This has been sitting around for a while so I decided to finish it. This is still going on the theory that Sai and Sasuke are twins... yeah... read the Lesser Uchiha if you want to get the whole story, but anyways...

Note: I don't own Naruto

Please Read and Review, or Sai's abs may have to seek their revenge.

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To Overcome

By Hammy Uchiha

Sakura Haruno sat on the stone steps outside the Uchiha compound. Her legs were stretched out in front of her and she was content to lick the popsicle, to destroy it very slowly. The longer she could stay here the better. Sitting beside her, almost licking slower was Sasuke Uchiha. He kept looking over at the pink haired girl sitting next to him, and every time he caught her bright green eyes he totally lost the courage to tell her. Sakura had thought it odd that Sasuke had invited her over to his house for a popsicle, and she sensed that there was something he wanted to say, but when ever she caught his glance as he looked over at her, he looked away.

Frankly, she was getting fed up with it. He needed to come right out with it because this popsicle was quickly beginning to melt in the summer's heat. The sticky red juice ran down Sakura's finger so she licked it off. She finished the rest of the popsicle off and was about to get up. Sasuke caught her hand.

"Sasuke-san," she began, unsure what was bothering him. "There's really something I have do, Ino needs help running the flower shop today because her parents are out of town,"

"Sakura-chan," he began nervously, when she met his eyes he looked away. "Maybe you should sit back down," he said. Sakura looked worriedly at Sasuke, what was up with him today? Sakura used to have a tremendous crush on Sasuke, but now after he'd come back, she realized that she wasn't getting anywhere with him like that, so they were just friends in her mind.

"What is it Sasuke?" she asked. He leaned closer not trusting his voice to say it loud enough for her to hear.

"Sakura….I…" she gazed into his deep onyx eyes, and he didn't look away. He tried again, his voice barely a whisper. "Sakura….I…." She was so close now and her green eyes were so enchanting, drawing him closer. Sasuke was so close that their lips were almost touching lost in each other's eyes. He would tell her now, he had to. "Sakura, I…"

"Hey Oniisan!"

The two backed away from each other. Sai, Sasuke's twin brother was running towards them. The two looked over their shoulders at him, anger already burning.

"Oniisan, what is love?" asked Sai. He had picked the wrong time with the wrong question.

"SAI NO BAKA!" the two of them yelled with one voice, hitting Sai over the head at the same time. Sasuke was unnerved, there was no way he could get courage to try and tell her again. He stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets; he looked at his bare feet.

"You'd better go, Ino's probably waiting," he said softly.

"Yeah…probably, but what did you want to tell me?" she asked trying to catch his eye. He stared determinedly at his feet, afraid he might lose it if he had to look into her eyes one more time and see that she didn't care the same way he did.

"It was….nothing," he muttered.

"Oh….well, goodbye," she said beginning to walk away. "Oh and be sure to beat Sai up when he wakes up for me," she called giggling a little.

It was late evening when Sai decided to go ask Naruto his question. Suddenly he saw her, in the half light. Her long indigo hair, her soft lavender eyes, Sai stopped. She stopped.

"Konbanwa," she said politely and turned to keep walking. Sai stared at her.

"You're beautiful," he said. She looked back and him and blushed furiously. She turned to keep walking.

"Kitty-chan,"

She turned for the last time. "Who are you?" she asked. Sai was walking toward her.

"I'm Sai, and you are…."

"Hin…"

"Kitty-chan," he cut her off with the name he had just come up with for her.

"But that's not my name…" Sai was getting awfully close now. Hinata tried to back away. This guy was creepy just like Naruto said he was.

Hinata blushed deeper. She could tell he and Sasuke were brothers; their eyes were that same endless pool of darkness. He took a step towards her and Hinata screamed and ran for it.

Sasuke lay on his back with his hands behind his head. Out side the moon was gleaming on the warm evening. He needed to tell her, and soon because it was killing him. Just when he was considering going over and telling her, Sai opened the door. Sasuke looked annoyed when Sai came walking into the room.

