Summary: She looks up to gaze at his coal obsidian eyes as he gazes downward at her enchanting sky blue eyes. They both thought, "Is this love?" Who says opposites can't attract? SasuFemNaru… MORE PAIRINGS INSIDE

Pairings: SasuFemNaru, ItaFemKyuu, LeeSaku, NejiTen, ShikaTema, KibaHina, ChouIno

Warnings: OOC-ness, language

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Kesshite Wasuremasu
by Aesura

Revenge Gone Horribly Wrong

Inside a two story house along the coast of the Wave Country, Team Seven sat in one of the guest rooms that occupied their sensei. It was almost a half a day after the encounter with the exiled Mist Jounin Momochi Zabuza and the Hunter-nin that took his corpse away. It was nearing high-noon and Kakashi was still in bed, sleeping, just a few feet from them.

Naruto looked over at the jounin who she considered as an uncle. There doesn't seemed to be any critical injuries to his neck, which was a relief to everyone. "He must still be exhausted from using so much chakra in his battle," Naruto tried to reassure herself.

Her eyes then directed themselves to Kakashi's mask. She glared crossly at the inanimate object, as if wanting to burn a hole in it. The blonde remembered her past attempts to look what's behind that accursed mask from when she was about four or five. To put it short, she hasn't been quite successful. …But now that she was back from her training with Ero-sennin, with him unconscious, and with two teammates to help her…

"Ne…" Naruto said in a low voice, cautious not to wake up their sensei. "Hey, don't you want to see?"

Sakura and Sasuke gave their blonde teammate baffled looks.

"Nani?" Sakura asked, having no idea what Naruto was talking about.

"What do you think?" Naruto exclaimed in a whisper. "Kakashi-sensei's true face!"

"Hn. Not interested. I'm leaving. Tell me when Kakashi-sensei wakes up." Sasuke replied, getting up to walk out the door. Sakura turned her attention towards the stoic genin, smiling cutely. "I-Is that so?" she commented, but her thoughts thought otherwise. "But I'm really curious to know…"

Naruto wasn't about to give up. Guess she had to tempt the bait. "What if he's a… tarako-mouth faced guy?" Naruto's voice went as low as possible. Out of the corner of her eye, Naruto could see Sasuke stopping dead in his tracks, registering her words…

"Kakashi having a big mouth covering most of his lower face…" Sasuke's face went blue. Naruto was succeeding.

"One more should to it," Naruto sniggered and then said out loud, "Or maybe he has beaver teeth!" Sasuke flinched.

"Kakashi's face with beaver teeth…" A shiver went up Sasuke's spine. Naruto just laughed quietly behind. Once the three got settled seated around Kakashi, they started to debate on their plan-of-action.

"Have you done this before?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"Of course I have! A million times already!…"

"Did you even managed to get a look?" Sasuke countered.

"Th-That's not the point!" Naruto turned her head away from Sasuke in embarrassment. "Look, just lower your chakra signature. It'll make it harder for Kakashi-sensei to detect us." Naruto was about to reach to pull back the mask, until a hand shot out and grabbed on to Naruto's wrist.

"AAAAAHHH!"

"HHIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"

"!"

Kakashi, now fully awake, deadpanned at their reactions.

"Oi, teme! You could've woken Kakashi-sensei up!"

"And your scream wouldn't had?" His snooty tone made her grit her teeth. "Nani? Take that back te—"

"Both of you quiet! We have to keep it down before Kakashi-sensei open... his... eyes... Kakashi-sensei! You're awake!"

Kakashi gazed stoically at them. He didn't buy their innocent feign. "Just what did you three think you were doing while I was sleeping?"

The genin started sweating in apprehension. "Oh nothing, Sensei!... You see, we were just… um…"

Just then the door slid open, causing the four shinobi to avert their attenion towards the entrance. The genin silently thank their savoir.

