It was already late afternoon when the two Konoha ANBU exited the Kazekage's office, their dark, form-fitting uniforms seeming to be at odds with the loose, light-colored garments the locals seemed to prefer.

Common sense said that they kept the stifling hot atmosphere from bothering them so much, but they were probably more a formality than anything else, one of them thought bitterly, rolling his onyx eyes underneath the wolf mask that covered his face. The people here were used to the heat—they had long since stopped being bothered by these hot summer days that seemed positively endless.

"Sasuke-kun," his female companion whined from beside him, and he turned his head slightly to indicate that she had his attention. "It feels like I'm dying!" she moaned in complaint for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that day, causing him to roll his eyes once more. If he had ever thought that five years were enough for her to mature, then he had to admit he had been terribly wrong.

Well… at least in one aspect of the issue, that was.

She was every bit as annoying as her thirteen-year-old self had been. The only difference was—and it was quite a big difference—that he actually found this constant "annoyance" that her presence emitted to be quite… alluring.

That had everything to do with her body, he told himself. After all, he was a nineteen-year-old man, and no matter what his idiotic best-friend kept claiming up and down throughout Konoha, his hormones were very much awake and active. And someone had to be blind not to find themselves at least the slightest bit attracted to her perfect curves, soft skin, exotic perfume, full lips, bright green eyes…

Hell, even the aforementioned idiot, who was still too oblivious for his own good and who was now more of a brother to the pink-haired woman, their blond teammate who covered his ears and shrieked every time he heard his Sakura-chan had a date (news to which Sasuke always glared)… Even he admitted every time he saw her in her underwear—which happened quite frequently when they were assigned long missions together—that she was hot. And thus quickly covered his eyes—to avoid thinking "incest stuff". Sasuke always resisted the urge to do the same, and chose instead to discreetly turn his head away. But unlike his friend, the reasons behind his actions had nothing to do with him considering their female teammate to be his little sister and not wanting to feel like a pervert for ogling her. Instead, they had very much to do with the fact that he didn't fancy walking around with a hard-on—or sleeping with one; it depended on the circumstances. Most of the times, though, he was unsuccessful in his attempts no matter how quickly he averted his gaze.

There was simply something about her… Something about her innocence, her wit, her stubborn ambition, her strengths and her weaknesses. All of those combined made for a complex, powerful individual—one he discovered, from the very first moment he stepped inside the village again—that he very much liked.

Sure, she was still Sakura—still annoying, still clingy and still childish; she still liked to chew gum and blow bubbles, still shrieked whenever she saw a spider, and still got scared shitless whenever he stumbled wounded into the hospital.

But in so many other ways, she was different.

She was now actually aware of the person she had become. She didn't change her personality according to rumors of what he liked—not anymore. She'd grown her hair out again because she'd wanted to, not because she'd thought he might like it. She dressed up because she enjoyed it—enjoyed the power she obviously held over men—and not because she wanted to seduce him. And every time she latched onto his arm was to whine about something, or to give him the only type of hug she was sure he allowed—not to capture his attention. She was proud of herself, of her achievements, of her strengths, and even her weaknesses. She needed no more encouragement, no more recognition from his part.

And it was that steady, warm confidence that had drawn him in from the moment he laid his eyes on her again, dressed in those blood-splotched scrubs, pink hair disheveled, caught in what had once been a neat bun, green eyes tired and bloodshot, but sparkling with happiness at the fact that he had finally returned home, where he belonged.

"Sasukeee!" Another whine, followed by a light weight attaching itself to his arm, snapped him out of his thoughts. "How long 'till the hotel?" she asked, looking up at him through long, thick, jet-black lashes that he found too alluring for her own good. They were one of the few things that could tempt him while she was clad in her ANBU uniform—next to her sultry voice and her goddess-like body.

And he would be a liar if he claimed not to be psychologically affected by her status as a member of the Black Ops.

