"Forest Fire"

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine (outside of my sense of humour), and obviously belongs to its rightful rights holders.

Sakura groped around inside her gym bag desperately even as the last of her classmates were exiting the change room to join the phys ed class that awaited them outside.

"Sakura?" called Hinata worriedly.

"I'll be there in a minute!" she called back, and frantically searched.

"Shit, shit, shit, that couldn't have been the last one," she mumbled, and finally upended the bag to dump out the last of its contents.

Not a trace of the elusive object she so urgently needed.

Clenching her teeth and uttering an oath that would have gotten her suspended if she'd been overheard by her teachers, the pink-haired girl huffed angrily and stomped to the doorway.

Sakura was humble enough to admit she was angrier at herself than anything else. This was just one of those freaky coincidences that seemed to plague her, rearing its ugly head once again. Normally so prepared, she'd wasted her time looking for a damn replacement when she should have been asking for help. It was maddening.

She'd been doing so well, too, and was sure she would have actually managed a perfect score on her entire report card that term, including the dreaded phys ed obstacle course they were to endure. She'd just have to suffer that Friday afternoon.

Ugh.

"Haruno!"

The loud, energetic voice boomed through the locker room and snapped her out of her procrastination.

Growling under her breath she stood and started half-running, half-jogging out to join the class.

"Coming!"

Why of all the bloody things to go wrong did she need to lose her last decent hair-tie? (And why had no one else been able to spare one of theirs?)

When she reached the group of students assembled by the fields she was just thrilled to note that the university campus next door also seemed to be using part of the shared fields.

Fantastic, now she got to show off just how unprepared she was and look like she was a vain attention whore. After so many years of setting her vanity aside for more important pursuits (like strengthening her studies so she could get a scholarship to the uni right next door, for example), she had learned to streamline her morning routine to the bare essentials. Those essentials included showering, shaving on gym days, brushing her teeth and hair, and tying said hair back so it would be out of her eyes. She didn't really have a lot of time to dedicate to her self, and decided not to put her efforts there when they could be better spent elsewhere (like applying for scholarships and bursaries). But she liked to think she was at least tidy. She wasn't lazy about her appearance –she took very good care of herself—but she didn't dress up.

So when she felt her long hair flying out behind her as she ran, it was a bit disconcerting—she just wasn't used to having her hair down.

And she didn't miss the snide comments others made as she approached, either, but tried to ignore them.

"Priss."

"Look who's here to show off…"

"How stupid is that? She should have tied her hair back for this… So much for being smart."

"I think you look lovely with your hair down, Sakura," smiled Hinata, beaming at her proudly.

She loved her friends.

"Thanks, Hina," she said ruefully. "It feels a bit odd, though."

"Nah, it looks great! Doesn't it, Bastard?"

"Hn," the Uchiha muttered. Then he actually looked at her for a second and his brow creased. "You usually have a tie."

"It snapped," explained Ino, arms crossed as she appraised Sakura thoughtfully. "No one had any spares today, unfortunately."

"And we aren't allowed to use hair sticks in gym, or we could have grabbed a pen," added Hinata quietly.

"Hn."

Their gazes all strayed to the university club—it looked to be martial arts, that day—that had taken up the far side of the field when loud yelling broke out and the group started into organized kata formation.

"Man, their sensei's tough," muttered Naruto, though he was impressed.

Sasuke turned away after a moment and refocused on their own class.

"Hn."

Their teacher, Mr. Gai, led them further out onto the track as they talked, and started them on an easy jog to warm up while he jogged backwards and explained the obstacle course to them.

"… and when you finish the yoga routine, be sure to thoroughly cleanse your breathing before continuing on to the bouncy castle…"

"Trampolines!"

"Shut up, ass-last."

"Shh!"

"… where you will then proceed to the tire-pull challenge!"

"… and from there, to the beach I have conveniently constructed for you, to run together towards the blazing sunset!"

"… and will then play pass-the-flaming-torch to one another as a show of your undying, flaming youth!"

