"Guys! I found a gem!" Sasuke shouted from the river.

"I'm a girl! Not a guy!" Sakura yelled back while walking towards him.

"I don't know if I should be ecstatic or disappointed." Neji sighed. "Aside from the encounter with Orochimaru, the test has been too easy."

The two of them brushed off Neji's suspicion and optimistically thought this would benefit them in terms of saving energy. Sakura stepped into the cold water after slipping off her sandals. She joined Sasuke near the rocks and bent down. Sure enough, there was a gem sandwiched in between the large rocks.

"Do you see it?"

"Yeah!" The pinkette answered in excitement and inserted her hand in the gaps. She managed to pull out the gemstone and kept it in her pouch. "We have four gems in total. Just one more and we can pass this test."

"It's just the second day, but we have collected so many." Sasuke commented.

The Hyuga walked over to the river with his hands resting on his hip. "That's what I'm saying. They gave us seven days, but we have so many just by the second day."

Sakura sighed, "We might be overanalysing things you know?"

"That's true, but this feels odd."

"Anyhow, lets get the fifth gem first." Sasuke concluded.

SPLASH!

A wave of water splashed the pinkette, soaking her clothes and her hair was dripping wet. She shook in anger and growled, "Who the heck is responsible for this..?"

She turned to her side and saw a very pale Hyuga looking at her and swallowed a gulp.

"NEJI HYUGA!" She screamed, kicking water back at him.

The team began a playing in the water like little kids, earning the childhood memories they never had. They ran around chasing each other with two handful of water, forgetting the exam that was going on and the misfortunate encounter with an evil Sannin. Although this was an exam, but they made memories. Pleasant memories that they will cherish forever.

They retreated into a cave, not forgetting to bring the fishes they caught. They built a bonfire inside the cave and dried their clothes. The boys and the girl were separated by a curtain of their clothes as it hung on a string from a wall to the opposite wall.

"So much for finding the last gem."

"We still have more than enough time to get one." Neji assured the heiress.

"What about your suspicions regarding this exam?" The Uchiha asked.

He answered, "No point thinking about it when we really don't know what to expect."

A blast of cold wind hit them, but the boys had it harder. Sakura was in the inner part of the cave with a curtain blocking her. It was raining heavily and the noise became louder because of the echo.

"Great, now we really can't look for the gem now without getting wet." Sakura muttered.

"Just our luck, and it's freezing in here." Sasuke sighed.

Neji shifted himself to the fire, "Come closer to the fire." Sasuke followed suit.

"What about me? I'm not showing you my barely covered body." Sakura said.

Sasuke teased, "Hah, well too bad." That was the first time he teased her. The other two prodigies were happy to see him opening up to them.

Even so, that would not stop the pinkette from sending him a glare.

"I can see you glaring at me."

"If you can, I'll kill you."

Sasuke laughed and Neji smirked. This was a fun team and they were happy; they were content.

"I'll wipe that smirk off your face once my clothes are on." Sakura suddenly said, which surprised Neji.

They knew each other well enough even though they were teammates for about a month or a little more.

Wanting to provoke her even more, the Hyuga replied, "I can't wait."

"Sumire, go and scratch Neji with your claw." Sakura whispered.

She watched the tigress disappear through the curtain and waited patiently for his scream.

"HARUNO!" He shouted.

A cute roar was followed by a burst of laughter from the mastermind and the Uchiha. The pinkette rolled on the floor laughing while clutching her stomach for dear life. Her eyes tears up from laughing too much.

"Good one, Sakura." Sasuke spike in between laughters.

Neji stomped towards the pinkette, but stopped in his tracks as a bright crimson colour painted his cheeks. He completely forgot she was almost naked! All she had on was a fishnet too and black tight shorts. Furthermore, she was lying down. It was almost like she was welcoming him. Her pink hair spread on the ground like a fan, creamy porcelain skin still dewy from moisture.

Her cheeks flushed a deep scarlet and she tried her best to cover her body before proceeding to scream her lungs out. It seems Sasuke noticed it too because he shouted as well.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She aimed her kunais and shurikens at the boy.

"NEJI!"

"H-Hey! C-Calm down!!" He panicked and dodged all of the weapons. He immediately jumped back to where he was sitting earlier.

Sasuke smirked at the Hyuga's unprofessional speech. "Stuttering, Hyuga?"

"Shut up." He snapped.

"What's with your red cheeks are blood dripping from your nose?" The Uchiha's smirk grew wider.

"HYUGAAAAAAAAAA!!" Sakura growled from the other side of the curtain.

He wiped off the blood and tried to calm himself down. He tried all he could to forget the scene, but it only made him blush more.

Although it looked like Sasuke was having fun, beneath his facade was envy and sadness.

While they waited for the rain to stop, they decided to sleep. Aside from resting, there was nothing they could do without getting soaked.

Sasuke put a strong genjutsu at the entrance of the cave and they made themselves comfortable on the ground. Aka hopped onto torso, then started snoring. He smiled at his tiger which made him feel a lot better.

The heiress was the first to wake up from her slumber. A mature form of Sumire was found on her side, she cuddled next to her to keep her warm. How sweet, she thought. She unconsciously smiled at the love she's receiving from her tigress. Sakura got up to put on the dried clothes before the guys awoke.

The girl walked over to the boy's side and found the Hyuga half naked. The scene from earlier happened again, but the characters exchanged. She was so embarrassed. She quickly covered her eyes and walked backwards on instinct, but tripped on a stone. She covered her mouth with her hands to muffle a yelp, but a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her up.

"N-Neji??" She gasped.

It took her a few moments to realise she was facing his bare chest. A deep blush spread on her cheeks and she pushed him away without a thought, falling on her butt.

The blush on Neji's cheeks were lighter and he tore his gaze away from the pinkette. He reached for his clothes and started to put it on. His glanced at the Uchiha who was still sound asleep. The thought of the heiress seeing him half naked did not sit well with him, so he took his clothes and draped it over him.

"I'll.. look for some fruits to eat.." Neji muttered shyly and left the cave with his tiger trotting after him.

==

Dedicated to Chasoe for following me and voting on this story!

*Insert my fanart of Sakura

I drew this either early last year and I haven't been drawing any Naruto fanart ever since. Probably going to start drawing them again. :')

~Joelle

Published: December 2014
Rewritten: 8 May 2018