me dinner, Naruto." She reminded Naruto as he collected the kunai. That was the condition of the win.

Naruto smirked, looking her up and down. "You wanna change first? They wont let you in looking like that."

Years ago that would have stung, especially as it was said in front of Sasuke. The dark haired prodigy was standing by silently, patiently waiting for them to collect themselves, impeccable as always. But that was years ago.

Sakura looked up at Naruto as she sealed the wound on her leg with one glowing hand. He was just as filthy as she was, maybe even more. Clumps of dirt and grass were lodged in his clothes and hair.

"We match." She smiled.

Sakura drained the contents of the cup, placing it on the table with a soft thud. She eyed the handsome Uchiha across the bar contemplatively. A young, pretty girl was in the chair next to him, her whole upper body draped across his. Sasuke seemed to be ignoring her completely, in deep conversation with another shinobi. The only sign that he acknowledged her existence was Sasuke's arm draped loosely around the back of her chair, his fingers just barely on her shoulder. The girl looked like she was in love.

Naruto inhaled his own drink with a soft hiss, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I know what you're thinking." He said quietly.

"Oh yeah?" Sakura turned her gaze back to him, raising an amused eyebrow.

"And I'm saying it ain't gonna happen." Naruto replied, voice strangely serious.

"Don't be such a pessimist, Naruto. It could. Have some faith in him." She chided, but really, she was starting to think he was right.

"Yeah, you've said that before."

"I know." She sighed, her eyes finding Sasuke again. "But this one's lasted longer than the other ones."

"Its just a matter of time." Naruto shook his head sadly, pouring them each another cup.

"Here's to hoping." Sakura toasted. Naruto mirrored her action, smiled ruefully and emptied the cup.

A few minutes later Sakura excused herself to the bathroom, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts. She met Sasuke's eyes briefly when he looked up at her as she was walking past, but her gaze didn't linger. She didn't notice if his did or not.

The second she stepped into the single bathroom, a hard, unyielding body pressed against her forcefully from behind, pushing her further into the room and clicking the door shut behind them. Sakura yelped out surprise. A strong arm was wound tight around her waist, holding her against what was very obviously a large male body. His other arm was across her chest, keeping her arms in place.

Sakura struggled in his hold, but all that did was force a soft, low groan from him. She gasped as the evidence of his arousal came in contact with the juncture of her legs, pressing insistently.

He pushed her forward into the sink, bending her over it. His whole body was flush with hers, chest to back, legs to thighs, arms secured around her. His warmth encompassed her. Hips ground against her intimately. Sakura found it hard to breathe.

"I want you." A familiar, low voice rasped into her ear. An all too familiar anticipation surged through her veins and curled low in her stomach.

"You can't..." She protested weakly, but her words broke off on a sob. The hand that had been around her waist grabbed her womanhood, sending shocks of excitement and pleasure through her body. Sakura's knees buckled.

He let go of her arms to grab a breast through the fabric of her shirt, squeezing. Sakura's hands grabbed on the sink for support, her head falling forward in pleasure. There was a hot mouth and hot, sake-flavored breath on her neck. She leaned back against him.

His hand found its way to the waistband of her shorts, slipping inside, stretching the fabric as he found what he was looking for. Sakura moaned raggedly as a finger slid across her folds teasingly. She gasped when it slid suddenly, deeply inside.

He felt her tight, moist heat pulsing around his finger, and involuntarily thrust his hips against her again. The hand on her chest squeezed tightly.

"Stop... ughh." His skillful fingers hadn't remained stationary. Sakura pushed her hips against his hand instinctively. Her body betrayed her words.

"Why?" His hot breath tickled her ear. Teeth nipped gently at the soft flesh of her neck.

"Naruto, he's..." She tried to answer, but moaned helplessly when his thumb found that spot.

"I don't care." He growled, pressing his hand harder against her.

Sakura whimpered, legs quivering beneath her. But he must have cared, because now there was a sense of urgency to his actions. The hand at her chest moved to her shorts, pulling them down her hips. Another was pulling her hips back, spreading her legs as far as her shorts would allow.

She heard him fumble with his own pants and took the opportunity to brace herself on the edge of the sink.

