HELLO!!! I AM SO VERY SORRY FOR THE SO VERY LATE UPDATE. I have been VERY busy for college entrance tests, and this is something I take seriously. :( I will finish this, don't worry!)

I too was actually on HIATUS.

Yes, guys, Shisui kissed that friggin man.

I can't make promises anymore when it comes to updating. My writing is really rusty and it's disappointing me. However, I have fresh ideas for SasuSaku one-shots and I plan on writing other stories. Maybe even Haikyuu stories.

GUYS THIS IS A LITTLE SHORTER THAN THE USUAL BECAUSE I WAS MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD WITH MY WRITING.

I do not own Naruto. Yes, I've run out of creative juices.

Shisui was an Uchiha. An Uchiha was definitely a man or woman of honor.

He had secretly entered their room through the window, making sure that there were no innkeepers in the vicinity. After all, a buildup of complications would ruin their disguise as a normal couple, given that he was carrying an intoxicated woman.

He did not want them to think he was a criminal.

As soon as they had reached the room, Shisui carefully laid the drunk-looking woman on the bed. Her body weighed down his hands that were fastened to her waist. Ever so slowly, his palms slithered from out of her reach, feeling the wet and sticky texture of her skin.

He knew just what he had to do. He had to examine the woman before him first, noting the effects of the drug. The inferences derived from this observation would shorten the length of their mission.

Yet, even an intelligent and reliable shinobi as Shisui could not accomplish such a task without having considered other things. Things that were... well, worthy of consideration.

It was not a no-sweater for him to ignore the human side of the situation. The table left little to no options for him to make the situation in his favor for even a teensy bit. After all, he was dealing with someone whom he had feelings for, despite how such feelings were incomprehensible to him, and how he thought that if he were to regard them from an objective point of view, he would label them as downright illogical. Ridiculous even.

He was a perceptive thinker, but his great mind had its own limits. He knew he felt something for Sakura, but why should he? How could he feel something for her when even he understood that they barely knew each other?

Sure, they had their intimate moments here and there. But were they enough? Wasn't he just a victim of circumstance? Of a spur-of-the-moment thing?

Yes, he respected the kunoichi, acknowledged her good points, and accepted her flaws. But shouldn't things end there? There were no reasons to ultimately justify the decision to get to know her better. He had no use for an intimate relationship.

He thought that maybe he was just confused about his own feelings, and he was determined that that part was true. He had experienced developing romantic feelings for a few girls before, but the wave of emotions he was carrying at this point in his life was different.

At first, he was merely interested in annoying the kunoichi. She was just someone he had had a mission with in the past. And then came wanting to befriend her. And then things took a different turn.

Shisui was the complete opposite of stupid. He had sensed that Sakura was trying to accomplish something. For him.

Oftentimes, he gave it some thought. He admired her for her empathetic side. He admired her for her medical skills. But he could not understand why in the world she would want to help him. Ever since that realization dawned on him from his analysis of the events in their date and her stay at his house, confusion and frustration settled in his chest. And he then began feeling something warm.

He was certain that it was not plain gratitude. Sexual attraction? Much more complicated than that.

Maybe it was the confusion that complicated things. And maybe it was the fact that he knew he was confused that drove him steps away from genuinely comprehending his emotions. Maybe he didn't have to know in the time being. And while he was avoiding the thought, he didn't think it irrelevant.

And what about her? Did she feel something for him too? Didn't she kiss him on the cheek? Did the fact that she wanted to help him mean that she loved him?

Or was she the same as him—confused?

The thought of Sakura developing feelings for him gave him bliss, and he knew full well that it was a sign that he did not want to acknowledge.

However, he was torn. Shisui thought that things should be temporary, that he did not deserve to enjoy such. Deep down, he was, after all, treading on a dark path.

He decided that he did not want to give it any more thought.

The contemplating session vexed Shisui, because he knew that logic should not always rule in emotional situations. But could anyone pin the blame on him? He had a rough time just trying to understand himself.

"Sasuke-kun..."

The prodigy turned to the source of the deep groan. He paused for a while, mentally noting that the drug that the illegitimate doctor had used on her could stress out hormones. After all, sexual attraction was a product of hormonal growth. Although he would never admit it, it annoyed him.

Sakura slowly raised the lids of her eyes as her body shifted into a position that comforted her better. Lazily, she sat up, and what happened next gave the Uchiha a hard time to mentally note another effect of the drug.

But he did so anyway.

Anyhow, the drug dulled a person's senses and caused hormonal fluctuations.

