Heat

A/N: This is my prequel to my upcoming story All's Fair. I don't know if Sai is going to have a major part in All's Fair because I'm unfamiliar with his character. I'm still thinking about it. Ciao.

"You're boring."

Sakura gave Ino an exaggerated sigh after she had said she was boring for what seemed like the fiftieth time. "I am not boring Ino."

"Can't you just smile at one of the guys that look our way? They won't approach me because they're scared you'll kill them, and if not you one of your teammates."

"I have no intention of giving some guy false hopes."

"Why does it have to be false? You need a boyfriend."

"No, I don't." Sakura immediately replied.

"I'm serious Sakura. You're at the beck and call of your teammates."

"You make it sound like I'm their slave, or something."

"You might as well be. You won't let any man close to you, but them. It's as if you're…." Ino trailed off as realization set in. "You're in love with one of them."

Sakura scrunched up her face distastefully. "Uh, No. Just no."

"I think you are. Why else would you shun all male companionship?"

"I don't shun all male companionship."

"When was the last time you went on a date?" Ino's question brought Sakura up short. She couldn't remember when she had last gone on a date. "See what I mean?"

"I just haven't had the time to date."

"We come here every Friday night. The time you spend with me you could spend with a man."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Yes! For goodness sakes Sakura you need to live a little. If you're in love with one of those guys go for it! Hell, we're ninja. We can die at anytime. You got to remember to carpe diem."

"I'm not in love with any of them!" Ino just looked at her skeptically. "I'm not!" She repeated. Ino continued to stare so Sakura picked up the drink she had been nursing and drank it down then stood.

"I don't have to prove anything to you Ino."

"No, you don't, but that doesn't mean you're not wrapped around someone's little finger."

"Naruto, it's hot. I'm not going to train with you guys."

"Come on Sakura. We hardly ever train together anymore. Everyone is always so busy. This is the first time everyone has had free time in ages. Please!"

"It's a hundred freaking degrees Naruto."

"But, Sakura…" Sakura watched as his eyes took on a pained look. Sakura started swearing mentally. He always did this! He had become quite the manipulating little bastard. All he needed was a violin and a sad tune then the picture he made would be complete.

"Fine Naruto I'll go, but I am not going to train. I'll watch, but I am not fighting any of you guys." He picked her up and swung her around.

"Thanks Sakura. You're the greatest."

"I am great. You'd better remember that too." She said when he put her down. He ran out of her apartment catching snatches of her muttering about stupid men and heat.

She came, but she didn't arrive at the designated meeting time. She truly didn't want to show up. She wasn't exaggerating when she said it was hot. Sweat was starting to roll down her back, and she had only walked from her apartment to the training grounds. She was glad she thought to bring bottles of ice water with her. She knew the boys hadn't thought about keeping properly hydrated.

Her eyes landed on the four shinobi as they trained. Apparently she had arrived at the right time. Sakura watched as Sasuke pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to the side. What followed afterward could only be called a domino effect. Sai removed his shirt next, then Kakashi, followed by Naruto. Sakura couldn't breathe for a moment.

Naruto noticed her shortly thereafter. "Sakura," He yelled, and ran towards her. His muscles rippled as he ran over towards her. It was like he was moving in slow motion, and she was hard pressed to keep herself from drooling. She knew what was coming next and knew it would be in her best interests to avoid it, but she couldn't move. She found her body pressed against the hard planes of his chest. She had never noticed before how well-formed he was. She found it unfortunate that today of all days she would notice. The conversation with Ino the previous night kept rolling through her mind.

Her arms wrapped around his neck. Normally when he let her go, he would set her a safe distance away from her, and give her that smile of his. This time was different though. This time she didn't release her hold from around his neck, and as he set her down her body slid along his increasing her awareness of him.

"Sakura?" He said questioningly. Sakura shook her head and released him, and gave him a weak smile.

"Sorry Naruto. The heat must be affecting my brain."

He smiled at her, and she felt her body reacting to it. "Well, I'm going to go join the guys. There's a tree with some shade over there." He pointed and Sakura nodded and headed over to the tree. She paused, and turned around watching Naruto walk away. The view was just as good if not better watching him walk away.

Sakura smacked herself on the face. What was she thinking? These were her friends. She was looking at them as if they were sex objects. Sakura turned, and made her way back to the tree then she lowered herself to the ground.

Yes, they were her friends. Her extremely hot friends and nothing more!

Her eyes settled on Kakashi. Now, while the best thing on Naruto's body was his abs (he had a twenty pack), with Kakashi it was his arms. They were well defined, and it made a woman want him to just hold them.

Kakashi broke off from the group and approached her. "Can I have one of those bottles of water Sakura?" Sakura picked up a bottle and tossed it towards him.

"Thanks." Sakura watched the water go down his throat. A little water dribbled down his chin wetting his already sweaty body.

"Sakura."

"Hmm." She replied tearing her eyes away from his body, and looking at his face.

"You have a little something-" He pointed at her face. Sakura brought her hand up towards her face to discover that she had been drooling. Her face tinged pink.

"Thanks."

"You okay? You seem a little off today."

"It's just the heat." That was soaring through her body because of being surrounded by beautiful men. Naruto ran up and held out his hand. Sakura tossed him a bottle of water.