"… passing by the infirmary, you will then enjoy a team-bonding tug-of-war!"

Sakura felt tired just listening to Gai.

"… where you will wrestle the crocodiles in their native swamp on the south side of campus…"

"We have crocodiles?"

"Does the school's health insurance cover Gai's classes?"

"Anyone else feel like joining me for a round of 'girl problems' that suddenly need to be addressed?" mumbled Ino, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the mounting danger that was so abundant in Gai's latest 'challenge'.

"Hells yeah," Naruto said with feeling.

Sasuke just ignored them.

Sakura couldn't help it, she snorted at Naruto's earnest reply—mostly because he probably thought girl problems had to do with hair or make-up, silly boy. (In her periphery vision she noticed they were closing in on the university's Martial Arts club, and tried to ignore them.) She also noticed Sasuke had disappeared, and remembered that his older brother was supposed to have been at the university, but she couldn't remember what school of study he was in. It was just a thought in passing, and she ignored the looks she could feel burning into her back as she passed by. Creepers.

Again, she felt like an idiot for running in gym without her usual hair-tie to keep her long hair from her eyes. They probably all thought she was doing it out of vanity.

"… and then finish triumphantly with a jaunt through The Gauntlet!"

Oh f– me, inner-Sakura spat, and outer Sakura just barely caught herself from glaring at their overenthusiastic teacher.

Her hair was going to be shorn shorter than Ms. Mitarashi's temper by the end of that one.

"I hope the blades are duller this time."

"No, you want 'em sharp otherwise the wounds'll be uglier and will bruise more," remembered Sakura aloud following a talk she'd had with Tenten following last year's debacle with The Gauntlet.

"Thank you for that spectacular motivation, Forehead."

"Anytime, Pig."

"Here," Sasuke interrupted, meeting between them a moment and holding his hand out to Sakura. "You're gonna need this."

Keeping pace with him they sped up a bit to outstrip the others a moment.

"What's this?" she asked, too quietly for the others to hear.

"Just take it," he muttered, shoving his fist at her again.

She was just quick enough to catch the elastic he tossed at her before he sped off again, intent to lap Naruto a few times before their usual competitiveness got the better of them both.

"Where did you—thank you, Sasuke!" she called, her smile brightening exponentially. Her pace slowed only a bit as she reached behind her to tie her hair back as neatly and tightly as she could.

She was pretty sure she heard a distantly muttered 'hn' from under his breath, but he was so far ahead she couldn't be sure.

Well. That changed things.

Now she was definitely going to be attempting The Gauntlet, it seemed.

(And it also looked like she'd be bringing in treats for Sasuke come Monday morning…. Or something. She'd have to see what she could rig up to thank him, if he'd allow it.)

Behind her she could still hear the martial arts club practicing under the supervision of its ruthless captain.

Her shoulder was suffering second-degree burns; the muscles of her legs ached and quivered as she loped down the path; and her chest heaved as she tried to draw in gulps of air that never seemed to be enough to satisfy her oxygen-starved body; but Sakura had made it to The Gauntlet.

There were hardly a handful of students left for the final stretch, and she walked back & forth to keep her heartrate elevated and her bloodflow pumping strongly. Sasuke glanced over at her, met her eyes (and she nodded faintly, assuring him she was fine when they both knew she wasn't—she ignored his eye-roll), and then went back to walking off his own exhaustion, swinging his arms around to keep himself limber. Of course he looked just fine. Hell would freeze over before that Uchiha would admit to any form of weakness. Mule.

In contrast, Naruto was curled up under a shady tree groaning pitifully and begging to be put out of his misery.

The other students seemed to be milling about, so she made her way over to her suffering compatriot.

"Gai's on his way back from dropping off the last round of wounded, rest time's over, Naruto," she said sympathetically, nudging her friend.

"A quick shot to the back of my head; you can do it, I trust you Sakura-chan," he whined, and she laughed at him.

