TEAMWORK
Asuka Kureru

Pairing: NaruSasuSaku. Meaning threesome, menage a trois. NOT love triangle. If you feel uncomfortable about gay relationships, straight relationships, or three-people relationships, this is not the fic for you.
Warnings: Rated R for Inner Sakura's potty mouth, some violence and blood, and allusions to previous and future sexual relationships. NO LEMON ON FFNET. I wrote a couple of them; the links are in my profile.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't hit. ;.;
/blah/ Inner Sakura thinking at Sakura

This fic was started before the conclusion of the Valley of the End fight. As such, it takes place in a divergent history. There was a Valley of the End battle, it just ended differently. For one thing, Sasuke was brought back home.

Characters are based on their Part One selves. Most of them aren't changed very much, if at all, since the way they evolved after Sasuke left would have been the same regardless. Sakura, though, is still a lot more Part 1 Sakura than Shippuuden Sakura at the beginning of the story. Teamwork!Sakura had no reason to harden herself as much as her canon counterpart, therefore she's physically weaker and more unsure than she is in current canon. She'll get better eventually, just give her some time to find her motivation.

Chapter 1: Awakening
(Sakura)

Sakura woke up to find a weight across her chest, pinning her down. It was uncomfortable -- way too warm, kind of sticky. And there was something tickling her neck, a bit like grass, or a dog's coarse fur. She wanted to scratch, but the same warm, sticky weight trapped her hand against her thigh.

That, and she'd been trained not to move if she didn't know where she was waking up, or who was watching. And she could tell that she wasn't alone.

Sounds contained, muffled by walls... No direct sunlight. She deducted that she was inside a room, a bedroom probably. There was a futon under her, though her heel hung over the edge, and the air was a bit stale; no drafts brought fresher air in there. There was a strong scent in the room, almost repulsive; a bit like old sweat and -- something else.

She counted one, two breathing patterns around her. Slow, shallow, relaxed: sleeping. One of these was ghosting against her armpit. She couldn't help but scrunch up her nose. Her skin was damp there and she knew the excessive warmth of the room had made her sweat; the person on that side of her was probably breathing in the smell. She would have squirmed away in embarrassment, except that the arm on her chest was still firmly pinning her down.

Wait.

Arm. On her chest.

Bed.

Naked.

She sat up in a leap as her brain finally did the math. "Gah!"

Naruto blinked sleepily up at her. "Huh? Sak'ra? Whazzamatter?"

Naruto. Her teammate Naruto. Naruto the blond loudmouth who'd been a pain in her ass from age twelve. Naruto the cheerful, silly teammate who'd made her rage, despair, sigh and laugh. Naruto the steadfast friend she'd never, ever allowed to take her out on a date.

Naruto the guy sprawled on the bed at her side.

Naruto. Naked.

Naruto's arm had just been on her chest. Her bare chest.

Naruto had drooled on her!

"AAAAH!"

SLAP!

"Ow! What the hell?!"

She squirmed back up the bed, blushing and glowering at the same time, desperately trying to kick her brain into gear. Why the hell was Naruto in bed with h-

Why did it hurt so much to sit up?

"What's going on?" she screeched.

There was a low, irritated groan from her other side. "Can't you two shut the fuck up? 'm trying to sleep..."

The blond ruffled his short spikes sheepishly. "-- Oh. Sorry Sasuke."

Sakura froze. Then turned her head, slowly.

Their third teammate was curled on his side, facing away from them, the small of his back pressed against her hip. The hair tickling her neck had been his. For one second, she couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. In her romantic fantasies, she often daydreamed that Sasuke's hair would be soft as silk, but it wasn't.

/What, you thought it stuck up in the back without hair gel because dark, handsome heroes always have the wind in their face or what?/

Why was she bothering to think about the softness of Sasuke's hair when she was supposed to think about why the hell she was naked in bed with Sasuke-kun and Naruto? Oh, sure, being in bed with Sasuke was her dream, but what was that stupid, crazy blond ... hunk... /wow, nice shoulders - wait, scratch that, nice ASS/ -- ack! What the hell was she thinking about? That was Naruto, not some piece of eyecandy...

Inner Sakura disagreed with her. She was wolf-whistling, and quite happy to forget that the young man currently laying on his belly, utterly naked and thus baring his round buttocks to view, was the same annoying, noisy brat who had latched on her from their first day at the ninja academy, making her look ridiculous in front of all the girls she had wanted to impress.