"Ah, Kakashi-san, you're awake!" said a woman with long black hair, stepping into the room and looking down at Kakashi, followed by Tazuna. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah. I just can't move for a week or so. And, I believe I never had the pleasure of meeting you. Who might you be?"

"I'm Tsunami. Thank you for escorting my otou-san back home safely." Tsunami bowed.

"By the way, Kakashi-sensei, since Zabuza is still alive, how are you going to prepare for it?" asked Sakura. He shook his head.

"I don't need to prepare for anything." He pointed at them. "You three will need to be prepared. I'm going to make you all go through some much need training."

The three of them looked curious. "When I was observing you three during the battle, I noticed that your teamwork is still rough, but it is better than before we left the village. We'll all train together later on a group exercise."

Kakashi continued. "Speaking of which, I am all proud of you three. Even though I was captured, you found the courage to stay your ground and help your comrade despite the obvious strength of the enemy. Not only that, you worked together as a team and even out-smarted an elite like Momochi Zabuza." He smiled. "You are all growing at a rapid rate. All three of you, especially you, Naruto. You've grown the most."

Naruto grinned in acknowledgement. "Glad you noticed, Kakashi-sensei. Those five years of training with Ero-sennin hadn't gone to waste for nothing!"

Kakashi sweatdropped at the nickname Naruto had so generously bestowed to one of the Sannins. "Ero-sennin, huh?"

"Kakashi-sensei, since Zabuza is still alive, he could attack at any time, so shouldn't we be training now?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. But it does not matter if Zabuza attacks or not. A person like Zabuza who has been put in momentary death, especially with that blow to the neck and being swamped by his own technique, should take a while before their body returns to fighting condition. So we have time to train until then."

"Sounds like fun!" exclaimed Naruto with an excited smile.

"That's not fun..." said a little boy wearing a hat behind the sitting ninjas. The three genins looked at the boy with questioning glances, though Naruto asked what was on their minds. "Who are you?"

"Oh! Inari! There you are!" Tazuna held his arms out to the little boy.

"Oji-san! Welcome back!" Kakashi watched the little boy with a lazy look.

"Inari, say hello to them. These are the ninja that escorted Grandpa," said Tsunami. Inari eyed the three genin and Kakashi for a short moment before turning to his mother. "Okaa-san, they're going to die. There's no way a person can win by going against Gatou."

"Wha..." Naruto stared at the kid before becoming angry. She started moving towards the kid. "What did you say, brat?"

Sakura held her teammate back. "Stop it! He's just a kid."

"If you don't want to die, you should go home." he turned and started to leave.

"Inari, where are you going?" asked Tazuna. Inari looked back for a moment as he slid open the doors. "I'm going to look at the ocean."

Then he was gone. There was a short pause before Tazuna looked at everyone. "I'm sorry."

Even if it's almost noon, the forest appears like it's still in it's awakening state thanks to the fog coating the entire foliage in its misty grasp. Two figures occupied a clearing, one sitting down beside an cataleptic one. Not a sound was heard from the wildlife, only the soft audible tinkering sounds of metal clashing upon metal as the conscious one unraveled his medical pack, revealing instruments arranging from scalpels to small hand-held tongs. He slid a dark green tong with a metal edge on one side of the tool from its pocket.

"I have to cut the cloth on his mouth, and make him cough up the blood first…" The masked hunter-nin lowered the sharp tongs down toward his neckline until abruptly a strong grip latched onto the masked one's wrist. Seemingly dead eyes flared back to life, as Zabuza's free hand went up to pull down the bandages wrapped around his mouth. "I can do it on my own."

"Oh, so you came back to life already," the hunter-nin commented, not affected at all by the menacing tone. Zabuza sat up grudgingly, resting his arms on his thighs. His eyes were still wild and dilated, still shaking off the effects of the death-like state. "Geez, you're so rough."