"Upsy-daisy, princess," she groused with a smile, and helped haul him up to his feet again where he staggered against her. "Hey, you ok?" she asked, giving him another once-over, more critically this time. "Where's all that ramen-powered energy from lunch? Normally you'd be all over Sasuke about kicking his pansy butt by now."

A little flushed, he looked away and gingerly rubbed the back of his head. "I may have bumped my head a little harder than I thought on the three-legged pole-vaulting challenge," he admitted. But he seemed to rally his fighting spirit then, and practically crowed, "So things are still settling. But don't worry! I just need to make it through this last part, and then I'll be—"

"Dead. Tap-out this time, Naruto," she said as other signs of concussion surfaced; like his unfocused vision.

He looked aghast. "What? Against the bastard? No way!"

She levelled him with a look and stopped pacing, holding him in place and supporting even more of his weight. He was definitely having balance problems. "Either you tap out, or I tap you out and you wake-up just in time Monday to come back to class again."

With a moue of defeat, he sulked a bit zig-zaggedly over to Gai and announced he was going to the infirmary.

"Ready?" asked Sasuke as he slid up to her side to watch Naruto trudge off.

"Yeah, though I feel like I just kicked a puppy."

"He'd take it better from you than me."

A twisted smile dawned on her face. "I suppose there was less bloodshed this way," she agreed, and they caught each other's amused gaze out of the corners of their eyes. They'd known each other far too long. "Come on, looks like Gai's ready to burst with the big finale."

Sasuke grunted faintly, mumbling something about her poor choice of wording.

"Kisame."

The tall man grinned sharply and pulled his attention back to the captain of the martial arts club.

Glittering black eyes watched him levelly, if suspiciously.

Towering over his fellow club members, Kisame reigned in some of his eagerness but couldn't resist teasing the man who stood in front of him, blocking his path.

"Oy, 'Tachi, aren't you going to make introductions?"

"There's no need to introduce you to someone you already know. And he has already gone back to his class."

Oh, Kisame loved riling the Uchiha. Of course Itachi meant Sasuke. But they both knew Kisame didn't mean Sasuke in this particular circumstance. In Kisame's opinion Sasuke was a sulky pissant—who cared about him?

His petite friend, however, was worth noticing.

Especially since Kisame realised more and more why she looked so stunningly familiar.

"Wouldn't you like to make sure he's hanging out with the right crowd? Your family watch out for that kind of thing, don't they?"

"He has enough sense not to involve himself in worthless affairs."

The way you deliberately don't, Kisame thought with a smirk.

"Anything further to add, Kisame?" asked Itachi, his eyes narrowing on his 'friend'.

Kisame grinned winningly, and had the audacity to wink, but held back what he truly wanted to say. "Not right now, captain."

Itachi levelled his dark eyes on Kisame for a moment longer, appraising him, before moving on to direct the team in an extended endurance run.

Kisame had no doubt it would initially take them away from the high school gym class; but would likely circle back at some point, so Itachi could indulge in his own special brand of self-denial and masochism.

Because Itachi was a self-flagellating pissant in his own way.

Must be an Uchiha thing, Kisame grunted to himself as he gave a final stretch before joining his teammates.

The towering monster of a man barely contained his knowing grin about twenty minutes later when, as he'd expected, their route detoured back towards the students currently running The Gauntlet…

There was yet to be a successful competitor through the last stage of their obstacle course, and Sakura grimly awaited her name being called.

Sasuke had been called before her, and they'd shared a look before he'd set off, equal parts good look, I'm right behind you and I'll see you at the finish line. A part of her did wonder at her potential to complete the course if even Uchiha Sasuke couldn't conquer it, but she prided herself on her determination and had promised herself that if nothing else, if he failed to make it through, she would just take it as all the more incentive to beat him at it, anyway.

Out of the corner of her eyes she caught sight of the university martial arts team returning, but her focus was on Sasuke.

He had to make it through.

