So desperate for these chapters! Please children, let me rest! Lol, kidding. I've slacked off enough. Time to make a grand return with some more wonderful chapters!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 9

"You...clearly don't listen," I mumbled, eyes narrowed at the woman who was steadily picking at the thinnest strand of my last nerve.

Sakura had promised me that she would take it easy after the little scenario I'd seen the other night. The last thing I needed was her picking up on Tsunade's bad habits so I had made sure she was resting more often than not. And yet, despite my clear warning, she had managed to slip off back to work, right underneath my nose.

Her eyes slowly looked up from the file she was reading, sheepish smile on her lips she innocently replied, "Sorry?"

I frowned more, shutting her door behind me as I walked closer, "Sakura, you aren't supposed to be here." She sighed, fingers smoothing back her hair as she nodded, "I know but-"

"But nothing," I stopped her swiftly, "You're supposed to be resting."

She sucked in a breath, turning in her chair to glance out the large window behind her. It was a nice day, a little on the cool side but mostly because of the pretty heavy breeze that was sweeping through the village. I didn't want her to think I was trying to confine her to her home but anywhere but work would be better for her right now.

Meeting my eyes again, she asked, "Would it change anything if I told you why I'm here?"

Her question peaked my interest. What other reason would she have to be here besides doing work? I contemplated whether or not she was just trying to convince me to let her stay but decided against it. She didn't have much of a reason to lie really.

Knowing I was going to regret letting her have her way, I sighed, "Let's hear it."

Her eyes widened and a stupid little smile lifted her cheeks, quickly she motioned me over, shifting her chair so I would have space, "Take a look at this." I walked over, hands in my pockets as I bent down to get a better look at the file. She allowed me a moment to read over it and the longer I read, the more confused I became, "What is this?"

"This, Sasuke-kun, is a file that I found a short while ago. It's a list of a few jutsu from the Uchiha clan, back in Madara's day, that were never passed down. Apparently the scrolls are in the Uchiha library," she finished, seemingly fascinated with the rather long list of jutsu.

Suddenly, a question sprung in the back of my head as I found myself asking, "Why do you have it?" Probably to anyone else, the questions would've come off as rude but she understood my curiosity.

Leaning back in her chair, she mumbled, "Stumbled across this on one of our missions to find you. When we were sifting through Orochimaru's lair, I managed to find it in one of the labs. It appears he was planning on teaching you these techniques before he completed the body transfer. Thing is, I have no use for them so I was actually going to give it to you."

She folded the paper into a neat little square, handing it over with a smile, "Guess I just got caught up doing a bit of research about them. Of course they're native only to the Uchiha so there isn't much data elsewhere." I slipped the paper in my pocket, making a small note to see if I could find anything myself about it, but there was still another matter of business to attend to.

"You're not off the hook Sakura. We're leaving," I told her, hoping that my voice would be enough to sway her. It seemed that it worked though as I watched her roll her eyes and rise from her desk.

Brushing past me and into the hallway, she mumbled, "You're so pushy. Maybe you need to take more of a load off than me." I scoffed, not putting much stock into her words. If anything, I was antsy because I didn't have much to do. Hadn't gotten any missions yet and with Naruto at meetings all the time, I always ended up training alone.

That's why I was thankful Sakura was around as well, I knew I had at least one person I could rely on without Naruto around.

"So," her voice broke through my thoughts as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, "Where are you taking me?" I blinked, not entirely sure of what she meant by her question. I hadn't planned on taking her anywhere, I just wanted to make sure she wasn't a work but of course we see how that ended up. Shrugging, I mumbled, "I suppose I'm taking you home since you didn't listen to me earlier."

She slowed her steps and when I realized that she had no intentions of following, I stopped as well. "Sakura," I warned, patience already dwindling to zero.

"What if I suggested we relaxed together? I wouldn't have to go home just yet, right?" She quickly asked, eyes pleading for me to agree. I didn't see why she was so adamant about going home but if she had something reasonable to do that didn't involve her working herself to death, I suppose I could tolerate it. Nodding, I urged her to continue.

Perking up instantly, she asked, "Ino was telling me about this new mixed onsen just a short ways out. Do you want to check it out?"

That was unexpected.

Going to the hot springs wasn't completely unordinary but the fact that this one specifically was mixed was the part that confused me. Then again, this was all probably a part of Yamanaka's doing on purpose. Of course I was no fool to turn down such a thing but it wouldn't be easy, that much was certain. So with a straight face as I attempted to hide my excitement, I agreed, "Fine."

Fingers snatching my own, she tugged me along as we made our way to the gates. I had to admit, I was getting more and more excited by the second.

