[swimming AU, fluff, funny]

"She's going so fast!"

"You could barely tell she's even swimming, she only looks like a torpedo through the water!"

"Her movements are so swift and so graceful, she may as well be a dolphin!"

"Ha, if anything, she does move fast, too fast in some cases, and she's really not swift at all. She's very aggressive, especially... When we're alone."

"Will you shut up?!"

Sasuke Uchiha laughed as he reached for the TV remote on the bedside table and shut off the running TV, "I'm just stating the truth about the infamous Sakura Haruno. I mean, all they're sprouting on the Sports Channel is fake news. Guess CNN isn't the only one..."

"Before you get all overly political..." Sakura Haruno crossed her arms, "please remind me of why I'm here?"

"Because." Sasuke set his hands on her thighs, which straddled his stomach as Sakura leaned over him, "I just can't get enough of you in this position."

"How did we get from watching my interview on the couch to the bed like this?"

"I don't know. I guess..." Sasuke winked, "fate wants this to happen again."

"'Again'? Geez, is that all you ever think about?" Sakura gave his chest a soft, yet hard, playful slap before climbing off of him, "look, just because I came this far doesn't mean I'm done, yet."

"How far have you come, exactly?" Sasuke sat up, "it's been a few months since the Konoha Olympics and you haven't gotten much work in."

"Shut up!" Sakura gritted her teeth, "I have! You've just been too busy in bed that you've never actually paid any attention to my improvements! Talk about a dedicated boyfriend, for Pete's sake..."

"I know I am." Sasuke grinned and glanced at the alarm clock, "well, it's almost eight. Think we should start heading out before Naruto walks in on us again?"

"Ugh, don't remind me... That was humiliating." Sakura climbed off of the bed and went through a drawer, "how did he get in, anyway?"

"You never hid the spare key. He still knows where it is."

"Wonderful." Sakura fished out a swimsuit and turned around, "get out. I need to change."

"Why can't I watch? Nothing I haven't seen before."

"No."

"Can't I look at what's mine?"

"No."

She waited a few moments for Sasuke to move, but he didn't.

"Okay, whatever." She gripped hands into fists and made her way to the bathroom, "I'm changing in here, then."

Dang... Sasuke groaned and climbed back under the blanket, "maybe five more minutes..."

"Sasuke!!"

The door slammed open and Sasuke immediately sat up, angered, "what the hell?!"

"Oh, sorry... Is this a bad time?" Naruto Uzumaki chuckled, "... again?"

"Idiot..." Sasuke rubbed his neck and swung his legs over the side of the bed, "you need to learn to use a doorbell or something..."

"Sorry, bud." Naruto grinned, "thought I'd walk with you and Sakura to practice today."

"Yeah, she's getting changed." Sasuke went through the drawer Sakura had gone through before that and pulled out a pair of swimming trunks.

"Whoa!" Naruto stared into the drawer, "you and Sakura share a wardrobe?"

"No. Just a drawer."

"Is that her bra?! No way!"

Sasuke slammed the drawer shut and pointed a finger at the boy, "not your property."

"Yeesh, sorry." Naruto sighed sheepishly, then jerked his head back the moment Sasuke dropped his boxers to put the swimsuit on, "whoa! Sasuke, dude! Not right here!"

The door of the bathroom opened, "hey, I thought I heard Naruto's voice out here... Sasuke, I lost my hoodie, so I'm wearing yours..."

Her voice trailed off when she saw Sasuke changing into his swimsuit, "wah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to--"

"What are you so apologetic about? Nothing you haven't seen." Sasuke smirked as he pulled up the waistband of his trunks and grabbed his swim bag.

"Okay, okay, let's not get too perverted, here..." Naruto chuckled, "this makes me feel really uncomfortable..."

"You're not alone, Naruto." Sakura picked up her swim bag and walked out the door without waiting for the two boys behind her.

"Hey, now that's not very nice." Sasuke pouted as they ran after her, "may I remind you, I let you sleep in my bed!"

"Actually..." Sakura turned around and pointed to the two, joint buildings, "it's technically my bed. You're still renting this place that really belongs to me."

"Okay, you two need to chill." Naruto yelled as he walked faster and passed Sakura, "I could walk to the pool on my own if you guys keep this up."

"Perfectly fine." Sasuke wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulders, "I'd rather just be here with her."

"Oh look!" Naruto cupped his hand over his eyes, "there's the pool! Just right there! I'll stay back."

"Hn."

The three walked through the entrance of the pool and walked to the bleachers where Coach Kakashi Hatake sat, reading a questionable novel. He glanced up at them and smiled, "good morning, Sleepy Heads."

"Just for the record." Naruto crossed his arms and dropped his duffel onto the floor by his feet, "I've been awake since five o'clock this morning. It's these two who've been in bed all morning. The same bed, actually. We all know where that goes..."

"Will you shut up?" Sakura's face reddened with anger and embarrassment, "it's nothing like that, Kakashi-Sensei..."

"No, of course not." Kakashi grinned as he shut his book bluntly, "it's not like you two do it all the time..."

"Okay..." Sasuke gritted his teeth, "can we please leave our personal lives out of this?"

Naruto pouted in response, "aw, come on, we love teasing the both of you..."

"Hmph..." Sasuke clenched his hands into fists and glanced to his right at the pool as other swimmers swam back and forth in the lanes, "is Suna here too?"

"Yeah." Kakashi stood up, "we have Suna, Konoha, Taki, and Kumo here today."

"Whoa, Taki? They've got a pretty high-level swim team there." Sasuke muttered, "what would they be doing at a place like this?"

