Disclaimer: I don't owe Naruto, nor Sasuke, nor Sakura, nor Kakashi, not even Tonton, nor the blade of grass in that corner during Episode 3.

Lying on his side, Sasuke's eyes opened suddenly as the first sunrays of dawn shone upon his face

What a disturbing dream about a certain pink haired girl. Thankfully I woke up before it got worse..

Today's an off day for the team. I think.. I'll practice my fireball technique then.

Poor Sasuke didn't really have much of a social life, you see.

He winced as aches erupted all over his body when he got out of bed.

Stupid hot spring cleaning mission.

He stuffed a quick breakfast in his mouth, changed out of his pajamas, and went off for his daily training.

On another side of town, a certain pink haired girl was giggling and mumbling in bed, apparently dreaming aloud.

Mmm.. Sasuke-kun, darling. Can't you be gentler?

Sakura hugged her bolster tighter and giggled again.

Listening in at the door, Sakura's mother couldn't bear to interrupt her daughter's sweet dream.

It was almost noon.

Sasuke gasped for breath as he released his umpteenth fireball, and tried to combine it with a taijutsu and shruiken attack.

This is hard, but I can't depend on Chidori all the time.

His stomach rumbled.

Shut up, stomach. Blame Itachi.

The next fireball that came out of his mouth was so small; it could barely light a candle.

-sigh-

I think I'll get some lunch then, before I go read up on that ninjutsu book in the library later.

Sakura finally concluded her dream, and deigned to wake up.

What's the time now? Oh damn.. I overslept again. Thankfully I didn't have to meet the team today.

Groaning as she realized that there wasn't any food in the house. Being too lazy to cook, she headed out for a meal.

Hmm.. What shall I do today?

Naturally, as fate would have it, Sasuke bumped into Sakura on the street whilst they were looking for lunch.

Uh-oh.

"Sasuke-kun! Join me for lunch, pretty please?"

"No, I've just eaten."

Sakura's eager face faded into disappointment, something Sasuke saw rather regularly, since he was usually the main cause of it.

Brushing aside the inner tingle of guilt over rejecting Sakura's invitation again, he was about to continue on his way when his stomach played Judas for the second time that day by announcing it's discontent with a huge growl.

DAMN. I hate you, stomach. You Itachi-incarnate.

Sakura didn't take more than a second to realize that Sasuke lied about eating. Genuine sorrow began to pervade her expression.

Perhaps last night's incident was really an accident after all. Or perhaps.. he hates me more than ever for it.

The inner tingle of guilt in Sasuke grew ten-fold.

She's annoying, but I didn't have to lie. That was.. unnecessarily nasty of me. It's not as if she has wronged me. Oh dear..

"I was joking. Let's go for lunch? I do need to work on improving my teamwork." Sasuke forced the words out of his mouth before Sakura ran away in tears.

Great. Did I just invite her to eat with me? Oh well.. At least she isn't just another fan girl.

Unaware of what his own train of thought implied, he awaited Sakura's reply without allowing any expression to creep onto his face, as usual.

For her credit, Sakura wasn't dumb enough to mistake Sasuke's invitation as anything more than a half-hearted attempt to placate her.

He isn't that cold after all.. at least, I know he has a conscience now.

"Sure, Sasuke-kun."

It took some effort for her to smile with her reply, as they began to walk down the street together.

The thin slices of meat sizzled furiously on the grill. Sasuke just looked blandly at the grill, something that reminded the waitresses in the BBQ restaurant of their favorite customer, Chouji, apart from the missing predatory glint in Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke's face was devoid of any expression.. on the outside, that is. Inside his mind, thought trains were circulating as normal.

How would tomato taste like when barbequed?

Those waitresses are sure looking at me funny. I hope they don't get the wrong idea and start a rumor about Sakura and me being an item.

Sasuke had no idea he was the peculiar one where the waitresses were concerned.

I don't really like barbequed meat. Why am I here?

I don't like the idea of Sakura cooking everything for me either, but should I tell her that I have no idea how to barbeque meat? I don't want her to laugh at me.

Sitting opposite Sasuke, Sakura looked contented and happy as she flipped the pieces of meat over on the grill.

Well, at least I'm with Sasuke-kun.

Isn't he going to help me to cook the meat slices?

That lazy bum.. he expects me to cook everything for him just because I love him?

