CARROT
a kakasaku
...
"I don't think we can catch up with the sun, Kakashi."
Hop. One tree branch. Hop. Two tree branches. Is he ignoring me?
"Are you listening?" Sakura almost wishes he'd trip. Just a tad vindictive? Yes. Satisfying? Hell yes.
Yes, Sakura. I can hear you. She is just waiting for that response, just something to show that he isn't mindlessly jumping from branch to branch at a speed that has her looking over her shoulder every five damn minutes. What the hell is he running from? Her ever helpful mind provides a mental image of the hounds of hell on their heels and she nearly smacks herself in frustration.
Stop thinking.
Controlling her mind on an empty stomach is so much harder than she will admit to anyone; her mind jumps back and forth between the imaginary dogs and a nice cut of beef before settling in the middle, which just leaves a bad taste in her mouth, because, no thank you, she doesn't really like the taste of dog. And, yes, she can taste the difference.
Sakura takes another look over her shoulder, just in case. Kami, she is hungry and her mind is paying the price for it. A garden variety escort mission that lasted far longer than any garden variety escort mission should, a shortage of snacks and rations, the usual unclean feeling that comes from merciless travel and the absence of a decent body of water to bathe in has driven her to a new level of irritation, of many many kinds, and there is no one around but her dearest ex-sensei who does not know how to answer a damn question. Grr.
And that was her stomach growling.
"Kakashi, I need to eat." This isn't another of his tests, is it? Sakura mutters a nice, long string of curses under her breath, "I know you'd like to make it home," vast understatement apparently, "but, I will only slow you down- if you have to carry me." She puts a little more emphasis on the last part, wondering at just what, or who, could be waiting for him ahead.
Bad train of thought. Stop.
His momentum slows, and for an absurd second, she wonders if he heard her thoughts. Hush, Sakura, you're losing it.
Hop. Hop. ...Hop. He comes to a complete stop on the next branch, and turns his head toward her just as she pauses on the branch behind him, trying not to look like she's been caught red-handed thinking things she has no business thinking. Sakura crosses her arms over her chest, and settles for just that, because anything more would be pouting and she will not pout when he's looking. Grr.
"I'm sorry," he says, and Sakura rolls her eyes, mouthing along with his words; she knows what comes next, "I didn't hear you."
His visible eye goes into that infuriating crinkle, and she swears that if he weren't so damn cute sometimes that she'd wrap her dainty, perfect little hands around his neck and strangle him. Yes, he's cute, because he's far too annoying to be called sexy, though some part of her mind protests strongly, but she still has eyes, ears, and a masochistic streak a mile long that says she can't ever crush on a boy or man that will actually return her poor, misguided affections.
Oh, the plight of the beautiful.
"But, I hear you're hungry," As if in response to his teasing, her stomach growls loudly and Sakura can't do anything about the redness spreading from the insides of her ears like wildfire except sulk. Well, if that isn't embarrassing.
"You don't have any rations?" Kakashi asks, eyes twinkling in evident merriment. Sakura comforts herself with picturing a chibi version of herself throttling a chibified scarecrow with a radish for a scarred, masked head. He's taking a moment to play around with her, because she damn well knows he was listening when she was talking, not whining, about how she'd had to give Naruto some of her rations, to live off of until he got paid, which left her with a few packs, the last of which she'd seen gone the day before. Dry, tasteless things. Or so said their 'starving' client upon eating it.
"No, I don't." Sakura huffs, tapping her foot, scanning the scarce canopy of leaves over her head. He would forget.
And, then he surprises her.
"Ah, that's right," Nodding, he looks around briefly before pulling his pack from over his shoulder. Dig. Dig. Dig. And he tosses a ration to her, at her, it doesn't matter because it's something edible. She could kiss him. Luckily, she manages to avoid making herself look desperate or crazy, at least she hopes, as she jumps onto his branch and thanks him quietly.
"Sakura?"
"Yes?" Something's wrong here.
"You seem irritable."
Oh, hell no.
He opens his mouth, ready to ask that dreaded question, the one that by all means he should know the answer to if his nose is half as good as everyone says it is, and all Sakura can think of is Naruto asking that same ignorant question, "is it that time of the month, Sakura-chan?".
Despite any earlier fantasies, she highly doubts she can actually get away with strangling Kakashi. Shame.
Before he gets the question out, Sakura pulls one hand away from her hard-fought food and presses a single finger against his lips through the thin mask. A universal sign for "shut the fuck up".
"No, Kakashi." She feels his lips curve into a smile underneath the fabric, and something flutters around in her stomach as she eyes the ration, willing everything else away before she removes her finger. Ridiculous.
"Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"We're going to try."
Puzzled, Sakura looks up from the increasingly smaller piece of ration to regard the man next to her. What could that possibly mean? "Try what?"
"To catch up with the sun." Kakashi smiles mysteriously, and all that tells her is that they aren't stopping again for a long time.
Hop. Hop. Hop.