July 3rd: Watching

Rating: K+

Thirteen year old Sasuke sighed, for what seemed like the umpteenth time. This stupid assignment was mind numbing, and stupid at best. Sure, he understood why it was necessary to be able to spy on the enemy, but when the enemy was a thirteen year old girl the task was dull.

He sat in the tree, wishing he brought a book or something as she sat on her balcony, reading a text book no doubt studying for their next test. Her long pink hair curtained her face from him, but behind it he knew there was a set of pale green eyes reading the text fiercely.

The girl was an enigma. She acted like the other foolish girls, throwing claims of love and devotion his way like an idiot, yet she was one of the smartest in class. She constantly beat him when it came to written tests, but when it came to nin-jutsu she was average.

A slam nearly sent him tumbling from the tree branch but he steadied himself quickly. The girl looked annoyed as she pulled her hair up high on her head for a pony tail, letting her bangs frame her face as always. She stood up and stretched causing her tank top to rise and show a bit of pale skin covering her taught stomach.

Tch.

Sasuke turned away, fighting the blush on his cheeks. Really, who paired up teenagers to watch each other all day? It seemed like a perverted joke. Sakura had gone inside, forcing Sasuke to have to move closer. He landed on her balcony with a soft thud, pushing against the wall before peeping into the glass sliding doors as the girl stretched, turning a page in her notebook, before he realized she was looking over their assignment.

Checking his watch, he saw his three hours were up and he decided it was time to leave.

..::..

Sakura sighed as she pulled down her navy tank top over her khaki shorts. Slipping on her ninja shoes, she mentally went over the assignment before grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. Leaving the house, she climbed the tree beside her balcony and looked above Konoha to the Uchiha compound.

While she loved her Sasuke-kun dearly, following him around wasn't going to be fun by herself. Especially when she couldn't interact with him, at all. Thanking her luck, she saw him head towards the weapons shop. Jumping from the tree to the roof, she ran as softly as she could, knowing Sasuke was probably more on alert than ever.

She landed on the roof, before turning on her back, sensing his chakra inside. Laying her head on her arms crossed behind her she heard Sasuke talking softly with the owner, requesting more weapons. For hours she followed him around Konoha as he did his errands, not used to seeing the polite smiling Sasuke he showed the adults.

His walk back to the compound is what worried her the most. While she didn't know a lot about the massacre, walking back to your home where you're alone all by yourself seemed beyond lonely. When he entered the house, she sat on the porch, ducking under a window, peeping up every now and then to see him move around the kitchen, putting things away.

Her heart softened at the look on his face, knowing it was one of contempt. 'Sasuke-kun' she whispered to herself before ducking suddenly. His head had turned so sharply, she was sure he saw her.

Calming her pounding heart, she mentally berated herself. With a deep breath she looked up again to see him approaching her towards the door. Scooting over, away from the window, she looked up and found her escape route. Jumping up, she used the gutter to pull herself up swiftly. Peeping over the edge, she saw Sasuke walk out towards the yard and began a series of katas.

Oh, he's training. Smiling to herself, she almost laughed aloud at Sasuke's obvious nature. While she had finished studying earlier, it seemed he would rather train. She mentally noted she should start training more, their graduation was coming within the next two weeks and she wasn't sure all of what they would be tested on.

Her three hours were up soon enough and she got up from the roof with a stretch and a sigh. When she opened her eyes, she saw a kunai land at her feet with a thunk.

Looking up, Sasuke was learning against a tree not to far off, motioning to her with his finger. With a groan she realized she must've failed and flushed in embarrassment. Grabbing the kunai, she jumped from the roof and walked up to Sasuke slowly.

"Ah, hey Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here?"

Idiot! What do you think he's doing here? It's his house!

He raised a brow at her before smirking.

"B-but, guess that means I failed, huh?"

"From the moment you landed on the weapons shop."

She sighed and bowed her head in defeat.

"Aw man! I knew I shouldn't have even tried! Who did you have to follow?"

.::.

Sasuke noted the girl was less shy when it was just her. She seemed less obsessed about him, and she hadn't tried to flirt with him in their few minutes of talking.

"You."

Her face flushed and she ran a hand down her side, pulling at the hem of her top.

"M-me? I didn't even notice! You're great Sasuke-kun, I would have never known!"

He frowned as the compliment fell on his ears. While he was used to praises from her and everyone else, this one felt truly genuine.

"I'm going to die! If I even pass graduation, I'll probably die within my first real mission!"

She seemed truly upset with herself, and not for the first time today he wondered her true reason for wanting to be a shinobi. He hadn't even seen her parents before, weren't they just civilians? If she came from a clan, they certainly weren't from around here.

"Train harder then. Or hope you have a strong team."

Sakura flushed deeper, hope shining in her eyes as Sasuke realized she wanted him on her team.

"A-ah. Right. I'll remember that Sasuke-kun!"

They stood awkwardly, Sakura shifting from foot to foot before she remembered the kunai in her hands.

"Here!"

He looked at her open palm before closing her hand around the handle again.

"Keep it. Train with me."

Her cheeks returned to being bright pink as she held the kunai close to her heart.

"But Sasuke-kun, you're on a whole different level than me."

"Hn, don't tell me you're scared."

He almost laughed at her change in demeanor. Her feet quit shuffling, her body tensed as she brought the kunai from her heart and to a battle stance.

"Me? Scared? Ha! I'll show you Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn."

He smirked at her, steadying his own stance and bringing out a kunai from his weapons pouch.

.::.

Crap, I don't have my weapons pouch. Ah well, this is a training opportunity! Plus I don't need weapons to beat Sasuke, he'll see!

Sakura bit down a blush as he continued smirking at her.

"Don't worry, I'll take it easy-"

Her fist slammed into his cheek. With a growl, he wiped at the blood by his lip. She paused, worried she had hurt him.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Lucky shot."

"I'll show you lucky shot! Shannaro!"