"So, Koji, Where are you from? Is Rain your hometown or is it just a trade route?" The orange-haired man slowed his walking as he spoke.
"I'm from Rain."
"Ah, I see." Koji went back to his regular pace, and Sakura couldn't help but stare at the man. His face was perfect- each feature as if carved from smooth marble. His eyes were a strange shade of gray, and despite his somewhat childish behavior, looked as if they held some great wisdom. The orange hair that covered his head spiked out like Naruto's, except Koji's was a bit longer. Her gaze traveled down to his tan neck, and then lower, wondering what he looked like under that coat… wondering if his chest was as muscular as his shoulders…
"Sakura, is something wrong?" She jumped at being caught staring at him like eye-candy, and she mumbled a "no" and looked off in another direction, trying to hide her very deep blush. "May I ask you a question?" Sakura hoped it wasn't about her ogling, but said that he, of course, he could ask his question. "What do you know about… about Akatsuki?"
"Akatsuki…?" Okay, that had definitely caught her off guard.
"Yes. You killed a member, right?" Sakura tried to remain calm while the subject of Konoha's greatest enemy became a small-talk subject.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Sakura finally turned to face him, surprised to find a depressed look in his eyes.
"What do you think of them?" He locked his eyes to Sakura's, and as much as she tried, she couldn't pull away.
"What do I think of them? I'm not sure I quite get what you mean…" Koji averted his gaze, focusing on a particularly large boulder just ahead.
"Never mind… forget I said anything." His bright grin was back in place and he ran ahead to the boulder. "Look how huge this thing is!" Sakura couldn't help but feel drawn to the strange man.
But she couldn't help but think that he had some kind of connection with Akatsuki.
"Pein…?" Konan poked her head into her partner's study, scanning the room for him. Concluding that he wasn't there, she shut the door and sighed.
"Yo, Blue, What's up with you?" The female Akatsuki member turned her head to see the shark-like man walk up to her.
"Oh, Kisame… Nothing. Have you seen Pein?"
"I'm sure he's just out for a walk like usual."
"I'm not sure. He's been gone an awful long time." Konan started nibbling on her pierced lip, worrying about her childhood friend.
"He must be doing a solo mission. Relax; I'm sure he's fine." The blue-haired girl glanced in Kisame's direction before turning to leave in the opposite direction.
"I sure hope you're right."
The sun was beginning to set, and the two decided to set up camp for the night. Koji insisted that he build the fire, and Sakura unpack the food. She watched in amusement as he struggled with the matches, and on more than one occasion dropped them. She stopped her giggling, though, when he lit a flame that burnt his hand.
"Ow Ow…!" Sakura quickly scooted over to him to take a look at the hand he held to his chest. He cringed when she pulled it away from him to look at it. It was very red, and it would stay red for a few days if it wasn't treated.
Focusing some chakra into her hand, she placed it on top of Koji's. He watched in awe as a layer of a beautiful green completely covered their hands. His pain receded and the cool feeling of her chakra soothed his whole right arm. She pulled away and smiled. "There, how does that feel?"
"A lot better. Thank you, Sakura." He gave her his toothy grin, and she couldn't help but blush. He was just so darn cute!
"It was no problem at all. Burns are easy to heal if you know how to." Koji examined his hand for a moment before asking what else she could do. "Well, I mainly focus on taijutsu and medic ninjutsu, but if I really need it, I can use some pretty useful genjutsu."
"I see…" He seemed to be in thought as he gazed at her. Sakura began to blush under his stare, and asked if something was wrong. "Ah, no, I'm sorry! Haha!" He fell backwards to lie on the grass and look at the stars that were starting to come out. "Beautiful, aren't they?" the kunoichi blushed and nodded, lying down next to him, but not too close as to invade his privacy. They left the food next to the fire, completely forgotten.
"Why did you ask me about Akatsuki earlier?" she asked suddenly. The man's face fell at that, and he paused before answering.
"My sister was killed a few years ago by a member." Sakura flinched at that, and mumbled an apology. "Why would you apologize…" he asked, and turned his head to lock eyes with her once again. "…when you did nothing?" Sakura's eyes saddened and she tried, unsuccessfully, to smile.
