Teamwork
Chapter One: Awakening
Asuka


Notes: Fic idea based off a discussion with Kineko. The trio is 16-17 in the story.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't hit.
/blah/ Inner Sakura thinking at Sakura


(Sakura)

Sakura woke up to find a weight across her chest, pinning her down. It was uncomfortable, way too warm. And there was something tickling her cheek and neck, a bit like grass or a dog's coarse fur. She wanted to scratch, but her hand was blocked alongside her thigh. That, and she'd been trained not to move if she didn't know where she was waking up, or who was watching.

And she could feel that she wasn't alone.

It was a room, a bedroom probably. There was a futon under her, though her heel hung over the edge, and the air was a bit stale; no air drafts brought fresher air in there. There was a strong scent in the room, almost repulsive but not quite, a bit like sweat and something else.

She counted one, two breathing patterns around her. Slow, shallow, relaxed: sleeping.

One of these was ghosting against her armpit. She couldn't help but scrunch up her nose; her skin was damp there and she knew the excessive warmth of the room had made her sweat; the person breathing against her was probably breathing in the smell. She would have squirmed away in embarrassment, except that the arm on her chest was still firmly pinning her down.

Wait.

Arm. On her chest.

Bed.

Naked.

"Aah!!!"

Naruto blinked sleepily up at her.

"huh? Sak'ra? Whazzamatter?"

Naruto. Was. Naked.

Naruto's arm. Was. On her chest. Her BARE chest.

NARUTO HAD DROOLED ON HER!!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

SLAP!!!!

"OW!!!! What the hell?!"

She squirmed back, blushing and glowering at the same time. Why the hell was Naruto in bed with h--

Why the hell did it hurt so much to sit up?

"NARUTO!!! What --"

"Can't you two shut th'fuck up? 'm trying to sleep here..."

The blond ruffled his short spikes, embarrassed. "Heh. Sorry Sasuke."

Sakura blinked. Then turned her head, slowly.

Sasuke was curled on his side away from them, his back against her hip. The hair tickling her neck had been his. For one second, she couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. In all her romantic fantasies, she had daydreamed that Sasuke's hair would be soft as silk, but it wasn't.

/What, you thought it stuck up in the back without hair gel because dark, handsome heroes always have wind in their face or what?/

Why was she bothering to think about the softness of Sasuke's hair when she was supposed to think about WHY THE HELL SHE WAS NAKED IN BED WITH SASUKE AND NARUTO?? Okay, being in bed with Sasuke was her dream, but what was that stupid, crazy blond ... hunk... /wow, nice shoulders-- wait, scratch that, nice ASS/-- ack!!! What the hell was she thinking about? That was Naruto, not some piece of eyecandy...

Inner Sakura disagreed with her. She was wolf-whistling and quite ready to forget that the young man laying on his belly on the bed, utterly naked and thus baring his round buttocks to view, was the same annoying, noisy brat who had latched on her from their first day at the ninja academy, making her look ridiculous in front of all the girls she had wanted to impress. "Teach you to be nice to losers," Keiko had said, and Rika had replied that it was probably that Sakura WAS a loser too, anyway, and she had spent weeks trying to repair that bad first impression. If cool, popular, fearless Ino hadn't decided to befriend her, she would have stayed a pariah for years. Sure, now she kind of liked Naruto-- he was hard to dislike when you got to know him -- but he was still annoying and clingy and definitely not droolworthy.

/Like fucking hell he's not. Look at those buns-- is that a bite mark?/

Sakura's cheeks turned a dull red that probably clashed with her hair. She was good at interpreting footprints and other clues like that, and the row of teeth imprints adorning one of Naruto's buttocks had to be hers because the jaw was too narrow to be Sasuke's-- Sasuke!! She was in bed with the boy she had dreamed of forever, why was she still thinking about Naruto's --admittedly hot-- body?!

Why was she in bed with her teammates in the first place?

/And with our pussy hurting as if we'd tried to ride a fucking kangaroo in a rodeo--/

The red on her cheeks spread to her forehead and neck. As for the tip of her ears, it was already burning.

She was starting to remember.