And then she had to beat his time, she thought to herself with a faint smirk. Just because that would irritate him, and getting under each other's skin was something they did.

She moved to the side of the crazy timber structure Sasuke would be running, jumping, climbing and zip-lining through, and caught his eye one last time, and winked.

He smirked back, and waved her off, but she caught the slight softening of his features.

When Gai's whistle blew, she jumped and cheered with everyone else—because this was Uchiha Sasuke, which of course meant everyone was on their feet to encourage him. Without a word he set off like a shot, and the cheers grew louder at each stage he completed.

"Come on, Uchiha!" she called, laughing.

It was harrowing to watch, but sure enough, despite getting a bit battered he made his way through the checkpoints, collected his flags, and finally lit the Olympic-inspired Flame of Youth at the top of the rickety parapet.

"Time!" called Gai as the flame shot up, nearly taking off Sasuke's eyebrows, and he stumbled back a bit, bumping into the flimsy guardrail tacked on to the platforms rim. "Five minutes twenty seven seconds – well done, Uchiha!" applauded their proud teacher, and Sasuke leaned forward to catch his breath a moment, nodding, before climbing down from the top of the platform. "You're less than twenty seconds off the record!"

"And the first to complete it in three years," added Sakura as he approached her, her smile beaming at him. His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes bright, but when their eyes met his shoulders relaxed a bit.

"Nothing to it," he said, though he casually rubbed his forehead for a moment, as if wiping the sweat from it.

"They're still there," Sakura said cheekily and instead of sniping back at her for once, he just huffed. And bumped her hip with his.

"The owner of that hair-tie just may require it back before you make your run," he said mildly, arms crossed lightly across his still-heaving chest, "and I doubt your hair would fare as well as mine just did."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Spoil sport. I bet everyone would love to see me end up a human torch. I'd finally be Gai's Flame of Youth personified. I bet he'd give me bonus points for gutsy youthfulness."

He snorted softly beside her, and she grinned, watching the next poor sap run the obstacle course, and scream and voluntarily fling themselves off by the third obstacle.

"Those crossbows were a bit much."

"Nah, they just encourage you to be agile," he countered, blasé.

They watched another student shaking as he walked up to the start-line, glancing fearfully at their sadistic gym teacher.

"So, plans for tonight?" he asked, his eyes still on the runner, who by now had decided to say the Lord's prayer before setting off, bent on their knees, still on the start-line.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, her arms crossed over her chest, too as she unconsciously copied his stance. She thought over her lack of plans, and grimaced to herself at how geeky she sounded.

"Not really… There's the party at Ino's tomorrow, but I had thought I'd just stay home tonight. Mom and dad are still away at that conference. We have that project for Economics due in a few weeks; I was going to take a look at the list of possible topics and see what hooked my fancy," she said, and winced as she saw the poor sucker on the course felled by the swinging pendulums before sailing through the air and crashing into the pit of voles.

More screaming rent the air.

Gai actually paled a bit as he made his way over to fish the poor schmuck out, smacking wee rabid beasty-voles off him.

"Twenty says he's out for the rest of the semester," Sasuke remarked, calmly watching the strange scene.

"Thirty says he comes back Monday, but screams like a girl when Gai offers him the opportunity to make up his mark by a generous second run through," she tossed back.

Shoulder to shoulder, not even needing to look at each other, they each extended a hand to the other and shook on it.

It was old hat to them to place bets on the outcome of the wounded from Gai's class.

Sasuke fidgeted after a moment, though, and Sakura felt something about him change.

It took her a moment to figure out that his posture had straightened a bit further, and that he'd nudged just a bit closer, yet hadn't turned to look at her.

"Econ project. I was thinking about that one, too. We have the Chem presentation the week that's due."

"Exactly," she sighed, "and that one's team-based," she grumbled. She much preferred working on her own, but that wasn't an option in this case.

Sasuke glanced over at her, and opened his mouth to speak. "Want to look them over tonight, to plan? My folks are away visiting my uncle Madara, and—"

"Haruno! You're up!" Gai called cheerfully. "Watch out for that pit! The voles've acquired a taste for blood, now!"

