SWAT Delinquents
"Inner Turmoil"

Chief Barlrog looked at his Captain. "Rahtah," he narrowed his eyes. "Your warriors have failed me, make sure you don't." He said in their own language.

"Yes Chief." Rahtah said, afterwards, gestured at his other men to take the wounded Totumka. "As you have wished," Rahtah spoke in a loud and low voice as he walked forward. "Totumka will not be healed." He stopped when he was at least twelve feet away from Sasuke, choosing to keep a safe distance from the soldier after seeing how fast he moved earlier. "State your wish for this round, warrior."

Sasuke maintained eye contact, which made Rahtah smirk slightly at the soldier's boldness.

"Well warrior?"

His eyes widened at the sudden movement Sasuke made that he quickly jumped back. He felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face when he recalled the feeling of a light breeze grazing his face earlier, and he looked up to see Sasuke's stance of that who just delivered a supposed to be powerful and painful kick.

"You're lucky you dodged that." He lowered his leg. "That could have left you paralyzed." And he gave a smirk that made Rahtah stiffen.

"Warrior…" He managed to say. "What do they call you?"

Sasuke's smirk faded to a frown. "My name, or my title?"

"I wish to know both."

"Then you'll know if you defeat me." He got into a defensive stance, knowing that this is a fight he shouldn't rush since he felt Rahtah's acknowledgement of his capabilities, and he had to return that respect.

"Very well," Rahtah raised both his fists. "Your wish?"

"That you and your people, including your Chief, do what we say."

"Done." And he charged at Sasuke who raised an arm to block a kick.

Sasuke flinched when he felt how painful the impact would have been if it got to his face, and he had to keep his eyes sharp if he ever wants to match Rahtah's speed. "He's a lot faster than Lee."

Team Shinobi and their medics watched in suspense as the battle went on, Rahtah throwing blows which Sasuke blocked, and the soldier sending hits that Rahtah dodged.

As five minutes passed, both fighters jumped away from each other in order to recover for a bit, knowing how they wasted energy just from delivering fast attacks and evading the opposing side's assaults.

Sasuke knew that Rahtah wasn't Captain for nothing, and he could bet that the guy was someone who can't be taken down easily. It was either he gets lucky in hitting the guy to weaken him, or manage a strong and powerful attack that could render the native unconscious.

Whichever, both options weren't even near fifty percent of success.

On the other hand, Rahtah knew that Sasuke can be taken down if he can time his movements perfectly, but the soldier's reflexes were fast, and the warrior couldn't help but feel both excitement and anxiety. Rahtah had to admit that Sasuke could very well be his equal, if not a level higher.

"No one has ever matched my level of combat." Both had thought with narrowed eyes locking onto each other.

"From the way you're breathing hard and staggering a bit, I'd say you're tired."

Rahtah twitched. "Your last attack slower…" he countered.

"Hn." Sasuke wasn't one for admitting defeat, but he didn't really like lying to someone who was worthy of respect. "Draw?"

Rahtah nodded once. "Draw."

And that caused both sides to be shocked.

For one thing, team Shinobi knew that Sasuke hated losing, much less being tied to someone. As for another thing, Chief Barlrog can confidently say that Rahtah dislikes having an equal, and that the Captain of his warriors only opted for winning or losing, no in-betweens.

"Rahtah! What is the meaning of this?" The Chief yelled in their own language.

The tall warrior just gave Sasuke a small smirk and replied to his Chief without breaking eye contact from the soldier. "Given my current state and his, the fight will only last longer without anyone winning or losing." He nodded once to Sasuke. "My wish, young warrior?"

Sasuke shook his head but smirked none the less. "Uchiha Sasuke, title given is Reaper."

Rahtah nodded. "As you wished, we obey what you and your team says."

"What the fuck was that all about? A draw?" Naruto hissed while nursing his healed arm, yet there was still a bit of pain. "You don't do draws! And you hate losing too!"

Sasuke just removed his military vest and jacket, sighing heavily at how warm it was after the fight a few minutes ago. "It's called a wise decision." He muttered. "We've been fighting too long, and I'll only tire myself out if I keep forcing myself." He sat down next to the blond soldier and stretched his arms. "And my sprain was telling me to stop."

"...Well, you're right." Naruto murmured. "Calling a draw was probably the best option."

"Hn." He looked over at Rahtah. "That guy is too good."

"...Thanks anyway." He said, looking elsewhere. "B-But don't think I owe you!"

He smirked and hit the back of Naruto's head. "Next time, don't be an idiot."

"Let me see your arm."

Both men looked up to see Sakura's hands on her hips and glaring at Sasuke.

"Ah... I think I hear the Captain calling." And Naruto stood and left the two.