"Oi, Sakura..." Naruto whined as he sat up, a hand covering the red handprint on his cheek. Inner Sakura unhelpfully commented that it did sound less aggravating than when he'd been eleven, because his voice had dropped a lot these last months, and it was hard to sound shrill and crybaby-ish with a rumble like that, like a big cat in the dark.

"What," she snapped, because he was still whining, sexy-purring voice or not, and she still didn't know... what... EEK!! She crossed her arms in front of her breasts and lifted her knees defensively to hide her crotch. Inner Sakura unhelpfully commented that he had seen it all anyway, that and more, and her ankles weren't large enough to hide her pussy from view. She grabbed a blanket and pulled it to her forcefully, covering herself quickly. Naruto was blinking, as if noticing fully what he'd been gazing at.

And then he had the fucking gall to leer at her. She was so going to kill him.

"Gimme back!" Sasuke growled sleepily as he rolled on his back and felt around for the blanket Sakura was hiding under. Even for the man of her life, she refused to give it back. She was a lady and it was more important that she was dressed than they -- that and wow, but was Sasuke beautiful. All her girlfriends would kill her if they knew that she was seeing a full frontal view of that lean, tightly muscled, almost hairless body. And her heart was squeezing at the sight of the seal on his neck, but her belly was clenching because as awful as what it symbolized was, the design of the seal itself was still beautiful and she wanted to soothe it with her kisses so badly.

Naruto was watching him too. Lazily, casually. Just as he'd watched her. And he was still smirking. She was going to kill him. Sasuke was hers and no hyperactive moron would -- were Naruto's eyes red?

A blink and it was gone. They were sky blue like always, and twinkling with humor. Maybe she was hallucinating.

"Wake up, lazy ass," her blond teammate said, poking Sasuke's side. The last of the Uchiha yelped in a very undignified way and rolled away, falling off the futon in the process. Naruto started to laugh, and she lifted a hand to thwap him over the head even as Inner Sakura laughed at the bewildered expression on her beloved's face.

And then she froze because Sasuke was wincing and rubbing his butt, and she didn't need to be a seer to guess why. Same reason as hers.

/And we would remember sprouting a dick and doing him up the ass,/ Inner Sakura commented helpfully.

"What the fuck..."

Sasuke was staring at the both of them, just as stunned as Sakura felt. Their eyes met for a second, then they turned to stare accusingly at Naruto.

"YOU!!! What did you do?! Why are we --here?!!" she added, just now recognizing Naruto's small apartment.

The teenager with the scarred cheeks winced.

"Uhm, I'm not quite sure... EEP!!"

The shoe sailed past his head as he ducked, but if Sasuke's throw had missed him, Sakura's kick didn't.

"OWW!! Stop, stop!!! Peace!! Let me finish!!!"

The girl blushed as she noticed that in her hurry to beat him up, she had dropped the blanket and Sasuke was studiously looking away, his cheeks tinted pink. She mummyified herself up quickly, then resumed deathglaring.

"I mean, I do know what happened -- I mean, it's not hard to guess, what with the no clothes thing and the smell, but..."

"But?" Sasuke prompted him. His voice was quiet and toneless, which, when you knew them, was a sure sign that you needed to give him what he wanted or take cover right now.

"I don't... remember details. I... feel like I got lai-- I feel good, I mean," he promptly amended, giving Sakura an embarrassed look before staring down the bed. "But I'm not sure of the... details. It's all foggy..."

"WHAT?" Sakura screeched. They were in HIS apartment and HE was the one who didn't look surprised to be waking up to them both!! How could he not know?!

Naruto cringed. "I remember feelings and-- and smells. And emotions. A few moments. But it's all disjointed. Give me a minute! I'll know more when I can think about it and put it all back together."

"You don't seem to be that surprised that your memories are mixed up," Sasuke commented, glaring at him suspiciously. Sakura blinked.

"Hey, that's true!"

