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Walking along a dusty path, an exhausted Team Seven dragged their feet across the dirt, all except Naruto of course, who had given up a while ago, his legs completely and utterly passing out, and now had to be carried by Kakashi.

Following their teacher and teammate, Sasuke and Sakura were practically doubled over; their arms dangling so low in front of them, the tips of their fingers were only mere inches away from the ground.

All was quiet, except for a few birds chirping every now and then, until a certain blonde ninja-in-training decided to speak up.

"Are we there yet, Kakashi-sensei?" he drawled.

"Shut up Naruto. You've got it easy, being carried like that. Have you no dignity?" Sasuke spat from behind them.

"Of course not, Sasuke-teme." Naruto smirked. "I lost it all when I first talked to you."

"But, Naruto, you didn't talk to him, you kissed hi-" a certain pink-haired kunoichi started to say.

"SHUT UP SAKURA!" both boys interrupted.

"Now, that's quite enough. Naruto, Sasuke has a good point." He stopped in his tracks, and dropped the boy on the ground, landing with and thud. "When you three grow to be official ninjas, you aren't going to have the benefit of depending on others all the time, especially on a solo mission."

"Well, duh, Kakashi-sensei. It's a solo mission." Naruto said as he got up, and brushed off his backside.

Kakashi grinned at his blonde student, turned back around, and started walking again.

"Now why did this last mission have to be so far away? It's a few hours walk just to get to the lake to return to Konoha. It's so troublesome." Sakura grumbled.

Naruto smiled.

"Sakura-chan, you're starting to sound like Shikamaru!"

Kakashi chuckled, and even Sasuke smirked at the comment.

"Yes," she began to say, "I suppose I am, aren't I?" she smiled.

"Sakura-chan, if you want to, I can carry you the rest of the way." Naruto suggested.

Sasuke looked at them both out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, it's okay, Naruto, I don't wanna be a bother to anyone. I am tired though. But it's okay, I'll get over it." She smiled.

"You sure?" he tried again.

"Yeah."

Sasuke looked away again. He was half expecting her to say, 'But I wanna be carried by Sasuke-kun, though, if it wouldn't bother him,' and he waited for it, but instead got silence in return.

He looked out of the corner of his eye again, and saw Sakura looking at the ground, smiling, while Naruto told her a funny story about how Kiba had had too much chocolate and he went to use a restroom that had been out of order without noticing it.

He didn't know why he suddenly felt a feeling of disappointment when a few minutes went by and she still hadn't asked him the favor.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Kakashi say,

"Ugh, it's about time." Kakashi turned back around to look at his former students, "All right now, I would guess that by now it must be at least…8:30 PM." He said, looking at the sunset.

The kids looked behind Kakashi and saw a huge lake, certainly the one the had to cross to get to the place of their past mission.

"Now, every day two boats come to this side of the lake. One at 6 AM, and another at 6 PM. Make sense?" He informed them. "We have obviously missed them both today, but seeing the fact that many people depend on this boat to get across, the people who own the boat themselves were considerate enough to build a humble establishment for their customers to stay at while they were waiting for the next ride. We will stay there for the night, and then leave first boat tomorrow morning. Am I understood?"

The three ninjas responded in unison,

"Hai."

And with that, they made their way to a ridiculously small house sitting right on the edge of the lake, not along way away.

Kakashi opened the door that was the entrance to the place, and they crept inside.

"Kakashi-sensei…"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"This place smells like...like…" she stuttered

"The butts of a herd of baboons?" Naruto suggested.

"A rotting corpse?" said Sasuke.

"…mold!" she finished.

"Ah, yes, I know Sakura, this place does get more and more humble every time I see it…" Kakashi said nervously, sweatdropping.

"B-but, Kakashi sensei, I'm allergic t-to…m-m-MMTCHOO!" and with that, Sakura went flying backwards out the door again.

Kakashi and Sasuke walked over to her to see if she was alright, while Naruto shouted from the doorway,

"You're allergic to monkeys!"

Sakura looked at her friend in disbelief.

"I'm allergic to mold, you dumbass!"

"…Oh." He grinned sheepishly.

A couple of hours later, they had established the fact that Sakura could not stay in the house due to her reaction. Instead, they made a makeshift tent for her using branches and a large blanket, with a thicker one to cover the ground so she could sleep, because, after all, it was a sandy shore.

"Right. Now that that's done, Sasuke, you will stay outside with Sakura, because in his current condition, I don't think Naruto will make a very good partner." Kakashi informed, nodding in the direction of a sleeping Naruto, snoring like a BEAST.

"Kakashi,-sensei, you don't have to worry about me or anything, I promi-"

"Let's go, Sakura, before bugs come."

"…R-right."

They entered the tent, barely big enough for them both, approximately three and a half feet wide.

Sasuke let Sakura enter it first, and waited as she laid down before him, and covered herself in another blanket, leaving some left over for Sasuke to cover himself.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to the cold." He said to her quietly.

"O-oh?" She stuttered, finally settling down on her back.

Sasuke crept in and lay on his side, his back towards Sakura.

"Good night."

"Hmm."

All was quiet for a while, and when it seemed to Sakura that Sasuke had fallen asleep, she got on all fours, covered him with the blanket, and watched happily as his eyebrows, which were narrowed before, began to relax, and he took a deep breath.

They were no longer small children, each of them now being 16 years old. Sasuke and Naruto were now young men, though they still had their original personalities.

Sakura, on the other hand, had bloomed quite beautifully, her hair had grown out again, (though not as long as it was when she was twelve) and was no longer that annoying little fan-girl that se learned would only annoy Sasuke.

