This little drabble-thing didn't exactly fit into what I've been planning for LAL, so I figured I'd post it separately here.

Also, I'm trying not to be too biased in LAL with the pairings, and I ship KisaSaku a little too hard.

So here, have a thing. Maybe there'll be more eventually.

Naruto and all characters found therein are (c) Masashi Kishimoto, and therefore do not belong to me.

It wasn't often that Sakura forgot things. In fact, she could clearly remember the last time being August thirteenth (precisely three months and six days ago), and at that time she had forgotten to put her trashy romance novel back in the hiding spot behind the loose bricks on the south wall of her room. She paid for her absentmindedness - Hidan and Deidara made quite sure of that - and simultaneously reached the obvious conclusion that she really needed to implement a better lock system.

Being a medic, it is extremely important to keep your wits about you at all times, for many reasons. In medical situations, one must deal with delicate procedures and be able to make the best decisions at a moment's notice. In any remotely dangerous endeavor, the medic is the only obstacle between their fellow teammates and certain death, and therefore is - strategically speaking - the top priority on an enemy's hit-list. Any chance given where a medic's life is involved is going to be utilized in battle.

Sakura had also graduated as one of the top students in her class, ranking highly in chakra control, intelligence, and ability to work under pressure. Under Tsunade's tutelage, those skills blossomed beyond many fellow ninja's expectations.

How, then, on this cold, windy October night, did Sakura (aforementioned prime example of shinobi excellence and overall smarty-pants) manage to forget a sweatshirt? She had her typical gear for what she and her new teammates were beginning to consider semi-regular stargazing outings: bed roll and sleeping bag, med-kit (because one never knows who will get hurt and how with the company she'd been keeping as of late), campfire essentials (commonly referred to as "S'mores" fixings), and a cheap, fold-away telescope.

Now, being a member of Akatsuki, one would think that she would, at the very least, have brought her trademarked Akatsuki Cloak™ with her. Under normal circumstances, she would have. After that one incident in Suna, however, where a roaming band of wannabe bounty hunters spotted the small group of Akatsuki... Well, that's another story for another day.

So, no, neither Sakura, nor Kisame, nor Deidara, nor Itachi wore their Akatsuki robes. Instead, they all - excluding Sakura - were wearing civilian-styled sweatshirts and hoodies and were quite warm and toasty, all things considered.

Except for Sakura, who was valiantly resisting the urge to run about in circles in order to warm up. Not even the small fire - which she was currently sitting as close to as she could without burning herself - was enough to keep the chill from sinking into her shivering skin. Goosebumps liberally coated her arms and legs, and her teeth were beginning to chatter to the point of being violent.

Her teammates - being the S-ranked professionals that they were - noticed the gradually increasing chattering of their medic's teeth, and wisely chose to say nothing. On top of being incredibly smart and good at her chosen field, Sakura was also incredibly stubborn and - most importantly - incredibly strong (read: violent and unstable when angry).

The shivering and chattering went on for what seemed, to some (i.e. Sakura), to last hours, while to others (i.e. everyone else), it only lasted about forty-seven seconds. It ended abruptly with a muffled groan of embarrassment and Sakura curling up into a seated version of the fetal position.

Deidara was the first to deem it safe enough to look upon the huddled form of his semi-hypothermic teammate. "You okay over there, un?" he asked tentatively, inconspicuously preparing for an object to be thrown his way.

A mumbled, incomprehensible garble of sounds was her reply.

"Was that even human?" Kisame whispered to his long-time "mission buddy" (as Tobi likes to call partners in crime).

Itachi responded silently with a cautious shrug of his shoulders and a furtive glance over his shoulder at the medic.

Deidara again braved the potential wrath of the only member of their group as hotheaded as Hidan. "W-what was that, un?"

Sakura tucked her face closer to her knees. "I f-forgot my s-s-sweatsh-shirt."

A moment of silence passed amongst the men of the group.

"Why did you not build a bigger fire?" Itachi deadpanned.

Sakura picked her head up only to glare at him. (All cold-induced stuttering has henceforth been edited out, for the sake of both the writer's and the reader's sanity.) "Because. I didn't want to ruin the stargazing. It's not often we actually get a chance like this to view a meteor shower. I didn't even think about how cold it was supposed to be tonight."

"So why aren't you in your sleeping bag, un?" Deidara asked, obviously taking lessons in boldness from Itachi.

Consequently, he earned a level glare from the pinkette. "Because, I didn't want you guys to pick on me!"

This, of course, earned a few chuckles, because really, she was in the Akatsuki, and of all things to fear she was afraid of being teased?

Before she could become too irate, however, Kisame stood up and made his way over to her, earning himself a wary glare.

"What are you doing?"

And then he picked her up.

"Put me down!"

And proceeded back to his previous spot.

"Don't take me away from the fire! Stop it!"

And then sat down, settling the squirming kunoichi between his legs (bravely, for there had been threats to his manhood on more than one occasion), and unzipping his sweatshirt.

"Kisame!" she screeched, and both Itachi and Deidara covered their ears (the latter ending up with uncomfortably wet ear canals).

"Would you kindly shut the hell up?" Kisame requested, and the other two men in the small group quickly scooted away from from what was sure to be certain death.

"What did you ju-" Sakura began, only to be silenced as sudden, blessed warmth surrounded her shivering frame. "Oh."

Kisame snorted as he zipped his hoodie up around the both of them, wrapping his arms around Sakura as she quickly settled into the warmth he provided.

A calm, peaceful silence settled over the group (with both Itachi and Deidara mentally taking notes to use at some point in the future), and not a moment too soon - first one, then a few, and then a multitude of tiny lights flew across the open expanse of the night sky overhead. The four shinobi watched in silent awe, and quickly settled into the peace of a calm evening somewhere in the plains of the Sound Country.

Like I said, didn't really fit into the main story, but I hope you enjoyed the OOC fluff and shenanigans. ;]

As always,

Much love,

child_of_the_moon

XO