"Teach you to be nice to losers," Keiko had said, and Rika had replied that it was probably that Sakura WAS a loser too, anyway, and she had spent weeks trying to repair that bad first impression. If cool, popular, fearless Ino hadn't decided to befriend her, she would have stayed a pariah for years. Sure, now she liked Naruto -- he was hard to dislike when you got to know him -- but he was still annoying and clingy and definitely not droolworthy.

/Like fucking hell he's not. Look at those buns- is that a bite mark?/

Sakura's cheeks turned a dull red that probably clashed with her hair. She was good at interpreting footprints and other clues of the kind, and the row of teeth imprints adorning one of Naruto's buttocks had to be hers; the jaw was too narrow to be Sasuke's -- Sasuke! She was in bed with the boy she had dreamed of forever, why was she still thinking about Naruto's -- admittedly hot -- body?!

Why was she in bed with her teammates in the first place?

/And with our pussy hurting as if we'd tried kangaroo rodeo --/

The red on her cheeks spread to her forehead and neck. As for the tip of her ears, it was already burning.

She vaguely remembered giving that bite mark now.

"Oi, Sakura..." Naruto whined as he sat up, a hand covering the red handprint on his cheek.

Inner Sakura unhelpfully commented that it did sound less aggravating than when he'd been eleven, because his voice had dropped a lot in the last couple of years, and it was hard to sound shrill and crybaby-ish with a rumble like a big cat in the dark.

"What?" she snapped, because he was still whining, sexy-purring voice or not, and she still didn't know... What... EEK! She crossed her arms in front of her breasts and lifted her knees defensively to hide her crotch. Inner Sakura unhelpfully commented that he had seen it all, anyway, that and more, and her ankles weren't large enough to hide her pussy from view. She grabbed a blanket and pulled it to her forcefully, covering herself. Naruto was blinking, as if noticing fully what he'd been gazing at.

And then he had the fucking gall to leer at her. She was going to kill him.

"Gimme back!" Sasuke growled sleepily as he rolled on his back and felt around for the blanket Sakura was hiding under.

Even for the man of her life, she refused to hand it over. She was a lady and it was more important that she was dressed than they -- that, and wow, but was Sasuke beautiful. All her girlfriends would kill her if they knew that she was seeing a full frontal view of that lean, tightly muscled, almost hairless body. And her heart was squeezing at the sight of the seal on his neck, but her belly was clenching because as awful as what it symbolized was, the design of the seal itself was still beautiful and she wanted to soothe it with her kisses so badly.

Naruto was watching him too. Lazily, casually. Just as he'd watched her. And he was still smirking. She was going to kill him -- were Naruto's eyes red?

A blink, and it was gone. They were sky blue like always, and twinkling with humor. Maybe she was hallucinating.

"Wake up, lazy ass," her blond teammate sang, poking Sasuke's side. The last of the Uchiha yelped in a very undignified way and rolled away, falling off the futon in the process. Naruto started to laugh, and she lifted a hand to thwap him over the head, even as Inner Sakura chortled at the bewildered expression on her beloved's face.

And then she froze because Sasuke was wincing and rubbing his butt, and she didn't need to be a seer to guess why. Same reason as hers.

/Pretty sure we'd remember sprouting a dick and doing him up the ass/ Inner Sakura commented helpfully.

"What the fuck..." Sasuke stared at the both of them, just as stunned as Sakura felt. Their eyes met for a second, and then they turned to stare accusingly at Naruto.

"YOU! What did you do?! Why are we -- here?!" she added, just now recognizing Naruto's small apartment.

Naruto winced. "Uhm, I'm not quite sure... EEP!"

The shoe sailed past his head as he ducked, but if Sasuke's throw had missed him, Sakura's kick didn't.

"OWW! Stop, stop! Peace! Let me finish!"

The girl blushed as she noticed that in her hurry to beat him up, she had dropped the blanket. Sasuke was studiously looking away from her, his cheeks pinkening. She mummified herself up quickly, then resumed glaring.

"I mean, I think -- we were out for a drink, right? And then, well... I can guess what happened -- it's not hard to guess, what with the no clothes thing and the smell, but..."

"But?" Sasuke prompted him. His voice was quiet and toneless, which, when you knew them, was a sure sign that you needed to give him what he wanted or take cover right now.

"I don't... remember details. I... feel like I got lai-- I feel good, I mean," Naruto promptly amended, giving Sakura an embarrassed look before staring down the bed. "But I'm not sure of the... details. It's all foggy..."

"WHAT?" Sakura screeched. They were in his apartment and he was the one who didn't look surprised to wake up to them both! How could he not know!

Naruto cringed. "I remember feelings and -- and smells. And emotions. A few moments. But it's all disjointed." She glared, and he waved his hands defensively. "Give me a minute! I'll know more when I can think about it and put it all back together."