She was starting to suspect a drug of some sort. She did remember roughly what had happened, but it was a mass of reactions and overwhelming desire, and not a trace of conscious, rational thought anywhere in sight. At one point she'd been arguing with Naruto because he was SO irritating, even though she couldn't remember what he'd done this time to piss her off, and then they were kissing each other -- or biting maybe, she wasn't sure. Then-- it got more confusing. It was raw need and passion and hands on her and her nails raking up muscled backs and her fingers tangling in hair as she was taken roughly, covered by a heavy body...

/Wild night./

Oh, shut up, you, she thought back. It wasn't as if she was a total virgin -- /not anymore, that's for sure/-- SHUT UP! She hadn't been a total stranger to how her body could react to someone else, and she knew that roses and candles was probably a bit too sweet for her first time with Sasuke, but she had never thought that she would ever be in a threesome.

Naruto seemed even more embarrassed by Sasuke's question. He fidgeted nervously, hemmed and hawed and moved as if he wanted to get up and pace, but Sasuke glared him back on the bed.

"Talk."

"It ... happens sometimes. When I fight and I'm pissed as hell, or sometimes at night. Like I'm sleepwalking, but not really. I still know what's happening, but I'm not... not thinking the same way. Some things make sense in a way I can't explain with words and everything's easier and faster and sharper and-- I don't know."

Well, what did you know. Naruto could be pretty handsome when he was quiet and serious. He was still a moron.

"And you never thought to inform anyone?! What if it's serious? What if-- what if you're sick or under a mind control jutsu?!" she raged.

Naruto paled briefly, and looked away. His eyes were sad now.

"... It's not... I know where it's coming from. It's okay, Sakura. It's-- I've never hurt anyone or done anything horrible... I'm still myself. Just... Uninhibited."

She couldn't find words to tell him how stupid he was and how much she wanted to beat him up.

"Never hurt anyone? You said it happens in battles!! What if YOU got hurt, because you're not thinking right?!"

She was startled when he snorted, as if her suggestion was stupid.

"When I'm pissed off enough to get like that, I'm the last one at a risk on the battlefield. Anyway, Kakashi-sensei knows why it's happening, and Iruka-sensei too," he added, cutting her off. "There's nothing that can really be done about ... it."

"I wonder what you're lying about," Sasuke replied quietly.

Naruto jumped, offended. "I'm not lying!!" he snarled, his low voice shifting from purry to growly.

"But are you telling the truth?"

Sasuke's eyes were narrowed and cold. He was into one of his stubborn moods. But from the set of Naruto's clenched jaw and the way he was clenching his fists, he had to be in his corresponding mood. Sakura decided that there were too many questions to ask and she didn't want to wait hours for one of them to drop out of the staring contest. Not that she didn't care that he was hiding something-- something important, she could feel it-- from them both, but there were other ways to learn the truth than by asking directly and slamming against the brick wall that was Naruto's stubbornness.

"That's not the matter!! What the hell -- why were we... why..."

"I didn't force you!!" he snarled back, baring his teeth. He looked angry and hurt and it forced her to calm down; even Inner Sakura couldn't stay on her moral high horse when he looked that ... betrayed.

"I didn't say you did," she replied softly. Both boys blinked at her, surprised. "But none of us were in their normal state yesterday, and YOU are used to it and we're not. Is... whatever's happening to you... contagious?"

Naruto scratched his head, puzzled. "Uhh-- that's right, I didn't think it would be... There's no reason why it should be..."

That ruled out drugs and illnesses, then. Those were expected to possibly be contagious. Naruto was absent-minded about lots of things, but he didn't put his teammates' lives in danger for the fun of it. Except Sasuke's maybe, but it was a rival thing, she guessed, and their dares and fights never happened without warning.

NOW he looked guilty. "I really didn't think it would be ...contagious. You really think everything was my fault? You wouldn't have-- of course you wouldn't have, either of you," he added in a whisper, giving the both of them a stricken look. "I should have known, when you kissed back-- I should have known something wasn't right..."

Sasuke sighed and threw a cushion at him.

"Moron, stop that. You were already gone, right? How could you have stopped?"

Naruto bit his lip hard. "Sometimes I can," he admitted quietly. "When I want it bad enough, I can snap out of it. If I had realized that you were there against your will, I would have wanted to stop enough, believe me," the blond added bitterly.