"What'd I tell you about knocking first?" demanded Sasuke, not only had his twin brother ruined the moment he was about to tell Sakura, he also just came into Sasuke's room without knocking.

"What is love?" asked Sai. Sasuke sighed and rolled onto his side. He reached up and turned on the light by his bedside.

"It's a feeling," he tried to explain. "In like our case for a girl and it's like…." Sasuke reached for the words but couldn't quite grasp them. He winced, why did Sai always have to ask such awkward questions? Sasuke groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "Trust me, if you fall in love you probably will know. Its not really something you can explain,"

"Oh," said Sai, and smiled. Sasuke's eye twitched, Sai's smile was so unnatural that when he put it on his face it made Sasuke's skin crawl.

"Oyasumi Nasai, Oniisan," said Sai and he left the room.

Sasuke couldn't stand it; he got up and pulled on a shirt and a pair of sandals and opened his window. In a moment he was gone.

Sakura was awoken to the sound of small rocks bouncing off her window. She yawned and tried to smooth her hair. She opened the window.

"What the he…?" it was Sasuke below. "Sasuke-san what are you doing?" she demanded, suddenly aware that she must look like a mess. "Hang on I'll be right down," she said. Taking and brush she quickly brushed her hair and pulled on her flip flops. In a moment she was outside.

The moon was nearly full. Sakura walked to stand beside Sasuke.

"What is it Sasuke-san?" she asked.

"I'm not leaving till I tell you this, so don't let me leave until I say it," he said. Sakura looked oddly at him. Sasuke looked her in the eye. He took a deep breath and told himself he could do it.

"Sakura….I….I love you," he said. Sakura blinked; was she hearing him right? She looked away in embarrassment. Sasuke read her action wrong. His head drooped. "Yeah, you probably think I'm pretty lame though…" he said softly. "Sorry to have bothered you." He began to walk away. She turned after him, her eyes wide. She had always been a noisy person, but when Sakura wanted to stop him, she couldn't speak.

Her pink hair swung against her back as she ran down the streets the next morning. Sakura reached the Uchiha house and pounded on the door. The sky was cloudy but it was still as hot and humid as ever. Sai opened the door wearing his apron that read: Just Me and my Abs.

"Is Sasuke here?" she demanded, Sai licked pancake batter off his fingers (pancakes are his favorite)

"Nope," he replied. "Aniki left early this morning, before I even got up," he said. Sakura's frantic thoughts grew more frantic. She nodded her thanks and sprinted off.

After a breakfast of pancakes and the sticky yet irresistibly yummy maple syrup, Sai decided to see if he could find love. His abs were against the idea, but he figured they were just groggy from all the sugar.

The first person Sai happened upon was Hinata again who ran at the sight of him. Then he saw a pretty blonde talking with Shikamaru over a plate of BBQ. Sai slid over to the side of the girl and tried what he had read about in one of his informative books about finding a girlfriend. Randomly interrupting their conversation on the best sort of defense system to have for a village Sai grinned his fake smile at the girl. Temari looked at him like he had definite issues.

"I have a question," he said. She cocked an eyebrow at him as Shikamaru simmered.

"If you were a pirate," he said. "Would you want your parrot to sit on this shoulder," he began still grinning poking her shoulder closest to him. "Or this shoulder?" he asked putting his arm around her shoulder. Up came her elbow into his face and Shikamaru shook his head and escorted Temari off. Rubbing his sore face Sai looked for his next victim… I mean potential girlfriend.

Sakura landed on the branch of a tree on the edge of Sasuke's favorite training spot.

"Sasuke I…" she stopped realizing he was not there. That was confusing. She prided herself on the fact she had figured out how to read some of Sasuke's moods. When he was happy he'd be silent and wouldn't criticize Naruto for anything and wouldn't object to the ridiculous. When he was angry he sulked, and the slightest thing pissed him off and he would stalk off and proceed to train until he could barely move. The same thing happened when he was depressed or feeling especially angsty. Sometimes she couldn't read him at all. Now was one of those moments. Sakura swept her gaze over the clearing. It looked untouched as though he had not been there at all. She turned around and headed back into the heart of the village.