Grabbing one of the senbons fixed in his neck, he roughly pulled it out, causing a spray of blood to spatter the ground. The hunter-nin gasped. "Zabuza-san, please don't take those out so roughly, either." Another sickening pull was made. "You'll die for real."

Zabuza grunted, looking at the kid with narrowed eyes. "How long are you going to wear that fake mask? Take it off."

The hunter-nin bowed his head in apology. "I forgot because it's been a while since I used this…" His hand lifted up towards his mask, slackening it from his face. Lowering it, a very feminine face was revealed. Long dark hair framed his innocent-like face as dark eyes gleamed brightly, giving him the appearance of a porcelain doll. "It was also nice to use it to pull of that act. But if I didn't save you, you would have been killed for sure."

"You didn't need to attack my neck if you wanted to put me into a near-death state." Zabuza pulled the lowered bandage up to cover his mouth. "You're still a wicked kid."

"I couldn't help it." Haku blushed in spite of himself. "I didn't want to scar your beautiful body, Zabuza-san…" He diverted his attention to his neck. "And it's easier to aim at the neck since it has fewer muscles."

Zabuza gave him an irritated look before Haku moved to put away his medical utensils. Once done, he shifted closer to the taller man. Haku slung one of his arms over the back of his neck, kneeling down on one knee. "Can you stand, Zabuza-san?"

Zabuza grunted in reply, finally lifting up to his feet with Haku acting as his support. The two began to tread down that led to Gatou's base. He would never admit it, but he didn't think that he'll be able to walk at the moment without the kid helping him. That battle took a lot out of him than he'd thought. Several minutes passed before Haku finally broke the silence in a low voice.

"You know we're never truly free, Zabuza-san. The older ninja, with the Sharingan… the fatigue from using it should incapacitate him for a week or more, but I sense that he is much like you. The children, too, were not weak. We have a few days, at best." Haku spoke in a soft whisper that sounded more like wind through pines than a human voice, and moved so lightly through the forest that only a few leaves rustled to mark his passing. Even carrying Zabuza's weakened body, his grace belied a dangerous nature.

"You should have killed them. Instead, you attack me. Sometimes I wonder why I keep you around." Haku's pace slowed and he lowered his eyes, staring at the leaf-covered ground. His steps were eerily silent over the carpet of dead leaves.

"If I had killed those children, maybe someone would have... been sad."

"Don't tell me you've developed a soul, Haku." Zabuza sneered. "Put me down for a moment. Your body is too small, and I'm not about to be carried into Gatou's compound." Haku complied, setting Zabuza gently against a tree. It wasn't often that Zabuza showed weakness, and never for very long. Haku had been only a child when he joined the older ninja. For over half his life, he had learned the ways of ninjutsu from Zabuza, unlike those children of Konoha who knew nothing of death and terror.

'Never allow emotions to rule your actions,' was the way of the ninja. But Zabuza knew the true meaning. A true shinobi felt nothing. Under the mask, only incorruptible strength should remain. If it was necessary to kill, the shinobi must act without reservation. "Leave morals to the priests and love to the wives. It's none of your business."

Zabuza's unwritten book of ninjutsu was far more powerful. Compassion and sadness were not hers to understand. The loneliness that had gripped him when he saw those three young friends - children his own age, and yet he was so much older - that feeling had no place in his heart.

"If we were to kill children, we'd be hunted by two villages. Their families would certainly stalk us, and we don't need the complications of killing locals. It's hard enough as it is to dodge the assassins of Kirigakure." Zabuza nodded, apparently agreeing with Haku's judgment. Since they had abandoned Kirigakure, taking with them many sins and secrets, always their faint trail was followed. It was dangerous to linger in one place too long, even working for the underworld leader Gatou, or to leave an impression.

"We should get going. No doubt Gatou will want to know why we failed."

"We did not fail. We merely retreated." Zabuza grinned, slowly dragging his half-numbed body towards Gatou's fortress, not far off. No doubt Gatou's ninjas already knew of their presence, so moving silently was not necessary. Since they had not been attacked, they seemed to be welcome.