"You're assuming that I didn't like it at all," Sasuke drawled mockingly," and as usual the only ass it makes is you. Sure, if you had invited me, I would have said no on principle, but I admit I would have missed something," he added as he got on his feet carefully. Inner Sakura commented that it was probably to spare his abused behind, but even she couldn't deny that he moved very sexily.

"I fucked your ass, Sasuke. You do remember that, right?" Naruto asked, his tone biting and derisive. Sakura couldn't have said if he was mocking Sasuke or himself.

Sasuke leaned forward and picked up his shirt, putting it on to delay his reply. "I remember. I didn't expect it to feel so good."

/well, I didn't expect the Ice Prince to admit that./

He's just doing it because it gives him the upper hand on Naruto, Sakura realized a second later as the blond ninja started to splutter.

"Make no mistake, dead-last; I'm still going to beat you up bloody."

Naruto was still too stunned to note the challenge. "You-- you l-liked-- oh."

NOW Sasuke was looking embarrassed. He scowled and looked away, as if wanting to move past this particular discussion.

"Only this once! It was a special night and that's the only reason I allowed that. I'm not going to let anyone at my ass again," Sasuke growled, glaring hotly at Naruto.

"Good, because your ass is mine," Naruto snarled, glaring back.

Sakura was pretty sure that she wasn't hallucinating the red flash this time. By the second of delay in Sasuke's offended comeback, she was pretty sure he'd seen it too.

"What did you mean by that, dead-last?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Naruto got up on his feet, just as slowly as Sasuke had, but looking a lot more dangerous. /Predatory, you mean. Holy fuck, for once I'm glad they forget everyone else when they're fighting.../

"I mean--"

She saw Naruto pause, hesitate... change his answer.

"I mean-- I'm gonna kick your ass, that's what I mean."

"God, that was lame, even for you." It wasn't rage anymore on Uchiha's face, it was contempt. Naruto was dropping from threat to annoyance in his eyes and Sakura knew from experience that Naruto always took that fall in his esteem very badly.

A second later they were both slamming against the far wall, almost faster than she could follow. She gaped. Naruto had a hand grabbing the collar of Sasuke's shirt, the other /now THAT is panties-wetting material/ between his legs, with a solid grip on his balls.

"Your ass is mine," Naruto growled. Sakura shivered, pulling the blanket tighter around her. She didn't need to see to know that his eyes would be red as blood. She could feel the chakra gathering.

Sasuke's eyes flickered crimson.

"You're mine. That what you wanted to hear? You're fucking mine, Uchiha Sasuke."

And then he kissed him.

Sakura gaped, barely registering the Sharingan snapping back to black as Sasuke gasped in surprise and started to struggle.

Naruto plundered his mouth, growling, then pushed back without warning and lifted his chin defiantly, as if waiting for a punch he was not afraid of.

"And you know what? I'm not sorry I got to fuck you yesterday. And I'm not sorry I got to fuck Sakura-chan either. It was great. I loved every second of it."

He turned around, hands balled at his sides, and gave the girl the same defiant, angry-and-sad look Sasuke had been getting. His eyes were blue again, and she could have sworn the tattoo on his belly was fading. "Now you can kill me for raping you, because I know I fucking deserve it, and I'm sorry for not getting your consent, but I'm not sorry that it happened!"

He stayed in the middle of the room, proud, challenging, like a feral beast cornered by hunters that knows it's going to die but doesn't ever want to lower its eyes.

He was beautiful, and that knowledge was like a punch to the stomach.

"... I'm angry at you," she admitted quietly. "Because you didn't ask. But once it started, it was ...great. Like you said. But you still didn't ask, and I need to know why. Why it happened, and what you're thinking now, you and Sasuke, because-- because I'm a stupid girl and I loved every second of last night and I don't want to feel dirty tomorrow because I'll realize when I think back on it that I behaved like a whore for two bastards who only rutted with me because I was easy and convenient!!"

She realized that she was sobbing, but she couldn't stop.

"I'm not easy... I'm not... I thought-- I wanted -- only with someone I'd... I'd..."