Tenten was practicing her kunai throwing (though she didn't really need any practice) at her team's favorite training spot. Lee was there to cheer her on. As she was getting ready to throw her kunai Sai snuck up behind her. As she was about to fire Sai popped out of nowhere.

"Hey you want any help?" he asked. Tenten's throw was off and missed the bull's eye and indeed the entire target. She never missed her target, never (except when she fought Temari and technically that didn't count).

"See? I can help you fix your aim," said Sai with a grin. Lee covered his eyes as Tenten turned toward Sai her eyes blazing.

"Sure you can help me with target practice," she hissed between clenched teeth. In an instant she had drawn several dozen kunai and flung them at Sai. Sai ran for it with a girly scream as Lee looked away and Tenten leapt after him.

"YOU WILL PAY!"

Sasuke walked silently, his eyes looking without seeing, lost in his thoughts. He was jostled through the crowds as he made his way to the unknown place he was going. The sky was darkening and ominous clouds were rolling in on the horizon. Sasuke realized dimly that it was getting late now. That is when he woke up. The rain drops hit gently at first and then pouring as he ran for shelter down the road to where a shrine sat near a street light. Stumbling up he quickly bowed hoping he wasn't intruding and he slipped inside, to where another person sat.

He sank tiredly down onto the bench nearby.

"Sasuke?" she asked in the dimly lit area. He blinked.

"Sakura?" he asked back. He suddenly felt ashamed and sank back against the wall.

"Sure is raining hard," she commented as the rain pounded down on the roof. Sasuke had tucked his knees under his chin; it had suddenly gotten cold and dark. Outside the light flickered on. It cast its orangey light in through the doorway and Sasuke could see Sakura better. He thought dimly how pretty she looked with those damp locks of hair hanging on her shoulders. A long amount of time passed before either said anything, the night drew onward.

"Do you think we should head back?" asked Sakura at last.

"I'm not," replied Sasuke, who liked the silence.

Suddenly there came the dim rumble of thunder. Sakura shivered and slid down the bench a little closer to Sasuke.

"I was supposed to spend the night at Ino's tonight," she said. "I bet she is wondering where the hell I am." Sasuke didn't smile, he smirked…slightly.

"And I bet Sai is afraid of thunderstorms and is hiding under my bed wondering where the hell I am to give him his stuffed dog."

Sakura giggled and slid closer to Sasuke.

Actually Sai and Ino were not wondering where the other two were. Sai was walking down the street with his Uchiha umbrella dangling at his side whistling. The tune was to a random song he had made up about his abs. In fact Sai Uchiha severely liked the rain. (He doesn't know what love is) He was walking along enjoying himself when a lean blonde girl ran up holding a soggy newspaper on to the top of her head.

"Hey!" she cried joining him.

"Hey," he replied not recognizing the soaked girl. "I like you hat," he said.

"I'll give it to you for your umbrella."

"No can do, Sasuke would kill me, I'll let you borrow it though,"

"Deal," she said snatching it out of his hand and handing him the drenched paper. Sai put it on his head and continued to whistle. She followed along side him. Sai decided he would make his last attempt to woo a girl.

"Ino?" he asked her. Her cheeks turned a furious red.

"Sai?" she replied.

"Will you marry me?" he asked. Ino's cheeks turned redder and she giggled.

"Yeah sure, but I need to get to know you first, silly," said Ino.

"How about some pancakes?" asked Sai.

"Sounds good to me," replied Ino with a grin.

Sakura and Sasuke waited, hoping the rain would lighten up and they could head back to the village, but that wasn't looking likely. The thunder grew louder and the lightning more frequent and with each deep roar from the former, Sakura would move closer to Sasuke. Until she was huddled beside him, Sakura shivered trying to control her fears.

"Sasuke," she whispered in the dim shadows.

"What?" he asked.

"About last night, I…I didn't get a chance to tell you how I felt…about that," she whispered. Sasuke made no answer. "Sasuke… I…I…" she didn't get a chance to finish.