"Clever, and sly too. And with an innocent little face that no one would ever suspect. I like you, kid." Haku kept his head lowered so Zabuza could not see the furious blush that tainted his cheeks.

"I am weak, Zabuza-san," he thought. "But I must turn my weakness to strength, and live only for your sake." Long hair shielded eyes that had become glassy. "Because you... Zabuza-san...something like love for a weak creature like myself cannot mar your perfection."

A few minutes later, Kakashi stood with his team near a river bank, a gushing waterfall towering down from the base of the canal. He watched his students with a lazy look, supported by crutches provided generously to him by Tsunami. "We will now begin the training."

Naruto pumped her fist in the air in enthusiasm. "Hell yeah! So what are you going to teach us,Kakashi-sensei? Katon jutsu? Fuuton justu? Raiton justu? Doton jutsu? Sui—ITAI!" Naruto rubbed the growing ache on her head.

"Baka! Can't you see Kakashi-sensei is trying to tell us?" Sakura scolded, shaking her fist at the blonde.

Kakashi coughed, getting their attention. "Well, yes. As I was saying, today we're going to be working on our stamina and chakra control at the same time. We will be doing this by walking on water."

"N-Nani? Walking on water? How are we going to do that?" Sakura asked in shock, while Naruto and Sasuke looked at Kakashi indifferently. "You call that training? I already learnt that technique already… You could have at least taught us a new ninjutsu…" Naruto thought unenthusiastically. Sasuke was thinking similar along those lines also.

"Just watch." With that said, Kakashi made a quick hand seal and started casually to walk up toward the edge of the river. However, when he was right by it, he did not seem to stop like they expected him to. He simply just put his foot on the surface of the water before taking another step forward. Amazingly, he did not succumb to the force of gravity. Instead, he jut walked on top of the water using just his feet. Once he reached a certain distance, he turned around to face his students.

"And that's all there is to it," Kakashi said almost in a bored tone, but the look on his face said something totally different, since he was looking at his students with his upside-down 'U' grin on his face. "All you have to do is always expel the appropriate amount of chakra into the water from your feet, and make it match only to the amount necessary to make you float. When you have full mastery over your own chakras, this is the kind of thing you can accomplish."

"Wait a minute! How is learning to walk on water going to make us stronger?" Sakura abruptly asked.

Kakashi look at her with a half-lidded gaze. "Here's the main part. Listen closely. The purpose of this training is the greater mastery over your chakra. To bring out the proper amount to the proper area. This is the most important aspect when using jutsu. This can be difficult for even a skilled shinobi. And it is said that the bottom of the foot is the most difficult area to gather chakra. In other words, if you can master the chakra control needed for this skill than no jutsu should ever be beyond you. In theory anyways."

Kakashi continued. "The second thing is for you to develop the stamina needed to control the chakra properly. Depending on the jutsu, controlling your chakra properly can be difficult. And a shinobi will usually be gathering their chakra during battle while constantly moving. Those types of situations make controlling chakra even more difficult. So while you're walking on water, you'll also be mastering the skills that will probably save your lives…Well, me talking all day isn't going to accomplish anything. This is something you'll have to learn with your bodies."

With that said, the three genin stepped forward until they were on the edge of the river. Kakashi gave them each some last minute instructions and advice. "Your goal is to fully walk on water without breaking your steady flow of chakra. Once you mastered it, then scale up the waterfall over there, using what you have learned. I don't expect you three to reach the top on your first try. Now then, a walking start will give you enough balance for a good first effort. All right?"

With a nod of their heads, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke took the same stance their sensei had and made the same hand seal as to channel their chakra like Kakashi had. Once they felt as if they had channeled their chakra the same way their sensei had, they began to trek the water.

Naruto took a couple of steps before feeling a wobbly balance as her feet gradually began sinking into the water. "Maintaining a constant steady flow of chakra is harder with these damn weights weighing me—crap!"

