Chapter 6 – Miyu and Katsue
Early the next morning, Sakura and Sai were standing in the recently rebuilt teahouse that their two teammates had previously demolished. It was still under construction and ladders were set up on either side with men restructuring the stucco walls, but the shop was open for business anyway. Although there were only two customers, grey-cloaked figures who sat at the table in the corner nursing their cups of cold tea.
"Please, oji-san," Sakura pleaded to the middle aged man behind the counter, "let it go, just this once!" She leaned forwards on the wooden to give him the best puppy eyes she could manage. These ones even worked on Kakashi-sensei, who had the mercy of the average rock. It had to work on him.
"Indeed," Sai added from beside her, "our friends are not very rich. This is troublesome for them." He tried to imitate his teammate's mournful look, but ended up looking slightly angry instead, which put the man off more than it helped.
"No way," the brown-haired man shook his head, frowning a frown that brought out every line in his aged face, "you shinobi are always going around destructing things in your stupid battles, never thinking about the civilians who have to pick up the pieces. 'Bout time some of you paid for it." He took one look at Sakura's puppy eyes and turned away, determined not to get sweet-talked into anything.
Sakura visibly deflated, sagging over the counter with sweaty hair falling over her forehead, "but-"
"Why do you think all the major wars we've had are called 'Shinobi Wars'?" The man went on, brandishing his wooden spoon at her, "cause the damn shinobi start em! So what if your friends are spending a few days in prison, they deserve it! A civilian in their place would've spent a few months!"
Her lip quivered in a manner that every little girl one day learned, a powerful weapon indeed, "but…he's my husband and they won't let me see him! I miss him!"
The man scoffed, "must be damn good in bed if you miss him after three days. Why'd you marry an older guy anyway? You look fourteen or something."
At this, she hardened, "oji-san, I am a sixteen-year-old shinobi. I do not look fourteen."
"Actually, Sakura-san-"
"Shut up Sai."
"Fourteen, sixteen, same thing when you're my age," he drawled, waving a hand in dismissal, "go away, kids. Too bad for you, but I need that funding from the council and they can do whatever they like with your friends." With that, he turned away, disappearing into the room behind the counter.
Sai looked across worried at his teammate, who was practically weeping. He knew that he should be trying harder to find ways to make money, but she seemed to be doing enough thinking for the both of them. "He didn't even listen, did he?"
"No," Sakura wailed, "he didn't. And that was my last idea too…" She crossed her arms over the counter and buried her face in them, looking completely defeated.
"It's ok," he tried awkwardly putting a hand on her shoulder, mimicking something he'd seen in the friendly norms book, "I am sure we'll find another way." After a while of balancing his hand over her shoulder bone, he decided that it wasn't working and removed it. He usually left the comforting to dickless and Kakashi-san.
"Tough luck, eh?"
Sakura wearily lifted her head from her arms to turn and address the new voice coming from behind her. One of the figures sitting at the table in the corner had removed her cloak and draped it on the chair behind her, revealing a plain-looking face surrounded by long dark hair. She raised a finger to beckon them over.
She and Sai walked over curiously, stopping by the edge of the table. The figure sitting across from the woman immediately made to stand up, dragging his hood further over his face. He made it halfway out of his seat before pausing at his companion's stern look.
"Now Taji, it's rude to leave like that!" The woman admonished, "I was just thinking that maybe you could be of some help to these poor foreign shinobi."
Sakura frowned. She reached out to tug at the hood of the man's cloak, and her eyes widened as she saw familiar short, dark hair.
"Taji-san, it's you!" She exclaimed, bursting into a grin. He sat back down, seeming distinctly uncomfortable and trying to look anywhere but at her.
"Oh, you already know him?" The plain-faced woman leaned her chin onto her hands, looking across at each of them.
"He was the guard we met when we went to see our teammates in prison," Sai explained.
"Well I suppose we all know each other, then. He was just telling me about you when you came in," the woman smiled, "take a seat, we'd love the company." Sakura gave her a smile and helped herself to a chair, and Sai pulled up an extra chair to join them.
