Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Rating: T

Summary: When Sasuke takes Sakura under his wing, you know that something is definitely up.

Spitfire Not Only in Name

Uchiha Sasuke was many things – cocky, insanely talented and powerful, but one thing he was definitely not and that was being patient. At the age of eighteen he still couldn't stifle a prickle of annoyance at his old teacher's tardiness, though he was too controlled to say anything or whine like a twelve year old kid. Or Naruto, which was pretty much the same thing, Sasuke conceded, passing his gaze over the blond who started kicking up the fuss at the prolonged wait for Kakashi. The two of them were currently at their old training grounds but the feeling of nostalgia couldn't quite measure up to the utter boredom they were subjected to. Sasuke found himself wishing something would happen – an enemy attack, the return of Akatsuki, a mission to save a country – no matter how difficult, just to break the monotony.

Instead, he had to resign himself to the repetition of the same situation he had remembered from their genin days. Except there was something missing...

"Where is Sakura?" Sasuke interrupted rudely during a short break for air Naruto made in his tirade. It wasn't even that interesting to listen to. As if anyone cared what kind of punishment Naruto would install for being late when he becomes Hokage.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. Sakura-chan's always so busy."

Sasuke grunted in agreement. That was a given – Sakura's acclaimed medical skills were in a high demand in the village and on missions. However, she very rarely missed an opportunity to meet up with them for training or team dinners. Their bond was too important for her to neglect.

But only now, when she wasn't where she was supposed to be, Sasuke realized he had been taking her for granted all this time. Her absence was aggravating, to say the least, but also a bit worrisome. What reason did she have for not showing up on time? Some kind of an emergency mission? Then why weren't they called in too? Sasuke's brow creased in thought.

"Maybe we should go look for them?" Naruto proposed.

"Aa." For once, the dobe had a good idea.

But before they set out on a trip to collect their wayward teammates and drag them, possibly kicking and screaming, to the practice, Kakashi appeared in his usual noiseless manner, jumping off a tree branch to land softly in the grass.

"You're late!" Naruto screamed at him, pointing a finger accusingly. Sasuke just narrowed his eyes angrily, his wide stance and crossed arms showing the displeasure at their old teacher's tardy habits.

"Calm down, Naruto, it's not my fault," Kakashi remarked placatingly. "You see, I had to go to the store, but it was closed, so I had to go the other one, which is on the other side of Konoha..."

"I'm not believing any of your sorry excuses! Just say you forgot all about us!"

"How could I ever forget about my students? You have so little faith in me, Naruto," Kakashi said in a fake affront.

"Sakura's not here. Was she called for a mission?" Sasuke cut in, before they had a chance to carry on with their ridiculous argument.

"Yeah, where's Sakura-chan? She shouldn't go anywhere without us!" Naruto joined in the questioning, nodding his head.

Kakashi's eye glinted, which immediately spiked Sasuke's alertness. This old man was hiding something from them and having a blast with this on top of that.

"Funny that you mention Sakura," he drawled. "She's going to be extremely busy the next month, so I wouldn't bother her. You might get punched for nothing."

"So, it's some kind of a secret mission, right?" Naruto asked.

"Something like that," Kakashi nodded. "Now, let's get to practice!" he changed the topic and got them back on track with the planned sparring session.

However, it didn't escape Sasuke's notice that Kakashi was careful not to mention what exactly was going to keep Sakura so busy that she couldn't even come to the team practice. This matter stayed in the back of his mind for the duration of their training.

In the end, it fell onto his shoulders to investigate the real reasons behind Sakura's absence.

"Hey, Sasuke, how about some..." Naruto began, then blinked when his friend vanished in a blur, "...ramen?"

Only the wind answered the abandoned shinobi with a non-committal rustling, while the crickets chirped despondently.

