In 9 Days

chapter 2

Day One

Seducing a Block of Ice

Sakura was eighteen years old, and she was a capable kunoichi with achievements of her own right. She was a jounin, and she had become so through hard work and determination—she was even good enough to be sent on solo missions, though she preferred team missions much more than anything else. Well...depending on the team, of course. Good chemistry always got the job done the easiest.

She was a medic-nin, and a frequent of the Konoha hospital—she worked just under Shizune, and was considered one of the best, when it came to the medical field. The staff was comfortable with her, and the patients loved her, because she was caring, and kind, and managed to cure every single injury with the ease of someone who did so with a compassionate touch. She never let them give up, and always put their hearts at ease with her constant, cheerful smiles and chatter.

She was pretty, too—not as pretty as Ino (who really wasn't pretty, but more like drop dead gorgeous), but pretty enough, in her own way. She had bright green eyes, which often sparkled when she smiled, and which were very, very expressive. She had that shock of pink hair, which, although not as tousled as she would have liked, was unique enough, when you based it on color alone. She had a nice smile, and nice ivory skin...well, nice enough, especially considering she was a ninja, prone to injuries and scars—her healing abilities managed to lessen that. She had slender curves, and a firm body—again, it wasn't like Ino, whose curves were made to make men ogle and women envy. But her figure could turn heads enough (well, at least it did when she dressed not as conservative as she usually did), and she'd been in enough dates to know that men appreciated her as well.

She was a somebody. She'd achieved a lot of things. She'd done so much, to show that she wasn't weak and vulnerable anymore. Heck, she wasn't weak and vulnerable anymore. She was tough, she was strong, and she was proud of herself, in more ways than one. She could do anything. Anything.

Well, except one thing.

How do you...erm, seduce a man, exactly?

"Teme, you are going down!"

"Hn. In your dreams, dobe."

An indignant yell was heard, followed by the clang of metal meeting metal. Feet ran. Breathing heightened, and so did glares.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, TEME!?"

"...are you deaf?"

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME DEAF!?"

More clang of metals. More grunts.

"You are deaf, then."

"I AM NOT DEAF!"

"...dead last, then."

"I AM NOT DEAD LAST! I AM NUMBER ONE! I AM GOING TO BE THE NEXT HOKA—"

Sakura winced, then rolled her eyes, when Sasuke hit the distractedly ranting Naruto with a particularly hard punch—it sent the blond loudmouth flying through the fields for a while, before crashing into a tree and severely cracking it. With a sigh, she let herself fall on the grass in a sitting position, and watched as Naruto staggered out of the forest (yes, he had all but sailed through it), a furious look on his face and twigs stuck to him everywhere.

"YOU...TEME!" he growled, fists in the air and blond hair flying wildly. "YOU TRICKED ME!"

Sasuke merely scoffed, and put his hands in his pockets.

"You let yourself be tricked, dobe."

"I AM NOT A DOBE!"

And the fight went on. It was really was more of a fight than training, and it was something they were all pretty much used to—well, her and Team 7, at least. And probably the Rookie Nine. And the Hokage. And some of the townspeople—