And then he was there, behind her, around her, inside her, everywhere. Even as prepared as she had been for it, Sakura couldn't contain the moan of raw, animalistic pleasure that ripped from her throat. Her hips bucked against him restlessly as his hands held her painfully tight to keep her still.

He started moving then, hard, fast, pushing deeper and deeper inside. Sakura arched her back to get him closer, to make him hit the spot she needed him to. He didn't disappoint. He slammed into her repeatedly, bringing a hand to cover her mouth and muffle her increasingly loud cries. She bit him when she came and her muscles clenched around him almost painfully. He saw stars behind his eyes as he released inside her.

He collapsed on top of her, still inside of her, twitching with pleasurable aftershocks. Taking a shaky breath, he pulled away, adjusting his clothing. He tried to regain some of his composure.

Sakura was standing up as well, shorts securely around her waist. She was leaning on the sink, facing him but he knew she couldn't see much with the limited light of the small, lone window in the room.

Her hands were gripping the porcelain behind her, breathing still shallow.

"This can't happen again." She said, not for the first time.

"I know." He agreed quietly, running a hand through his wild hair, already turning to leave. He flicked on the light as he exited the room, closing the door behind himself.

The bright light hurt Sakura's eyes. She fixed herself up quickly. The cold water on her face did nothing to calm her heated body.

As she walked back to Naruto's table with still shaky legs, she didn't notice if Sasuke was watching her or not. She wouldn't have cared either way.

Naruto was exactly as she'd left him. He briefly glanced up at her as she dropped into her seat, swiftly draining a cup that had stood waiting for her. This way she could explain her flush with the alcohol.

"That took a while." He commented.

"Girl stuff." Sakura lied informatively, in a tone indicating a subject he would never pursue.

"Ah." Naruto turned back to his Sasuke-watching. "He notices you, you know."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, sitting just where she'd left him as well. "He notices everything. That's not the problem here, and you know that."

"Yeah, I know." He said wearily, as if the topic drained him. "You can try again though."

"I already tried, Naruto. I'm done." She said with resignation.

Naruto sighed, changing the topic."Hinata wants you to come by and see the baby."

"Is something wrong?" She asked quickly, searching his face. He didn't seem distressed.

"No, just a little temperature. But you know how she worries." He was smiling softly, proudly as he said that, and Sakura felt just a little better.

She found it funny that out of the three of them, Naruto was the one that had been domesticated first. After all, Sakura was the one that had planned out her wedding by the time she was 12. And Sasuke did have that clan that needed repopulating. Naruto was supposed to be the free spirit.

Naruto and Hinata had been dating maybe 4 months when the hysterical girl had informed him she was carrying his child. Sakura had never seen anyone happier than Naruto had been that day. He had made Hinata marry him that very afternoon.

"I'll come by tomorrow morning, before my shift." She told him.

"Good. Don't eat breakfast, Hinata will probably want to feed you." He warned. Hinata had a tendency to mother everyone lately.

They talked for a while longer, neither in much of a hurry to be anywhere. It had been a while since they'd had some time to just hang out. Neither of them was surprised when Sasuke left the bar, the girl leading him gently but insistently by the hand.

Sakura smiled wistfully at their backs, but it disappeared as soon as Naruto opened his mouth again.

"You might be it, you know. You can try." His voice was soft, quiet, serious again.

"I know. But I won't." Sakura finished the last of her sake, leaning forward to kiss Naruto on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She left without a backward glance.

He was there waiting when she got home. His shoes were by the door, vest and headband discarded on her couch. He was standing in front of an open window looking out. She hadn't expected to see him again so soon.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat when he turned and walked towards her slowly.

His mask was pooled at his neck, revealing a firm, resigned set to his lips.

"What are you doing here?" She asked softly when he was a few feet away, her voice low and husky.

He smiled but it didn't reach his mismatched eyes as he pulled her against him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered into her lips.

Her hands were already on his neck and in his hair, pulling him closer. His lips were on hers then, tongue pushing insistently into her mouth. They stumbled into her bedroom without breaking contact. It was nowhere near as wild as before, but it was no less desperate.

"Last time, I promise." He murmured into Sakura's neck as she wrapped a long, bare leg around his waist. Her nails were in his back and his name on her lips.

She woke up alone.