Wait a minute.. isn't cooking something housewives are supposed to do for their husbands? Perhaps he thinks of me as..

DAMN RIGHT YEAH! LOVE PREVAILS! Inner Sakura

Sakura resisted the urge to leap over the table and hug Sasuke, but she couldn't help but blush furiously.

Sasuke noticed her blushing, but shrugged it off. It happened often around him.

Would Sharingan enable me to learn how to barbeque meat? This is getting embarrassing.

Unfortunately for our budding couple, they never realized that the BBQ restaurant was a favorite hangout of Team 10's. Well, at least, they would soon, as Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji made their way into the restaurant for lunch too.

"YAYY!" went Chouji.

"Does this really make you so happy? I'm so preoccupied with having to watch my weight.." Ino moaned to no one in particular, as Shikamaru decided to get to his seat fast, for he was getting tired.

"Isn't that Sakura? Ooh, she's going out with a date with a guy who's not Sasuke! That two-timing forehead!"

Noticing Sakura but not realizing who her companion was, simply because Ino couldn't comprehend how Sakura would be able to pry Sasuke out for a date all of a sudden, Ino began to make her way over to the unsuspecting duo.

The more perceptive Shikamaru hazarded an accurate guess that Sakura's companion was Sasuke, simply because he spotted part of the Uchiha crestpopping outover the seat on Sasuke's back.

Chouji was already starting to grill meat slices.

Wishing to avoid an unnecessary fracas in the restaurant, Shikamaru tried to restrain Ino from going over.

He wasn't fast enough, though.

"Sakura! I didn't realize you would go out with another guy apart from Sasuke-kun! You are one desperate forehead-girl!"

Ino had already launched her opening salvo at her friendly rival.

"Huh?"

Startled from her train of thought about being Mrs Uchiha Sakura, Sakura just looked up dumbly.

"So who's the mystery guy you're dating? Let's have a look at… Sasuke-kun?"

To put it simply, Ino's expression was priceless.

Sasuke glanced up to showcase his annoyed expression, before returning to view the meat slices on the grill.

Astute enough to know when to leave Sasuke alone, Ino stuck out her tongue at Sakura, who returned the gesture, before she allowed Shikamaru to drag her back to their seats.

"Sasuke-kun, these slices are ready!"

Sakura piled most of the meat slices she cooked onto Sasuke's bowl, whilst taking only a few for herself.

Is she trying to stuff me with food?

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You should keep more for youself. You cooked all of them."

"It's okay! I don't mind, really!"

"I don't want to owe you anything."

Slightly put off by the cold reply, Sakura pressed on.

"So why didn't you cook anything? You don't like meat?"

"No. I don't know how to."

Darn. She didn't need to know that.

Avoiding the urge to raise an eyebrow or two, as Sasuke hardly mentioned about things he couldn't do, Sakura attempted to gloss over his unexpected reply with a joke.

"Well, you could always feed me if you want to make up for it!"

That's a good idea. If only it was so easy to even repay debts to others.

Obviously, Sasuke wasn't too aware of the social implications of such an act, as Sakura found Sasuke extending a slice of meat on his chopsticks near her mouth before she could reflect on the possible negative consequences of her last sentence.

Surprised and happy, Sakura gladly allowed herself to be fed. Needless to be said, she blushed tremendously, whilst fighting the urge to burst with joy.

"Look, that couple is so sweet!"

"He's feeding her! I never knew the Uchiha had a soft spot for anyone, much less that pink haired girl."

"They're such a match, he looks so stoic whilst she's about to melt!"

"I'm so envious of that girl! I wish I was her.."

Sasuke momentarily frowned in both confusion and annoyance.

What's so special about feeding another person? Why can't they mind their own business anyway?

Sakura was still in a state of absolute bliss.

Given Sasuke's intelligence, Sakura's state of absolute bliss, and the hushed whispers of the other people in the restaurant, it didn't take him too long to figure out that feeding Sakura was something platonic teammates wouldn't do.

I didn't mean it that way. Damn, she's going to think that I'm in love with her, and she's going to cling onto me even more.

Wait a minute. She's still going to cling onto me either way. Oh well.. I should have done this in private. Damn those busybodies anyway. I won't allow their opinion to affect me.

Over the other side of the restaurant, Ino was wishing she was somewhere private too, so she could space out and foam at the mouth as the image of Sasuke feeding Sakura ran on an endless loop in her mind.