Then suddenly came a flash too terribly close for comfort, the street light flickered and went out. Sakura screamed.

"Hey, hey," came the voice in the absolute darkness. A flash of light showed the concerned face of Sasuke. He caught hold of her hand and held it tight. "Do you have any rope?" he asked. Sakura was trying to hold back the tears already running down her cheeks.

"Yeah," she finally answered. "Why?"

"Let's go home," he replied. She began to sniffle again.

"You don't mean..?"

"Yes," said Sasuke. "Tie the rope around your waist and then give me the other end of it."

Sakura in the dark tied the rope around her waist and handed the long end of the rope to Sasuke who tied it around his own waist, then clutching her hand, he stood up. Sakura stood too and they fumbled in the dark for the door. A single flash of lightning gave them a light to see the door. They knew they had reached the outside when they began to get drenched again. Then stumbling they headed in the general direction of the village.

The backup generator was running in the Uchiha household. Ino munched on her pancake as Sai told her how he liked to cook pancakes every morning. He invited her over for a breakfast of pancakes whenever she felt like it. Ino giggled finishing her cake.

"You know what Ab Man?" she asked, licking the syrup off her fingers. "You're a lot nicer than your angsty brother," she said. Sai gave her a smile, it wasn't quite real nor was it exactly fake.

"Really?" he asked. She smiled.

"Yes, most definitely. I'd better be getting home now, expect me bright and early for breakfast," she said standing up with a yawn. "Sakura was supposed to spend the night but now that the power's out I'm guessing she's probably at her own house asleep in front of a dead TV."

"Goodnight Ino-chan," said Sai waving as she took his umbrella.

"Goodnight Sai-kun, I'll return in the morning!" and Ino took her leave of the Uchiha house.

It seemed that forever the two had been stumbling in the dark with occasional flashes of lightning to guide them. It seemed to Sasuke that they had to be awfully close to the village when…

SMACK! He crashed into the gate and as he fell back he brought Sakura smashing down on top of him. Sakura shrieked as the two tried to get back up.

"Gimme your hand!" cried Sasuke.

"That's not my hand!" shrieked Sakura her elbow colliding with his face.

"That sure as hell isn't my hand!" yelled Sasuke back as she pulled on his hair. Finally their two groping hands met and they struggled to their feet.

Sasuke turned to the object that had caused the whole fall: the gate. He pounded on it.

"OPEN UP!" he shouted hoarsely.

"IT'S JUST ME AND SASUKE!" shouted Sakura pounded as well. The rain kept coming down and the two were covered in mud, their toes, hair and entire body soaked.

"Please!" they cried. The gate did not move and Sasuke had beaten his fists raw from banging on it. Slowly they stumbled back.

"What are we going to do?" asked Sakura weakly. They moved away from the gate and under the shelter of a tree. Sasuke sank down into the mud and brought Sakura down as well.

"We wait," he answered trying to get comfortable. Sakura rested her head on his shoulder.

"If I had to wait, I'd wait till the end of the world with you," she whispered.

When Sakura woke up she found she was lying on the ground, with her head resting on his chest. They were still holding hands. It seemed they woke up at the same moment because instants later he sat up. Sakura yawned and sat up as well. The sun was shining and the ground was littered with puddles. Sakura turned to face Sasuke and then she broke out laughing.

"Your face!" she laughed. "It's covered in mud!" Sasuke wasn't in the mood for it, but he did smirk slightly because Sakura was covered in mud as well. He stood up dragging her to her feet as well. Sakura was tugged smack right into him.

"Hey!" he said angrily. Sakura was back to back with him, the rope looped several times around her.

"The rope," she said.

"Then cut it!" said Sasuke. Sakura reached for her kunai, but there was no kunai.

"I don't have a knife," she said. Sasuke grumbled reaching for his kunai, but he couldn't find it either. Growling he helped Sakura unwrap the rope from around her waist so that they had more rope to separate them. Now the gates were wide open. Awkwardly the two walked into the village. The streets were full of people and everything was normal, well besides the fact they were tied together.