But that was more than enough, and the damn uniform was so form-fitting, that it had been taunting him the entire mission! When she deliberately threw herself into that lake in an effort to cool her body, and then got out with the dark material clinging even tighter to her curves—something he had deemed impossible in a rare moment of weakness. When she was unable to block that kunai in spite of his warning and thus received a rather deep gash on the side of her waist, which she later had to heal and which meant she had to bunch the material of her top right under her breasts. When she playfully threw herself onto his back when he refused to take a break and stated that if his stamina was so damn high then he could carry her, as well, and the form of her breasts burned through their clothing.

Or when the stupid Kazekage put his arms around her slender waist and buried his face into her pink hair—the same pink hair that he always sniffed when he had the chance and that he believed only he had the right to sniff—hugging her as though he had known her for a lifetime, when all she ever did was save his equally stupid brother's life and get them rid of an Akatsuki member.

Wherever he looked, it was there. Hugging her curves snugly, covering that perfect, creamy, luscious skin. And driving him completely insane.

"Hn," he grunted in response, pointing to a close building on their left. "It's right there."

"God," she moaned, "It's like I can't get there fast enough! I can't wait to take a shower and get out of these stupid clothes and crash on a decent bed…"

And he had a feeling it would continue to drive him insane—as soon as she took it off.

Unfortunately, the heat seemed to follow them all the way into the hotel room. Of course, as honorary guests, it went without saying that they were given a room equipped with everything they could possibly need—including air conditioning—but that hardly made a difference for two Konoha nin who were unused to temperatures half as high as the ones currently registered.

Being shinobi, though, they had to find a way to deal with the situation as best as they could, because it was certainly impossible for them to avoid it. They had walked straight into it the moment they had stepped into the Hokage's office and accepted the mission. Had Sasuke been able and allowed to, he would have left for Konoha that same night, tiredness be damned. But, as it was, he couldn't—and neither could Sakura, for that matter.

The first method of self-preservation that was adopted by both of them consisted of shedding the ANBU uniform—that was put into practice as soon as they stepped over the threshold of their double room. Sakura skipped a hot meal in favor of a box of ice-cream, while Sasuke chose to skip dinner entirely.

Then they took turns taking cold showers. Sasuke took his for two different reasons.

So, of course, when the Uchiha stated that his current predicament was a very unfortunate and torturous situation, he referred to him specifically. His teammate seemed to be doing a bit better in a pair of panties and an oversized shirt.

Scowling, he crossed his arms over his chest and purposefully turned his gaze from the bed—her bed—to the window.

She had started with a pair of shorts and a shirt, and although only one article of clothing had been shed, if any more came off, his control would snap. As much as it was part of an Uchiha, it would snap.

"Sasuke-kun…" she groaned. The bed creaked as the mattress shifted, and he made the mistake to turn to face her once again. Her pink hair was wet and clinging to the skin of her neck and her legs were long and smooth and toned and gorgeous and those full, pink-tinted lips of hers—

"What?" he bit out, clearly annoyed. With her or himself, he didn't know, and at that point, he didn't find it in him to care. It wouldn't have made much of a difference, anyway.

"I'm seriously dying," she announced.

He glared. "You're not dying," he snapped. As much as he willed them not to, his eyes stayed glued to her legs as she slowly slung them over the edge of the bed and stood up in a much more sensual and much more fluid way than should be humanly possible.

Almost immediately, he turned his face away. He was hot and he was trying, for her sake, not to be affected—and she was most definitely not helping him. He had the right to be sullen.

When a white shirt hit the floor right in front of his feet, though, his eyes widened and they snapped right back in the direction of his teammate. They didn't count on finding her so close to him, dressed now in only a set of light-pink, lacy panties. Which, to be honest, he found quite hot and too sexual for a kunoichi on duty.

"What's the matter with you?" he almost shrieked. Keeping his eyes on her green ones seemed to be the battle of the century. "Can't you keep your clothes on?!"