"Sasuke-kun," the Haruno whispered softly as she left the bed and stood up to near the man standing in front of her.

Shisui knew full well what was going to happen next. He never wanted to take advantage of her vulnerable state, but he didn't want to care that much either. But achieving the latter was hard. Real hard.

Porcelain arms sluggishly slithered their way through his waist until he felt hands stroking his back. Desperation spoke in the kunoichi's act of hugging him tightly, as if she could not survive without his warmth.

"I miss you, Sasuke-kun," she said as she buried her face into his chest.

It bothered him. A lot. The events that had taken place after Team 7's return began replaying in his head. He could not forget how Sakura's eyes lit up when they were held captive by his cousin's. The atmosphere between them was vibrant of onyx and emerald, but sadly, she was looking at another pair of eyes.

Why it bothered him? Despite the fact that he was confused with his feelings for her, he could not deny that it was jealousy. Jealousy because...?

Shisui did not want to entertain the thought.

While all these were playing in his mind, he could not help but feel his chest burn (figuratively), as the woman laid her face on it.

He was not one for taking advantage. But it certainly did not feel wrong either.

Sakura innocently pressed her torso against his lower abdomen. However innocent it was, or unintended even, it made the Uchiha's eyes wide. After all, he could feel the spot that connected her legs fasten to whatever was bulging below his belt.

Shisui was aroused.

He needed to stop it, but he did not want to. He hated the idea of taking advantage of her vulnerable state, but he could not help it. It was low of a human being to tolerate such, but he was still human.

He felt his insides burning, and the belows burning. He could control his will, but he could not control what he was feeling. Deep down, it made him want to grab her hair and just kiss her.

Time seemed to pause when fair arms rested atop his built shoulders. Each finger pressed their way down to Shisui's forearms. At that moment, the Uchiha was left to calculate the drugged woman's next moves. She could simply leave her hands there for Kami knows what reason. Or she could maneuver his hands towards a certain spot, again, for Kami knows what reason.

Unfortunately, while thinking was certainly an advantageous attribute of Shisui, thinking for too long could lead to disasters.

Shisui's stay in his train of thought effected a delay in his reaction to Sakura's swift movement. Apparently, she had placed his hands on her breasts and pushed down his palms hard with the unintended intention of giving him the glory of using her body for pleasure.

With his renowned speed, Shisui removed his arms from her grasp and widened the distance between them. Sure, he was human. Sure, he could not deny that cupping the weight on her chest sent him wild levels of pleasure. But he could not bring himself to disrespect her dignity.

Sakura would never want to be put in such a position. She did not deserve to be an object of sexual pleasure without consent.

At this point, Shisui considered knocking her out and leave her unconscious for two days at most, just like what he had done to the bandits they had encountered in the forests. However, he also thought of the possibility that the drug's chemicals could deteriorate her organs if they were left in her physical system for too long.

He could not risk the chance to have his partner suffer from a grave medical condition.

Think, he thought to himself. He could perform a jutsu that would restrain her and control her movements. However, before casting a jutsu on her, he needed to find a way to get her to purge. Sakura needed to detoxify her bodily system.

And too bad for him, because the only person in the room who had extensive knowledge on bodily processes was the one who needed it most.

Shisui may be an extremely talented shinobi, but he was no medic at all. Yet, fortunately, he did know one technique to get someone to throw up. Back in his ANBU days, he was taught this method for cases such as when an enemy ninja attempts to consume a strong soldier pill.

The method involved applying a thin layer of chakra to the outer area that was directly above the esophagus. In essence, the strategy required chakra control on a large portion of the skin, clothed or unclothed, since the esophagus was a little long.

Thankfully, the technique could work even with the regular blue chakra.

As soon as he regained awareness of his surroundings, much to Shisui's surprise, Sakura walked towards the bed and lied down without exhibiting excessive movements that could warn her partner that she needed a lot more controlling than he could handle.

Well, Kami had blessed him with her partner's cooperation and he was not going to risk losing that opportunity.

Before putting his plan into action, the Uchiha created two shadow clones. One shadow clone took a plastic basin from the comfort room before approaching the woman on the bed. The other proceeded to her side to have her sit up properly and hold her in place. The reason why Shisui could not perform a restraining jutsu directly while trying to make the victim purge was that he did not want to risk the chance of losing chakra, since he had no clear idea how long the purging was going to take. After all, he had not known the exact amount of drug that Sakura had consumed. Furthermore, he knew that Sakura might need allowance for movement when she needed to purge.

