Tense

Naruto

He came home about a month ago. After ten years he just up and walks through the gate like nothing happened. Like he did nothing wrong. The thing is, he didn't.

He was surrounded the minute he entered the village. His face held no emotion as he was arrested, but his restrainment didn't last long. Lady Hokage appeared swiftly and ordered his release, much to everyone's confusion.

It was later explained to us that Sasuke had been working as an undercover agent on various missions after defeating Orochimaru and his brother. Because of his help, his treason was forgiven.

I suppose you could say I was happy, mostly because it was nice to know he wasn't a total traitor, but on the other hand I felt embarrassed to know that the last thing I ever said to him meant absolutely nothing to him.

I guess it's a good thing I finally grew up.

"Hey Sookie." Sakura greeted as she waked up to the nurse's station.

"Hey, Sak. You're next physicals here." Sookie replied handing the young doctor the file.

"Great thanks." Sakura took the file and opened it only to have the smile drop off her face. "Just great." She mumbled. Sookie chuckled.

Sakura made her way toward the exam room, psyching herself up along the way. Once she reached the door she took one last deep breath and entered.

"Morning." Sakura greeted in a mechanical way. He didn't reply….big surprise. "You know the routine." She continued as she looked over his chart.

Sasuke stood from his chair and removed his shirt before lying down on the exam table. Once he was ready, Sakura put her files down and stood over Sasuke from the head of the table where his head was lying on the pillow. She then ran chakra through her hands and starting at his shoulders, she ran her hands all over his abdomen , arms and neck. She checked his ribs, his blood pressure, and the tenderness of his muscles. She noticed his muscles were kinked so she spoke up.

"Relax your muscles." She said.

"I am." Sasuke replied annoyed. She looked up at him confused.

"Sit up." She said. he did and she ran her hands over the muscles of his back and upper arms. "Huh." She said. "Do you have any back or muscle pain?" Sakura asked contemplative.

"A little." Sasuke replied simply.

"Your too tense." Sakura explained. "You need to relax." She continued. Sakura walked over to the counter where she left the files and wrote something down in his. "Can you come back in later today about 3' o clock?" she asked.

"Why?" he asked annoyed.

"Because we need to relieve the tension in your muscles if you don't have that taken care of, acid will build up and you can kiss your shinobi career good bye." She explained. Sasuke sighed.

"Fine." He replied shortly putting his shirt back on.

"Good, 3' o clock, don't be late." Sakura said gathering her other files and walking out without a second glance. When the door closed Sasuke sighed again.

"Such an idiot." He said to himself. "It's really not that hard to be nice to her." he sighed harshly before exiting the room and heading out of the hospital.

Sasuke sat quietly in the back of the village tea house, as he waited for his intended company. His thoughts were scattered among different things as he sipped his warm tea.

The young Uchiha only had to wait a few more minutes before his loud blonde friend entered the small tea house and made his way over the table.

"Hey Teme." The young blonde greeted sitting across from him.

"Hn." Sasuke replied in his usual tone. Neither continued the conversation until Naruto finished ordering his own tea.

"So, judging by the irritated look you're sporting, you're physical didn't go well." Naruto stated in observance.

"I have to go back at 3." Sasuke explained pulling a cigarette out of his vest.

"What's wrong?"

"In a voice that's slowly loosing its hatred, Sakura explained that I'm too tense." Sasuke replied lighting his cigarette and taking a draw." Naruto scoffed.

"Gee, I wonder why." Naruto replied sarcastically. Sasuke scowled.v

"I'm working on it, ok. She's not the easiest person to talk to." Sasuke hissed. Naruto chuckled.

"The great Sasuke Uchiha isn't afraid of a girl is he?" Naruto teased.

"What are you five?" Sasuke asked incredulous.

"Somebody's side stepping." Naruto said sing songedly. "Look, it's not that difficult, 'Sakura, I know I'm a jackass, but I like you and I was hoping you'd give me a chance.'"

"Could've lived without the jackass reference." Sasuke mumbled.

"I wouldn't." Naruto said. "Thank you." He murmured once the waitress brought his tea. Sasuke sighed before taking a long draw off his cigarette.

"I'm doomed."

knock knock

"Enter." Sakura called. Sakura looked up when the door opened. "Hey Sookie." She greeted.

"Hey hun, your 3' o clock is here."

"Oh joy." Sakura replied sarcastically. Sookiesighed.

"Sakura, I know you're just trying to distance yourself from Uchiha-san, but perhaps you should try to make nice with him." Sookie said. Sakura sighed.

"You really think so?" Sookie nodded. "I guess I could try."

Sakura stood from her desk and headed toward the exam room. She opened the door.

Sasuke looked toward the door as it opened to reveal the young doctor of his affection.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Sakura greeted a little more openly then before.

"Hn."

"Ok, same as earlier." She explained. Sasuke removed his shirt and laid out on the table again. Sakura then placed herself at the head of the table and began massaging his shoulders. His eyes lulled closed as he began to relax.

Sakura's hands seemed to dance over his skin in smooth motions.

After about a half an hour, Sakura stopped, much to Sasuke's displeasure.

"Flip over please." She said putting an end to his displeasure. He did as he was told and she began again on his back.

Another half hour passed before Sakura completely finished. Sasuke sat up but didn't move to grab his shirt yet. He watched Sakura's back as she stood at the counter and wrote in his file. She turned to face him a few minutes later.

"I looked it up and you have quite a few days vacation to your name. I'm not saying you have to but I suggest you take a few of them. This kind of stress doesn't just go away and it can cause a lot of problems. Anxiety attacks, high blood pressure. Your heart could turn into a ticking time bomb." Sakura explained. Sasuke, however, could barely hear her. he watched her lips move as she spoke, her deep red, plump lips. He could see the passion in her eyes, it was obvious she loved her job.