"To lose someone so important to you, it must have been terrible. I'm sorry that you had to suffer such a loss. People's loved ones shouldn't have to be taken from them; it's not right. If I lost Naruto or Ino… they're my best friends. I don't think I could go on living knowing that their killer was still alive somewhere out there..." her eyes narrowed at the thought. "If anyone ever took the life of one of my cherished ones, I would kill them without hesitation." Koji's eyes widened and a small smile played across his face.
"Of course." Sakura smiled back, feeling comfortable being able to talk with the young merchant.
"Koji…?"
"Yes, Sakura?" She hesitated for a moment, staring at the metal stud in his ear. He followed her gaze and lifted a hand to rub against his earlobe. A look of panic seemed to wash over him for a moment before he composed himself once again. "Oh, this thing?" Sakura nodded as he continued to fiddle with it. "It's… It was my sister's. She wore earrings like this one pretty often."
"Oh, I see." Koji smiled before lowering his arm to be placed on the ground.
A rustle in the bushes…?
Sakura immediately jumped up in a ready position, kunai in hand. "Wh-What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Sakura ignored the suffix on her name and scanned the area. The sound came from those bushes…
"Koji, stay behind me." The merchant nodded, standing up and looking around nervously.
This isn't good… my stomach isn't fully healed yet. Sakura instinctively pulled her kunai closer to her chest, and backed up until she bumped into Koji. It might just be an ordinary rogue-nin; hell, maybe it's a squirrel. It's always a squirrel.
"Please, this is her, yeah?" A blonde man in a black cloak stepped out of the foliage, and Sakura stared wide-eyed at him.
"Deidara, remember what Leader said!" a blue man with gills on his cheeks ran up to the artist.
"I know what Leader said, but I just want to see if she's the real deal, yeah." His one visible eye met with Sakura's, and it sent shivers down her spine.
"You're the one who killed the Kazekage!" she yelled.
"And you're an annoying bitch with a big forehead. Now that we've stated the obvious, would you mind-"
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Sakura flew towards the blonde man, all fear forgotten, but he held his arm ready for an easy block. Right before she made contact with his raised arm, she disappeared and reappeared behind him. She had a chakra-glowing hand held above her head, and he barely missed getting hit full on the back. Her fist grazed his back, but hit him hard higher up. Deidara managed to escape with a dislocated shoulder.
"Damn…" Kisame whistled from the sidelines.
"Would you just shut up and distract her, yeah?!" Kisame sighed and plopped down on the ground.
"As much as I would like to, I'm not going to disobey orders." Deidara let out a frustrated growl as he dodged a volley of blows from the angered kunoichi.
"Kisame, I'm gonna' kill you for this later, yeah!!" Sakura gathered as much chakra as she could into a final punch that landed full on the stomach. He collapsed to the ground, gasping for much needed air.
Sakura stood still for a moment, also gasping for air as she focused chakra into her also sore stomach. (a/n: ironic, no?)
Deidara slipped a hand into his clay pouch and pulled out an already complete bird. With a simple hand-sign, he increased its size and jumped on its back, flying out of Sakura's reach. "You are one crazy bitch, yeah!"
The medic gave the artist a glare that sent shivers down any man's spine. "I dare you…" she started, "…TO INSULT ME ONE MORE TIME!" Koji took a few steps back and swallowed down a lump in his throat. Even Kisame sweat-dropped and scooted back a little from his spot on the ground.
Deidara hesitated for a moment, thinking if he should.
"I dare you." She growled. The blonde remembered his pride and refused to let a little pink-haired medic get to him, even if she did scare the crap out of him.
"Come and get me, forehead bitch."
Weird how Sakura was the one afraid, and then Deidara was scared to death :D
Well, there you go :) the second chapter of my new story! I'm so happy that people already like it! But, sadly, school is coming up and I won't have much time to update :( but- I will try and update as often as I can! Reviews may help ;) (Hint, hint!) Thanks!