"Suna?" Naruto continued as if Sasuke hadn't said a word, "is Gaara here, then? We have a score to settle!"

"Yes, Naruto, Gaara is here." Kakashi sighed, then chuckled as Naruto ran off to go find his friend. He turned to Sasuke, "now to answer your questions, Sasuke, they're here for the annual village tournaments coming up next week. They thought it'd be beneficial to practice and get acclimated here while they can. They're staying at a hotel not too far from here."

"That's great!" Sakura smiled, "no wonder the place is packed!"

"This definitely puts such a tiny village as this one on the map. No way we can lose now. That'd be so humiliating." Sasuke considered, "so we're talking individual events and medley relay?"

"Yep. Same old, same old." Kakashi gave a hearty thumbs up, "that goes for the co-ed relay. Think you can handle?"

"Of course! Why the heck would you ask? Medley relay is our thing." Sasuke laughed, then turned to Sakura, "I know it's been a while, so let's practice our switch-off."

"Okay." She nodded and followed him to the lane that Naruto was already swimming laps in.

Sasuke stepped up onto the block, "I'll do 100 meters, then we'll switch off and you do your 100 meters free."

"Got it."

Sasuke snapped his goggles into place, took position, and dove in with his butterfly stroke.

His movements are so fluid... It's been a while since I've watched him swim. After the Olympics... Sakura glanced at the far wall of the pool and there was a picture of their relay team, all holding gold medals. We kind of took a break from it all and lived normal lives. Standing here on the starting block, there's this exhilarating feeling that I could never forget. I really missed this. This is definitely my element.

Sasuke slapped the wall, and the moment he did, Sakura took off. Her arms slapped the water, her legs kicked hard, and her heart beat fast. This was only a simple time-trial, but whether it's the biggest competition in the world or even just a small game for training, this same feeling swept her off her feet. She kicked off the wall and swam back to the start, where Sasuke was waiting.

"Well, you certainly never changed." Sasuke smiled, "fast as ever."

"Of course." She smirked, "your form is sloppy. You've gotten rusty."

"Well, this is actually very good for not having gotten in the water for a few months."

The two exchanged insults for a few moments until a man walked up to them.

"Hey, your guys' lane seems like the most available one here, right now. Would you mind if I swam here?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke, then grinned at the man, "sure! Help yourself!"

"Thanks." He climbed up onto the starting block and snapped the band of his goggles behind his head. He took position, waited for a second, then dove in, going straight into butterfly.

"Wow, his technique is so smooth." Sakura muttered as she and Sasuke watched him, "I wonder if he's swimming for any team?"

"Nah." Sasuke raked his wet hair back, "can't be. He's swimming solo. If he were with another team, he'd be in the lane with them."

"I guess you're right..." Sakura tapped her chin, "so we got here earlier than the rest of the swim team. Should we wait or keep going?"

"Keep going." Sasuke ducked under the surface and kicked off the wall, going straight into freestyle.

"Hey, Sakura." Kakashi walked up to her. He motioned her to come out of the water, "do you have a minute?"

"Sure." She climbed out, took the towel that Kakashi held out to her, and wiped herself off as she took a seat next to him on the bleachers, "what's up?"

"That boy that just got in with you guys." Kakashi pointed at the man doing butterfly in the lane with Sasuke and Naruto, "he's the newest member of the Konoha swim team. I want you three to get to know him and learn his strengths and weaknesses."

"Ah, Sensei, isn't that your job?"

"Yes, but..." Kakashi held up a finger pointedly, "if you want to do well in Medley Relay, you need to learn your teammates. You never had to start out with that when you first met Sasuke, Naruto, or Sai because you already knew them like the back of your hand. This guy's new to the village. His name's Tanaki Rei."

"Tanaki... Okay." Sakura glanced at the swimmer, "so he's doing the relay with us?"

"Most possibly. He's got a strong butterfly, so the possibility is also there."

"But..." Sakura glanced back at the water, "Sasuke's swimming fly."

"Maybe he could be comfortable with back? He's pretty elastic with different strokes."

"Yeah..." Sakura nodded curtly and sat back down on the edge of the pool.

Sasuke swam up to her and rested his chin on her legs, "everything okay?"

"Yeah..."

"Hey." Naruto swam up to them, yanking his goggles from his head, "who's this guy?"

"His name's Tanaki Rei." Sakura replied, "he's doing relay with us."

"What?" Sasuke peered his eyes at her, "what stroke?"

"Fly."

"I'm doing fly."

"Kakashi-Sensei thinks you can handle another stroke, maybe let Sai step out this one? You can do back."

"But..." Sasuke glanced away, "but our switches are perfectly in sync. I don't think..."

"Come on, Sasuke. That's just being selfish." Naruto laughed, "that's perfectly fine, Sakura!"

Sasuke glanced back at the red streak that swam through the water of their lane and gritted his teeth, "fine. I'll do whatever."

"Thanks!" Sakura grinned, then smiled at Tanaki as he stopped in front of the trio, "nice to meet you, Tanaki. My name's Sakura."

"Yeah, I know." Tanaki grinned, "Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha. You guys are pretty popular where I'm from. It's really an honor to be swimming with you guys."

"Same to you!" Naruto gave him a thumbs up, "you're a pretty fast swimmer yourself!"

"Thanks." Tanaki set his goggles over his forehead, his blue eyes sparkling against the water's reflection, "I swear I'll contribute as much as I could to this relay. You won't regret it."

Sasuke pursed his lips and rested his head on Sakura's lap, looking away from their new teammate without saying a word. 

~~~ 

Written by xX_Fang_Xx