Ch 7: Introduction

It was about noon when the male youths of Team 7 were walking to the ramen bar. The silver haired copy-nin apparently had something he wanted to tell the team. "So what do you think Kakashi-sensei has to say?" the blonde teen asked, his arms behind his head as he and the other two boys walked on either side of him.

"Who cares," the last Uchiha said, seemingly not caring hands – as always – in his pockets.

The trio arrived at Ichiraku and took a seat as they waited for their always tardy Icha Icha Paradise reading sensei and team medic to arrive.

"Hey guys," Sakura waved as she approached, getting her peer's attention. She had taken a seat between Sasuke and Sai. Those two haven't always gotten along and it didn't look like they would anytime soon. So it was either she, Naruto or Kakashi who sat between the two to keep them from any situation that could cause trouble, though they both were good about not drawing attention to themselves. Her old Uchiha crush had his arms crossed as he closed his dark eyes. "So what do you think we've been called here for?" Sakura tried to start a conversation.

Naruto shrugged as he was the one who answered, "I was wondering the same thing. Maybe it's a mission to protect a princess from a far away land…"

"Whatever," Sasuke snorted.

"Hey, it's a possibility," the future Hokage defending clenching his fist as he held it in front of him as if he were ready to punch his best friend.

Sakura smacked her forehead at the two who were now making a scene, at least Naruto was. Sai was watching with what appeared to be an amused grin as they went on.

"You think you're all so great," Naruto carried on, no one really listening at this point, "Sasuke's so-" he stopped abruptly as his stomach grumbled, which as always had gotten the attention of his comrades. The blonde looked at the man, "Can I get some ramen now? Please?" his voice sounded like he was begging for something that no one would let him have.

"Sure thing," Teuchi smiled as he prepared one of his best customers lunch.

The pink haired girl sighed heavily before she rested her head on the counter. "Hey Sakura," her blonde teammates voice rang in her ears, "you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, Naruto." She answered as she rested her eyes. "Just had a little too much fun last night." A smile graced itself on her beautiful face.

"A little too much fun, huh, Ugly?" Sai questioned. "What exactly did you do?"

She lifted her head just enough to look at him, "Wouldn't you like to know?" she smirked and returned her head to the table.

"Sakura… did you force Hinata to tell you everything?" Naruto's voice was for some reason shaky. Again the girl looked at him, at full height.

"Everything what?" she asked ask innocently as she could.

His lower lip stuck out in a frown as he inspected her face closely, "You did, didn't you?"

"We asked her for the details, but we didn't force her." Sakura informed him as she gave a very genuine smile to him. "I didn't know you could be so romantic, Naruto." Naruto blushed at this as he turned away from the other two boys – who were looking at him curiously. "Though I think I could give you some pointers."

"Girls giving dating advice," Sai said.

Before Sakura could answer the team of four were greeted from behind by, "Yo."

"Wah wo ou?" Naruto was now inhaling his ramen, which was placed in front of him at that moment.

"Huh?" Sakuras' face was scrunched up and the others were looking at him as if he were an idiot.

He swallowed, "Where were you?" and stuffed another mouthful of noodles in his mouth.

"Sorry, there was a baby trapped in a burning building…"

"I would prefer it if you didn't use that as an excuse, sensei." Sakura told him sternly, clearly not buying it. "Threats on life is not something a medic likes to hear."

"You're right, sorry." The old man apologized; taking a seat to Naruto's left.

"Just don't use that excuse again…"

"So what are we here for?" Sasuke asked, broadly.

"We're going on a trip." The four looked at him confused. "You heard me; we're going to the hot springs."

"Why?" the Uchiha and replacement asked in unison.

Kakashi shrugged, pulling out his number one favorite book and began reading – the four sweat dropped as he answered. "I think it would be good for us to get out. Have a break, don't you think so?" not even looking up from his book.

"Sure," Sakura said, "I could use some time to relax, since I'm band from the hospital due to our last mission." She spat almost hatefully, her sudden mood changes didn't go unnoticed to everyone

"Wonderful," the Jonin exclaimed as he readied to depart. "Tomorrow then."