Sakura wasn't in the hospital or at home and when he swung by the Hokage tower, he learned that she wasn't on any assignment at the moment. Sasuke was standing on a rooftop, overlooking the village irritatingly devoid of any trace of pink, and internally deliberating on his next move. He was almost ready to give up looking for Sakura on his own and get Karin to help him track the elusive kunoichi, when he spotted a tree toppling just by the river. Since he had seen the Hokage in her office not so long ago, the chances were next to hundred percent sure that the one behind the unauthorized greenery destruction was no one else but Sakura.

The sight he came upon his arrival by the riverbank was quite bizarre. Sakura was chopping up the wide trunk of the uprooted tree into regular boards with her feet, her face a picture of frustration and for some unexplainable reason her clothes were singed. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that and stepped out into the open.

Sakura's gaze snapped up to see him and she angrily blew out the air. "What are you doing here, Sasuke? Didn't you get the memo from Kakashi that I don't want to be bothered?"

"You didn't come to the team practice," he said calmly, crossing the fallen tree in a single leap to come to her side. The aggressiveness she exhibited did nothing to scare him off. He was not like Naruto to shake in fear of a knockout punch when Sakura was in a rotten mood. On the other hand, Sasuke, unlike Naruto, actually had never been in a danger of getting hit by her.

Guess that was another unfair privilege for being Sasuke.

"Yeah, so?" Sakura replied uncaringly, putting a hand on her hip in a show of nonchalance. "I have my own training regime to complete now. I don't have time for the team practice."

"What kind of a training regime?" Sasuke probed deeper, deciding to ignore for now the detached way she spoke of the team. "And what are you training for?"

Sakura sighed and perched on the part of the trunk that was still intact. "Alright, I'll tell you. Jonin promotion."

Sasuke glanced at her in surprise. "I thought you're already qualified for jonin?"

"Technically, I am," Sakura admitted. She tucked some of her chin-length hair behind her ear. "But only for a special medical jonin. I want to become a full jonin."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, trying to understand her reasoning. It's not like she couldn't go with them on missions as she was now, so what was the point? Special medical jonin wasn't enough for her?

Sakura gave him a dry look. "Why does a ninja train?" she asked sarcastically. "I know I can do it, so why shouldn't I? It's my ambition to be something more than just a medic. I'm sure it's not that hard to understand, especially for you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke nodded. He knew the meaning of ambition almost too well. It had been a force driving him from the very beginning of his life. Even as a child, before the massacre, he had wanted to surpass his brother. Later, his ambitions had led him on a dark and lonely path and despite the fact that he had moved on from his unsavoury past, Sasuke still had goals and ambitions needing to be fulfilled.

"I see. What are you learning to become a jonin?" he inquired, looking at the scrolls laying by Sakura's feet. She noticed the look and hurriedly bent down to pick them up.

"I need a bigger jutsu arsenal, so Kakashi-sensei recommended me to learn some techniques from my chakra affinity," she replied and things finally clicked for Sasuke – her choice of coming specifically to the riverbank, the singed clothes and her earlier frustration.

"You're fire," he stated, uncommonly pleased with this finding.

For a second, Sakura looked surprised at his sharp deduction, then she just shook her head in resignation. She really shouldn't have underestimated his capability for observation. "Yes, I'm fire-natured," she confirmed. "All the good that did to me." Sakura rolled her eyes, irritation bleeding into her tone.

Sasuke could easily tell that her attempts at wielding fire chakra, already highly unstable and difficult to tame (not unlike Sakura's temper, his mind made another connection), were largely unsuccessful, resulting in the frustrated state he'd found her in. He chose not to comment on that, as he was more interested in what exactly she had tried to learn.

"Did Kakashi teach you anything?" he asked.

"Well, he showed me a technique and left the scrolls, so I could study the theory."

"What technique?"

"A Fire Dragon. It's A-rank, so it's perfect for a jonin candidate to learn."

Sasuke rubbed his temple in annoyance. His suspicions were correct. Kakashi's manner of teaching did not improve with time, it even got worse.