The shadow clone who kept Sakura in place sat behind her with legs open, allowing the pinkette to rest her back on his chest. His arms held the kunoichi's own from behind while his chin was rested on her head with the help of his height advantage. The real Shisui glanced at them and thought that the position was a tad bit inappropriate.

However, whether he liked it or not, he needed to do this for Sakura's welfare.

The other shadow clone placed the plastic basin on Sakura's lap, ensuring that the distance was safe for a realistic projectile motion that carried her vomit. Afterwards, he began channeling his blue chakra to the area between Sakura's abdomen and chest.

Five minutes had passed and Shisui noticed that Sakura had not shown any sign of wanting to throw up. Could his shadow clone have channeled too little chakra?

With his real self standing at a distance from the bed, it was a pain to just watch his shadow clones doing the work. However, he knew that he needed to instantly perform the restraining jutsu after she had purged enough. This way was efficient, he reassured himself.

But drugged Sakura just had to be problematic again.

Sakura leaned back, pushing her back onto the chest of Shisui's shadow clone. She did so until her face was right beside the clone's cheek. Turning her face to his left, she planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

For Kami's sake, Shisui could not be distracted! He had no way out of the situation. He needed to tolerate whatever display of horniness the woman was giving just so he could save her.

His shadow clone had an incomprehensible facial expression. He seemed like he was a victim of sexual tension, but also a man who wanted to concentrate.

Just then, Sakura began planting more kisses on the side of the shadow clone's face, causing him to turn the other way. However, the woman continued her trail of kisses on the clone's exposed neck. Shisui's shadow clone could feel the tingling sensation left by Sakura's wet lips on his skin. He could feel the roughness of her tongue pressing down on his vulnerable spot. He could feel her teeth digging into the skin, leaving it red.

She gave his damned shadow clone a hickey! Thank Kami-sama that it would not appear on his real body!

Meanwhile, Shisui's other shadow clone was trying his hardest to concentrate on applying his chakra. However, the real Shisui who was watching the situation before him could not be any more disturbed.

He could feel the heat boiling on his face. He felt the tension grow in his body. He never wished for this to happen and he wanted to do everything in his power to stop it, but he could only do so little to avoid sacrificing the success of his attempt. And he was just human, too—capable of feeling erotic tension.

Damn it. Focus, he scolded himself.

The shadow clone behind the kunoichi still had his arms bent with Sakura's arms caught in between. Fortunately, he managed to hold the sides of her face with his hands to prevent the woman from advancing further.

Vexed by the effort to restrain her, Sakura eyed the real Shisui intensely. Slowly, she tried to bend her extended legs to expose to the man whatever could be exposed underneath her slit skirt granted her bent position.

The real Shisui immediately averted his gaze from her sly eyes. Thankfully, the shadow clone holding Sakura kept her legs extended again with his own, the weight of his legs pushing her knees down to the bed. The real Shisui returned his gaze to the situation before him.

Now, all these efforts to manually restrain her just created an even more inappropriate sight, what with their awkward positions and all.

And Sakura, even though already problematic, just had to take things on a different level.

Her arms were held and so were her legs. But her hands were free. Although her hands could only do little movements, at the very least, she could still do something.

Shisui's eyes widened when he saw the woman's hands aiming for her blouse's v-line. He knew just what the hell she was going to do. And with all the inappropriateness she had displayed so far, this was definitely something he would tolerate over his dead body.

The sound of clothes being ripped slowly entered Shisui's ears painfully. The uneasiness within him rose as Sakura tried to strip.

At that moment, the shadow clone behind her immediately took her arms and held them strongly behind her back.

With nothing to keep her head from unnecessarily moving, Shisui did not have to worry about her kissing his clone all over again. After all, Kami had heard his prayers and granted him a clear indication that his plan was coming to a success.

Beads of sweat trickled down Sakura's face. Slowly, she leaned forward with her mouth hung open, enabling the escape of saliva. Her drools were then followed by actual vomit and the disgorged matter actually went straight into the plastic basin on her lap.

The Uchiha was definitely no medical ninja, but he could safely take note that the vomit had an unnatural color of a shade close to black. Thankfully, even though the color was dark, there was no sign of internal bleeding, that much he could tell.

The purging went on for ten more minutes, with in-between pauses getting more frequent and longer and the disgorging getting shorter and comparable to a human groan. After a good five minutes of Sakura just staring blankly into the basin (as if she was seeing her reflection), Shisui decided that most of the chemicals had been safely eliminated from her system. With his partner's supreme healing abilities, he was confident that she could repair the damages on vital organs such as the liver as soon as she wakes up the next day.