"Fantastic," she muttered under her breath, turning back to Sasuke and smiling ruefully. "Sorry, I'll be right back. Wait for me?" she asked, giving his elbow a quick squeeze as she stepped away.

"Ah-… Hn," he said, and as she turned to jog towards The Gauntlet, he let out a low huff she didn't see.

Just a hundred yards away, dark eyes watched the interaction with rapt attention.

So far, no one seemed to have noticed that Sasuke had taken pleasure in watching Sakura's progress and Sasuke was grateful for this. Outwardly his expression was as remote as ever, but deep inside a part of him sometimes wondered if his eyes gave him away; they were always the hardest window into himself to shutter. Naruto, who knew him best, had never mentioned anything out loud; but Sasuke had a feeling the blond knew, or at least suspected, more than he let on. Luckily he was keeping those suspicions to himself for now. But there was something about Sakura that fascinated Sasuke and held his constant attention, and that was saying a great deal.

It was as he'd been watching her make her way through each stage of the death-trap that he noticed something odd. Towards the end, the platform with the Flame of Youth creaked once, softly, and stilled.

A moment later, the sound repeated.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched it more carefully before he took a step closer, his brow furrowed.

Two hurdles left to go before Sakura was to reach it—he was willing to admit he was more than impressed she'd made it that far, but he knew she wouldn't give up until she'd gone all the way. The wood groaned quietly, and a high-pitched squeak sounded; apprehension curled in his stomach as Sakura snap-kicked a dummy right off the landing she'd parachuted onto, and his focus was pulled back to the platform again.

Something wasn't right.

Sakura cleared the next level and advanced to the last, but Sasuke's attention was fixed on the structure.

Something wasn't right.

There was a rapid movement racing towards them now, he caught from the corner of his eye, but it was the shuddering of the plateau housing the Flame of Youth that got him jogging, then running, then tearing madly towards Sakura's goal.

Sasuke didn't register Gai yelling at him—and subsequently screaming at Sakura to get her attention, to warn her, his concern mounting as Gai finally saw what Sasuke had—before he saw Sakura soar over the divide onto the parapet.

Sasuke cursed aloud, and his heart hammered with the adrenaline pumping through him. He rounded the back of the structure with his shaggy hair flying behind him from his speed and caught sight of what no one else had (because no one had seen it from this angle)—the biggest support beam was splintered and loose. As Sakura's feet touched down it buckled and the tower lurched, the wood groaning across the playing fields at the sudden jarring.

His stomach dropped sickeningly into his shoes as he heard her gasp of surprise—then realisation—and the beam cracked and crumbled and the structure shuddered and shook, swinging first a little, then a lot, to one side in its awful descent.

"Sakura, jump!" he hollered, his eyes searching for her above him.

"Sasuke!" she looked around wildly for him, already moving towards the sound of his voice. "Which direction?" she called, her voice steady with determination.

Which direction! he wondered madly.

"Haruno, are you there?" a smooth, deep voice commanded from behind him, and Sasuke was too relieved to be annoyed for once. "Go left three feet, hold on to the guard rail!"

"Ok!"

"Kisame and everyone else, go to the far side of the structure and bolster it as best you can—the goal is to slow it down, not stop it. Do NOT remain in its way if you feel it suddenly give," ordered Itachi to his team, now at Sasuke's side. The older Uchiha's pale cheeks were flushed and his eyes dark and shining as they assessed the plateau.

"Sasuke, onto my shoulders and reach for Haruno," he said, grabbing hold of one of the side beams of the structure and nodding to his younger brother.

Sasuke nodded quickly and placed his foot on the step his brother made with his hands, boosting him up quickly and smoothly. He stood on his brother's shoulders, Itachi clamping his hands tightly to Sasuke's ankles to steady him.