"Have you ever used a fire technique, Sakura?" he asked, forcing himself to stay calm. "Or any other elemental jutsu?"

She slowly shook her head. "No, I've never had time for that with my medical training," she admitted. "Why are you asking?"

Instead of answering, Sasuke turned to survey their surroundings. The terrain was favourably flat, with a slight incline towards the river, however there was too much plant life. The spread out bushes and high grass could catch fire even by accident. What was Kakashi thinking, leaving Sakura here on her own to practice a fire jutsu, when she didn't even know any water techniques? He would need to have words with that irresponsible old man...

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called, getting impatient.

"I know a better place for this. Let's go," Sasuke ordered brusquely and strode off in the direction of the old Uchiha grounds.

Sakura glanced after him in puzzlement and, feeling like she had no choice in the matter, followed him with a shrug.

None of them noticed a dispersing of one silver-haired clone hidden in the nearby trees. The real Kakashi smiled, pleased that his supervision was no longer needed, and immersed himself again in the wonderful world of Jiraiya's literary masterpiece.

Sakura looked around curiously. Sasuke led her to a lake situated in a remote location, nearby the Uchiha district. The wooden planks of the pier, weathered with age and lack of maintenance, creaked when they stepped on them and walked to their end.

Sasuke faced her, his expression no longer annoyed, but rather placid and focused. He appraised her silently and she instinctively drew up, straightening her posture under his scrutiny. He must have made some sort of decision because he nodded to himself and finally spoke.

"First, you need to learn how to mold fire chakra. Did Kakashi explain that to you?"

"Not really. He said to gather chakra in the lungs and blow it out when it's too hot," Sakura relayed.

"That's a correct explanation, but too simplistic. You have to maintain a complete control over the process or the jutsu will explode in your face or not work at all. Also, you should be able to regulate the size and intensity of the flame," Sasuke said. "I'll show you."

He formed a tiger handsign and took a large breath, then released a small stream of fire from his mouth, directing it to go just above the water. Sakura observed the demonstration closely, determined to replicate it perfectly on her first try.

Sasuke smirked, pleased with her attentiveness. "Now it's your turn. Just remember to coat your lips and throat in chakra so you don't accidentally burn yourself."

Sakura nodded decisively and copied his previous stance. She made the handsign and closed her eyes in concentration as she filled her lungs with air and chakra. She thought about Sasuke's fire and felt the building heat until she couldn't grasp it anymore and had to expel it in a huge gust. She watched in dismay as the unstable flame quickly fizzled out from existence. This was too far off her intended result.

"You need to keep control over it when it's out, too," Sasuke instructed, his expression not giving away anything. "Try again."

Sakura shook off the momentary disappointment and got to work. She swore to herself she would crack this fire manipulation skill before sunset.

After a few hours of diligent practicing, Sakura managed to perfect holding up a straight stream of fire for about five minutes. With her energy reserves dented and sore airways, despite the thorough appliance of protective layer of chakra, she agreed to take a break at Sasuke's insistence. The tired kunoichi plopped down on the pier, her legs swinging over the ledge as she skimmed the surface of the water with her feet. Sasuke sat beside her and handed her two riceballs he had sent his clone to get during Sakura's training before biting into his own share of food. They ate peacefully together without much conversation, just enjoying the quiet moment.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura murmured hesitantly, glancing his way.

He looked back at her, his full attention trained on the kunoichi who started wringing her hands, before clamping them on the edge of her skirt.

"Why... why are you doing this?" she asked. "I mean, I appreciate your help, but you don't have to stay here all day. I can train on my own, I think I've got a hang on it already, so there's no need for you to stay. You probably have other things to do and I'd hate to keep you from them."

The material of her skirt was all crumpled when she finished talking. She lowered her eyes to her lap and began smoothing out the wrinkles she'd made, all the while studiously avoiding his gaze.

"Are you telling me to go away?" Sasuke asked calmly.

