Author's Note: Oh my goodness, your reviews make me so happy! And some of them are just hilarious. Oromisa, your review made me laugh in public! Every single one of you is simply amazing. And every follow and favorite makes my day even better!

P.S. A guest reviewer asked why I didn't pair up Sai with Ino and Shikamaru with Temari. Well, let's just say I'm in love with the Shikamaru/Ino pairing (insert heart shaped eyes). Thanks for sharing your opinions!

Chapter 13: A Rival


Sasuke's POV

"Sasuke, why do you have a condom with you?"

"It's a present from Shikamaru."

"What a considerate friend."

"Sakura, I really do not wish to have any images of Nara in my head right now."

The beautiful girl underneath me was laughing as I began positioning myself in front of her entrance. The atmosphere was carefree and loving, which felt perfect at that very moment.

I gently settled my forehead on Sakura's and looked into her deep green eyes. They were no signs of fear or regrets and that was what I needed to see before continuing.

"You can scratch my back if it hurts, Sakura."

Sakura giggled and rubbed her nose against mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a quick kiss on the lips. There was a sweet smile on her face as she nodded reassuringly.

I nodded back before slowly inserting the tip of my erected dick. I stopped when I saw Sakura wincing in pain and her fingernails began digging into my back.

"Are you alright? We can stop if it's too painful."

Sakura glared at me while slightly pouting. She pinched my back and it was my turn to groan in pain.

"Don't you dare stop. I will have you murdered if you do."

I chuckled lightly at Sakura's not-so-intimidating threat and kissed her on the forehead before pushing further into her wet cavern. And with a single thrust, I broke through her barrier and it made her almost scream in pain.

I kissed Sakura on her lips, trying to comfort her as tears began forming in her half opened eyes. One of my hands reached out to caress her cheek tenderly while the other stayed firm on her waist. I remained still, patiently waiting for Sakura to get used to having me inside her.

Even though I was feeling indescribable pleasures as Sakura's tight walls squeezed my manhood, I wasn't going to do anything to hurt her.

I wasn't going to do anything that would bring more pain to the woman I love.


Sakura's POV

I knew it was going to be painful but this was much more than I had expected.

My tears were blurring my vision but Sasuke had wiped them away. I felt so loved being with Sasuke. He didn't rush things and was doing his best to comfort me. The way he kissed me and the way he would touch my skin showed that he was trying to wash away my pain.

Although having Sasuke inside was painful at first, it slowly transformed into pleasure. And it was a kind of pleasure I never felt before. It was full of love and affection.

I felt like he fitted into me perfectly.

I didn't stop my low moans from escaping when the pain had fully subsided. I pushed Sasuke towards me and he took it as a signal for him to continue.

Sasuke pulled himself out before thrusting into me soon afterwards. He continued doing so for a few more times and by then, my moans and Sasuke's groans were filling up the room.

"It feels so good, Sakura."

Sasuke's husky voice made me blush immediately. And the way his lustful eyes were fixated on my own brought shivers down my spine.

"Sasuke, you can go faster now."

I noticed that Sasuke had been holding back so that he wouldn't hurt me. But I didn't feel any of the pain from earlier so I knew it was alright for him to stop hesitating.

Sasuke held onto my waist as he began thrusting with more force. I felt rather ashamed listening to the sounds I was producing but I just couldn't stop myself. And the way Sasuke would call out my name in his aroused and hoarse voice was enough to bring me near my limit.

And when Sasuke touched a specific part inside me, an electrifying pleasure shot through my body.

Sasuke must have noticed my reaction when he had hit that particular spot and started thrusting harder onto it. When he brought one of his hands to stimulate my clitoris, I knew I was dangerously close to my orgasm.

My voice was caught in my throat and all I could manage was tightening my grip on Sasuke's bare back. The best I could bring out was stuttering Sasuke's name as I allow my body to be taken over by the immense pleasure.

"S-Sakura, I'm going to cum."

When I heard Sasuke's words, I felt my own climax crashing onto Sasuke's throbbing manhood. With one last groan, Sasuke fell closer to me, but avoided crushing my body. He placed his head on my shoulder and I could feel his hot breath tickling my neck. I pulled him for an embrace as we bask in our afterglow.

"We should do this more often."

I blushed furiously upon hearing Sasuke's words. I have to admit I enjoyed this highly intimate moment though and I definitely didn't mind doing it again. It was just embarrassing for Sasuke to say it so bluntly.