"Why are you doing this, Yora?" Taji hissed quietly. His fingers were starting to whiten from gripping the table.
"Doing what?" Sakura picked up, looking between them with a worried look.
"Oh, nothing," Yora waved a hand dismissively, "he just gets a little worked up at times. Maybe he's jealous of his prisoner for having such a pretty girl," she winked, "the younger Hatake must have done something to catch your eye, eh?"
"She certainly chose the right one if she was going for size," the guard mumbled.
"Um…yeah…" Sakura didn't think she looked particularly attractive while sweaty and partially sleep-deprived and, well, orange. And wait, what size?
"What do you mean by 'younger Hatake'?" Sai asked, giving her a blank look, "Kakashi-san does not have any children."
She laughed, "no, I'm talking about him, that 'Kakashi'. His father has quite the bad reputation here in Suna, and it seems that he looks very similar to his old man, and some of the prisoners have been picking up on it," she reached over to nudge Taji's sleeve, "I'm here catching up with you after so long, and all you talk about is work. This new position has turned you into a real bore."
"Whatever," he replied gruffly, "if you're finished with all your chatter, I'll be going." He made a move to leave.
Sai grasped his sleeve, pulling him back down gently but firmly, "you have not been in duty for two days now, the new guard who replaced you is very uncooperative," he told him, "we have asked Kazekage-sama to find you."
"Is that why that stupid paper pusher arrived at my house?" he muttered. He then looked up to glare out at the two of them, "well that's too bad for you. I'm not going back in there for as long as I can, not while he's there."
"Oh? Why not?" Yora leaned forwards, and the front of her beige kimono stretched slightly, revealing the barest hints of cleavage. Unfortunately, even this seemed a little too scandalous for the former prison guard. He'd seen the naked male anatomy more often than he'd ever needed to, but the female one was still a little lacking in his mind.
"My uncle died in the River Country massacre," he muttered, glancing away.
Sakura frowned, remembering things she'd picked up from history classes, "so Kakashi-sensei's father killed your uncle? Oh…were you close to him?" Her expression softened slightly. If that was true, then the fact that he was trying to get away from Kakashi instead of going after him with a kunai was relieving.
"Nah," he grunted, "never knew the man. But I gotta provide for my aunt, his civilian widow. And every time I go over, all she goes on about is how much she misses her husband. I can't be around him and not think about that." His fingers dug further into the wood of the table in frustration.
"While you're being plagued by those thoughts, dickless and Kakashi-san could be living under horrible circumstances with a guard who actually had a loved one killed by his father," Sai pointed out.
"Why'd you call him dickless?" Was Taji's only response, "he's a got a dick, I swear."
"When compared to me, he does not," Sai gave him a bland smile that he found utterly disturbing. Sakura reddened slightly, because she knew from their last onsen trip that he wasn't joking in the least. And that he had no qualms following her into the ladies section until Naruto had informed him otherwise.
"Ahem, there are ladies present," Yora said sternly, shooting Sakura a knowing look, "I'm more interested in how exactly they're treated. I've never had anyone killed by the infamous White Fang, but how do the other prisoners put up with having the object of their revenge so close by?"
"Yeah, did Naruto get raped in the shower or something?" Sakura asked, sounding worried. She had watched much too many prison dramas.
"They've started a few fights, but none of em were serious," Taji replied stiffly, "they're called high riskers for a reason." His hands were now sitting awkwardly in his lap and he held down the urge to get up and stalk away.
"But will they ever push the no chakra rule?" Yora seemed strangely interested, "if they get attacked, I mean."
"Nah," he replied evenly, "I know their type. They won't do anything that 'makes trouble for Gaara', because apparently the kid's friends with the Kazekage," he shot a look at Sakura, who confirmed it with a nod, "so I guess our Kazekage sticks up for em and in return they follow all the rules. Well, the blond one doesn't. Real idiot, he is."
