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Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Naruto. I simply play in their world.

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The Edge of Rage

Chapter 3

Twenty-four hours ago...

How long does it take a female to change clothes? Sasuke knew that he had given Sakura twenty minutes to change but as he stood outside the hut, still in his black ops gear, it felt as though hours had passed.

If it wasn't beneath his dignity as an ANBU captain, he would march back into that hut and demand what was taking so long.

Calm down, he reminded himself, you are an ANBU captain not some green genin. You berated Haruno for giving into her emotions, do not do the same. Sasuke closed his eyes and went into a meditative state to focus his mind.

"I'm ready."

Sasuke opened his eyes what seemed liked hours later but in reality was only ten minutes. His mind felt sharp and once more his anger was sheathed and banked behind the cold steel of his will. He could now concentrate solely on the mission without his errant emotions getting the better of him.

He turned around to look at Sakura and his control snapped. "What the hell are you wearing!"

Sakura was standing on the porch no long dressed in the simple garb of the black ops. Instead she wore a top that was more akin to a bra, except the straps were wider and crisscrossed behind her back. The 'top' molded to her breasts like a second skin, covering everything yet hinted at the creamy swell of each breast. The edgings were etched in gold and nestled in the middle where the two pieces of material met was a dangling gold medallion that looked liked the swirl of a leaf. The top itself was deep, hunter green.

Pants the same hunter green as the top, hugged each and every curve of her body, the top just covering her hips as a large gold-plated belt wrapped around her body, tiny jade pearls embedded in the square plating glittered softly in the early light.

To complete the outfit she had somehow unearthed a pair of fuck-me boots with thick, chunky heels that laced all the way up her calf in unrelieved black with the flaps of the boots turned over just below the knee to show the inner white suede lining.

Her hair, which she had kept back in a tight bun at the back of her head, was now tumbling around her shoulders in flowing black waves. Around her neck she wore a dark green leather choker, complete with tear-drop shaped piece of jade banded with gold.

Sakura frowned at tone. "Civilian clothing. I need to be seen, remember?"

Sasuke swore violently in his head and promised to cut off the first male hand that dared to touch her.

Sakura glared at him and stepped down the stairs and came closer, but still several inches away from the handsome Uchiha. It was then that he realized she had also somehow managed to find make-up. Her lids were dusted in the palest green with just a touch of black eye-liner that made her eyes appear luminous and her lips were a shade darker than their normal coloring and glistened invitingly.

Sasuke added in his head that he would also blind the first male who looked upon her with lust in his eyes.

"Where did you find all of this and how did you manage to change your hair color?" His voice was low and taunt akin to the rumble of thunder just before the storm swept in.

Sakura gave him an edgy look. "I used chakra to change the color. Regular hair dye doesn't work on kunoichi. So long as I don't use ninjutsu any time soon, it will stay this color. As for the clothes I found them in a small suitcase hidden in the closet. I think...maybe...that they might have been left by Tenten on her last mission. We are very close in height and build."

Sasuke raised a winged black eyebrow and pointedly looked at her chest, which was filling out the top rather nicely.

Sakura felt a flush of heat across her cheekbones and turned her head so she wouldn't have to look into his eyes. "I didn't say we were exact," she muttered, "she's just...smaller across the chest than I am."

"So it would seem."

Sakura snapped her head back at the darkly, sensual purr in his voice. "Stop that!" she hissed out.

"Why should I," He murmured silkily and reached out to lift a lock of her hair between his fingers, pressing it to his lips, "when you present yourself thusly before me?"

Sakura sucked in a sharp breath and tried to tug her hair out of his grasp. He refused to let go but watched her with a hunger in his gaze that threatened to take the strength out of her limbs.

"We...we have a mission! There is no time for...this!" Sakura reminded him, trying to sound calm but her voice betrayed her and there was a tremble to her words.

Abruptly Sasuke dropped the lock of her hair. "Tell me you have something to wear over that..." but he could not call the piece of clothing covering her sweet body a top, instead his lips curved into a predatory smile.

Sakura bolted for the hut and came back out seconds later wearing a white duster with the collar turned up around her neck. The sleeves only came to her elbow but the edge of the coat reached to her knee's. It flared out as she walked, giving a quick glimpse of the smooth, creamy skin of her stomach.

She looks like a rich merchants daughter, Sasuke realized as he finally got over the shock of seeing her in something other than shinobi gear. Just the type of woman a slaver would sell his own mother to find.

The combination of silky black hair paired with the flash of jade-green eyes and lush contours of her body would fetch a high price with the right kind of people.

"Satisfied?" she demanded, tossing her hair over shoulder in an absent gesture.

Not by half, Sasuke thought darkly, "Let's go."

"How far to the city?"

"Forty-five minutes if one is a civilian."

"And if one is shinobi?"

Sasuke gave her a smile that would not have looked misplaced on a wolf, "Fifteen."

Sakura nodded her head and took off after Sasuke after securing her pack on her shoulders. Inside was her ANBU outfit that she would leave with him once they were at the edge of the city.