Shikamaru kept an alert eye for porcine aviators, whilst Chouji stopped eating, which was a statement by itself.

"Ino? You ok?" Shikamaru probed cautiously.

"Don't worry, Ino. Shikamaru can feed you too if you want. That might invoke Sasuke's jealousy?" Chouji couldn't resist it.

Ino and Shikamaru's death glares marked the end of conversation amongst Team 10 for the next half hour.

After finishing their food, the odd couple sat back and relaxed.

"So, Sasuke-kun, where shall we go later?"

"I'm going to train."

What's with that question? I deign to accompany her for lunch once, and she's trying to cling onto me for the rest of the day already.

Sakura stared at her empty cup of tea.

Am I pushing my luck? She asked herself quietly.

With the veil of silence between them on their table once again, chatter from the tables behind them began to reach their ears.

"Did you read the latest romance novel that was just published by that guy named Ayi-jira? The guy who wrote Icha Icha Paradise too? There's this really hot steamy scene in a hot spring, where the main male character walks into the female changing area, when the main female character is there all alone!"

"Oh wow, really? That's so romantic!"

Upon hearing this disturbing parallel of last night's events, Sasuke and Sakura began to feel sick, both of them blushing in unison in the memory of last night's escapade.

The chatter of unsuspecting random background characters continued.

"What happened after that?"

"I don't know, the volume ended there and then."

"What a cliffhanger. Just to bait us into waiting for the next book. "

"Well, the author did bait us with this killer epilogue, mentioning about some old Fire Country custom."

"What custom?"

"You know, last time, a guy would have to marry a girl if he saw her dressed in.. well, very little."

"Very little?"

"Well, a towel or less?"

At the mention of towel, Sasuke's memory delighted in tormenting him with a visually enhanced flashback of an embarrassed Sakura clothed only in a hastily wrapped towel around where it mattered, embedded in his memory last night.

At the mention of towel, Sakura's memory delighted in tormenting her with a visually enhanced flashback of an embarrassed Sasuke clothed only in a hastily wrapped towel around where it mattered, embedded in her memory last night.

"There's no need to be embarrassed. I'm not expecting you to marry me, Sasuke-kun."

Sakura's statement surprised Sasuke, although he knew otherwise.

She's more considerate than I thought.

"Ah."

Looking at Sakura across the table, Sasuke found himself mentally undressing Sakura, and beginning to attempt to visualize what lay beneath the towel.

Just what was it about females that fascinated all those hopeless male adults, and some under aged wannabe perverts like that blonde dead last?

WHAT AM I DOING!

NO! I'm not like them!

Sakura isn't a..

Sasuke had an idea of what a whore was, but he never learnt the term for it.

She's my treasured companion! What kind of a bastard am I, to stoop to such lowly thoughts? She's more than a pretty face to me, she's my…

Sasuke wasn't sure what word he knew would finish that last train of thought. He had an idea though, and that idea terrified him.

If Itachi was infront of him, Sasuke would have charged at him even if he knew it meant certain death for himself.

He wasn't afraid of much. Even the occasional nightmare of the day his clan died did nothing more than to fan the flames of his anger and desire for revenge. Blood, gore, pain, suffering, death failed to hold any terrors for him anymore.

Somehow, the idea of discovering what he exactly felt towards the pink haired girl opposite him now who adored him so much managed to frighten him. It was something new to him, something he never felt after being bugged all these years by his inane fan girls.

Sakura was an enemy to him, but not an enemy he could smite and kill with a kunai. Sakura could be turned away by a harsh word or two, but she never failed to return to his side, and it was getting harder and harder for him to utter a harsh word towards her nowadays, because it hurt him somewhat when the words rolled off his tongue.

The temptation of giving up his daily training regime to give in to her requests to hang out with her, who would stay by his side regardless of what he wanted to do, was growing stronger and stronger with each passing day.

Sakura was an enemy to his goal of working hard to gain power.

Sasuke suddenly realized, his goal of gaining power was also an enemy to him too. It denied him seeking happiness from being with Sakura.

He was human too, and he naturally wanted to be happy, even if he denied himself from showing or attaining it.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura liked the idea of him gazing at her, but his intense silence for the past 2 minutes was getting rather unsettling.

Such beautiful eyes, though.

"Ah?"

"I hope I didn't disturb you."

"No, you didn't. Let's leave now. We've finished our meal."