"Sakura! Grab my hand," Sasuke said as calmly and urgently as he could as he took in her tense shoulders and quick nod. She darted to the edge and threw up her leg to climb over what was left of the guardrail.

There was a series of snapping sounds then as the other supports started to give way, and Kisame hollered at everyone to get ready to jump back.

Sakura had just made it over and reached for Sasuke when a violent shudder racked The Gauntlet followed by the awful sound of nails popping and planks splintering.

"Clear out! Clear out!" shouted Kisame, his eyes going wide.

Sasuke's eyes centered on Sakura's and he saw her pupils dilate even as she furrowed her brow and moved faster and faster, scrambling down to get within reach. But she was still just a bit too high up, and he grasped nothing but air.

"Do you have her?" Itachi asked, chancing to look up.

"Almost," growled Sasuke, and reached as high as he could. Internally cursing, he made another grab for her.

"Not good enough. Land on your feet and roll," said Itachi shortly, and that was all the warning he gave before he dropped Sasuke.

Too worried about Sakura, Sasuke instinctively obeyed, but made a mental note to take this up with his brother later.

"Haruno, jump!" Itachi commanded, his voice flowing with every ounce of his authority.

With a quick breath she did, and just in time—before she'd even fully let go, the structure crashed to the ground, clouds of dust billowing up as the dry dirt around it was disturbed from the collapse.

It was several moments later before Sakura registered the shouting and yelling that was going on all around her, the adrenaline still pumping strongly throughout her body.

All she could see was white.

And all she could feel was downy soft cotton.

Someone shifted her slightly, and it was several more moments before she realised that she was being supported—held, really—snugly in strong, unfamiliar arms.

And someone was saying her name, quite agitatedly, too.

"Sakura? Sakura? Look at me, Sakura. You're ok, right? You didn't get hurt? Sakura?"

"S-s-s-Sasuk-ke?"

It took her a moment to realise that the voice that had spoken was hers. She wasn't particularly scared—hadn't felt scared exactly through any of it. Strange.

"Look up, Sakura, I need to see your eyes," said Sasuke as he gently reached out to touch her cheek and direct her gaze towards his, his own eyes dark and almost comically wide. His eyes were completely open to her for once—and very, very concerned.

"C'mon Sakura, just look at me," he coaxed gently. He glanced up at his brother, looking very young to her in that single moment. "Is she in shock?"

She felt the arms around her shift slightly and figured out it was Itachi she was clinging to, and knew he was shaking his head in response to Sasuke's question. "No, she's probably on an adrenaline high. In another few moments it will run out and she'll probably have some shaking before needing to rest and recover."

Taking his brother's words as gospel (as he always did, Sakura thought almost with a fond smile), Sasuke turned back to her and held out his arms. "Let's make sure you're okay—can you stand?"

"Of c-course I c-can s-st-stand," she said, irritated by the stuttering.

She didn't need to see them to know they were giving each other knowing looks over her head.

And then Sasuke had the gall to smirk at her a bit, slowly returning to the Uchiha she knew so well.

"Of course you can," he agreed, his voice the definition of patronizing. But the smirk did soften a bit as he looked over her again. "But let's see you back it up first before Itachi heads back to making his teammates suffer."

The soft puff of air against the back of her neck could have been an indignant huff or an amused snort, Sakura wasn't sure.

"Ass," she hissed, but the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth negated any venom she could have injected into the word. Sasuke huffed and rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed with her lack of imagination.

With a quick word to Gai (who was busy corralling the other students to check on them) to show they were managing Sakura, the menfolk shared a quick look. She was beginning to wonder if Uchihas had some kind of mind-link or telepathic ability, and then Itachi slowly, delicately set her on her feet again.

Where her knees promptly buckled and she would have fallen if he hadn't had such startlingly quick reflexes.

Sasuke glanced at her, one supercilious eyebrow raised.

She glared back.

(Little did she know he found it looked more like an adorable, sulky pout.)