Of course I'd have to show some restraint. Not so much for anyone else that would be there but definitely for Sakura. She was right, the trip hadn't taken too long and before I knew it we were here. We separated, going too our designated sides to shower and get undressed. I peeked inside before stepping out, thankful that not too many people were in here.

Slipping into the water, I sighed, shivering at how quickly my muscles relaxed. I had to admit, Yamanaka was pretty spot on about this place, though I'm sure any separated hot spring would've been just as fine.

Just a short distance away, I could see a small figure sliding in beside me. I closed my eyes, figuring I'd give her some privacy. Yet, at the elated moan that ghosted past her lips, I clenched my teeth so tightly that I thought they'd break. I could honestly do without the noises, I was tempted enough as is. But I'm sure she was just as oblivious as ever.

"How is it?" She asked, signalling to me that the coast was clear...for now.

I nodded, sinking further into the water as a feeble attempt to get away. Of course I would only get so far from her, who knows what kind of creeps were lurking around here. Mixed baths? More like a free ticket for perverts to get a quick peep show. But they wouldn't get one while I was here with her.

I leaned forward, hand reaching for my back at the sudden tickle of an itch. Unfortunately for me, it was right in the center and no matter how I twisted and turned, I couldn't scratch it.

I had far too much pride to sit here and rub against the rocks like some sort of dog with an itchy behind and I wouldn't dare ask Sakura. But of course, I hadn't been exactly subtle about it and she being the perceptive person she was, noticed immediately. "Here let me," she offered, pushing on my back as she shifted closer.

"Where is it?" She asked, fingers already gliding swiftly down my back.

I didn't answer or perhaps I simply couldn't answer. The gentle scraping of her nails against my back forced a chill straight down my spine and into somewhere a bit more private. When I refused to answer, simply content with letting her run her skilled hands against my skin, she sighed, inching her hands lower as they traveled down my side.

"You're going to have to help me out here. At least tell me if I'm close?"

But little did she know, my itch had subsided just a short while ago. Instead, a whole new itch took its place. I wasn't nearly desperate enough to trick her into finding it. And while I truly doubted she'd go that far, her roaming hands seemed to have a mind of their own.

A soft drag of her nails along my waist had me tensing so quick that I almost believed I'd never been in the springs to begin with.

Losing my restraint, inch by inch, I managed to croak out, "Sakura...stop."

Whether or not she had heard me was up for debate because I'm sure I had said it loud enough for her ears only. And yet, she kept going, gently tracing shapes against by scorching skin like it was nothing. Glancing her way to see if she was honestly playing games with me or not, I was shocked to see her eyes on another sitting beside her.

Idiot. Of course she didn't fucking notice how close her hands were to...

My thoughts trailed off as some boy, cocky grin on his lips, moved in as he tried to smoothly present his interest in Sakura. Like I wasn't inches away from her with her hand practically on my thigh. I needed to get her attention before things got worse, this was neither the time nor the place for her to be teasing me. Because when it all boiled down to it, if she pushed me hard enough, I wouldn't hesitate, I don't give a damn where we were.

Her hand had paused on my thigh, almost as if it were unable to move anymore but at this point she was far too close. One touch and I'd be screwed.

"Come on sweetheart, just a few minutes of your time is all I need," the boy assured her, gripping the edge as he tried to move in closer. Her voice trailed off as she quickly tried to think of an excuse to get him away but in her attempts to run, she had miscalculated just how close she was.

As she tried to pull herself back, one hand gripped me and in turn, my hand snatched hers. Teeth grinding together, I hissed her name.

Realizing her mistake, she turned to me, cheeks flushed as she quickly blurted out an apology. I could feel my eyes burning, knowing that the Sharingan had activated on its own as a direct result of her touch. Through clenched teeth, voice straining I managed to groan out, "I don't need an apology...I need you to let go."

She instantly snatched her hand away, cheeks ever redder as she apologized again.

Even without her fingers grasping me, the sensation didn't go away. I could still feel the warm grip of her hand forcing another groan from my lips. I needed to get out of here. Snatching my towel from behind me, I hopped out, quickly covering myself as I stalked out. "Wait! Sasuke hold up a second!" Sakura screamed after me. I hadn't been aware she was following me until I heard several impressed whistles and without thinking, I threw my towel around her and shoved her inside.

Shutting the door behind us, I quickly ran my fingers through my damp hair. Walking over to a mirror I saw that my sharingan had finally subsided.

I turned to Sakura, shocked to see her eyes rip away from me immediately as her cheeks flared again. "What is it?" I frowned, making my way back to grab my things. She bit her lip, quickly shaking her head as she rushed off. I watched her go, even more confused than before, simply glad that the entire ordeal was over.

However, one glance down reminded that I still needed that cold shower and badly.

Several days later, I found myself at Sakura's door.