A yell and a big splash followed.

Sasuke lasted on the water a little longer than Naruto. When he felt that he got his stability, he tried going out farther, but as soon as he ran a few feet, he felt his feet starting to give way in the water. Doing a back flip before he landed on solid ground perfectly, the Uchiha curse lightly under his breath.

"That's about what I expected from Sasuke and... Naruto," said Kakashi thoughtfully to himself, now back on was thrown out of his musings by a voice calling out a good distance in front of him. "This is easier than I thought!"

Looking up, the three remaining members of Team Seven saw Sakura standing perfectly on top of the water. It was actually shocking to see that the girl had got it on her first try, but from what was written about her, the girl could pick up thinks fast, but she did not have a lot of chakra to begin with anyways. This was why Sasuke and Naruto were having so many problems, since they have a vast amount of untapped chakra resources.

"Well, now we know which of you three has the best chakra control. Our young Sakura," Kakashi complemented the girl, who just smiled at the man. However, when Sakura saw Sasuke's face, her happiness soon left her only to be replaced by despair at making the boy look they way he did. The Uchiha looked angry that he had been upstaged by the girl and a little disappointed as well, but the others did not seem to see that. "Now that you've seen the first part of your training, I'll get on to the next stage."

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, walking back to land to stand next to Sasuke. All three of them were looking up at their sensei who was grinning like a madman. Instead of answering Sakura though, Kakashi threw what looked to be like two pairs of regular looking wristbands, but each wristband had a seal on them. "What are these for Kakashi-sensei?"

However, when the girl tried to pick up the wristbands, she found she had to use all of her strength to lift just two of the four wristbands and could not lift anymore. She looked at the wristbands in confusion, not understanding why the rolls were so heavy. The wristbands weighed around twenty to thirty pounds easily and that was just one. Setting the two wristbands down, which only then did she notice that the two she picked up wear both pink. Blinking twice, Sakura tried to pick up the other two which were both black in color. Tried being the key word, seeing as the black wristbands were twice as heavy as the pink ones and she could not lift them at all.

"Those, Sakura, are a special set of weights, which I made using regular wristbands and a special type of seal," the blond man explained. "The pink set is for you Sakura, while the black set is for Sasuke."

Kakashi then turned his attention to Naruto. "As for you Naruto, your otou-san already informed me that you're already wearing weights, so you'll be walking on water with yours on. For the rest of the day you three are to walk on water. After you have master that technique, practice running up and down that waterfall over there until you can't run anymore, got it?"

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said as she picked up the pink wristbands and slipped them on her wrist.

"No."

"What was that?" Kakashi asked looking towards Sasuke and noticed the smirk on his face.

"I won't wear them," Sasuke said defiantly, "I've already got my own." Making a hand seal, the bandages around his legs glowed a little bit before showing a complex set of seals. Seeing the seals on the bandages, Kakashi walked up to Sasuke to get a closer inspection.

Then a thought hit him. "That's why you were having such a hard time maintaining your balance on the water, you still hadn't adjusted to the new weight yet, had you?"

At the nod of Sasuke's head, Kakashi's suspicion was confirmed. "Alright then, since you all are now wearing weights, it's time to get back to your training."

Nodding their heads, the three genin got back to work and once again began to walk on water. Walking up a nearby tree, Kakashi made himself comfortable behind a trunk that overlooked his students' training, and tried to relax so he could take a nap. Though before he could get completely relaxed, he heard the cracking of a twig, turning his head in a relaxed manor, Kakashi saw that a little boy was standing behind one of the trees watching his students train. It was strange to see the boy standing there watching them, since he did not really seem interested in what they were doing, judging by the frown on his face. Though when the boy turned around and walked away sluggishly, Kakashi just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and took his well-deserved nap.

"Why do they even try?" Inari murmured to himself as he made his way back home. "They're all just going to die anyways. No one can beat Gatou and his men."