"What? No!" Sakura denied vehemently, her eyes snapping up to meet his dark ones staring at her with an odd look she couldn't quite decipher yet. "I'm just saying you don't have to stay if you have something more important to do! That's all!"

"Good. Then I'm staying." His tone was final.

Sasuke's mouth quirked upwards slightly and she realized that he was amused by her reactions. Sakura pouted.

"You don't have to... And you still didn't tell me why you're helping me."

She was hard to get off track, he had to give her that. Sasuke supposed he owed her the explanation.

"I'm not Kakashi. When I'm teaching, I do it properly," he said seriously. "Fire techniques are the Uchiha specialty, so they need to be taught right."

"Fire techniques are common in Konoha," Sakura pointed out for the sake of the argument.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Because the Uchiha shared them with the village."

Sakura stayed quiet, mulling over his answers pensively. For a moment, she could hear only the small waves on the lake and the chirping of birds and it finally hit her that they were completely alone and away from the public eye. These were ideal conditions for a private training like they had been doing for the past few hours. Additionally, it occurred to her that she was most probably the first person Sasuke had ever offered to teach the Uchiha fire techniques. Sasuke, the same person who had almost thrown his life away for the sake of avenging his family's deaths, was entrusting their shinobi legacy to her.

Sakura risked a quick peek at his handsome visage then averted her gaze to the water and willed the heat creeping onto her cheeks to disappear.

Meanwhile, Sasuke got back on his feet, ending their break. "Come on, I'll teach you the Great Fireball Technique," he told her. Sakura grabbed his extended hand and stood up. "It's rather easy, I learned it when I was eight."

"Alright," Sakura agreed, then added slowly, as if testing the words on her tongue, "... Sasuke-sensei."

"... Don't call me that," he muttered, turning his face away. Was it just her or was his ear a bit red?

"But you are my sensei, right, Sasuke-sensei?" she teased with a sly grin.

"Sakura," he warned with a weak glare.

She chuckled and finally gave it a rest. She still had training to do.

The rest of the day was spent on learning handsigns and spewing flames which with every next try more and more resembled a proper fireball. And when she finally produced a small, but perfectly shaped one and sent it flying above the water until it lost the energy and dissipated with a hiss of hot steam, she looked at Sasuke with a new sparkle in her eyes.

"I did it, Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed happily.

"I saw," he agreed, a small proud smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Good job, Sakura. You can work on increasing the size tomorrow."

"What? I can go on, I've got plenty of chakra left!" she argued, the success motivating her to give it her all until she got the technique down. She felt like she could do this with just a few more tries.

"No, you did enough for today," Sasuke was adamant. He reached over and lifted her hands up, showing the angry burns on the inside. "Your control is slipping now. You need to rest, Sakura."

"I can heal that," she said stubbornly, a green shine emitting from one of her palms, but it flickered and disappeared as a wave of dizziness overcame her. If not for Sasuke, who moved quickly to hold her up, she would have lost her balance and fell. Sakura looked up at him, the black spots clearing away from her vision after a few seconds to reveal the frown of disapproval and slight concern marring his face.

"Thanks for catching me, Sasuke-kun," she said lowly.

He didn't release his grip on her until he made sure she was capable of standing upright on her own. Then, he took out a a small oval container and unscrewed the lid. Inside, there was a white cream smelling strongly of aloe.

"It's good for burns," Sasuke said and took some on his finger. Before Sakura could ask anything, he started smearing the soothing cool substance on her lips, then, even though she could've done it herself, he also applied the cream to her hands. When he was done, he closed the lid of the container and gave it to her.

"You'll probably need to use this a few more times," he explained. "It's very effective."

Sakura stared at him in wonder, making him a little self-conscious. "Thanks... again, I guess," she said.

Sasuke walked her home, remembering her almost collapse and she didn't contest that, glad to have his company for a little while longer. Even when she was turning in for the night, she was still marvelling at the care he had shown her with his actions this day. It was like she found another facet to this mystery man that was called Uchiha Sasuke.