They were all actually Chuunin now, though they just couldn't help breaking up the Team they were in as children, finding that they had a larger success rate if they were working together, and being the squad Tsunade favored the most.

She smiled, crept out of the tent again, and looked out into the lake.

It was funny how they were no longer Kakashi's students, but it felt so natural to still be calling their former teacher 'Sensei.'

The lake was beautiful at night. The moon was reflecting on the surface of the water, with small waves coming onto the shore every once in a while.

But Sakura didn't just come to look at the scenery.

She ran over to the dock, and hung her legs over the edge, jumping onto the surface of the water, gathering all of the chakra to her feet so it seemed she was stepping on solid ground.

She did this training anytime she got the chance, because and a Chuunin and a medical-ninja, Sakura needed to perfect her chakra control more than either Sasuke or Naruto.

She performed what seemed to be a ritual, some sort or dance on the water, her charka molding so that it held water within it.

Withdrawing the top layer of her clothing so that only her grey corset bra was left, she returned to the water and continued her training.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was tossing and turning, feeling as it something around him was missing.

He jumped up suddenly, looking next to him.

'Sakura…'

Her quickly crawled out of the tent, looking around for the kunoichi, and instead saw a figure out on the surface of the lake…dancing?

He walked over to the edge of the dock and dangled his legs over it, smiling slightly.

Chakra control was never one of his strong points, but he knew enough to defeat and enemy if they were to attack, and same went for Naruto.

He stripped himself of his shirt, and jumped on the surface of the lake, his left foot sinking in, when his right foot stood stable.

Taking a moment to regain his balance, he walked over behind Sakura, touching her shoulder lightly.

"Hey…what are you doing?"

The next moment happened so quickly, it was hard to take in all at once.

Sakura screamed from the fright Sasuke has given her, lost control of her charka flow, and sunk into the water. Sasuke, never being that good with charka himself, sunk along with her as she grabbed his shorts and pulled them down accidentally, when she had been trying to hold herself onto the surface.

Poor Sasuke, of course, got nervous, lost control of his charka as well, and sunk down with her, and they both seemed like small children kicking and flapping their arms around in the water desperately because of the surprise of all these events put together.

When they settled down, Sasuke pulled Sakura's arms around his neck and he swam over to a pole holding up the dock, so they had something to hold onto.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here? I thought you were asleep, so I came outsi-"

"…my shorts."

It was quiet for a few second, and Sakura shifted uncomfortably.

She grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, uuh, see, about that, it was an accident, you see, and uuh…"

"…my shorts."

"…your shorts."

"…I need my shorts." Sasuke looked over at her desperately.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Yes. You do. I'll go look for them, then."

Sasuke used his hand to cover his eyes as he blushed deeply.

After several minutes of searching to no avail, Sakura decided she would go back to the tent later and get his a blanket. After all, he still had boxers on.

She swam back up to him as he was waiting in the water clinging onto the pole,

"I'm sure they'll turn up." She smiled.

"Aa…"

"Hey, do you want me to help you with your chakra control?"

He looked up at her, already standing back on the water, "I'd like that."

She blushed, and started explaining how easy it was if you really concentrated on the spot. In this case, it was your feet.

"I try to keep my legs moving all the time, you know? Keeps the kinetic energy going."

Sasuke tried it, and the first time he sunk right back in. The second time, he walked a few steps, and then stopped again. The third, he walked all the way to Sakura and stopped in front of her, smirking.

"That's it. You've got it!" She beamed at him.

The motion of her mouth brought Sasuke's attention to her lips. She must have said something while he was looking, because he was watching them move, and yet heard no sound come forth.

He felt his knees getting weaker again, and he held onto Sakura's waist and shut his eyes tightly, his head on her shoulder, waiting for the water to splash over them once again.

But it didn't.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He opened his eyes again, and removed his head from her shoulder, coming face to face with Sakura.

Since when he had grown to like her so much, he didn't know. But he had indeed become accustomed to having Sakura around, as if she was the only thing he knew would be unchanging, that he could always look at her and think, 'Everything is alright.'

Their faces were dangerously close now, and Sakura felt her eyes closing slowly as she saw him come closer.

"Sasuke…k-"

The last vowel was interrupted as his lips claimed hers in a desperate kiss. She felt her knees weakening as well, and felt them both start to sink into the water.

They, it seemed, effortlessly drifted their way back to the pole under the dock, and Sasuke slammed her against it, and ravished her neck, kissing it again and again.

"Sakura…" he stopped to say at one point. "I could have carried you, you know."

"I know." She smiled at what he said. What a thing to say at a time like this.

"But, I could ha-"

She stopped him from talking, with her lips.

"Don't talk."

"Why?"

"You'll ruin it." She smiled.

Sasuke laugh quietly, and smirked at her, and continued his assault on her collarbone.

They were moving far too fast now, and stopping was no longer an option for them both. Sakura scraped his back as he removed the articles of clothing they still had left on.

"Daijoubu…" he said when he looked at her with concern, and she gasped uncomfortably at first at this new feeling that was Sasuke as he pushed forward.

He kissed her one more time as they both felt each other come, and Sakura allowed Sasuke to rest his head on her shoulder, as he panted heavily.

So, they walked back to the shore.

And this time, they shared a blanket, much to the surprise of Naruto and Kakashi the next morning, And as if that wasn't enough, they could have sworn they could have heard two different voices saying,

"Aishiteiru."

Daijoubu- 'It's okay', or, 'I'm okay.'

Aishiteiru- 'I love you.'

Thank you for reading this, anyone who had patience with me!

How was my first lemon, neh?

I appreciate any reviews at all.

Much love.

Erika