A/N: This story is rated a strong T.

Chapter One: Mission Impossible

With trepidation, Sakura kissed him again.

As she wound her fingers through the soft, dark hair at the nape of his neck, she ran through the list one more time. Knees spread? Check. Back arched? Check. Lips soft—

"You're stiff enough to be a corpse," Sai said, watching from across the room.

Sakura grimaced. This mission would be the death of her.

Naruto had sold it her soft. A simple espionage mission with two ANBU Black-ops on a Stone-land Warlord who dealt partially in forbidden scrolls. The council wanted to know if he warranted a listing in the Bingo Book. Sakura's team was to infiltrate, gather intel, and leave without arousing suspicion. However, Higa Masao was a dangerous man with extensive influence over this region. Infiltration would have been challenging, except for the Warlord's one handicap- his appetite for exotic women.

"I'm trying," she said. "Would you like a go?"

"I'd put an ugly virgin like yourself to shame," he retorted. "Every beautiful woman in this country wants to be in his harem. Some train in seduction from the time they are girls. Why were you assigned?"

Because, like an idiot, she'd signed mission scroll before Naruto introduced the rest of the team. Big mistake. The truth hit her over the head when the doors to that office opened, revealing two familiar men. The truth hit her and laughed at her lying on the cold ground. The truth was, she was on an exceedingly difficult mission with exceedingly difficult shinobi.

The first was Sai, who she had the displeasure of working with on a god-forsaken mission to Otogakure back with her genin team. This one, she should've seen a mile away. He meant well, and his ink jutsu made him a the village staple for spy missions. However, his long tenure in ROOT had deprived him of a single drop of social tact. He seemed to take special pleasure in pointing out her incompetence and unattractiveness at every turn.

Two fingers gripped her chin and forced her gaze back into the dark eyes of the man under her. Sakura fought a flush.

Two ANBU Black Ops. The first was Sai.

And the other was Uchiha Sasuke.

Yup, that Sasuke, working off the last of his probation. Sure, they'd been getting a long well these past few years since his return. Didn't change the fact that he was still the one who she had that big, fat, embarrassing crush on for five years which she made known to everyone with ears in the village and declared her undying love for when she was twelve and—

"When you kiss him, relax your mouth," Sasuke drawled. Straddled as she on his lap, she could feel the vibrations of his chest through her stomach, the hard edges and planes of his muscles impossibly evident through the fabric of his shirt. Never in a million years could she have fathomed this situation. Of course, his pulse was slow and steady, while Sakura's pounded away at somewhere between "just finished a marathon" and "near death experience."

Calm, Haruno. Don't be nervous. Absolute professionalism. You are not female.

Sakura slid deeper into his lap, closing the small space between their bodies. Heat engulfed her, Sasuke's body enveloping her own completely. Such a strange thing adulthood was. Hadn't they been the same size as genin? She spread her thighs around his waist and kissed him again, self-conscious but forcing the tension from her jaw.

"Like that?" she asked. Gods, when did her voice become so breathy? Was she sweating?

"Moan."

She tried to sound sexy and enticing, as naturally as she could. It came out—

"Like a dying animal," Sai observed.

Even she was cringing. But he was also right in that she was a virgin. She bit her lips. She'd never considered herself sexy in her life. Sexy implied a woman who was confident and experienced, basically, worlds away from where she was at. Even with Sasuke's tutelage... could she really pull this mission off?

Sasuke pressed a languid kiss to the nape of her neck. Unbidden, her head tilted back and her eyes slid shut. He'd definitely done this before. His hand ran down her side, over her waist to knead at the soft flesh of her hips, his breath fanning at her throat. Something hot laved at her pulse point, and she whimpered. Startling desire shot through her. How did an ANBU assassin, trained from childhood to kill, get so good at making her feel like a woman? He licked the skin of her ear and bit her lobe, and she moaned.

Sasuke pulled away. "Better," he said, as if he were addressing Academy children throwing their first shuriken. Sakura flushed hard, near unable to meet his gaze. The hard part wasn't the acting. In fact, faking attraction, she found, came hilariously easy when she found her partner attractive. The hard part was coming to terms with the fact that he, clearly, did not share the sentiment.

His gaze fell to her lips. "Again," he commanded.

This was one of the most humiliating and nerve-wracking trials of her life. "Misleading" was too gentle a word to describe the way Naruto had sold this mission to her. What was the sentence for assassinating the Hokage these days?

Sasuke's eyes, which she'd swooned over as a girl, were an impossible black, so dark that iris melded into pupil. Undilated, appraising, and unemotional. When was the last time she'd seen them bleed red? Sakura closed hers and pressed her lips to his again. Ah, they were soft. Carelessly, his tongue slipped into her mouth to demand sensual things of her own. An appraising palm smoothed a path down her back, following the arch of her spine and the curve of her ass. This was just practice, Sakura thought. Not. Real. The hand dipped between her thighs and stroked an unmentionable place.

Sakura jumped a foot in the air and fell off of the couch. Heart pounding, she stared at him. Sasuke remained sprawled in the armchair, relaxed and taking up too much space. Expression as nonplussed as if he had been sharpening kunai on a Saturday afternoon.

"We are going to fail this mission," Sai concluded.

Head bowed, the guard announced, "Higa-sama, the girl has arrived."

Sakura felt the weight of his gaze, as palpable as a heavy palm, but kept her gaze demurely pointed at the ground. Rose marble veined with gold, with each tile probably worth a month of her rent. No expense was spared for the warlord, and then some. It was said every successful economic venture in the developed world, public and underground, were strung to his ring-laden fist, and his lavish home tucked in the Land of Stone was filled with wealth and artifacts.

"What is your name?"

"I am Nanami, sir," she said, keeping her tone soft.

"A pleasure. Come closer, Nanami," he requested, and Sakura stepped forward. Higa had an angular face with full lips and a square, clean-shaven jaw. Dark blond hair curled around his ears, and his grey eyes watched her with inquiry. He was surprisingly attractive and and young, looking every bit like a tall prince in his throne room. The Higa Masao of her machinations, a fat, bald middle-aged man with a persistent case of psoriasis, quickly disintegrated.

"This color is rare, exotic." he said, pulling her between his thighs and winding a finger through her long pink hair. His open palm grasped her side, with his thumb resting decidedly on her right breast. Sakura smiled sweetly and did not break his hand.

"I think I'll take you. Will you join me?" he said, whispering the words against her neck. His breath was hot against her skin, his actions terrifyingly forward. But Sakura needed to act the part of the willing female, enticed by his allure and wealth.

"Yes, sir. I am honored," Sakura said, and he pressed a kiss to her throat, inches from the spot that Sasuke had laved just hours before. Against her will, she gasped and pulled back.

He stared at her, his eyes grey and startled.

"Sorry," she stammered and scrambled back, pulse racing. She shouldn't show any sign of hesitation, she knew. But he was so forward, and that was unexpected. Praying fervently that she had not aroused suspicion, she met his eyes again. He contemplated her and then said quietly, "See you tonight, Nanami."

Sakura nodded, and followed the attendant out of the room, feeling his heavy gaze on her the entire time. It wasn't until the attendant walked her to her room that she felt she could breathe properly again.

"I will return for you after dinner. Do not leave these premises." the guard warned and left.

Sakura locked the door after him.