"Let's go to my house," said Sasuke. "There'll definitely be a knife there, and you can clean up and we'll get some breakfast, if Sai hasn't used up all the ingredients on his pancakes,"

"Pancakes?"

"Don't ask."

They entered the house through a side door, in case Sai should be in the kitchen and see how messy and disheveled they looked, or see the rope that wouldn't let them part ways.

Sasuke lead her down the hall to where a decorative kunai hung from the wall. He took it down and cut the loop around his waist and handed it to Sakura who cut her rope as well. Sasuke hung back up the kunai and pointed to a door not far away.

"You can use that bathroom," he said. "I'm going to use the one right down the hall," he said, and they split. Sakura figured immediately, knowing Sasuke, he had probably let her take Sai's bathroom and was going to go use his own. She should have known better than to second guess him. She opened the door to a bathroom that was painted a good shade of blue. It made her feel instantly at home, for some unknown reason. If she were Sasuke and was having a bad day she would hide in here. She knew at that moment Sasuke had taken Sai's bathroom and this one was his. It smelled like him.

As Sasuke walked into Sai's bathroom, he shuddered. On the counter beside the sink there sat a bottle of ab wax guaranteeing your abs to shine like the sun. He twitched. The walls were an off shade white and none of the towels matched. Hopefully Sai would never be an interior decorator because the taste of the bathroom was terrible. He shed his filthy clothes and turned on the hot water. It felt good to wash the grime off his face. He reached for the shampoo and inspected the bottle. It had no brand in was some unknown shampoo with a sticker that read: Will make your abs gleam.

Carefully he put back the shampoo and hoped Sai had something else he could use. There was nothing. Grimacing Sasuke picked up the bottle again and squirted some of the shampoo into his hand. This had better not give me some unknown disease…

While Sasuke was shuddering in horror, Sakura was enjoying the hot shower. And using his shampoo, which smelled delicious.

Finally their two hands connected with the dial and turned off their separate showers. Sasuke reached for a towel and dried off. Then Sakura reached for some clean clothes. Sasuke's hand groped around but there were no close. Horror dawned on Sakura's face. She wrapped the towel around her body and opened the door. Wrapping the towel around his waist Sasuke opened the door. Down the hall Sakura's head popped out just as his did.

"Clothes?" he asked. She nodded. "Just stay there I'll get you something," he promised. Her head snaked back in and the door shut with a click of the lock. Sasuke, holding onto the towel went into his room and pulled on some boxers and a pair of shorts followed by a shirt. Then he grabbed some clothes he had outgrown and went back out to the hall. He knocked on her door. Out came a hand. He handed her the clothes and the door shut. He leaned against the wall and waited. Minutes later Sakura emerged in clothes still a little too big for her. She grinned embarrassedly. Without the mud on Sasuke's face she could see the black eye she had given him the night before. Her cheeks turned a little redder.

"Sorry about the eye," she said. Sasuke (who had not looked in a mirror) felt his swollen eye. It stung. He gave her a faint grin. "Could I have a bag?" she asked nodding to the filthy clothes she was holding with one hand as far away from her body as possible.

"Sure," he answered leading her down the hallway to the kitchen. "What do you want for…?" Sasuke's voice faded. Sai was wobbling as Ino was perched on his shoulders waving a spatula helplessly at the pancakes stuck to the ceiling. The sudden entrance of Sasuke and Sakura set Sai more off balance. He took an awkward step and then the two came crashing to the floor. Sasuke and Sakura could only watch as the two lay tangled on the floor. Splat! One of the pancakes fell off the ceiling and landed on Ino's head. Sasuke grabbed and bag and handed it to Sakura. Splat! Another pancake fell from the ceiling hitting Sai on the head.

"Ow."

"You know what Sakura?" asked Sasuke awkwardly. "I'm more in the mood for ramen for breakfast."

"Yeah. Ramen's starting to sound really good, right about now."

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: ) Please Review

-Hammy Uchiha