While he talked to himself, Inari did not notice that tears had started to descend down his cheeks. All Inari wanted to do was go home and wallow in self-pity on his bed clutching the picture frame that he held as his highest possession.

"Why do they ware themselves out trying?" Inari continued to talk to himself. "No matter how hard they train, they'll never be a match for Gatou's thugs..."

The morning sky shined brightly the next day. Sakura yawned, watching the construction workers go about building the bridge.

"All alone and lonesome?" Tazuna noted, walking by with a steal I-beam on his shoulder. "Where are blondie and pretty-boy?"

"Training. Walking on water," said Sakura.

"Then why aren't you with them?"

"I surpassed them. Kakashi-sensei told me to stay here and protect you," Sakura proclaimed in a slight self-esteem tone.

"Really..." Tazuna said with a hint of sarcasm. Sakura scowled at his mockery attitude.

"May I have a words with you, Tazuna?" asked a man approaching from behind the expert builder.

"Huh? What is it, Giichi?"

Sakura listened in, all malice dispersed.

"I've been thinking it over… this bridge we're working on… I want off the job!"

"W-why? Out of nowhere like this… you, of all people!" Tazuna shouted in surprise.

"Tazuna, I've known you for a long time. I want to help you, but we can't take this risk. Gatou and his thugs will show up eventually, and come after me, too." Tazuna didn't looked pleased. "Please, just give it up…" Giichi stared at the older man. "The bridge isn't worth it."

This Giichi person was the second man to quit today, the first whom quit earlier in the morning before work commenced.

"I can't do that," said Tazuna. "This bridge belongs to us all. It's everything we've been working toward, for out entire city. When it's finished, it will bring trade and commerce and affluence to us, and put our poor Wave Country on the map!"

"But we're talking about lives here. Your life!"

Tazuna started walking away. "It's afternoon now already, isn't it? Let's break for lunch."

"Tazuna..."

He looked back at Giichi. "Giichi, you don't have to come back."

The day was well past afternoon and well on its way to being evening. Workers were leaving the bridge job site and heading home for another night before returning the following morning. The man in charge, Tazuna, was also heading back along with Sakura.

As they made their way back to Tazuna's house, Sakura took in the site of the area of town where most business were conducted. The buildings were ruins, there were holes and cracks were running up and down the walls of the entire buildings. Some building even had whole walls missing and only sheets covering the missing parts of the wall. The homeless and poor littered the street, mostly children and the old.

"What's wrong with this town?" Sakura asked as her eyes darted around her taking all she saw into account. "Where are we going?"

"My daughter asked me to buy some ingredients for tonight's dinner one the way home," said the old man.

"Here we are," Tazuna stated, turning into the shop with Sakura following. The owner gave them a lazy greeting. The scary thing about the grocery store they were in was the simple fact that there was hardly anything there. There was hardly enough food in the whole store to make a descent mean for a whole family, let alone the whole village. There was not even any meat in the store, just fruits and vegetables that did not look like they had time to fully develop. It was not something that the Konoha kuonichi was used to and it showed on her face.

Suddenly, the pinkette felt a hand brushing passed her rear. Hearing Sakura scream, Tazuna turned just in time to see the girl dropkicking a guy. "PEVERT!"

"Well…that was certainly a surprise," Tazuna said as he watched the guy go flying out of the shop after being kicked. "Girls around here don't fight like that."

"They should! Something's seriously wrong here!" Feeling something tug at the back of her dress again, Sakura eyebrow twitched in anger, a scowl forming on her face. "Eh? Again?" She turned around, ready to pummeled this person's face to the ground, until she saw a little ragged looking child instead, holding out cupped hand towards her.

Feeling sympathy for the little child, the pinkette grabbed some of candy from her bag, and handed it to the kid. Seeing the smile she received for the small gesture of kindness made it all worth the while to her. Tazuna happened to look back and saw the exchange. Children begging for food was such was a common sight in his country.

