Warnings: DRY Humor and subtleness, Sex, Minor blood from animals, Cursing, some angst, some psychological stuff

Chapter 1

The stain wouldn't wash off. She frowned and pushed her shirt into the wash basin and attempted to rub the material roughly together. The discolored water gently swayed back and forth between her harsh ministrations, but the large stain remained. Sakura growled and threw the shirt back down into the water allowing the water to bounce up and splash at her frustrated face.

"He owes me a new shirt." She mumbled underneath her breath.

Her bare arm slid across from her forehead as her eyes wandered up to the darkening sky.

I better get back, she thought.

With an exhausted sigh, she gathered the basin and poured out the remaining water before stuffing her shirt back inside. She shivered a little when the wind picked up, but tucked the basin underneath her left arm and headed back to her campsite. She was keenly aware of her surroundings and had intentionally left her right hand free just in case there was a disturbance. After all, it was better safe than sorry.

Sakura saw smoke coming from up ahead and assumed someone had already started a nice warm fire. With that thought in mind, she rubbed her left shoulder with her free hand and quicken up her steps. As her sandals continued to crunch the sticks and rubbles along the pathway, she spotted a person currently lingering around by the fire. Without bothering to spare a glance at him, she found her tent and dumped her basin and ruined shirt with a loud thud in the small corner near her blankets. Sakura grabbed her bag and her cold fingers dug out a long black cloak before draping it over her smaller frame. It's so cold, and this feels like a luxury. Her eyes drooped as she breathed into the dry and soft material.

She smiled slightly and thought she must have looked silly for hugging herself and sniffing into her (technically his) cloak. She shifted her eyes at the small front opening of her tent. Why do I care? No one is watchingWithin a second of shutting her eyes again, she thought she felt someone shift into her tent.

"You're back." She stated without opening her eyes.

He didn't say anything but moved closer to her and threw a bag of weapons beside her basin and walked out.

Sakura sat in silence before she scrunched her right eye to crack open her left and scanned at where he had just been a few seconds ago.

She glared at the floor in annoyance.

That bastard owed her a new shirt. Her eyes narrowed and she shifted her body before standing up. Her hands went up to secure the cloak from sliding off her shoulders. Without hesitation, Sakura lifted up the flaps and stepped outside to search for him.

She paced over to the fire and found Kisame skinning and gutting a few freshly beheaded rabbits. Her stomach slightly turned from the sight, but only because she had been petting and stroking their fur the day before…

Sakura stopped beside him and his hand stilled as he cocked his head up.

"Where is he?" Sakura demanded as she crossed her arms.

His companion cracked a sharp toothy grin before jerking his thumb to the dark trail. "Gone."

"Again?" Her eyebrows knitted together. Honestly, that man was getting on her nerves! What was he trying to do? Annoy the shit out of her?

Her right foot took a step back while she twisted her body to leave, but before she could take another step, she heard Kisame whistled loudly.

"I'm feeling kinda lonely," He patted the empty ground next him. "Wanna join me?"

She gave him a long look as he continued to skin the poor rabbit she had fed yesterday.

"Fine." Defeated, Sakura sat down with a huff.

Refusing to look at what the man was doing next to her, she concentrated on the glowing fire. Her hands spread above the heat as she slowly clamped them together and rubbed for more warmth.

Growing bored of the silence as well as squishy noises his knife made as it connected to the rabbit's flesh, she spoke up. "Did you find what you needed today?"

He broke into a smirk and his shoulders shrugged.

"Well…" She said impatiently, "What did you find out?"

Kisame ignored her and reached for a stick and stuck it through the rabbit's bloody flesh. Without any warning, he pushed the bloody mess into her hands and asked her to cook it. No, he didn't ask, he forced her to do it. Damn bastard.

Her nose sniffed when she focused on the decapitated animal. Food was food, but they had been so cute with those wide shiny brown eyes. She whimpered a bit and wished she didn't bonded and named them yesterday. Her stomach growled and she felt slightly guilty. Her nose sniffed once again at the burning flesh as she turned the stick and roasted the other end. It didn't matter now; it's survival of the fittest after all.

Her eyes trailed away from the meat and she found Kisame repeating the same gutting method he had done moments ago.

Sakura tear her gaze away from his hands and asked again. "What did you find out?"

Without stopping, he laughed. "Why are you so interested? It's not like you really want to know what I did."

Her grip tightened on the stick. "You…what exactly do you mean by that?"

Kisame dropped the hunter knife and grabbed another stick lying beside him before stabbing it through the red meat and placing it over the flames. The blood dripped through his fingers and he brought them up to his mouth. Without a care in the world, he licked the blood clean from his fingers. He only snickered when he heard her choke back a cough.

"I mean," he stressed out, "that you probably wouldn't care much since I killed off only one of his teammates today."

Her eyes widen and wondered who it could have been.

Almost like he was a mind reader, he answered. "He was all talk." He scoffed. "That kid couldn't even hold his sword properly let alone handle having his head stuck up that far in his ass."

"I see..." So it was that kid who stole the legendary Zabuza Momochi's sword. Oh wait. "What happened to the sword?"

He shrugged. "I don't know." He twisted the meat above the flames. "Hey, turn yours before you burn the whole thing."

"Pfft." She huffed.

The sky was certainly dark now. She could see the small sparks twinkling above her head. The crescent moon was glowing and had casted a nice shadow on their forms. She allowed her lids to slip. She could hear the soft crickets chirping and the soft breeze blowing. Together with the warm bonfire, it felt relaxing. How lovely, she realized. How romantic, she grimaced. Why the heck did she get to spend this kind of moment with Kisame of all people?

"It's done."

She snapped out of her musing. "What's done?"

Kisame chewed roughly on the rabbit meat he had taken out earlier when she was spacing out. He gave her a dull look and replied dryly. "The poor little bunny is nearly toasted into coal."

She cursed loudly before pulling her dinner out from the fire. It was so brunt that it hardly look like anything let alone "Gon" (or was this one "Taya"?). Either ways she shouldn't be thinking of them as pets anymore. Food. They are just food.

Kisame snorted. "You snooze you lose." He handed her his (still bloody) hunting knife. "Scrap off the skin."

She glared at him. "You could have at least wiped off the blood."

Instead of saying anything he threw her a stained cloth and she wiped the remaining gore on the knife. Just like he had suggested her to do, she sliced off the brunt skin and ate whatever was possible. Of course, all thought of guilt vanished when she took her first bite into the meat. It was delicious. As long as she didn't think about it, it was good food.

"When is he coming back?" She said in between bites.

Kisame threw the stick over his head and licked his fingers clean. "Who knows?"

He suddenly stood up and brushed his hands on his thighs before patting his bottom clean from dust.

"I'm off. Night." He backhandedly wave and stepped inside his tent.

Sakura sat in the darkness and ate in silence. Like Kisame she threw the stick behind her aimlessly. Her hands grabbed a half-full canteen Kisame had left behind. She unscrewed the cap and cautiously poured a little amount of water onto her curved palm before setting it down in between her feet. Without further ado she rinsed her hands and rubbed them until she was satisfied.

Screwing the top back on, she dump the canteen aside and wrapped her cloak closer to her body. She lingered her focus on the fire. It was starting to dim down. And he's still not back.She thought quietly.

When is he coming back?

Her head laid on top of her knees. Before she could control it, exhaustion took over and her eyes drooped into a deep slumber.

AN: Like I said…dry humor. XP Some Psychological stuff (kinda) will appear next chapter…More explanations are coming next chapter too.