"We should." I spoke in a rather timid voice and I could feel heat radiating from my ears.

Sasuke pulled himself up and rested his forehead on mine. He kissed me lovingly on the lips and I could feel him smiling. When he broke the kiss, he was still smiling as he stared into my eyes.

"I love you, Sakura."

His words were filled with sincerity and his smile was enough to make me squeal. But rather than doing that, I placed a playful kiss on Sasuke's nose and responded wholeheartedly.

"I love you too, Sasuke."


Sasuke's POV

To have Sakura in my arms as I drifted off to sleep was something that easily brought bliss to my life. Her softness and warmth soothed and comforted me.

I could get used to it.

When I woke up the next day, Sakura was still fast asleep. I glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost 8 AM. I slowly sat up on the bed and looked back at Sakura's sleeping form.

She appeared to be in peace and I almost didn't want to wake her up. So I decided to wake her up after I showered.

When I returned from the bathroom with a towel around my neck, I went back to the bed and saw that Sakura was still sleeping. I was only wearing my pants and had yet to put on my shirt.

I reached down to Sakura and removed her hair away from her face. I tugged it behind her ear before planting a kiss on her forehead. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed a little and she was slightly pouting. I placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"Wake up, Sakura. You can continue sleeping if you want to be late though."

Sakura opened her eyes with great difficulty, as if her eyelids were very heavy. When she began to regain more consciousness, she looked towards me and smiled cheekily.

"Sasuke's naked body is the first thing my eyes caught sight of right after I wake up. I think I can get used to this."

I smirked at Sakura's 'half-asleep' words and ruffled her messy pink hair.

"I know you're enjoying the view, Sakura. But it's almost 8.30 AM so I need you out of the bed now."

Sakura pouted and pretended to be annoyed. She stretched herself before leaving the warm bed. I wasn't sure if she forgot her naked state or was simply very comfortable to be walking around with nothing on in front of me. Either way, I had witnessed a good 'show' in the morning.

And just like what Sakura said, I could get used to this as well.


Sakura's POV

To avoid being caught, Sasuke and I left the room separately. We shared one more kiss before I headed over to the lobby first.

As I walked towards the lobby, I realized that my lower regions were rather sore from last night's 'activities'. I felt myself blushing at the thought and tried to snap myself out of it. But it wasn't long before I ended up smiling to myself foolishly.

Our first night together filled me with so much happiness that I thought I could burst.

I tried not to smile too widely because I wouldn't want Ino to be bombarding me with questions when she saw me. But then again, if I were to keep a poker face, she would still ask countless questions anyway.

I just arrived at the lobby for less than five seconds and Ino had already dragged me to a secluded corner. I sighed when I saw the look on her face. She was like a predator who had been impatiently waiting for her prey to arrive.

"What do you want from me, pig?"

Of course I knew what she wanted. It was way too obvious, after all.

"Did Sasuke use the present Shikamaru gave him last night?"

"That is an interesting way of asking me, pig. I didn't know you're the creative type of person."

"Oh my goodness. If you know what I'm talking about, it means you did it! Forehead lost her virginity."

"Can you keep it down, you stupid pig?"

Ino was holding back her squeal and I rolled my eyes at my hyperactive blonde friend. I was going back to where the others were since I wasn't intending to answer more questions from Ino. I didn't even want to imagine what sort of inquires she would hit me with.

I groaned in frustration when Ino grabbed onto my wrist.

"You must tell me details, Sakura!"

"I do not want to, Ino." I emphasized each word clearly, to show how much I didn't want to go into details. I would die of embarrassment!

"Come on! There's nothing to be shy of. I'm sure I had done whatever you did last night, anyway."

That was true. But that wasn't enough to convince me to tell Ino the whole story. I would rather embarrass myself by reading one of those perverted novels Kakashi-sensei loved so much.

I released myself from Ino's grip and ran towards Tenten and Hinata. I heard Ino shouting at me to go back but I completely ignored her. There was no way Ino could persuade me into doing what she wanted me to do.

When it was already 9 AM, we were told to gather with our respective groups. I waved goodbye to my friends and went to look for Sasuke and Naruto. It really wasn't difficult to locate Sasuke. All you had to do was to find a bunch of girls squealing annoyingly.

And you would find Sasuke there.