"...Traitor." Sasuke mumbled, before pulling off his right glove as Sakura sat before him and held his hand gently. "It's fine."

"So it is." She lightly added pressure onto his wrist, causing him to flinch. "On the outside at least."

"Ch."

She took out a bandage and wrapped it up. "This is to remind you not to go overboard."

"...Hn."

She picked up his glove and slid it onto his hand, careful not to cause his sprain any pain. "Hey..."

"What?"

"If... you were in Naruto's position earlier, and... the enemy wished to... well, have me..." her cheeks turned a bit red as she continued to look at his hand that was still in hers. "...What would you have done despite the odds being against you?"

He stared at her for a long while, and the silence was making her nervous.

"It... it was just a question, forget about-"

"I'd continue fighting." Her head lifted to meet his gaze, and she was surprised when his fingers enclosed on hers. "Until I win and undo that wish."

"Despite the odds against you?"

"Aa." His grip tightened a bit. "It doesn't mean I can't use my legs or-"

Sakura slapped his shoulder, and he is surprised to see her crying. "Don't be a suicidal idiot, Sasuke..."

And for the first time in along a while, he gave a small smile, and he lowered his gaze. "Geez. You're such an annoying woman." And he pulled her towards him as she continued crying.

"I was worried about you, you bastard!" She cried out, her grip on his shirt tightening while their intertwined fingers still remained enclosed on each other. "Don't ever do that again!"

He let his free hand pat her head lightly, before stopping atop her head and then stroking her hair in a comforting manner, the small grin still in place. "I can't promise you that if you're involved."

"Idiot... you're such an idiot..."

"You make me do things idiotic."

She pulled away and furiously wiped her tears with her free arm, but her eyes continued to let the droplets run.

"Stop crying, it's..." he lowers his gaze. "It's making me want to hug you, damn it."

She hiccupped when she laughed lightly, and then leaned against him once more. "Then do so, you idiot."

He blew at a stray strand of hair that fell over his eyes before looking at his teammates, observing what each was doing.

Kiba had already slept earlier, while Shino sat a few feet away from his lying form, staring at the campfire. Neji was cleaning his rifle adjacent to Shino, with Lee also taking a nap a few meters away. His blue eyes searched for the others, and he could see their team Captain discussing something with Shikamaru while holding onto a few papers and a large map spread across the table they discussed on, their wooden goblets lay next to them, no longer filled with water, while their plates only had the bone remains of the meal the Chief had offered to them.

He looked down at his own plate, barely able to finish the "mystery meat" as he'd like to call it, and he wished he brought some cup noodles instead. He turned back to the group, seeing Neji take a break from cleaning his rifle in order to finish his half-eaten meal, and he had to snort at how Kiba's plate was clean, and that included Lee's.

"Naruto?"

He blinked a few times before looking to his side to see Hinata emerge from the tent where the female medics would sleep.

"Oh, hey Hinata." He grinned at her as she took a seat next to him. "What's up?"

"I just finished reading Sakura's notes." She said with a small smile. "Ino's already asleep."

He quirked a brow. "And Sakura is..?"

She flushed lightly and poked her index fingers together. "Um... where's Sasuke?"

Naruto stared at her for a few moments before looking around the campsite. He spotted a few patrolling villagers, some of them nodding and waving to him at that, but no sign of his comrade-slash-best-friend.

"...are they... together, together?" He asked slowly, turning to Hinata.

"I'm not sure." She shook her head. "When Sakura lent me her notes earlier, Sasuke came by and said he wanted to have a word with her, they haven't been back for... a while."

"Oh... oh." He flushed. "Um... yeah... uh..."

"N-Naruto!" She also blushed. "I don't think they're doing what you're thinking!"

"E-Eh? I'm... I'm not... but... eh..."

She shook her head and tried to rid of unwanted images plaguing her head. "Well, I don't doubt that they could be... hugging..."

"Making out?"

She flushed. "Do all guys think that way? What if they're just... walking or... just talking and..."

"...Sasuke does not do walks or talks."

"But Sakura wouldn't just... do something like... make...out..."

"Eh... well, I'm stumped as to where they are and what they're doing then."

"Um... so... you don't seem to like the food here."

"It's okay." He shrugged. "I still prefer noodles."

"I didn't even touch mine," she shook her head. "I tried giving it to the dogs discreetly, but they just sniffed at it and walked away."

"Picky eaters."

"Well, they did eat earlier, so they must have still been full."

"Huh. So what did you eat?"

"Sakura packs her own meal all the time, so she shared some."

"...Come to think of it, Sasuke didn't touch his either, he didtake a bite when Rahtah urged him to try the food."

"Well, it would explain why Sakura brought her packed meal with her when he asked for her."

