Chapter 2
Sakura woke up to kinks around her neck and back. She regretted horribly for falling asleep in such a position. It was a wonder how she didn't wake up when she had tilted and fell sideways into a fetal position on the dirty ground.
Sitting up, she rubbed her sore shoulders and rotated it experimentally.
She winced and groaned out a curse. It seems like a beginning of a bad day already, she mused.
Though it was still technically morning, everything was still dark. Without the fire, she couldn't see as well as she had liked. But she knew it was probably around dawn at least. With another quick rub of her shoulders, she stood up and stumbled inside her tent and fell asleep again.
Sakura realized she didn't like birds. Those annoying crows croaking outside were fucking annoying. She rolled her body over and stuffed her face in her pillow while trying to drown out the cruel sound of Mother Nature. No, they're too fucking loud. She groaned long and loud; more than once and definitely more than twice. She rolled over to her back and slammed her fist on her sleeping bag.
Ok, I'm up.
Sakura ran her fingers through her short pink hair and accepted the fact that she needed to shower badly. Her nose scrunched up when she realized how sticky her fingers felt. She stretched her torso over to the corner and grabbed her bag before tugging it into her lap. Sakura pulled out a semi-clean long brown towel and a bar of soap. Not much for luxury, she commented to herself. Since she didn't exactly have another pair of clean clothes in hand, the clothes she wore now will have to do.
Oh well. "Off I go." She mumbled incoherently.
Sakura stepped outside and noticed Mr. Fishy wasn't awake yet. She could see his half rolled body outside of his tent. Apparently, it was a habit of his to roll and shuffle a lot as he slept.
"At least he doesn't sleep walk…" She stared at his form. "...Off of a cliff."
With her hefty towel and soap in hand, she began to walk to the trail leading to the river she had spent the entire afternoon yesterday. Her sleepy eyes wandered around the trees making sure no wild rabbit was going to jump out and avenge the death of their brothers. With a loud yawn, she cracked her neck in satisfaction. She heard the loud rushing and flowing stream of water as she got nearer. By the time she walked a few steps closer, she spotted the river.
Her sandals carefully hiked over the uneven stones as she set her things onto the biggest and flattest rock she found. Her hands reached up to the clasp of her cloak and let it slid down her shoulders. Like the perfectionist she is, she folded the cloak before setting it near the towel. She threw her fingerless gloves and shirt beside her towel and pulled off her sandals to slide both her black spandex shorts and white strap utility belt down. Left in her bindings and panties, she checked her surroundings making sure she was by herself. Finally satisfied, she unbounded her chest and push the last piece of clothing down from her hips.
Sakura looked at the river and stared.
"This is going to be unpleasant." The water looked cold. Her toe cautiously crept into the water. As soon as she did, Sakura yelped and retracted her foot. Yeah, it's cold.
"Whatever." She muttered. Sakura walked in to the freezing water. Her teeth chattered as she entered further into the stream. The cold morning breeze hardly helped as she finally drew her entire body into the water. Her arms immediately rubbed her torso unconsciously for heat, but surely enough, it didn't make much of a difference.
Freaking hell.Get this over with already!
She ducked her head underneath the water. With one hand on the soap, she scrubbed her hair maliciously before trailing down to the rest of her body. She dropped the bar of soap on the rocks and proceeded to duck underneath the water again. With the last bit of rinse, and a mouthful of water she spitted out later, she was finished. Thank god.
Her shaking hands grabbed the towel and she wrapped it around her body as quickly as she could. Pink strands of hair stuck to her face. When she wiped her bangs away from her eyes, she squinted and saw something that shouldn't have been there.
A smooth line of water slid down her chin. Her hand backhandedly smeared it off.
She spoke first. "How long have you been watching?" He's back.
He just stared at her with those intimidating red eyes and didn't say anything.
Instead he threw her a leather bag and she barely caught it with one hand while clutching onto her towel with the other. Setting the bag down, she wrapped and hooked her towel tightly to avoid a wardrobe malfunction.
"What's this?" She stared at the bag.
His head tipped down and stare at her baffled expression.
"A replacement." Confused by his words, she kneeled down and untied the sash and slipped a hand inside the bag. Her fingers touched a soft cotton material and she scowled. So he does remember staining his blood on my shirt.
"I see…" She lifted the fabric up and traced the texture with her thumb. It was soft and felt wonderful to touch.
The corners of her mouth curved as she lifted her head up to thank him. "Than-" She started but he was gone.
Sakura sighed. Sitting down, she dried off her body and hair. Little droplets of water continued to drip from her hair, but she knew that one of the benefits of having short hair was that it will dry in an hour or so later. Too lazy to bother with her bandages, she slipped into her new shirt. She honestly hasn't felt this clean for the longest time…
In minutes, her clothes were back in place and she tucked her wet towel and soap into the leather bag and walked back to camp.
By the time she got back, Kisame had once again slaughtered another poor animal for food. At least it's fish this time she noted to herself. She didn't bother racking her eyes to find Itachi. If he didn't want to be found then it's impossible to find him.
Without looking inside, her arm slipped into her tent and she swung her belongings into the corner. Sakura sighed as she knitted her fingers together and cracked her knuckles. A few cracks here and there always did the job.
Kisame waved the fish in the air. "Food."
She flopped down next to him and took a bite of the fish. A little dry, but it was still good.
"He left again didn't he?" She asked.
He was already on his second stick. "Hmm."
She chewed and swallowed. "Aren't you even curious?"
His eyebrows tilted up. "No."
And the two sat in a comfortable silence before he finished early and left her by herself again. As she finished, she found Kisame packing things up.
Taking the hint, she went into her tent and started to pack.
AN: So I lied a bit. Hmmm this was ridiculously short...This chapter was actually a little bit longer but I had to split it since I'm making some changes on the second half. Hopefully next chapter will tie the whole story together.