I knew why I was here and I could only hope that she wouldn't be too preoccupied to assist me with my task for the day. It was a bit later in the afternoon yet not too late that I expected her to be sleeping. So with hopeful thoughts, I found myself knocking on her door.

I listened intently, focusing on the footsteps I heard approaching. Good at least she was home and not at work.

However, I was shocked to see Tenten open the door rather than Sakura. She stood there, eyes watching me before a grin broke out on her lips, "Well well well...Sakura didn't tell us she'd invited her boyfriend over for drinks tonight as well."

I stared blankly at her, frown on my lips as the stench of cheap liquor permeated my nose. Taking a step back, meanwhile ignoring her comment, I mumbled, "She didn't invite me. Where is Sakura anyway?" But she only giggled, stepping to the side as another, even more annoying girl poked her head in. "Well if it isn't Sasuke-kun," she teased in a voice that literally made me want to cringe.

Why did she have to be here too? And just what the hell was going on that was preventing Sakura from answering her own damned door?

Convincing myself that I simply needed to stay calm, I sighed and asked again, "Where is Sakura?" But these two found much more entertainment in getting me worked up rather than answering me. Finally seeing that my patience was nearing its limit, they stepped aside only for them both to obnoxiously announce my presence.

I brushed past them, fully intent on finding her myself.

Slipping further into her apartment, I was surprised to see her coming out of her room, clad only a long-sleeved shirt which I recall as being one of my own. Standing there with a confused look, she shut her door behind her and gave me a small smile, "Oh, what brings you over Sasuke-kun?"

I was doing my best to focus on her question rather than the fact that she was wearing my shirt with nothing covering the lower part of her body. Shutting my eyes, I breathed out, "I need your help but I see you're busy with whatever this is."

I nodded my head in the direction of her kitchen where the two other girls accompanying her were pretending not to listen in on our conversation.

She leaned to the side, peeking at the girls who were laughing about something I couldn't exactly hear. Giggling, she tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded, "Right. Ino suggested we drink and have a girls night at my place. Hinata and Temari should be over in a bit as well. Damn, well it looks like I'll just have to continue with my plans solo for tonight.

"Sorry for disturbing you then," I apologized, already preparing to leave when she caught my hand and tugged me into her room.

She locked her door behind us, flicking back on her light as she sat down on her bed, patting the space beside her. I claimed my seat, watching as she smoothly crossed her legs and asked, "What did you need help with? Maybe I can help now?" I shook my head, forcing my attention from something other than her legs.

"I wanted to go see if I could find those scrolls, the ones containing the jutsu you showed me." Her eyes lit excitedly as she bit her lip and glanced at her door, "I wish I would've known earlier. I'd be more than happy to if they weren't already here."

I shrugged, figuring I could go alone or at least save it for another day.

Honestly, I would've rathered her join me since I did have her to thank for finding it in the first place. Rising from her bed, I decided that I probably should just head home and call it a night. Yet again, Sakura was stopping me, "I'm really sorry, if you want, assuming I'm not completely hungover, we could go tomorrow?"

I was surprised at how tore down she seemed to be about the whole thing. It honestly wasn't a big deal, the Uchiha Library wasn't far so I could go whenever.

But of course she was always so much more distraught over the little things. Placing my hand on the top of her head, I nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow Sakura." She nodded, small blush tickling her cheeks as she followed me out. Opening her door, she asked, "Are you sure you don't want to stay for a drink or two?"
One look at the two girls flashing me suggestive winks only confirmed the answer that was already lingering at the tip of my tongue. "I'll pass tonight," I politely declined, mumbling for her to enjoy the rest of her evening.

I wasn't sure if she was just looking for a way to stall the time or what but for the upteenth time tonight, she stopped me before I could get too far. "Hey uh," she paused, nervously looking away as she shut her door behind us, "About the other day…"

"I'd rather not," I quickly bit out, already hating myself a little more for being in the situation in the first place.

Hands rubbing her arm shyly, she added, "I didn't know that's what I uh...you know. I just wanted to say sorry." The fact that she was being incredibly shy about what happened was amusing to say the least. I was going to spare her embarrassment but then her comment that followed was enough to force a blush to my own cheeks.

"I um...I was impressed," she whispered, cheeks hotter than before with her hair tossing about from the night breeze.

I shaped up, quickly as to hide my own slipup. However, I couldn't help but smirk at the comment, feeling my ego flare far more than it already had. "Anyways," she brushed aside the subject with a frown, "Your shirt, did you want it back?"

Shaking my head, I moved to her ear and whispered, "Keep it. You look better in it than I do."

Leaving her completely stunned, I turned on my heel and finally left before she could convince me otherwise. The whole while, I couldn't keep the smug look off my face. Of course, even without trying, I always managed to impress. Sakura's official approval just made it that much more rewarding to hear.