"It's been like this ever since Gatou moved in. Since then we've become a city of slackers, cowards, and fools. That's why the bridge I'm building is so essential! It will be an emblem of courage. Maybe the people who've taken the path of least resistance will be willing to walk the road of courage and dignity again. If only we can complete it… I truly believe that our city and our people can be what they once were again."

Tazuna's words left a lasting impression on gazed up at the sky, a sad look on her face. "Sasuke-kun… Naruto…"

The sun began to fade away as it slowly sank beneath the foliage treetops, early stars taking their place in the sky. Naruto kneeled there panting, feeling the strain of chakra exhaustion taking a toll on her body. Beads of sweat mixed with droplets of lukewarm water trickled down her face as her soaked clothes cling to her slightly shivering form. She looked to the right of her, seeing the black haired Uchiha also breathing heavily, though not as much as her. Throughout the entire afternoon, the two have been trying to re-master the water walking technique, but this time by climbing up the gushing waterfall with fifty pounds and over weights. So far, both of them have almost gotten it.

Seeing Sasuke getting up, Naruto's eyes followed to where he was walking towards, which turned out to be her. Startled, she looked up, her eyes coming in contact with an extended hand. Blinking a few times, Naruto caught the stare of the Uchiha, his obsidian onyx eyes looking downward at her enchanting sky blue eyes. What seemed an eternity to her was actually a few seconds, as Sasuke suddenly grabbed her hand and hauled her up to her feet.

"H-Hey! Te—!" Naruto stopped her shouting, realizing how close the two of them were. The Uchiha looked at her, eyes piercing her with a strange intensity. Her breath hitched. Naruto ignored the way it caused a shiver to race up her spine. She figured it had more to do with irritation than anything else.

"Dobe," the other genin finally addressed her in a sinuous, hypnotic voice. At the sound of it, Naruto forgot that she was being insulted, instead allowing a strange smile on her face. Naruto closed her eyes and was able to inhale the smell of fresh rain with a dash of spice. There was also a vague scent of tomatoes that accompanied it. Their faces were so close together and their gaze didn't seem to want to break. Then she quickly snapped out of her daze.

"What?" she yelled, clenching her fists at her side. "Who do you think you are?"

Naruto trembled with rage as she stood appalled at the stoic boy's nerve. He was close enough that Naruto could see the chunky layers of his haircut. The ends were choppy, as if a stylist's razor had had a heyday with it. The dim lighting outside had been too dark, but upon closer inspection there appeared to be subtle shades of blue. Naruto opened her mouth to say something. When no sound came out, she clamped her jaw shut and crossed her arms over her chest.

"…You really don't remember, do you?"

Naruto was confused. What did he mean? Hardened dark eyes abruptly softened, reflexively causing Naruto's arms to fall back to her sides at the other's unexpected change of expression. "Well… now then…"

"Huh? What are you talk—eh..!" Her heart rate sped up rapidly as Sasuke leaned down, calm and collected as ever.

"He's not going to-…?" Naruto closed her eyes, too flustered and embarrassed to do anything. Instead of feeling something on her lips, she felt a hot breath tickling her ear, making her silently gulp in apprehension. Her teammate's hair tickled her cheek. Naruto bit her lip. This was becoming too much for her to handle.

"Let's call it a day."

"Huh?" Naruto snapped her eyes open at what he said, not expecting that kind of response. She then heard him smirk in her ear, as if finding this situation all too humorous. "…Dobe."

She felt him shove by her, a hard chest and arm brushing against her shoulder, that Uchiha smirk still present on his lips. Naruto, stunned, remained where she was, her body slowly coming to grips with the electrifying shock the contact had given her. Sasuke's actions just seconds ago kept playing over and over in her head. The way she felt, how her face heated up, and how her heart raced a mile per second, submitting to those strange yet strangely familiar touches.