I was quite used to seeing girls surrounding Sasuke. There wasn't anything for me to get jealous of. However, I would still get slightly annoyed when I caught girls touching him or grabbing onto his arm.

It just pissed me off.

When Kakashi-sensei finally arrived, he managed to control the situation and asked the girls to stop causing commotions. When the crowds had scattered, I could finally see Sasuke and a very disturbed Naruto beside him. I guessed Naruto was not used to having his eardrums injured by screaming girls. From the distance, I saw Naruto glaring at Sasuke and I was quite sure as to what he was saying.

He must be scolding Sasuke for putting him through one of his fan girls' outbreak. Sasuke couldn't be blamed though but Naruto had nobody else to scold.

I walked over to the two of them when I saw Naruto waving at me. The three of us got onto the bus and sat together.

When everyone was already inside and the bus started to move, Kakashi-sensei used a microphone to make some announcement.

"We'll be having breakfast at a nearby restaurant before heading over to the Hakone Open-Air Museum. Afterwards, we will also visit the Pola Museum of Art and the Hakone Ropeway. In between the trips to the museum, we will be having lunch. We will return to the resort for dinner and you'll be given free time for the rest of the night. Feel free to relax in the hot springs. That is all."

I sat by the window and was staring through it for the entire ride. The plan for the day sounded decent but what I was most excited for was the hot springs. I actually wanted to go relax in the hot springs on the first night but that didn't happen.

Something more interesting came along and I totally forgot about my initial plan.

But I wasn't going to leave Hakone without getting into the hot springs at least once.


Sasuke's POV

"He has been staring at her from time to time."

I noticed how Sai would look at Sakura from a distance once in a while. Although the sight of him doing so irked me, I could see he didn't mean harm. He was just looking blankly and I hated how I couldn't read his mind.

When we arrived at the Pola Museum of Art, I decided to go have a talk with Sai. I wanted to know what he was planning to do. And if he really had the slightest intention of taking Sakura away from me, I was going to make him gave it up.

I excused myself from Sakura and Naruto by lying that I was going to the restroom. I walked around and tried to spot Sai while trying to avoid bringing attention to myself. It took me some time before I managed to find Sai, who was fully engrossed on one of the art works on the walls.

From what I had heard from my manager, Sai's parents were both artists. Sai practiced drawing and painting since he was really young. His parents wanted him to be a successful artist like them but he had his own dreams.

And that was why he left his hometown and came to Tokyo to pursue an acting career.

Although I disliked him to a considerable extent, that part of him was rather admirable.

I looked around to see if anyone else was present and was glad to see that we were at a rather deserted area. Sai must have chosen that place to avoid his persistent fans.

I walked over to Sai and stood beside him. He seemed slightly startled when he noticed my presence. I glance over to him and was met with an expressionless face.

At least he wasn't giving me one of his fake smiles which I had grown to despise.

"Is there anything you need from me, Sasuke?"

"Why did you move to this school?"

Even though I had overheard him saying that he moved because of Sakura, I needed to hear it for myself.

There were a few moments of silence before Sai spoke.

"Are you worried that I will snatch Sakura away from you?"

"Stay away from her." My tone was stern and I began glaring at Sai. And as usual, he was not affected at all and remained composed.

He went back to staring at the art work in front of him and I heard a soft sigh under his breath.

"I admit that I find her rather interesting. But I am not the type of person to destroy other people's relationship. I'm not that low."

What?

"Then why did you say that you moved to this school because of her?"

"Because I want to be her friend."

"Sai, are you serious?"

"Why would I lie?"

"But I caught you staring at her once in a while. What is that about?"

"I didn't know it's a crime to look at a pretty girl, Sasuke."

I had never been so speechless in my entire life. I wasn't even sure if I should take Sai seriously. But now that I thought about it, Sai never said anything about having feelings for Sakura.

Was I thinking too much?

"But you're always showing signs that you are interested in her in a romantic way."

"I don't understand what you are trying to say, Sasuke."

Hang on, why was Sai acting like a socially incapable person?

"Sai, do you have any friends?"

Sai finally turned towards me and was crooking his head in confusion. He seemed to be in deep thoughts before he responded.

"Does my manager count as a friend?"

"I doubt so."

"Then I guess I never have any friend."

I knew it. He was socially inexperienced. No wonder he ended up making people misunderstand his intentions. I should have noticed this sooner. I should have talked to him before jumping to conclusions.

And to think I had hurt Sakura over this.

I guessed I was blinded by jealousy to think straight.