"I think a trip to the infirmary is in order," said Itachi quietly, gently picking her up again; though this time he carried her bridal-style, and Sasuke fell into step beside him brow furrowed and pouty.

"I can take her," he said, moving a bit ahead of his older brother to head him off. "You have classes."

"It's just as simple for me to deliver her; you could contact her family and meet us there. I remember where the medical station is," Itachi said, brushing off his younger brother's attempts at… helping her? Sakura wasn't sure; her head was a bit muddled, and the shaking was getting pretty strong, and she did feel stab of anxiety, now that she thought about it… Her breathing came a little shorter, exacerbating the anxiety, and she felt her stomach roll curiously.

"It is the adrenaline wearing off—you will feel fine in a few hours," Itachi said, glancing down at her.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her shoulders curling up to her ears. She thought she'd been quite brave through the whole thing, but felt a bit silly and juvenile now that she couldn't seem to get her body to quit trembling. Or feeling like she just might be sick all over herself. And now Uchiha Itachi of all people saw she was about to fall apart. Fantastic.

This day couldn't get any better short of a surprise colonoscopy, she decided. In public. Still bundled in Itachi's arms, Sakura huffed but it came out a bit shuddery and she felt her cheeks burn furiously.

I must be seeing things, she decided, because she could almost have sworn that she saw his normally tense mouth relax, and his brows unfurrow.

"Nothing to be sorry about; it is more than understandable. Sasuke will see you through the afternoon," he replied smoothly. "He is very dedicated."

Beside her, Sasuke's cheeks flared hotly for a second and his face tightened. But something occurred to him then, and he turned back to Sakura with purpose.

"And the evening. You aren't going home on your own tonight, Sakura, and there's no arguing about this," he said, glaring right back at her when she looked at him sharply, already opening her mouth to object. "You can stay in the guest room. Your parents are still away. We can go over the Econ project tonight and then you can have an early night. When Mom returns tomorrow, she'll be thrilled to see you again, anyway. She mentioned the other day that you haven't been around in a while."

Sakura's eyes narrowed at him for a second in a glare before she let out a low breath.

Sasuke waited for her to argue, but when she didn't, he allowed himself to relax, his shoulders falling.

Itachi watched him a moment.

"You are also suffering the withdrawal post-adrenaline?" he asked his brother, his voice calm and smooth, his eyes returning to look in front of him as they headed to the nurse's station.

"I'm fine," Sasuke said in an almost-as-calm tone that didn't fool his older brother.

"Hn," was all Itachi replied, and waited for Sasuke to open the door for them.

In Sakura's room that afternoon, Sasuke leaned back on her bed and closed his eyes.

"You can wait on the couch, there's a tv downstairs," Sakura offered. "My room's pretty boring these days."

She had no idea how wrong she was, in his opinion, not that he had plans to enlighten her.

Instead, he stretched out more comfortably, taking up as much room as he could. "Pack. We're in no rush."

She chuckled under her breath then, and he opened one eye to glance at her. "Something wrong?"

"You remind me of a more restrained Naruto, all stretched out on my comforter like that, that's all. He loves my bed for some reason," she said, smiling fondly at some memory as she slipped her hairbrush, toothbrush and a few other things into a small bag. "I couldn't chase him out and we ended up sleeping in it together one morning, after we'd been up all night playing DDR. Since then, he decided he had joint-custody and left a pair of his PJs and slippers in my bottom drawer, 'just in case'," she smirked, and glanced at his reflection in her bureau mirror. Her brows knit. "Sasuke? You ok?"

"Hn."

Sakura went back to folding her pyjamas and spare clothes.

"Close your eyes," she ordered a few minutes later.

"Why?"

"Do it or you're getting an eyeful of my unmentionables," she growled, her eyebrows dipping in warning.

Just to see what she'd do, he smirked and instead turned to watch her blatantly.

-and got smacked by a pillow to the face for his efforts.

"Pervert."

They'd been going at it for hours.

They were red-faced, exhausted, but pleasantly surprised—and satisfied.