And she really liked what she found. She certainly wouldn't mind learning more about him, bit by bit, everyday, possibly for the rest of her life.

With this pleasant thought, Sakura finally fell asleep.

"Dickless, what are you doing?"

"Shh, Sai, they'll hear us! And cut the crap with that stupid nickname!" Naruto hissed at his teammate who crouched next to him in the bushes near the lake.

The blond peeked out of the dense foliage carefully, then hid again, cursing under his breath. "That slimy bastard! He bailed out of the training just to get some time alone with Sakura-chan!" Naruto ground his teeth in a bubbling anger.

"Are you spying on Ducky and Hag?"

"I'm doing it for their own good!" Naruto barked defensively.

Sai gave him a doubtful look. "How is your hiding in the bushes good for them?"

"That teme is just looking to take advantage of Sakura-chan! That's why they need me here!"

"I would be more worried for Ducky's purity. Hag is forceful like a man, she could give him some serious internal damage during the inter..." Naruto covered Sai's mouth, not wanting to hear the end of this sentence. He shuddered and banished the most disturbing image Sai almost planted in his head.

"Shut up, Sai! Sakura-chan would never...!"

"Who's out there! Come out now!"

Sakura's threatening shout coming from the pier had Naruto ducking down comically and holding his breath. Sai thought it was rather pointless, their teammates already knew they were there, so there was no logical reason for keeping up the act. Nevertheless, he didn't move from his spot, waiting for Naruto to come to the same conclusion. It was taking too long.

"If you're not coming out, then I'll make you!"

A giant ball of blazing fire impacted into the middle of the bushes, just narrowly missing the two ninjas and flushing them out into the open, where Sakura was already waiting, hands on her hips and a scary frown on her face as she loomed over her unfortunate teammates. Sasuke observed the whole situation from the side, deciding not to interfere for the moment.

"So it was you, Naruto," Sakura said. "What were you doing over there?"

"Nothing! I wasn't doing anything! And you didn't have to attack me like that! You almost burned me to crisp, Sakura-chan! A crisp!" Naruto complained, showing her the blackened sleeve on his orange jacket.

"Actually, he was spying on you and Ducky," Sai added helpfully.

"Don't listen to him, I wasn't spying!" Naruto protested. "I was just making sure that teme isn't trying anything with you!"

"What?" Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. Sasuke only glared in offense.

"Don't you see it, Sakura-chan? It's all teme's plan, first he got you all alone and away from the team and now he's brainwashing you!"

"What brainwashing? Don't be ridiculous, Naruto." Sakura was about to laugh it off as another nonsense theory, but the blond was determined to be heard out to the end.

"He's going to turn you into an Uchiha like him!" he screamed out in frustration. "Because he wants to have babies with you! And I'm too young to be an uncle!"

A deadly silence enveloped the scene and even the sun was covered by a screen of clouds, probably dying from the secondhand embarrassment.

"Na-ru-tooo..." Sakura crackled her knuckles menacingly and he flinched, expecting a hard punch to send him flying at any given moment. Instead, Sakura's fingers moved in a blur as she performed a short string of handsigns and took a large breath. In a split second before she exhaled, it dawned on Naruto what exactly she intended to do and he started running for his life.

"Oh shi...!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Uaaaghh!"

Sasuke watched with a gleam of pride in his eyes as enraged Sakura ran after Naruto, spitting a fireball after a fireball and trying her utmost best to set the dobe's pants on fire. There was something immensely satisfying in seeing her already so adept at the ancient Uchiha art of incinerating everything in their path. Sasuke inwardly congratulated himself. He'd taught her well.

Besides, Naruto had it all backwards. Sasuke most definitely did not have to brainwash Sakura to make her like an Uchiha. It was an inborn talent, which she had in spades.

All the more reason to take this a step farther and make it official. Uchiha Sakura had a nice ring to it, he decided with a smirk.

The End

AN: Thanks for reading and happy SasuSaku month to everyone!