Title: Expect the Unexpected
Summary: Not really canon. Team Hebi makes their way to a nearby inn for the night after a long day of fail attempts to locate Uchiha Itachi. As the sun starts to set, they make their way into the inn for a small room. However a certain pink haired female surprises the leader, Uchiha Sasuke. What is she doing here?
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Prompt: The Smell of Fresh Paint (D1)
Rating: T
Comments: I honestly don't know where this idea came from. I just know that it happened when I found out about Itachi's true intentions. It makes me think of the "what ifs" situations. This is one of them. And this came out longer than I expected….
As a group of four, the team walks forward to the inn. By the door, every member of the team can see the slender and thin person painting the wall a sickly blue. It is hard to make out the gender, much less the age of the person, because of the unisex, baggy, black clothes. However, being the known as a genius for his age, Sasuke can make an educated guess the painter is a female from her head-wrap, which seems to be filled with hair. Aside from that, the gentle and small hands are also a dead giveaway.
She, the painter, pays them no mind as they walk into the inn as she continues to finish painting the section of the wall.
The inside of the inn looks small and dusty. Suigetsu cries of his discomfort of having to stay in a dirty, and cheap inn for the night.
Sasuke doesn't bother with the sharp teeth male, and continues to talk to the owner of the inn about the payment for staying the night. This doesn't go uninterrupted as Karin becomes of Suigetsu's nagging and punches him, "Suigetsu, shut the fuck up!"
Suigetsu splashes into water but quickly forms back into his original shape to snap, "Do you want to fight, bitch?"
Sasuke, getting impatient, puts his hands on his kusanagi, applying a bit of pressure. His menacing aura is enough for Suigetsu and Karin to stop in the middle of their bickering. The man behind the counter who was conversing with Sasuke freezes up with fear as he realizes just how dangerous this group really is.
Stammering, he manages to get out, "Uhm, I-I-I have a-a ro-room upstairs. P-please wait here while someone clean and arrange the room!"
"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he removes his hands from his sword and casually walks over to the chairs against the wall of the lobby. The rest of the group follows Sasuke, from Suigetsu sitting on the seat to Juugo leaning against the wall.
Nervously, the man begins shuffling behind the counter for the keys, and screams towards the direction of the door, "Sakura-san, please set up four futons in the upper room!"
Sasuke, for the most part, kept his face emotionless with only a slight narrow in his eyes. This reaction was because of the reminder before he left Konoha because he knew, maybe hoped for it to be different deep deep down in his heart, that if this person was the Sakura he knew, Karin would have sensed it already.
"Hai!" A soft voice outside made its way to his ears. It sounds so familiar that it made him tense up, just for a second and not enough for anyone to realize it.
Outside, in the blazing sun, Sakura stares at the work she had just finished. The smell of paint fills her nostrils but she doesn't allow it to bother her. There is still a section on the side she didn't get to yet, but it will wait until she sets up the bed for the group that just went in.
Leisurely, Sakura drags the bucket of paint along with the paintbrush into the inn and sets it next to the door. The members of team Hebi pays her no mind. Everyone is in their own little world – Suigetsu glaring at Karin while she tries to ignore it. Sasuke with his eyes closed, as if he is relaxing (which he isn't). And only the big, orange haired man stares at her as she makes her way to the closet under the staircase leading to their room.
Sakura, manages to drag one out of the closet before the orange haired man is by her side helping her. She looks up, her green eyes locking with his red ones. Shock is evident on her face.
"Let me help you," he said quietly, taking the futon she had been pushing out in one hand, and extending the other hand to get the other futon inside the closet.
"Ah, uhm… that's not necessary!" A hint of blush crosses her cheeks as she tries to get the futon back into her arms.
Now, those who are minding their own business start to gaze at them, except for Sasuke. Suigetsu lips quickly curves upward into a grin as he pushes himself off the seat to march over to where Juugo is standing.