"...Dinner date?"

"M-Maybe, but... they aren't in... that kind of relationship, right?"

"Who knows? That bastard isn't the most talkative of the bunch."

"Yeah, even Sakura won't say anything when Ino tried asking her about Sasuke." She hugged her knees together. "She just smiled and asked what we thought."

"That bastard didn't bother to say anything when I asked."

"...So... are they?"

"I think they are."

Crunching leaves from behind them caused the pair to turn their heads, and they spotted a mop of pink and black hair emerging from the forestry area of the village.

"Teme?" Naruto blinked, and then scowled. "Hey! We aren't supposed to-"

"Kakashi told me to." He answered, ruffling his dark hair a bit, his goggles lying around his neck.

"...You're both a mess." Naruto pointed out, seeing his more than unruly raven hair, and Sakura's tangled locks and wrinkled shirt. "Hell no!"

"What?" Sakura asked with a tilt of her head.

"Ch. Don't be a pervert you idiot." He bopped Naruto's head on the way. "Rahtah mentioned something about an odd-looking skeleton somewhere, so I checked it out after telling Kakashi, and since I had no idea what to make of it, I asked Sakura if she could help me out."

"Why didn't you ask me? I'm bored sitting here and not doing anything!" He looked at Hinata. "Well, was bored."

"Dobe." He grunted. "If I didn't know what it was, what makes you think you would?"

"...I could?"

"Ch." He looked over at Sakura who sighed heavily. "Thanks, get some rest."

"Yeah, but I doubt I'll be able to sleep." She shut her eyes and cradled her chin with her thumb and index finger. "Those were very odd bones."

He placed a hand on her head. "Don't think about it right now and get some sleep."

"Fine..." she held back a yawn and looked at Hinata with a smile. "Sorry for worrying you, we didn't notice the time."

"Oh, it's alright." She stood and walked alongside Sakura as they head back to their tents after bidding the two male soldiers a good night.

"...So teme..."

"Hn."

"You and her?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Hn."

"Er... the skeleton, what did it look like?"

"It had a larger than normal skull, but not at the shape of most... aliens you see on TV."

"Okay..."

"The spine was pretty long too, and the thing only had about three fingers and a pair of large feet."

"I think it's an alien."

"Dobe." He grunted and sat down next to the blond.

"Well it COULD be an alien…"

"Or something went wrong during the human's development stage."

"That too… but…" he pursed his lips. "Gah! Teme!"

He quirked a brow when Naruto grabbed his shirt's collar and shook him.

"Are you and Sakura together?"

His brows furrowed slightly as he processed Naruto's question, and after a few seconds of silence, he grabbed Naruto's wrists and pulled them down, forcing the blond soldier to let go of his shirt.

"Well?"

Sasuke straightened out his top and turned towards the campsite, afterwards, gave a light smirk and shrugged.

"That is not an answer teme!"

"Why do you want to know so badly?" She asked as she pulled her hair over her shoulder and combed through the tangles with her fingers, flinching when some knots refused to untangle.

"Because..!"

Hinata merely shook her head and gave a tiny smile to the blond medic. "And here I thought you had already fallen asleep."

Ino pouted and then gave a sly grin. "With your hair and shirt so messy, I'd say you two got a wee bit carried away."

Sakura's face turned red as she turned to face Ino. "W-We did nothing of the sort!"

"And what do you think was I implying, eh Sakura?"

"W-Well… I… something not good!"

"So you're saying you did not enjoy it?"

"No- wait, what are we talking about again?"

Hinata just sighed and lied down on her cot, pulling the blankets over her body as her eyes closed.

"Come on Sakura! It's obvious there's something going on between the two of you."

"…There's nothing but friendship?"

"Feh, yeah right." Ino rolled her eyes and then tackled the pink haired girl to the ground, her hands moving to pull down her shirt's collar, ignoring Sakura's protests. "Aha!" Ino pulled back and pointed at Sakura's left shoulder, a smug smirk on her lips as her blue eyes recognized a hicky – or love mark as some would call it. "There's proof right there!"

Sakura sighed and placed a palm over her forehead. "Ino… this place has a lot of insects – God knows why I got bitten there."

"Don't kid me! I promise I won't tell! Heck, even Hinata wouldn't dare say anything about you and Sasuke!"

"Ino, there is NOTHING going on between us, okay?" She stood up from her spot, one hand carrying a toothbrush and toothpaste, while the other held her comb. "Look, I'll tell you myself if there is, okay?"

Ino still did not look like she was going to let the issue go, even when Sakura had already explained why Sasuke called her. The only thing that was even close to romantic was her sharing her packed meal with him, and probably the fact that it was just the two of them under the moonlit night, even if it was to investigate, the walk could have been considered romantic – what with Sasuke being Sasuke and all.