A shadow clone cleaned up the plastic basin in the comfort room. The other one tidied up the mess on the bed and secured Sakura's body into a safe lying position.

After that, the two shadow clones dissipated into puffs of smoke, later on dissolving into thin air. No amount of hesitation could distract the Uchiha. His hands began to follow a series of hand seals for a restraining jutsu. There was just no way that he could allow Sakura to move freely throughout the night. Even if she had just purged, he was confident that the drug still had its effect on her bodily functions however smaller. Who knows what she could do? She had attempted to advance on him earlier; she could do something worse.

Thick jet black strings suddenly appeared over the woman's body, contrasting her porcelain white skin. The strings wrapped her chest, torso, and limbs, thus entangling her. Groans escaped from her mouth, but each one became quieter and quieter as time passed.

Shisui approached Sakura, giving her a look of deep concern. Her face looked like it had just been submerged in a pool of sweat. Thus, the man's medical instincts, although not significantly refined, rose to the surface. He neared her and rested a palm on her forehead.

Crap, she definitely has a high fever, he thought to himself. A frown crept its way onto his face and he could not help but pin a handful of blame on himself. Why did he let this happen?

Sakura's green eyes rolled up as if to reach the back of the sockets. Red streaks marked her cheeks. The ill woman spoke in silent yet heavy huffs. A cold weight found its way in Shisui's chest.

In an effort to respond to the situation quickly, the Uchiha laid a thick blanket over her body. He grabbed the towel that was folded on the end table next the bed and went to the comfort room to wet the cottony yet slightly abrasive piece of cloth. Afterwards, he folded the towel and placed it on top of the woman's forehead.

Shisui did not want to sleep on the couch. It was not due to a dislike of the piece of furniture's not so comfortable cushion. Instead, it was because he did not want to leave the kunoichi's side. He wanted to make sure she was safe throughout the night. He wanted to come to her aid if ever something occurs.

Hence, he walked around the bed towards the other side, laying on the empty space beside his partner.

A different blanket of nostalgia shrouded his thoughts. He remembered something similar to the situation he was in right now, but the memory was also different in its own way. He recalled the night of the festival and his date with Sakura when she had taken care of him.

Even though he was an Uchiha, a shinobi who was used to dealing with circumstances with a steel judgment and attitude, he found himself softening up upon the recollection. The image of gentle hands emitting a cool green glow of chakra lit up in his mind. The way Sakura's face looked whenever she was determined to do something for him was a sight that had been carved into his thinking space.

Why is she so stubborn about healing me?

Even though Sakura was trying to conceal her intentions, Shisui could still see through her acts. He appreciated her kindness, but deep down laid a black hole of reasons why trying to heal him was futile, not in the practical sense, but just because he had his own reasons—reasons he did not want anyone stepping on.

But even if he had his own reasons, even if he got confused about how he really took Sakura's plan... he questioned why he became slowly accepting, slowly welcoming her kindness. What changed in his outlook? How come it naturally just happened?

Shisui just stared at the rosette blankly. Even with a blank mask on his face, he was agitated by how beautiful and heavy her green eyes were. Despite being lifted by dark circles, despite being signs of an ill condition, they were overflowing with life... and even what seemed like love.

Sakura slowly turned her face to look at him, tilting in such a weak manner. Ever so softly, she whispered, "You're important to me, Shisui."

Could he trust her words even though they could just be slips from a drug's bliss?

He thought that he couldn't. He shouldn't. But he did anyway. He gazed at her bright green eyes and then glanced at her lips that held some sheen. He gazed at the same lips that caressed his clone's neck earlier.

She was vulnerable. His heart was telling his mind all sorts of trickery, all sorts of temptations. He knew that deep down, he so badly wanted to cup her face and kiss her.

Yet, in the end, he couldn't. He could not bring himself to do such to her drugged form. He could not bear to take advantage of her state. She was too... vulnerable.

In his mind, there was no clear answer to the question of why he had chosen not to. It was not just because he respected her. It was much more than that.

For a moment, he silenced his mind, shut down his logic, and allowed himself to reflect with much genuineness.

No amount of reason could explain why she held such a strong value in his heart.

On a deeper note, Shisui pondered about how it ran in the blood of an Uchiha to be vulnerable to the Curse of Hatred. A kinsman could bear a powerful rage of ire and reject softness, letting this curse feed on his will and reason like a parasite.