Sakura pouted. "I'm hot, Sasuke-kun," she whined, and promptly closed the distance between them, spreading her body over his, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and pressing her bare, perky breasts to his chest.

Sasuke could feel her nipples rubbing against his skin through the thin material of his own shirt and he almost groaned out loud. Her lips were so close to his ear that he could feel her hot breaths. In a rare moment of weakness, he couldn't resist bending his head to the crook of her neck, inhaling her delicate fragrance. Her skin was soft and damp and her wet hair smelled faintly of spring flowers. Her mere presence was enough to drive him crazy at times. To say that having her so close made his head spin would be an understatement.

Sasuke wanted her—there was no denying it anymore. He had long since stopped lying to himself in that regard. And the fact that she seemed to show no more interest in him was—for the lack of a better word—annoying. Sure, she still enjoyed hanging out with him, and on the rare occasions the members of the old Team Seven were sent on a mission together, it was clear that he was still her favorite—still the one she went to whenever she needed help or was in a dilemma.

He liked that. He had always liked that. And while that had been a secret for quite some time, Naruto made sure the entire village found out a couple of months prior. Sakura had not shown any obvious reaction, which immediately led the Uchiha to the conclusion that, somehow, she had already known that. The thought that she was aware of the effect she had on him and was steadily working towards capturing his attention more and more often was disconcerting enough, and even now, Sasuke found himself not wanting to dwell on it too much.

Sakura had grown in many, many aspects, and he was thankful for the majority of them, but if there was one thing about her that he preferred to believe had not been tainted, that was her innocence. And besides, the Sakura he knew wouldn't be able to pull off such a complicated stunt—a stunt that basically meant seducing him—without having at least one reaction that would give her away. And that telltale blush had been nowhere to be seen on the entire duration of their mission—and that truly was saying something.

He was quick to snap out of his daze and dismissed her current behavior as a side-effect of the heat, as ridiculous as that may sound.

"Then, don't plaster yourself to me—" In one swift movement, he grasped her forearms and pushed her away, before bending down and snatching her shirt from where she had thrown it on the floor. "—and put your clothes back on."

Sakura pouted as she held the material to her chest. "But Sasuke-kun…" she whined, gazing up at him with large, pleading green eyes.

All he wanted to do in that moment was take her bottom lip between his teeth.

But he refrained.

"It'll be cold soon," he stated. Sakura grinned in a way that spoke of nothing good, so he hurried to add, "And then—"

But she didn't let him finish. Quickly and silently, she let the shirt fall down at her feet—and then she was close to him again, her arms around his neck.

"How about you keep me warm when that happens?" she suggested, her voice a seductive purr in his ear.

It was then when Sasuke was able to see, clearly, what he had been trying to deny for so long and realized exactly what game she was playing—what game she had been playing ever since they left Konoha, and possibly even longer than that.

His eyebrow raised, he pulled back to look straight into her eyes. They were green and practically sparkling with mischief.

A moment passed, and she smirked, biting down on her plump lower lip.

Sasuke resisted the urge to growl. She barely reached his shoulder, yet it was clear she had been holding the power in her hands way before he had even been able to tell he had lost it.

But not anymore.

Grasping her hips, he easily lifted her up and turned them around, slamming her against the wall as he covered her small body with his own. Sakura squealed, surprised, but grinned, obviously pleased with the reaction she had managed to incite from him. She opened her mouth and seemed to have every intention of commenting on the matter, but he pushed her harder into the wall and pressed his lips to hers before she could make another sound.

No one controlled Uchiha Sasuke. Not even her. Not even Sakura. And although he would probably have to spend the rest of his life trying to make that clear to her after how long it had taken him to react, he realized there was nothing else he would rather waste his time doing.

A/N: What with the weather outside, I could be writing Christmas Fics. But I was more in the mood for finishing this one-shot that I had lying around since last summer! Yeah, I'm that lazy.

Please review! :)