"Geez… even I'm a bit frustrated…" she murmured as she walked out of the tent, ignoring Ino's exclamation of "I heard that!"

Sakura checked the whole site, seeing Kakashi and Shikamaru still discussing a few things, and then spotted Neji and Shino already asleep. Her ears picked up the loud voice of Hinata's current apple of the eyes, and she almost laughed at how Naruto was near to strangling Sasuke, while the raven-haired soldier tried to swat the younger one's hands away.

Feeling a yawn coming, she trudged towards the nearby lake, letting the sound of the waterfall guide her to where it is, all the while hoping that she'd recall the way back.

"Ugh… with Ino's questioning, I forgot to bring my flashlight."

"Yeah, way to go genius."

She jumped and almost screamed had a hand not covered her mouth. Her widened eyes closed as a sigh of relief came from her lips when the hand was lowered.

"Geez Sasuke! Don't scare me like that!"

He shrugged half-heartedly, his way of apologizing, before shedding some light onto her.

"Oh, thanks." She smiled and peered behind him. "Er… weren't you with Naruto?"

"He annoyed the hell out of me."

"I'm surprised he let you off."

"He saw you and let out a lewd grin."

"Ugh. Even him?"

"Hn." He looked to the side as she turned and knelt down on the ground, afterwards, began to brush her teeth.

Her words were muffled all the time, and he had to look at her as if she had two heads. When she finished rinsing her mouth, she stood and faced him. "Don't you agree?"

He blinked, stared, and after a short while, snorted. He lifted a hand up to cover his mouth when his shoulders began to shake, and soon, he was pretty much laughing.

Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink upon hearing his laugh – it was probably the rarest moment that only a few people have encountered.

"I did not understand a word you just said." He said after a while, ruffling the back of his hair a bit before letting out a tiny smile. "But whatever you say."

Sakura couldn't help but wonder why people keep thinking that there's something there, that there's even a possibility that she and Sasuke are more than friends.

"It's funny…" she said in a soft tone as her gaze lowered a bit. "I mean…" a small smile made its way to her lips as she thought about Ino's words, and how she felt like wanting to make the others' assumptions true, but this was Sasuke – his actions can't be mistaken for anything but that. "They keep thinking that there's something between us when there's nothing."

He did not respond to her words, but she preferred it that way.

"Seriously, it's like they have no idea who you are." She sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm not that much of an idiot to even think that… well, you and me…"

She wanted to see how he reacted, but she was also afraid of seeing his expression, so she kept her eyes closed.

"Yeah…" she turned her back to him to face the lake, the soft sound of falling water the only company they have other than each other. "It's not possible for that to happen."

"…You think so?"

She was even surprised that he had responded with a question, but she still refused to look at him, to let him see the emotions in her eyes.

"…Yeah." She gave a light nod to support her answer. "So… maybe we can just… keep our distance a bit, let's remain… friends…" she trailed off to fight back what she felt were incoming tears. "So... shall we-"

Her eyes widened when she felt her back against his chest, and his arms around her waist.

"Sasuke..?"

He closed his eyes when the scent of her hair intoxicated his nostrils yet again.

"…Um…" she shakily raised her hands, unsure if she should cling onto his arms or pull them away.

He still kept silent, as if waiting for her to react, so react she did – she pulled away from him and turned to face him, the words she was about to say died down upon seeing the soft yet intense gaze his eyes held.

She couldn't describe how he looked right now – but the way his eyes were half-closed and looking at her, the way his aura seemed a bit toned down and mellow, and the way his hands rested on his sides…

…he looked like he wanted something to happen between them.

She bit her lower lip and looked down, one hand rising to hide her embarrassed face, while the other covered her mouth to prevent a sob from escaping when tears just escaped from her eyes.

It was already too much – hiding and suppressing her emotions, keeping it all bottled up…

And then he had to go and embrace her like a lover, and even dared to look at her with such a face she never knew he had.

"I want us to be more than that."

She lifted her head to look at him, her tears continuously flowing as her eyes met his.

"I don't want to be just friends with you."

She felt her brows knit as more tears continue to pour down – should she be relieved?

"So no." He said. "I'm not going to agree with you."

Was it even possible that he already knew her feelings from the beginning?"

"Whether you like it or not," he clenched his fists and stepped closer to her. "I'm going to make you fall in love with me."

And she did not expect him to pull her into his arms and harshly place his lips on hers.

It was really a short kiss, but to them, it felt long…

"…Idiot…" she murmured and peered at him beneath her pink bangs. "I've already fallen in love with you from the start." And she closed the distance between their lips.