"Why is it so dark?"

"It's a tunnel Sakura."

"Well yeah...but it's not supposed to be like pitch black either. Aren't there like torches or something?" She asked, fingers tight around my arm as we made our way deeper into the underground passageway beneath the Uchiha compound.

Thankfully, she hadn't ended up too intoxicated following her girls night and had shown up eagerly outside my door to get started on our adventure.

We just had a short ways to go before we made it there which was good because her constant complaining as to why it wasn't the most illuminated place in the world was beginning to test me. A few more minutes and we were climbing up into the basement of the library. I went first, helping her up second once I was sure it was clear, thankfully, there was light here.

I motioned for her to follow, eyes scanning as I led us through each twist and turn before coming to a room.

Placing my hand on the wall, I dispelled the Genjutsu keeping it sealed from outsiders. Lighting a few candles on the wall, I shut the door behind us and proceeded to look around. This was my first time here but I had known the whereabouts from Itachi a while back. Fishing the paper out of my pocket, I activated my Sharingan, scanning over it before crumbling it with a smirk.

Of course there had been some sort of hidden instruction written on it, making my search that much easier.

I strode over to one of the shelves in the back, grabbing the small before moving to the front with Sakura. Sitting on the floor, I peeled it open, smirking seemingly blank page. "I can see it with my Sharingan," I informed Sakura who was confused as to why I was staring at it so intently.

She mouthed an 'oh', signalling her understanding as she sat beside me. "What does it say?"

"It's a list of jutsu, the same ones from before. There's instructions and things here teaching about how to successfully execute them," I told her, eyes scanning over the scroll a few more times before I decided to save the rest for later. "Come on, let's go," I instructed, turning to see her eyes currently glued to a book in particular on the shelf.

Moving beside her, I looked to see what is was that had captured her attention, only to smirk when I realized it was a medical textbook, specifically for the anatomy and history of the Sharingan.

"You can take it if you want," I offered, noting that I probably wouldn't have much use for it. Plus I could trust in the fact that she wasn't planning on doing anything dangerous with the information. She probably just found it more fascinating than anything. Not much harm to be done from that.

Before she could think of an excuse to say no, I was shoving it in her hands, nodding for her to follow me once more.

"Thanks," she mumbled and when I turned to see the reason for her tone, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Of course her nose was already buried into the book. How typical of her. But I couldn't blame her, I was just as eager to take a better look at these jutsu as she was to learn more about my clan's secret technique.

Finally making our way back outside, I took a look at the clock on the wall. It wasn't even noon yet, leaving me with more than enough time to get started with learning these techniques.

A gentle tap on my shoulder grabbed my attention as I caught a glimpse of an innocent smile. "What is it?" I asked curiously, surprised she had put down the book already. If anything, I expected her nose to be in it for the rest of the day. "What's wrong? You don't like the book?" Quickly shaking her head, she answered, "No...it's really good. I just uh...well I haven't eaten yet and I was wondering if we could grab something quick and come back here? You know, you could train in peace and I could just read here and keep you company."

I suppose it made sense as to why she'd always be so shy to ask me things. I was never exactly considerate of feelings when she would ask when we were younger but I enjoyed her presence a lot more than I used to.

She was never too loud or troublesome and made good quality conversation about whatever came to mind.

Figuring that it couldn't hurt to spare a few minutes, I nodded, "I don't mind. Where did you have in mind?" She grinned, eyes beaming and I instantly couldn't help but chuckle as I caught on. "So the idiot finally has time for us, huh. Let me guess, ramen?" Laugh bubbling, she nodded and tugged on my arm, "Exactly, let's not keep our future Hokage waiting. Who knows, he might have a surprise for you."

Little did I know, I'd be getting a surprise after all.

So this chapter was garbage. I'll admit. It was halfway written and I just kinda let it sit. Didn't feel like changing it because I'm a lazy troll and made it even worse by ending it with a cliff. What's the surprise? No one gets to know. Not even me because i make this all up as I go. #Writing101 We all do it bro. Anyways, chapters are basically falling out of my ass at this point. You are welcome and try to still love me, kay? (P.S. Fun fact, I went to this party once with my coworkers, it was great. This one dude though, getting a lot of dances from the chicks at the party but he was having a hard time 'controlling' his stuff if you catch my drift. Long story short, I went to grab my friends hand as we were trying to weave our way through the crowd and ended up grabbing his junk and like freaked out. I mean he hand pants on but like still you could...never mind. Anyways, I just kinda related with Sakura at that one part. I was so embarrassed and I saw him the next day and apologized but he didn't mind cause he's a dude so yeah.)