"Hey! Wait? What?" Naruto quickly swallowed his ramen. "We're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah," the silver haired man answered. "Later." And vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"…Well," Sakura began, "that was a fairly quick notice."

"Hn."

"Maybe I can ask the old Lady for a mission," Sai said out loud.

The pink haired girl turned to him, "I'm surprised she hasn't sent you and Naruto to the hospital in a gurney for life with those insults. She must like you guy's a little bit." The team continued their little get together with their missing sensei.

----

"Oh, man," Naruto held his hands on his stomach as he and the others walked down the street. "I ate so much."

"And when don't you?" Sakura asked, slightly annoyed with her ramen-loving teammate. "You should hang out with Hinata more and less with your precious ramen."

"Hey Sakura," she stopped when he did and the others ceased their own movements a few moments after them. However, before their blonde comrade could go on, someone else claimed all their attention.

"Someone! A medic! I need a medic! Now!" a frantic woman cried, leaning down toward someone. A crowd gathered around her and the person she was with. The woman was probably in her late twenties and black hair and brown eyes. She continued to call hysterically for someone to find a medic. A white apron was wrapped around her waist over her blue outfit; Sakura could tell she was at least three weeks pregnant. She didn't look it, but being a medic, you could sense these things, and also, Sakura had been the one to tell her she had successfully conceived her first child after a few years of she and her husband trying. "Someone please!"

The medic quickly ran forward – leaving the three teenage boys behind. "Excuse me." Sakura carefully pushed through the crowd and she reached the victim of whatever means. She looked at the woman, "What happened, Nou?"

"I don't know," she answered, her voice was shaky. "He and I were just talking then he suddenly passed out. I know you can help him, Sakura."

'Passed out,' the kunoichi thought as she placed her hands on his head. She spoke as she did so, "Would you three get these people off of me?" she asked her teammates, with a quick glance at them as they made it through the horde of people before returning to her patient.

"Alright everyone," Naruto responded to his friends' request, "give her some room so she can help this guy out." He shooed the mass of curious people and Sasuke and Sai stood a few feet away from their female team member, watching her work, as Naruto did his.

Green chakra emitted from her hand as she held it over his forehead. After the blonde loudmouth gave Sakura some distance from everyone, he went to join his other two comrades. All three could see her face and tell that something was troubling her. "This is odd," she mumbled, though only her trained ninja comrades could hear her voice.

Before Naruto or the other two could ask, the person Sakura was helping stirred, slowly opening his eyes. Sakura blushed. Since she was in such a hurry to help this person, she didn't even notice if it was male or female. Though she did recall Nou say he and him, indicating it was male. Sakura then put her arm under his head, to help support him, and she didn't notice that her three teammates were not liking it too much – even if she was a medic. Naruto, you could see it on his face. Sasuke and Sai, both remained impassive, but inside something wasn't feeling right, at least for Sasuke.

The crowd finally dispersed, after giving Sakura a few words of praise.

"It's a good thing Sakura was here."

"It sure was."

"I thought the boy was going to die."

"Sakura has come so far, she's well on her way to being the best medic in history, along with Tsunade unless she surpasses her."

"Hey," the boy in Sakura's arms smiled gratefully at her.

She blushed even more. 'He's cute. He's probably as cute as Sasuke if not more.'

'As if!' her inner self snorted.

Sakura looked at him for anything else that could be wrong and helped him sit up. His skin had the same coloration as her old crush. Blonde hair on top of his head cut short in the back and his eyes were a beautiful shade of pale blue. The smile that formed on his face was warm and charming that would grab any girls' attention with a simple glance and his teeth were extremely white. Perfect in every way.

"Are you the one who saved me?" he asked kindly.

"Uh… yeah…" the girl was still flustered as he looked at her with his eyes.

"Thank you…" he leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek so quickly none of the four knew what was going on.

"What-" Naruto was interrupted.

"Thank you…" the blonde gentleman trailed. It had taken Sakura a moment to realize that he was waiting for her to tell him her name.

"Sakura… My name is Sakura."