"What the hell was that?"

Night had descended over the Wave Country. In Tazuna's houses, commotion was happening downstairs as mostly everyone help prepared for tonight's dinner. Though upstairs, two occupants were freshening up after their long grueling day of training. The shower was running in the bathroom connected to the room the blonde was in, Naruto waiting her turn until Sasuke finishes. However, she didn't mind. It gave her more time to think of what happened between her and Sasuke in the forest…

"What did he do to me back there? It wasn't genjutsu or ninjutsu, so then what…?" After a few more moments of trying to think up of a possible answer, Naruto collapsed on to the floor with an angry groan. Her scowl turned into a pout, eyebrows scrunched up in frustration.

Glaring at what's in front of her, her line of vision came in contact with the slightly ajarred door. Quickly, the blonde's frown curled up to a devious grin. Hauling herself up, she ran to the small bathroom across from the room she was staying in. Grabbing a bar of soap that was near the sink, she wetted it, running back into the previous room and placing the slippery soap in-between the door and the wall, just above head height. Taking a few steps back, Naruto looked up at her work, a foxy grin spreading across her face. "Heh heh, that'll show that teme to pull that stunt on me again!"

As soon as she heard the bathroom door creaked open, Naruto turned to face the stoic genin, the grin still plastered on her facade. But that soon dropped at the unexpected sight she saw before her.

Dripping wet, with a towel around his neck, was Uchiha Sasuke.

His pants were hanging on his hips, the only visible clothing the blonde could see–keep in mind–leaving her eyes access to wonder at his sculpted chest. Naruto cannot even begin to describe the jolt that went down her spine – jaw hanging, eyes bulging, cheeks flaming, chest heaving.

It's a wonder she didn't pass out. The shock of seeing that terribly attractive, softly chiseled chest… Kami-sama, though – who knew porcelain was such an alluring color? Especially with water dripping down…

Dammit, can't breathe again.

"Do you have a fever?"

Naruto snapped out of her daze, realizing that Sasuke was speaking to her, trying to make her mouth work until she finally found her voice. "N-No. Why?"

"Well, for one thing," he was now looking her directly in the eyes, "your face is turning different shades of red."

"W-Well it's hot in here. Someone really needs to open up a window.." Naruto lied, trying to cover up the truth, which was that Sasuke was the reason why her face was so red.

Sasuke still had his hand over Naruto's forehead, his eyes bordering down on her just like in the forest. Not being able to take Sasuke's gaze, Naruto turned her head away from him, letting his hand fall to his side. She gave a fake cough, snapping Sasuke out of his momentary stupor. He turned his head away from her as well, a slight flush painting itself across his cheeks.

"I don't think I can stand being alone with Sasuke right now," thought Naruto. "I feel…funny around him…"

"Well, I'm going to my room now," Sasuke announced, turning towards the door.

"No! I can't let him open the door," Naruto exclaimed in her mind. "That bar of soap will fall on him!" She didn't know why, but she didn't want to carry out her revenge anymore. She needed to think up an excuse.

"But what about your hair?" she asked. "Aren't you going to dry it or something?" Sasuke looked at her.

"It'll dry by itself," he said.

"What if you catch a cold?"

"I won't." He was now and heading for the door. Naruto quickly walked after him still trying to think up another excuse.

"At least put on your shirt! I'm not having everyone point fingers at me all because you wouldn't listened to me!" He turned to look at her.

"Dobe. It's the middle of summer. The night air is suppose to be warm around the Wave Country this time of year due to its geographic location." Damn. Damn Sasuke-teme for knowing the damn geographic location. He was heading for the door again. She had to act fast. But how do you distract a teenage boy from his current train of thought?

Sasuke had just reached the door and was about to slide it open, but before he could, he felt a tug on his wrist. Startled, he started to turn around. "Naruto, what are you—"

He never got to finish, his eyes widening as he felt something soft collide with his mouth.