"You don't seem to be that surprised that your memories are mixed up," Sasuke commented, glaring at him suspiciously. Sakura blinked.

"Hey, that's true!"

She was starting to suspect a drug of some sort. She did remember roughly what had happened -- walking around from bar to bar, not finding many that would let Naruto come in, deciding to hang out just another half-hour, and hey, his place was close by... But after that, it became a mass of actions and sensations and overwhelming desire, and not a trace of conscious, rational thought anywhere in sight. She seemed to remember that at one point, she'd been arguing with Naruto -- he was so irritating, she'd been thinking -- even though she couldn't remember what he'd done this time to piss her off. And then -- she didn't know, maybe there was a memory missing because the next second they were kissing each other -- or biting, maybe; she wasn't sure. Then it got even more confusing. It was... Raw need and passion, and hands on her, and her nails raking up muscled backs, and her fingers tangling in bristly hair as she was taken roughly, covered by a heavy body...

/Wild night./

Oh, shut up, you, she thought back. It wasn't as if she was a total virgin -- /not anymore, that's for sure/ -- SHUT UP! She hadn't been a total stranger to how her body could react to someone else, and she knew that roses and candles was probably a bit too sweet for her first time with Sasuke, but she had never thought that she would ever be in a threesome.

Naruto seemed even more embarrassed by Sasuke's question. He fidgeted nervously, hemmed and hawed and moved as if he wanted to get up and pace, but Sasuke glared him back on the bed.

"Talk."

"It ... happens sometimes."

"The confusing memories?"

Naruto nodded, sobering up. "Yeah... Like when I fight and I'm pissed as hell, or sometimes at night. It's a bit like I'm sleepwalking, but not really. I still sort of know what's happening, but I'm not... not thinking the same way. Some things make sense in a way I can't really explain, and everything's easier and faster and sharper and -- yeah."

Well, what did you know. Naruto could be pretty handsome when he was quiet and serious. He was still a moron.

"And you never thought to inform anyone! What if it's serious? What if - what if you're sick or under a mind control jutsu!?" she raged.

Naruto paled briefly, and looked away. His eyes were sad now.

"... It's not... I know where it's coming from. It's okay, Sakura. It's -- I've never hurt anyone or done anything horrible... I'm still myself. Just... Uninhibited."

She couldn't find words to tell him how stupid he was and how much she wanted to beat him up. Wait, yes, she could. "Never hurt anyone? You said it happens in battle! What if YOU got hurt, because you're not thinking right?!"

She was startled when he snorted, as if her suggestion was stupid.

"When I'm pissed off enough to get like that, I'm the last one at a risk on the battlefield. Anyway, Kakashi-sensei knows why it's happening, and Iruka-sensei too," he added, cutting her off. "There's nothing that can really be done about ... it."

"I wonder what you're lying about," Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto jumped, offended. "I'm not lying!" he snarled, his voice shifting from purry to growly.

"But are you telling us the truth?"

Sasuke's eyes were narrowed and cold. He was in one of his stubborn moods. But from the set of Naruto's clenched jaw and the way he was clenching his fists, he had to be in his corresponding mood. Sakura decided that there were too many questions to ask and she didn't want to wait hours for one of them to drop out of the staring contest. Not that she didn't care that he was hiding something -- something important, she could feel it -- from them both, but there were other ways to learn the truth than by asking directly and slamming against the brick wall that was Naruto's stubbornness.

"That's not the matter right now! What matters is -- why were we... why..." She gestured at the bed, at their naked bodies.

"I didn't force you!" Naruto snarled back, baring his teeth. He looked angry and hurt, and it forced her to calm down; even Inner Sakura couldn't stay on her moral high horse when he looked that ... betrayed.

"I didn't say you did," she replied softly. Both boys blinked at her, surprised. "But none of us were in their normal state yesterday, and you are used to it -- and we're not. Is... whatever's happening to you... contagious?"

Naruto scratched his head, puzzled. "Uhh -- that's right, I didn't think it would be... There's no reason why it should be..."

That ruled out drugs and illnesses, then. Those were expected to possibly be contagious. Naruto was absent-minded about lots of things, but he didn't put his teammates' lives in danger for the fun of it. Except Sasuke's maybe, but it was a rival thing, she guessed, and their dares and fights never happened without warning.

Now, he looked guilty. "I really didn't think it would be contagious. You really think everything was my fault? You wouldn't have -- of course you wouldn't have, either of you," he added in a whisper, giving the both of them a stricken look. "I should have known, when you kissed back -- I should have known something wasn't right..."