Naruto looked crestfallen, she noticed vaguely. She couldn't decipher Sasuke's expression, even with all her experience at Sasuke-interpretation.

"Oh-- Sakura-chan... You're not-- you're not a whore!"

Naruto was panicking now, as he knelt on the bed in front of her, his hands dancing nervously as he reached out to touch her, then drew back, not knowing what to do.

"You're not just convenient! You know I... I lo- I've had a crush on you forever... You know that..."

His bright blue eyes were welling up with tears. She felt a bit better. Even if it had been just sex, he didn't think any less of her now. But Sasuke was still watching from the wall, unmoving, expressionless, and she wanted his reassurance a lot more than she wanted Naruto's. Except that she feared that she wouldn't get it. Sasuke had relaxed around her in the last years, become more friendly, but she would have needed to be blind not to know that between her life and Naruto's, he'd choose Naruto's. Well, except in these cases where he trusted the blond to save himself, of course, but that didn't make it a lot better.

He still wasn't saying anything. She lowered her head, letting her tangled hair hide her face.

"Sasuke!!" she heard Naruto hiss, but she reached out and touched his hand, shaking her head. He should be glad Sasuke would remember the experience as Naruto fucking him with a side dish of that annoying pink-haired ditz and not as Sasuke making love with his true partner while Naruto played the role of the sex toy.

She watched her dreams crumble.

"Sakura..."

Sasuke was kneeling on the futon, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear gently.

"Don't be stupid. Of course I don't think you're easy. If it wasn't for whatever made us all lose our inhibitions..."

She sighed shakily and wiped her eyes. It helped that Sasuke didn't think badly of her. It didn't that he didn't feel enough for her to reassure her that it had meant something, even though it would have been a lie. Even she, yesterday, had not been able to put any meaning to their wild fucking. It had been just that. Sex. Pretty good sex, but too good to think or feel anything else, anything more... but if he cared, he could have lied a little.

Naruto growled and rolled his eyes, and Sasuke gave him a puzzled glare.

"What?" she saw him mouth.

"Heartless," Naruto mouthed back, glowering fiercely.

"It's okay, Naruto. Really."

"What are you two-- oh."

/Feh. He gets it quick but you gotta explain for a while./

"Sakura..."

How she hated that pained, pitying note in his voice.

"Don't lie to me."

"I wasn't going to," he replied quietly.

/Lie number one/ Inner Sakura commented cynically.

"You want me to tell you that what happened is okay because I'm madly in love with you. We both know it didn't. It happened because for some reason, the three of us wanted --needed-- sex. We had sex. It was wild. It was nice. More than nice. I don't think it happens to most people more than once in their life."

She nodded, not looking up. She knew all that.

"Sasuke," Naruto grumbled, but he was quickly silenced by a finger across his lips.

"It wouldn't have happened with anyone else."

The quiet certainty in his voice made her look up, finally.

"We just happened to be together when it hit," she replied in a tired voice.

Sasuke shook his head. "Wouldn't have. Like the idiot says... If I had really wanted to, I know I would have pulled free of... whatever it was. I didn't. Because-- with you two, I feel..."

He fell silent, and they both looked at him, surprised and wary ... and hopeful, a little. Sasuke never talked about what he felt, apart from hate and contempt. The black-haired boy looked down briefly, then took a deep breath and kept going.

"I feel safe. Trusted. Wanted. B-both of you. Not anyone else in the world. So-- if I'd lost control like that around anyone else, I would have pulled out of it. But I felt good. So... I stayed."

Well, it wasn't a declaration of love, but it was still good. Wasn't it? Sasuke trusted her, like he trusted none but Naruto, the man who had followed him to hell just to get him out of there. Love was based on trust. There was still hope.

And Naruto loved her. Maybe not as blindly and madly as before, but still tenderly.

"... So things are okay?"

"No. I still need to kick Naruto's ass for not even telling us about that."

Naruto squawked, visibly offended, but somehow managed to restrain himself and not say anything.

"But after?" she asked, feeling a shy smile tilt the corners of her mouth upward.

"... sure."

He looked at Naruto, then back at her, and shrugged, uneasy.

"We're a team, after all."


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