"And it is a beautiful name for such a beautiful young lady such as yourself." He cooed, again smiling. Something about his voice captured her, almost as if it was a song that enchanted her with each word he spoke. "I'm Aizen."

"I'm Naruto, this is Sasuke and Sai." Naruto interrupted, not liking this. "We're Sakura's teammates! We don't like it when strange people start hitting on Sakura like that!"

"Hn, whatever," the Uchiha pretended to be indifferent, but was agreeing with what his idiot best friend said.

"Excuse me," the woman, Nou interrupted quietly. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Oh, yes, thank you for finding someone to save my life." The boy, Aizen, too kissed her on the cheek quickly.

"Hey!" Naruto balled his fist and rolled up his sleeve. "Stop hitting on both of them!"

"Naruto," Sakura stood up and pat him on his shoulder. "A kiss on the cheek can also mean 'thank you' to others in different cultures. You missed out on that lesson too."

"You're welcome," Nou replied, standing up a little too quickly, placing a hand on her stomach.

Sakura managed to catch her. "Pregnant women like you Nou, shouldn't strain themselves. Even when this kind of thing happens." The medic was now helping the woman, leading her to a chair.

"She's pregnant?" Naruto leaned in to ask his teammates, the shrugged.

"After a few years of trying, it's different." The woman smiled. "Who knew a child could cause these kind of things?"

"You should rest for an hour at least, after you started panicking…" her hand was again green as she checked on the unborn child for any signs of distress. "You'll be fine, and so will your first baby." She then called for another woman. "Nou needs to rest for an hour before she gets back to work." The other woman nodded.

"Thank you Sakura." She helped the woman off her chair and into the building.

The pink haired medic looked at Aizen gently, who gave her a very delighted smile. "I'm glad to know that I didn't kill anyone, a woman and her unborn child would have been the last thing I would want to cause. At least you were here to save three lives, Sakura…" his voice again was soothing as he attempted to stand only to collapse with a hand to his side.

"Do you have another injury?" Sakura instantly knelt beside him and gently pulled his hand away.

"No," he said through a tough smile, "I'm fine."

"No you're not." Sakura moved his hand and pulled up his shirt to examine the wound

'Wow.'

'He's not as well developed like Sasuke is!' her inner self returned as Sakura sent her medical chakra into his bleeding side.

"Were you in a battle earlier?" she asked.

This immediately got her male companions attention – who were looking away, unable to watch this scene unfold.

"I was," Aizen raised a brow. "Not only are you a fine medic, you could tell that I was in battle. You aren't like most kunoichi I've met."

"How would you know she's a kunoichi?!" Naruto cut in. His attention, as well as Sasuke's and Sai's were on him.

As Sakura continued to heal him, the boy looked at each of them. "She has a kunai pouch. Shinobi tend to carry them." He stated simply as Sakura finished, he inspected the wound. "You do a beautiful job mending all kinds of wounds." Aizen then looked Sakura in the eye. "You will make a fine wife and mother someday." The boys glared at him as his attention was on their teammate and he continued, Sakura was blushing as she turned away. "Is there anyone you fancy, or who fancies you, if I may ask?"

"N-No… n-not y-y-yet…" more heat burned on her face. 'Why would he like to know?'

'It's obvious he likes you.'

Sakura ignored her inner self; she would only lead to trouble.

'Tell him you're taken!' she demanded.

'And who would you suggest?'

'Sasuke! Hek or even Naruto or Sai! Something doesn't feel right. I don't know if it's about Aizen or you.'

'Is there a problem if he likes me? Not like I am with anybody.' Sakura shoved the other her in a small soundproof box before returning to reality.

"So… you don't like anyone? And no one likes you… at least… not yet?" the blonde asked. All the kunoichi could do was nod her head slowly. "Then no one would be upset if I asked you to dinner or a date? Correct?" she nodded again. Of course no one would mind if she did. It's not like anyone liked her more than a friend. Naruto had Hinata and Sasuke and Sai were just teammates, who had become good friends. Especially Sasuke. After he came back, it had taken him a while to warm up to Konoha and even accept her as a friend. Believe it or not, he told her that not too long before their last mission a few days ago. But he did finally call her a friend. "Then, would you accept my offer to dinner, Sakura?"