"So you just want to be friends with Sakura?" I just had to ask one more time just for confirmation purposes. I wasn't able to completely believe that I had caused myself to be stuck in such a big misunderstanding.

But I was sure Sakura would be shocked if she knew about this. Sai's words could easily make a girl thought that he was interested in them in a romantic way. His words and actions were so misleading.

Hang on, was Sai being bloody serious? That was why I disliked this guy. He was annoying and he had given me headaches.

"Yes. It's as simple as that, Sasuke."

I stared at Sai to look for evidences to prove whether he was being serious or not. His eyes were reflecting the same sincerity like the time he told Sakura that he was interested in her and wanted to be her friend.

Yes, Sai was dead serious.

I felt like I had become a bigger idiot than Naruto Uzumaki.

"I have one last question. Why are you interested in befriending Sakura?"

I was almost caught off guard when Sai suddenly smiled a little. It was the kind of smile he showed Sakura whenever he was around her.

"She isn't like those loud and annoying fan girls. And even after she found out who I am, she continued being herself. Also, she is really pretty."

I felt like a huge rock was lifted from my heart but at the same time, my pride was shattered. It was an indescribable and rather contradicting feeling.

Sasuke Uchiha had allowed a socially handicapped teenager to mess up his mind, what a great achievement.

I was furrowing my eyebrows as I started to walk away. But I stopped halfway and turned around to say a few more words to Sai.

"I'll believe your words. But I won't let you off if you will one day try to get Sakura away from me."

Sai was looking at me as if I had grown a second head or something.

"Sasuke, let me give you an advice. Don't let jealousy confuse your mind."

"I don't need you to tell me that."

"I had firsthand experience on that because of you." That was the thought I had in mind which I would never voice out. The embarrassment I felt could last me a lifetime.

"And I have an advice for you, Sai."

"What?"

"Go make friends."

That was what he needed to do before another 'victim' like me would suffer.

And he needed to do so for himself as well. Although he might need to work on that attitude of his if he actually wanted to make friends. He also needed to control how extremely straightforward he was.

If he fixed those, I might even consider changing how I thought of him.

"Do you want to be my friend then, Sasuke?"

I was frozen on my tracks when I heard Sai's question. Was he out of his mind?

I turned my head over my shoulder to see what sort of expression Sai had on his face. I wasn't sure how to react towards Sai when he appeared to be serious.

I just didn't understand that being.

"I thought you hate me." That was my honest respond. After all, he always gave me those disturbing fake smiles.

"I find you annoying and arrogant. But I never said I hate you. You're the one who is always looking like you want to kill me."

"Speak for yourself. You're annoying and arrogant as well. And you're the one who is always giving me those infuriating fake smiles."

"Sasuke, I don't think a normal person can smile sincerely when the opposite person is glaring intensely at him."

I was completely speechless and could only stare at Sai. When I gave it more thoughts, I was the one who started glaring at him before he even gave me those fake smiles of his. Why did I even act that way? Must be because Sai and I were always compared to each other and it pissed me off. And it wasn't even Sai's fault to begin with.

You made a big fool out of yourself, Sasuke Uchiha.

It looked like I needed to work on controlling my emotions in order to become a more professional person.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Sai spoke again.

"Is it impossible for us to forge a friendship, Sasuke?"

I gave myself a few moments to think of what to answer. Although we didn't have good first impressions of each other and I had even gone through a major misunderstanding, Sai was right when he said having a friend is better than having an enemy. Moreover, having a foe who worked in the showbiz as well was never a good thing.

However, having a rival was another thing. That was something I wouldn't mind at all.

I found myself smirking at my own thoughts and Sai was blinking in confusion. I guessed he was still not completely used to interacting with me without my constant glares.

"I think it's possible if you will become less irritating."

I turned around and walked away. While I was on my way to look for Sakura and Naruto, I could feel certain anticipation inside me.

To think there would come a day I would be looking forward to becoming friends with Sai. I finally understood what people meant when they said life was unpredictable.

And having a rival was much better than having an arch enemy.


Author's Note: Okay, I hope that wasn't too bad. Please review and share with me your thoughts regarding this fanfic! I love reviews (insert happy grin). And Sasuke and Sakura will be staying together for another night. If you're curious as to what will happen on their last night of their field trip, make sure you come back and read the next chapters. Follows and favorites are much loved as well! Thank you for reading and see you next time!