"Juugo, you sly dog. Don't think you can hog this beauty all to yourself!" Suigetsu exclaims as he flings himself into the closet to pull out two more futon.
"Why pretty lady, why don't you lead the way," he winks at her and starts to move towards the stairs.
Karin, who is sitting next to Sasuke, stares at the three people interacting with each other in amazement. Why would they even help her? She's not even pretty! What is Suigetsu saying?
But as Suigetsu, Sakura, and Juugo make their way upstairs, Karin's flirtatious self took over as she pulls her glasses off and starts to push herself against Sasuke.
Sasuke, who had his eyes closed the whole time, opens them up and stares at Karin. While his face cannot be clearly read, it can be assumed Sasuke is annoyed with Karin's actions because as she opens her mouth to say something, Sasuke cuts her off.
"We should go up there too," and with that, he stood up, causing Karin to lose balance and fall over.
And with that, Sasuke is already on the steps and making his way up the stairs to the room. While he does not know exactly which room it is, he can follow the sound of Suigetsu's loud voice as he tries to flirt with the female.
When Sasuke opens the door, Karin had caught up standing beside Sasuke.
Now, Sasuke's eyes visibly narrows at the sight of a certain pink haired female laying out the last futon in a neat and organized manner. His teammates quickly assesse the situation and realize Sasuke is now glaring at the female in front of him who seems to be able to ignore it.
Stepping into the room along with Karin, Sasuke slams the door causing Sakura to flinch and look up. Their eyes lock, emerald and obsidian clash. Sakura has finally realize the situation she is currently in.
"Fuck…" Sakura whispers, "Sasuke-kun."
"Karin," Sasuke calls out.
"Yes?" A confused Karin speaks up, questioning in her mind about Sasuke's relationship with the girl in front of them.
"Why didn't you sense her?"
"Eh?" Now Karin is even more confused, looking back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura, "Sasuke. She's just a normal civilian. I don't sense any chakra coming from her."
Sasuke's eyes narrows even further, "What are you doing here, Sakura?"
This is where Sasuke realize that this girl in front of him is not the same girl when they were on Team 7 together. The one in front is not afraid to stare back at him, and a coat of blush did not cover her skin. Instead, this girl's green eyes are hardened, possibly from the years of growing up as a ninja. The Sakura he knew would've looked away and stammered away an answer. She did not.
"I'm working."
However, what surprises Sasuke the most is not any of the above that is mentioned. It is the fact that she hasn't opened her mouth to make some declaration of taking him back to Konoha. Actually, she hasn't mention or even spoke much in the first place. This girl in front of him is so different from the one he knew.
"Mission?" He raises his eyebrows, surprised that Godaime would even assign her a solo mission. But then again she hasn't reacted the way he expected her to.
"No," they continue to remain eye contact. Those around them, if the haven't already, begin to feel the tension slowly rising between the two of them.
Suigetsu, who is not used to this, attempts the cut the tension, "Sasuke, you know this hot chick?"
The question barely left his mouth before Suigetsu understands his place and shuts up as Sasuke breaks eye contact for a moment to glare at Suigetsu.
At this point, Sakura feels as though she's suffocating. It has been years since she has last seen him. From the new information that nearly cost her life two years back, she isn't sure how to talk to him. On top of this, rumor has it that Sasuke changed completely – almost killing Naruto the last time they met. Being in her situation at the moment, her life can end without much of a fight.
"I'm not here to bring you back to Konoha," Sakura cuts to the chase, the words coming out of her mouth almost breathless, "I'm not even in alliance with Konoha nor am their ninja."
Sasuke's brows furrow at the new information released to him. He doesn't know whether or not to believe her or not. It is likely that she is lying. He doesn't have time to deal with any stunts she may try to pull. As a result, he moves his hands to his sword.
This action does not go unnoticed by Sakura. I'm not surprised, she thinks to herself.
Quickly, she lifts her arms up and allows the sleeves to be pulled by gravity. On her long, skinny arms are black markings all over in a pattern. Karin eyes widen as she recognizes the markings.