"Not even if someone hurts them?" She pushed, "that's a little harsh, isn't it?"
"Too bad for them," he shrugged, "I'm pretty sure they won't respond even if they're attacked with chakra, actually."
"Poor Kakashi-sensei," Sakura sighed, "won't you please come back, Taji-san? They're probably starving, and sensei isn't responsible for what his father did."
He scoffed, "yeah don't remind me, I'll get by ass dragged back in there eventually whether I like it or not. But my first vacation in a month was pretty nice too. Although Yora here took up most of my time yesterday with that arrogant bastard she calls a friend."
The woman pouted, "Kuroda is not arrogant! He's just got the type of confidence that you can never seem to have, and he just wanted to talk to you after so long," she turned back to the two Konoha nin, "well, good luck with your friends, kids. And I hope you at least enjoy your stay in Suna. It's a nice place, even if our prisons seem a little rough."
"Thank you, Yora-san," Sakura smiled warmly, "and Taji-san, I hope you come back quickly."
"Sakura-san," Sai spoke up, "have you not realized what this means?"
She turned to him and frowned, "what is it, Sai?"
"They can see his face. That is why he held the book up to his face when we went to see him. They've taken his mask off."
There were a few seconds of silence.
"Well of course we took his mask off," Taji drawled, "we don't even allow them underwear and you think we'll let him keep his damn mask?" He looked questioningly at the two Konoha nin, who were looking at each other with stunned looks, "what is it with you two?"
"That's it," Sakura decided, "I don't care about the consequences, we have to find a way to get in there. We can't give up!"
When Naruto woke up that morning, the previous night felt simply surreal and he wondered if he had dreamed it.
He opened his eyes slowly to find that he was alone in the bed, and that Kakashi was sitting on the other one a few feet away, book open in his hand. "Ah, you're awake," his sensei smiled slightly. He had been smiling a little more often during the past day; maybe he was finally getting used to going around without his mask.
Naruto simply groaned in reply and lifted himself off from the bed, swinging his legs off and running a hand through wild morning hair. He looked out the window to see that the sun above Suna had retaken its job of boiling hot torture. At times like these, he was sorely tempted to discard his own shirt. He held back only because he knew he'd get one of the heat rashes that he was prone to.
"You stopped snoring," his sensei went on, "I was actually able to sleep properly. From now on, you should continue to sleep on your front." The book hung loosely in his hand and his chest glistened with hints of sweat. Even the famous Copy-Nin was prey to the desert.
Touching the pillow markings on his face, Naruto groaned again, "I think I almost suffocated half way," he admitted, "and that would've been a really lame way to die."
"The guard should be coming around to take us to the shower soon," Kakashi spoke up, shooting a glance out the window. For some reason, he was incredibly good at telling time by the sun, "the other prisoners have probably finished by now. You slept in."
"I…uh…couldn't sleep that well," the blond boy muttered, remembering the sounds his sensei had made. He pointed a finger accusingly, "it's all because you got up and made me cold!" It was a good a way as any to see if he had dreamed the event.
"Maa, I tried to be as quiet as possible," he said, "I didn't know people could wake up from the cold."
Well no, he'd woken up because of the slicking sounds that had travelled through the gaps in the stucco. He realized that if he hadn't found them so interesting to listen to, he could have had a great opportunity to tease his sensei. More importantly, it confirmed that it wasn't a dream. Kakashi had actually taken care of his problem in the middle of the night.
Naruto stood up at the sound of the outer door of their cell being opened, excitedly expecting to see Taji's short hair and exasperated expression. Instead, it was the same guard as before.
"Oi!" He yelled, "we want our own guard back!"
"And you really think you get to choose?" The man drawled, walking over to unlock the inner door of the bars, "get out and follow me, you're just lucky the request to have you shower apart from the others went through. Would be a real pain to break up your stupid fights." He turned to leave.
Kakashi wordlessly followed him through the corridors and Naruto sulked and dragged his feet. He didn't understand why his sensei took it so easily.