Sasuke sighed and threw a cushion at his face. " Moron, stop that. You were already gone, right? How could you have stopped?"

Naruto bit his lip hard. "Sometimes I can," he admitted quietly. "When I want it bad enough, I can snap out of it. If I'd realized that you didn't wanna be there, I would have wanted to stop bad enough, believe me," the blond added bitterly.

"You're assuming that I didn't like it at all," Sasuke drawled mockingly," and as usual the only ass it makes is you. Sure, if you had invited me, I would have said no on principle, but I admit I would have missed something," he added as he got on his feet carefully. Inner Sakura commented that it was probably to spare his abused behind, but even she couldn't deny that he moved very sexily.

"I fucked your ass, Sasuke. You do remember that, right?" Naruto snapped back, his tone biting and derisive. Sakura couldn't have said if he was mocking Sasuke or himself. She tensed anyway, waiting for an explosion.

Instead, Sasuke leaned forward and picked up his shirt, putting it on to delay his reply. "I remember. I didn't expect it to feel good."

/...Well, I didn't expect the Ice Prince to admit that./

He was just doing it because it gave him the upper hand on Naruto, Sakura realized a second later as the blond ninja started to splutter.

"Make no mistake, dead-last; I'm still going to beat you up bloody."

Naruto was too stunned to notice the challenge. "You -- you l-liked - oh."

Now, Sasuke looked embarrassed. He scowled and looked away, as if wanting to move past this particular discussion. "Only this once. I wasn't in my right mind and that's the only reason I allowed that. I'm not going to let anyone at my ass again," Sasuke growled, glaring hotly at Naruto.

"Good, because your ass is mine," Naruto snarled, glaring back.

Sakura was pretty sure that she wasn't hallucinating the red flash in Naruto's eyes this time. By the second of delay in Sasuke's offended comeback, she was pretty sure he'd seen it too.

"What did you mean by that, dead-last?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Naruto got up on his feet, just as slowly as Sasuke had, but looking a lot more dangerous. /Predatory, you mean. Holy fuck, for once I'm glad they forget everyone else when they're fighting.../

"I mean - "

She saw Naruto pause, hesitate... change his answer.

"I mean -- I'm gonna kick your ass, that's what I mean."

"God, that was lame, even for you." It wasn't rage anymore on Uchiha's face, it was contempt. Naruto was dropping from threat to annoyance in his eyes and Sakura knew from experience that Naruto always took that fall in his esteem very badly.

A second later they were both slamming against the far wall, almost faster than she could follow. She gaped. Naruto had a hand grabbing the collar of Sasuke's shirt, the other /now THAT is panties-wetting material/ between his legs, with a solid grip on his balls.

"Your ass is mine," Naruto growled. Sakura shivered, pulling the blanket tighter around her. She didn't need to see to know that his eyes would be red as blood. She could feel the chakra gathering.

Sasuke's eyes flickered crimson.

"You're mine. That what you wanted to hear? You're fucking mine, Uchiha Sasuke."

And then he kissed him.

Sakura gaped, barely registering the Sharingan snapping back to black as Sasuke gasped in surprise and started to struggle.

Naruto plundered his mouth, growling, biting and invading; and then he stepped back without warning and lifted his chin defiantly, as if waiting for a punch he was not afraid of.

"And you know what? I'm not sorry I got to fuck you yesterday. And I'm not sorry I got to fuck Sakura-chan either. It was great. I loved every second of it."

He turned around, hands balled at his sides, and gave the girl the same defiant, angry-and-sad look Sasuke had been getting. His eyes were blue again, and she could have sworn the tattoo on his belly was fading. "Now you can kill me for raping you, because I know I fucking deserve it, and I'm sorry for not getting your consent first, but I'm not sorry that it happened!"

He stayed in the middle of the room, proud, challenging, like a feral beast cornered by hunters, one that knows it's going to die but doesn't ever want to lower its eyes.

He was beautiful, and that knowledge was like a punch to the stomach.

"... I'm angry at you," she admitted quietly. "Because if you asked, I don't remember it. But once it started, it was ...great. Like you said. But you still didn't ask, and I need to know why. Why it happened, and what you're thinking now, you and Sasuke-kun, because -- because I'm a stupid girl, alright? As far as I remember, I loved every second of last night, and I don't want to feel dirty tomorrow because I'll realize when I think back on it that I behaved like a whore for two bastards who only rutted with me because I was convenient!"

She realized that she was sobbing, but she couldn't stop.

"I'm not easy... I'm not... I thought -- I wanted -- only with someone I'd... I'd..."