Yet, he thought, this curse was only able to terrorize an Uchiha because of the clan's nature to strongly feel emotions. Underneath the typical Uchiha's stoic mask, there laid a realm of softness that made him human, that made him able to strongly feel the depth of any situation, no matter how mundane or trivial, no matter how time-deprived—to feel even something as complex as love.

And looking at the woman before him, he thought that perhaps, just perhaps, he had been mistaken to think that he was different from his clan deep down.

The very next day, Sakura awoke to a stream of sunlight glaring at her eyes.

Every swirling object in her hazy vision straightened to normal. Her skin felt awfully sticky. Her head was a little heavy and she felt like she was experiencing some sort of hangover.

Slowly, she sat up and ran her lifeless hand through her tangled mess of pink hair.

What the hell happened?

Although she could move freely, she noticed that her body felt a little stiff, as if something had been tightly wrapped around her all night. Her forehead was also a little damp. It certainly could not have been some perspiration issue. She was the most hygienic person in their age group (or at least she believed so). Perhaps, a wet object had been recently placed on her forehead?

Sakura exhaled. In an instant, she observed the foul smell of her breath. The scent indicated leftovers of an internal fluid. With her mouth as a passageway, she could only conclude that she had vomited.

Afterwards, she took a look at her clothes. Kami, she was still wearing the same set of clothes! Now, she might definitely lose to Naruto in a contest of hygiene.

However, she also noticed that the v-line of her top was a little torn. Gaping at the sight, nervousness fell upon her chest. Could she have fought a battle and somehow torn her clothes last night? Could someone have attempted to sexually assault her? Could it be her own doing?

She counted to ten and then looked around her. She was at the pension unit. Their pension unit. Where was Shisui? Could he have left? Because they were pretending to be civilians, they had to mask their chakra throughout the day. Her partner was awfully good at making sure no one sensed him. It reached the point that it annoyed her at times. Now, Sakura just wanted to find him but she guessed that she had to take the difficult route in achieving so.

Sakura stroked her lower lip with her shaky fingers, channeling a big portion of her mental energy into answering her own questions about last night's events. She and Shisui had gone to the bar to obtain information about their target. She had talked to a certain man who later on gave her a drink.

Oh. That was it.

She mentally skinned her face. How stupid could she get? Her complacency with the situation had led to the most terrible problem she could have caused. It was a problem that gave birth to other problems. And by other problems, problems that were forced down her partner's throat.

Without further ado, she gathered medical chakra in one hand and then laid it on top of the area on the skin directly above her liver. If she had purged, then most of the chemicals had exited her system. For now, her priority is to heal the damaged organs in order to avoid complications. Removing the excess toxins, however little, could be done at a later time.

During her healing session, she thought about the events in the previous night. She was ashamed of herself. She had promised herself that she would change from the helpless and burdensome teammate she had been before. She did not even know what happened last night. If their target preyed on women by drugging them, that could only mean that he wanted them to be in their most vulnerable state. As an expert in the field of health and medicine, she knew all too well what that meant. Damned hormones.

Could she have burdened Shisui that way too? Oh no. That would not just be embarrassing; that would be totally horrifying. If her assumptions were proven right, the truth would haunt her in her dreams to no end.

And to think that she was in a bigger mission. She could not scratch her objective from the picture. She needed her partner to trust her. She needed to help him.

Why am I going on great lengths to do this?

She could just pass the task to her shishou, who was more experienced and skilled.

Yet, deep down, Sakura had an idea in answer to her own question. She just did not want to entertain it.

The kunoichi gave her body a stretch, enough to prepare herself for a day's worth of working and... hiding.

She went out of the bedroom and lazily tiptoed her way to the dining room. Sitting on the table was a plate that contained a breakfast dish she did not recognize. It probably stemmed from Tinland's cuisine. Whatever it was, she wasn't complaining. Her stomach was sending off nasty vibrations.

As she began eating, a memory came to her mind. She thought of how Shisui had prepared breakfast for her back when she had slept at his house. She was thankful that Shisui had left her breakfast, but she was still puzzled by his absence. Upon entering the dining room earlier, she had practically scanned the whole place in search of the prodigy.

Guess I'll just have to leave a note and continue the mission on my own.

Sakura showered and wore conservative clothes to disguise herself for another day's worth of playing detective.

Grateful as she was for Shisui's care and initiative, she nevertheless did not want to wait for him. After all, she had a more important mission in mind. And she could not accomplish her goal if her partner was always at her side.