"See, I told you it was a good idea to work this out between the two of us," he said smugly, rolling to his feet. "Water?"

"Please. And don't look so accomplished—it took both of us."

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Getting that much planning done on that big a project in one night? Admit it. You couldn't have done it without me."

"Sure I could have."

"But would it have come out as iron-clad as what we just did?"

He handed her the water and she pushed away from her spot on the floor by the coffee table to slip onto the leather couch behind her, gratefully accepting the offered bottle.

She frowned at him a moment before groaning and flopping only a little dramatically back against the couch. Their texts and notes lay sprawled out before them on the wide table's surface, evidence to their hours of brainstorming and debates.

His grin widened knowingly at her capitulation, and she flipped him the bird.

"Time to put things away for the night?" he asked after a few minutes had passed and she was still lying there, though her eyes were looking decidedly more sunken and dark.

She nodded slowly and closed her eyes.

"Yeah."

She slouched further and her eyes remained closed.

Sasuke took a moment to watch her unhindered.

"Are you feeling better? From this afternoon?" he asked surprisingly bluntly.

"Hmm? Yes. Just sleepy. Your brother was right. It's barely eleven and I'm ready to crash," she said, swallowing a yawn.

His fingers itched to slip into her hair and tuck the loose locks behind her ear. She had replaced her ponytail with a long, simple braid when they'd arrived, but it had loosened over the course of the evening leaving soft tendrils sweeping across her cheeks and forehead now. Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Sasuke?" she asked drowsily, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Hn?"

A faint smile pulled at the corners of her lips and in her relaxed, calm state, she seemed to glow with peace.

"In case I forget in the morning… Thanks for your help today."

Though she couldn't see it, he nodded. "Hn."

Strangely, she chuckled.

"Remind me to thank your brother, too. He was pretty cool, for an Uchiha," she teased.

"No. He's already too full of himself. Too much hero-worship may overwhelm him."

Which was when she started giggling, then laughing, and even he snickered a bit, relaxing again.

"We need to get you to a bed," he said later, when they'd calmed down—and then realised what he'd said and looked away as she finally cracked her eyes open.

"Is your guest-bed made up?"

At his silence, she opened her eyes a bit wider, her face becoming downcast.

"You didn't make the bed up, did you? You forgot," she said, reading him easily. And she sighed, pulling herself to her feet. "Okay, show me where the sheets are…"

"Take mine," he said. "Take my bed," he clarified, looking away.

"You sleep in yours," she pointed out, standing up and reaching her hands up, wayyyy up, to stretch with a feminine groan of enjoyment as her back cracked a bit. "Oh that feels better," she murmured with a purr.

No, it doesn't, he wanted to say.

Debating internally, he did a five-second tidy of the table's contents before sweeping up Sakura's bags in one hand and tilting his chin in the direction of the stairs.

"I'll take Itachi's room."

"This still puts you out of your bed," she pointed out.

Sasuke just shook his head. "He moved to his own apartment just off campus. He's almost never home, unless our parents are."

Surprised, Sakura looked at him more thoughtfully, remembering how often Sasuke's parents were away. "You're here on your own most of the time?"

He didn't reply, just continued moving towards his room.

When they got there, Sakura had made her decision.

"You stay in your own bed. I'm not putting you out of your own room," she said, trying to take her bags from him. He hadn't lit any lamps yet, so the only light came from the hallway just beyond, spilling through the doorway.

"Sakura, it's fine, it's just a night—"

"No—"

"Just lie down—"

"I don't want to. I'll just go—"

"Sakura!" he exclaimed, his frustration growing. "Just get on my bed!"

"I said no!"

"Do I need to make you—rgh!"

"WHAT is going on?" demanded Itachi, his voice deadly cold.

TBC.

AN: This fic started during NaNo 2011 and has been ongoing since. Thank you to Uchiha.s for her help and feedback throughout! All errors are my own.

Inspiration: "Forest Fire" by David Usher
Inspiration: prompt: hair tie