Sasuke vaguely noticed she's stopped talking and was now watching him confused.

"Sasuke? Are you ok?" she asked. It then became apparent to him that he was advancing toward her. he stood directly in front of her, so close he could feel her nervous breath on his skin. She was shorted then him, the top of her head barely reaching his shoulder.

"Sasuke?" she questioned again. The nervousness in her voice was cute him.

"That's not my name." he whispered breathily as he lightly brushed his lips to hers. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"Sasuke-kun." She breathed. Sasuke smirked before grasping the sides of her arms and capturing her lips.

She moaned into the kiss eliciting more from the young Uchiha. He pulled away, their faces still barely touching.

"I've always hated to see you cry." He said. She opened her eyes to look up at him. "It took every ounce of my will power not to take you in my arms and wipe away your tears."

Sasuke pulled her closer to him, capturing her lips again. They moved in sync, relishing the feel of the other. Sasuke slid his hands down Sakura's thighs, gripping them and pulling them up so her butt rested on the counter and her legs were wrapped around his waist. Her short pencil skirt rode up as Sasuke moved his hand under her skirt.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Sakura. She pulled away as best she could.

"Sasuke." She said breathlessly, still trying to push him off. "Sasuke-kun, we can't do this." She continued. Sasuke stopped and looked up at her confused. "We can't do this here." She corrected.

Sasuke thought for a moment before a deep smirk set on his face. Turning away from her, he grabbed his shirt and walked away.

Sakura walked towards her apartment building, her path lighted only by the street lamps on either side of the street.

It was late, about 11:00 pm and she was exhausted and hungry. After her appointment with Sasuke, she had fully intended in heading home, but shortly after she had finished packing her brief case, Sookie had come rushing frantically in, saying that there was an emergency and they needed more help in the E.R.

So that's what she did. She'd spent the last 7 hours working on Emergency trauma patience and she could truly say she was looking forward to her vacation this week.

Sakura stepped into her dark apartment, closing and locking the door behind her. She kicked off her shoes and flipped on the light, before making her was into the kitchen. Once there she pulled a wine glass out of the cupboard and a bottle of red wine out of the bottom cabinet. She poured herself a glass and then proceeded into the bedroom.

Taking a sip of her wine, she then set her glass down on the night stand and began to strip from her work clothes. Throwing her cloths in the hamper, she turned to the dresser to pull out her night gown only to be stopped by a strong arm around her waist. She gasped in surprise.

"Sa-ku-ra." Sasuke drawled. "You're late." He whispered picking her up from behind and around the waist and carrying her over to the bed.

"What are you doing, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, squeaking as he flipped her around and lightly tossed her on the bed. When she landed she sat up, trying to cover herself a little. Sasuke pounced on her, pushing her back and pinning her arms. Her head hung over the side of the bed, exposing her neck to him and he took the opportunity to lavish it in warm kisses, lightly biting here and there. Sakura moaned, loving the way he touched her.

Sasuke moved his body up and pulled her head up to face him.

"Tonight will be a night you'll never forget."

"Tonight will be a night you'll never forget."

Sakura snapped her eyes open with a final thought. Confusion played on her face, as she struggled to remember the night before. her confusion was short lived, however, when she caught a whiff of a spicy masculine scent. The images and feelings came flooding back to her as she rolled onto her back with a satisfied smile.

A clang of pots resounded down the hall in the kitchen alerting the young doctor to the other person in the apartment. She smirked as she rose from the bed and grabbed his over sized t-shirt off the floor. She slipped it on taking a big whiff of his scent, a mix of old spice and tobacco.

Once dressed in the over sized t-shirt, Sakura made her way toward the kitchen where she found her target. She watched his profile interestedly.

Sasuke stood at the counter shirtless with a lit cigarette hanging sexily from his mouth. He could see her from the corner of his eye and smirked around the cigarette when she started strutting up to him.

He turned toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close. She smirked sexily at him as she took the cigarette from him and captured his lips in a sweet yet passionate kiss.

The need for air and a knock at the door brought them apart. Sakura smirked up at the young Uchiha's powty face. Turning her head away, she put the lit cigarette to her lips and took a deep draw from it. Blowing the out slowly, she then turned back to look at him, smirking at his cocky impressed/ turned on look. Putting the cigarette back up to his lips, she waited for him to take it before pulling away and sashaying toward the door. Sasuke smirked after her watching her hips sway back and forth.

"Damn." He thought as he drew from his cigarette getting a faint hint of strawberry from it.

Sakura stopped at the door and stood on her tip toes to look out the peep hole. A splotch of blonde appeared before it backed up revealing Naruto. Sakura smiled as she unlocked and opened the door enough to peak her head through.

Naruto smiled at her with his usually goofy grin, except this time he had an air of knowing.

"Hey sis." Naruto greeted still grinning.

"Hey Naruto. What's up?" Sakura asked.

"I need your help." He replied. "I need a physical before granny Tsunade will let me and my squad go back out."

"Oh, well then meet me in my office about a half an hour, kay?" Sakura said.

"Yes, thanks sis." Naruto exclaimed happily. Sakura smiled at him sweetly. "See ya then." Naruto continued turning to walk back down the hall. "See ya Teme." He called over his shoulder.

"Later Dobe." Sasuke responded from the back in the apartment. Sakura shut the door when Naruto was gone and turned to look incredulously at Sasuke. He smirked as he drew from his cigarette.

A/N: Story number 63. Please review.

-RED