"You ready to train Sakura?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip. Her eyes slightly glazed over. "I told you I'm not training today, Naruto." She meant to scream it, but her voice came out husky and alluring. Kakashi's brow rose a good two inches on his face. At the look on Kakashi's face she jumped up.

"You know what it is just too hot. I'm sorry, but I'm going to head home."

Naruto frowned. "Okay Sakura. I'll see you later." She just nodded. Kakashi reached out, and grabbed her arm.

"Hold on Sakura. I have a better idea. Why don't we just have a swim? There's a stream nearby."

Inner Sakura was urging her to agree, but then again Inner Sakura was bad like that. Outer Sakura wasn't much better.

"Okay." She agreed.

"Sasuke! Sai! Come on, we're going to go cool off."

Sai had taken to growing his hair a bit longer after he had returned to the village. It fell to his shoulders, but because of training he had it pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. After training, it still looked neat. Sakura found that she was slightly jealous. She never looked that good after training.

Now, Sasuke had a nice body but it wasn't his body that always caught Sakura's attention. It was his eyes. She tried to keep as little eye contact as possible with the Uchiha because she was sure he was boring into her mind, and discovering all her secrets. That was what she loved the most about Sasuke, he looked into her soul.

Naruto, finally realizing that they were going to have the opportunity to cool off, let out a loud yell grabbed Sakura's hand and started running.

"Naruto! Don't make me run. It's too hot." The blond ninja stopped abruptly, swept her up into his arms, and continued to run. She wanted to be irritated, but couldn't find it in herself to get worked up.

As Naruto sped off during the lake he looked down at Sakura confused. She hadn't uttered a word of complaint about him picking her up. Normally, she would have knocked him clear across the training field for even daring to try. He was starting to get worried about her since even now it seemed as if she was snuggling up against him, but that couldn't be right.

Naruto set her down on the ground and Sakura walked away from him. Her eyes locked on the water, and without a second thought she began stripping out of her clothes.

"Sakura, what are you doing?!"

"I'm removing my clothes so I can get in the water."

"All of them?" Sakura heard the shocked, yet eager tone of his voice.

"You wish."

The other three members of their group arrived in time to see Sakura in her unmentionables slipping into the water. She turned back to see them all standing behind her watching intently.

"Are you guys coming in, or was I the only one that was hot?"

Sakura didn't wait for a reply, rather she relaxed her body and allowed herself to float on top of the water. The splash near her side alerted her to Naruto's presence. She didn't bother to wipe off the water that hit her body because it felt so good. Sakura let out a contented sigh as her body cooled down, and a smile graced her lips. The smile, however, was soon wiped away when she felt arms go around her waist from beneath her. She let out a startled squeak before she went under. When she broke to the surface and cleared the water from her eyes she scanned the area for her attacker.

She zeroed in on Kakashi who was chuckling.

"So, you think that's funny?" Sakura said ominously.

"Actually, yes I do."

Before he could finish his statement Sakura launched her body at him, and tackled him into the water.

"Water fight!" Naruto yelled.

It was all over then. The three launched into a full fledged water fight splashing, using jutsu, whatever they could to soak each other. Sakura later noticed that Sasuke and Sai stayed just outside of splash zone. She signaled to Kakashi and Naruto to follow her lead.

"Okay guys I'm done. I'm too tired to keep going."

"Aw Sakura!"

Ignoring Naruto, Sakura swam her way over towards Sasuke and Sai.

Sai was sitting of the bank of the river with his feet in the water sketching, while Sasuke was doing the backstroke.

"Sai, aren't you going to get into the water?"

"I am in, ugly." He pointed towards his feet. Sakura rolled her eyes, and turned her back on him then turned back quickly grabbing one of his ankles. Her other hand knocked his sketch book out his hand, and then proceeded to drag him into the water. Sakura glanced over her shoulder when she heard the chaos behind her. Naruto was on Sasuke's back trying to use his weight as leverage to make the Uchiha fall into the water. It wasn't working. Kakashi was too busy laughing at the picture the two of them made in order to stick to their hastily made plan. A giggle escaped from Sakura as well. Her distraction cost her though. She sound found herself tossed through the air and into the water by Sai. In a way, she was glad he tossed her because she landed right in front of Sasuke with a nice, big splash. It was then that the normally stoic Sasuke Uchiha joined in a water fight with his team.

Sakura made her way home with a smile on her face. Sai's hair was a mess when she left him. The tie that he wore was lost in the water. She was glad. She preferred to see him with his hair unbound.

Since Sasuke had returned home Kakashi seemed happier than he had ever been. His playful nature always made her feel warm inside. He had a thing about playing practical jokes on her. They currently had a little war going on.

Naruto was Naruto. He was a bundle of sunshine that brightened her day, though she'd never tell him that.

Sasuke had loosened up a lot in just this one day than he had since…well it was the first time he had loosened up ever. He splashed and played with them, yet he still managed to look dignified while doing it. It was kind of cute.

Sakura walked into her home and shut the door behind her. She realized then that her mind had been fully occupied with the members of her team. Now that she thought about it more often than not her thoughts were centered around them. Her conversation with Ino came flooding back into her mind leading her to an unfortunate realization. Ino was right. She was wrapped around their fingers. She didn't date because she didn't want any other man. She had several already, and they were a handful.

When exactly, did she start thinking of them as hers? Sakura began to swear softly when the truth dawned on her. She was a little in love with all of her teammates. Fuck.