Naruto looked crestfallen, she noticed vaguely. She couldn't decipher Sasuke's expression, even with all her experience at Sasuke-interpretation.

"Oh- Sakura-chan... You're not -- you're not a whore!"

Naruto was panicking now. He knelt on the bed in front of her, and his hands danced nervously as he reached out to touch her, then drew back, not knowing what to do.

"You're not just convenient! You know I... I lo-- I've had a crush on you forever... You know that..."

His bright blue eyes were welling up with tears. She felt a bit better. Even if it had been just sex, he didn't think any less of her now. But Sasuke was still watching from the wall, unmoving, expressionless, and she wanted his reassurance a lot more than she wanted Naruto's. Except that she feared that she wouldn't get it. Sasuke had relaxed around her in the last years, become more friendly -- she knew she was on his short list of people who actually mattered -- but she would have needed to be blind not to know that between her life and Naruto's, he'd choose Naruto's. Well, except that in most cases he trusted the blond to save himself, of course, but that didn't make it a lot better.

He still wasn't saying anything. She lowered her head, letting her tangled hair hide her face.

"Sasuke!" she heard Naruto hiss, but she reached out and touched his hand, shaking her head. He should be glad Sasuke would remember the experience as Naruto fucking him with a side dish of that annoying pink-haired ditz and not as Sasuke making love with his true partner while Naruto played the role of the sex toy.

It hurt.

"Sakura..."

Sasuke knelt on the futon, reaching out to gently tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Don't be stupid. Of course I don't think you're easy. If it wasn't for whatever made us all lose our inhibitions..."

She sighed shakily and wiped her eyes. It helped that Sasuke didn't think badly of her. It didn't that he didn't feel enough for her to reassure her that it had meant something, even though it would have been a lie. Even she, yesterday, had not been able to put any meaning to their wild fucking. It had been just that. Sex. Pretty good sex, but too good to think or feel anything else, anything more... but if he cared, he could have lied a little.

Naruto growled and rolled his eyes, and Sasuke gave him a puzzled glare.

"What?" she saw him mouth.

"Heartless," Naruto mouthed back, glowering fiercely.

"It's okay, Naruto. Really."

Sasuke frowned. "What are you two -- oh."

/Feh. He gets it quick but you gotta explain for a while./

"Sakura..."

How she hated that pained, pitying note in his voice.

"Don't lie to me, please." It would be too obvious to help now.

"I wasn't going to," he replied quietly.

/Lie number one/ Inner Sakura commented cynically, but Sakura was inclined to believe him. He'd always been blunt to a fault.

"You want me to tell you that what happened is okay because I'm madly in love with you. We both know it didn't. It happened because for some reason, the three of us wanted sex. We had sex. It was wild. It was... nice. More than nice. I don't think it happens to most people more than once in their life."

She nodded, not looking up. She knew all that.

"Sasuke," Naruto grumbled, but he was quickly silenced by a finger across his lips.

"It wouldn't have happened with anyone else."

The quiet certainty in Sasuke's voice made her look up, finally.

"We just happened to be together when it hit," she replied tiredly.

Sasuke shook his head. "Wouldn't have. Like the idiot says... If I had really wanted to, I know I would have pulled free of... whatever it was. I didn't. Because -- with you two..."

He fell silent, and they both looked at him, surprised and wary ... and hopeful, a little. Sasuke never talked about what he felt, apart from hate and contempt. The black-haired boy looked down briefly, then took a deep breath and kept going.

"I'm... safe. Trusted. Both of you. Not anyone else in the world." He gave a half-smirk. "Well, maybe Kakashi."

"Ew."

"So -- if I'd lost control like that around anyone else, I would have pulled out of it. Hell, if it had been anyone else I wouldn't even have drunk anything but water in the first place." But it hadn't been. So he'd stayed.

Well, it wasn't a declaration of love, but it was still good. Wasn't it? Sasuke trusted her, like he trusted none but Naruto, the man who had followed him to hell just to get him out of there. Love was based on trust. There was still hope.

And Naruto loved her. Maybe not as blindly and madly as before, but still tenderly.

"... So things are okay?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke snorted and crossed his arms defensively. "No. I still need to kick Naruto's ass for not even telling us about his fuzzy memories."

Naruto squawked, visibly offended, but somehow managed to restrain himself and not retort anything.

"But afterwards, they will be?" she asked, feeling a shy smile tilt the corners of her mouth upward.

"... Sure."

He looked at Naruto, then back at her, and shrugged, embarrassed, and said it like a challenge.

"We're a team, after all."