"Those are chakra binding seals!"
While Sasuke's hands are still on his sword's handle, there isn't as much alertness but rather curiosity in his eyes as he stares at the marks.
"That's why I couldn't sense her, Sasuke."
Sasuke chooses to ignore Karin's attempt to explain herself and releases his sword while walking towards to where Sakura is kneeling.
Quickly, he grabs one of her arms and pulls it up higher to get a closer look on the marks. His sharingan activated and he scans the marks. Somewhere, deep in his guts, is a pounding and heavy sensation that he cannot get rid of.
"How did you get these?"
Her eyes narrow, and face hardens as the memories hit her. Sakura yanks her arm back and stood up, trying to measure up to Sasuke but she is a head too short. This doesn't keep her from keeping eye contact with him.
The words that came out of her mouth sounded painful, "I found out something I, or anyone as a matter of fact, wasn't supposed to know."
To this, Sasuke only raise his eyebrows.
Angry at his expression, Sakura spits out without thinking, "It almost cost me my life to find out how Konoha is -"
Before she can finish, she begins to choke. Her hands quickly wrap themselves around her throat as if to ease the pain or push back up whatever she is choking on. She falls forward and instantly, Sasuke's arms stretches out to catch her.
Sakura immediately stiffen up and Suigetsu let out a low whistle. It appears that Sasuke realized what he had just done and stayed frozen the position he had taken to catch Sakura but did not embrace her.
As Sakura manage to catch her breath once again, she pushes away from Sasuke. The scarlet blush he saw long ago appears on her cheek. But this time, her eyes no longer shimmer as they did when they were children. They were dull and almost spiteful.
"A silencing seal too, eh?" Karin commented, glaring at Sakura out of jealousy. How strong is she for Danzo to seal her chakra and restrict her from speaking? What does she know?
Sasuke moves his hands back to his side and removes his eyes from Sakura and looks over to Karin, prompting her to go on with an explanation.
"Someone sealed off certain information so she," Karin spit out, "cannot mention or talk about."
Sasuke's eyes returns back to his former teammate, narrowing. Just what does she know?
Seeming to be able to read Sasuke's mind, Sakura answers bluntly, "I wish I could tell you but I can't."
Sakura feels a wave of confidence push against her, and her heart. The young adult standing in front of her is on a mission. A mission that is so so so wrong. And only she and a selected few know about this. Her heart clenched as she remembers what is written on the document she had managed to read deep within the Hokage's storage room. That almost killed me. I can't let it go to waste… I have… have to try to change. Make a difference.
Sasuke can seen through her eyes the turmoil she's going through in her head. The dull eyes slowly start to shimmer with confidence. He can see that whatever she is going to make whatever she say into a mission for herself.
Staring directly into Sasuke's eyes, Sakura moves her hands so that they're holding his shoulders. Normally, he'd shake it off but he just couldn't with Sakura.
"Sasuke," he notices the lack of honorific, "do not go on with your revenge against Itachi."
With just the mention of his brother's name, the mood darkens and he attempts to push Sakura off of him and make a snide remark.
However, her hold remains firm and almost authorities, "No, listen, you will regret your actions if you ever figure it out. So do something for yourself – for me, forget about your revenge. Move on, and go back to Konoha. Naruto will always be waiting for you."
Her firm eye contact with him made it impossible to make any sudden movement. This Sakura was so different from the young girl he interacted years ago. He didn't know how to react to her. But he didn't need to figure it out because within seconds of her saying what she said, she pulled away from Sasuke and moved towards the door. And it wasn't until the door slammed shut before he regained his conscious to question, what the fuck did she just try to tell me?
A/N: Hi, this is an update after reading some of my reviews. This is meant to be a one-shot for SSM. While I have ideas of the plot should be, I'm wary to write it because for the most part, it will follow the original Naruto plot. I may try to make this multi-chapter later on, but as of right now, I want to focus on SSM! Please be patient with me :)
Thank you for all of your love.