Yet, before she could answer and Naruto could protest, Sai broke in. "You would honestly go out with Ugly?"

'Stupid Sai.' Naruto thought, but was glad that he interfered before Sakura answered. 'At least she'll kill him and not me.' He smirked inwardly.

The Uchiha was acting as if nothing happened. 'Hn. She should forget about this guy. He's not even worth her time. Besides, he doesn't seem entirely trusting. He could be playing with her emotions and be hiding it with this 'sweet guy act'. And also something's not right with him.' Sasuke watched him cautiously. Even when the boy was unconscious, he could tell something was not right and he was wondering if the other two felt it as well. Though he couldn't tell.

"Ugly?" Aizen raised a confused brow.

"It's my nickname…" Sakura answered, glaring at the replacement.

The blonde newcomer looked at the one who had said such a comment. "How could you say such a thing? She is not as you claim. She is the farthest thing from ugly. She has to be by far the most beautiful woman to walk this earth. I think you need your eyes checked, my friend." He was now able to stand and stood gazing at the pink haired girl who had helped him. "Thank you again, Sakura. You truly are a life saver. No matter how small the person. Would you accept my offer?"

"Sakura…" Naruto yelled, jumping in front of her protectively. "You're not actually going to accept this guy's invitation, are you?! What could be better than Ichiraku?!"

"Ichiraku? Please. That is no way to be romantic." The other blonde said as he turned back to Sakura, pushing Naruto aside. "Please say you'll come. At least as a thank you for helping me." By now he was holding her hands, shaking them.

"Uh…" she was blushing again as she looked down at her hands, they were enveloped in his larger ones. "… Sure… Why not?" she accepted innocently.

The other three boys were surprised to hear she accepted. It was visible on the Kyuubi vessels face. "Wonderful, would you meet me right here at six tonight?"

"Sure…"

"I already can't wait," the boy leaned in again, this time a little slower and kissed her cheek slowly and with a smacking noise. Naruto was furious and Sasuke unconsciously clenched his fist and scowled silently. Sai just blinked, though he was protective of her, but not jealous. "See you at six." The boy said as he pulled away before running off, excitement was in his voice.

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, she turned to look at the three boys. Sai and Sasuke wore their normal expressions, but it was a different story on the inside. "Are you really going to go through with this date?"

Sakura shrugged, as she reached onto her rosy red cheek to feel the spot that was tender to such a gentle touch. "I can't back out on my word now. Besides, it's not like I'll let anything happen. Nothing will go more than as if it were a date between two friends. Just dinner that's it. Also, no one really likes me anyway, so why can't I just have a little fun? At least before we leave, he's probably just visiting so it will only be once and no more. And if he trys anything, I'll beat him. I am Tsunade's apprentice after all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to take care of." She dashed off waving before she disappeared behind a building.

Sasuke was the only one who could see the smile she had when she turned around the corner before she was out of sight. Unknowingly, his fists clenched and he growled softly, his teeth barely visible under his lips.

Naruto was watching him at the corner of his eye. Just before Aizen left, he had seen the Uchiha's hands become fists. It was this time he knew he knew what he saw. 'Is Sasuke starting to care about her?' just as he stopped, Sasuke regained his calm, cool and collected attitude before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away as if nothing happened. Sai looked at Naruto.

"Did you see that?"

Naruto nodded before watching his best friend retreat. "I think Sasuke's jealous."

"I agree." With that, both boys ran to catch up with the last Uchiha.

'I don't like this weird feeling. What does it mean?' the dark haired boy noticed his two teammates slowing down with him as they caught up.

This was clearly something Sasuke was not used to. Something had riled him up, and the bad thing was, he didn't know what it was.

Wow. I wrote a lot, more than I expected. I didn't think I'd get this much down, but I did. So how was it? I like this chapter. Is someone getting jealous? The SasukeSakura is about to begin. Please review.