Taji didn't arrive for breakfast or lunch, and none of Naruto's yelling out the window seemed to change that fact.
"Oji-san!" He shouted, face pressed against the bars of the window, "come back! Bring us fooooood!"
"I don't think he can hear you," Kakashi sighed, "we're three levels up and far from the rest of the village. The only living things within hearing range are the desert animals."
"Maybe they'll bring us some food," Naruto mumbled dejectedly. He stepped away from the window and sat down beside his sensei on the bed, "sensei what's that book about?" He looked pointedly at the book held in long fingers.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him.
"I mean, it has to have a plot too, right? Between all the perverted stuff?" He went on, "Ero-Sennin likes story telling, after all. He's always using big words to make simple things sound complicated."
"That is indeed his expertise," the jonin admitted. He looked down at the book he was reading, and then closed it, figuring that this was something he could do. "It's about a man named Jio."
"Go on," Naruto leaned back against the thin pillow and placed his feet onto the bed.
"Well, he left his village at a young age to pursue his goal in life," Kakashi explained, "which is to find the most beautiful woman alive."
"That doesn't sound too bad," the blond boy nodded, "I thought it would be something more perverted. Like to visit all the sake places in the Five Countries."
His sensei cleared his throat, "that…is partly what he does. You see, he's determined to marry the most beautiful woman alive, and on the way he meets an inn keeper's daughter who turns out to be as…talented as she is pretty."
"Ah!" Naruto pointed, "Ero-Sennin told me about that one! Her name is Miyu, right? And she's the one that's really good at licking?"
Kakashi frowned, "exactly how much do you know about these books?"
"Only about Icha Icha Violence," he replied, "because that's the one he wrote when I travelled with him. He didn't tell me the plot or anything, but he said that there's two girls that the main character likes," he held up one finger, "first there's the one that's really cute and 'talented', and this is where he gets to have fun writing all the ecchi scenes. Then there's another girl who's beautiful but also really shy, and he has to do everything. Ero-Sennin says he likes experience better, so Jio will probably end up with the first one."
His sensei gave him a blank look, "thank you, Naruto, for spoiling the entire series for me. I'll have you know that I was cheering for Katsue."
"That's too bad," he leaned forward, "I think Miyu is based on Tsunade baa-chan, cause he says she's always hitting people, just like baa-chan does."
"Seeing as she's also blond and a double D, I don't doubt that," he sighed, "if Tsunade-sama ever read these books I'd fear for the wellbeing of Konoha."
Naruto suddenly had an idea. He shuffled on the bed until he was sitting beside his sensei, with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out on the bed, "will you let me read the plot? You can take it away for the perverted parts, you know. I won't mind. I'm not a pervert." Well, only for the sounds. The interesting sounds that Kakashi made with his…
For a while, Kakashi was deep in thought. It would mean that Naruto wouldn't have to sit there counting grains of sand and being bored out of his mind. An occupied Naruto was an amiable Naruto. It would also mean that he wouldn't go crazy. Then again…what plot?
"You can only safely read fifty pages," he informed his student dryly, "and three of those fifty pages consist of an in depth description of kimono fabric." The other one-hundred-fifty pages were either foreplay or just sex.
"Even kimono fabric is starting to sound exciting," Naruto rubbed his hands together with glee, "tell me where to start, sensei!"
Three hours later, the two Konoha nin were finally on page one-hundred-and-two. It was the forty-eighth 'safe' page in the book. Kakashi was starting to get slightly worried, but his student was completely enraptured. He made to turn to page one-hundred-and-ten, skipping the bedroom scene he knew came next.
"No!" Naruto stopped him by pushing his hand away, "I'm not done yet."
"You take almost three minutes to read a single page, Naruto," Kakashi sighed, "when exactly did you learn how to read, anyway?"
"One of jiji's paper pushers came to teach me when I was six," he quipped, "they tried to teach me before that, but I always found ways to play pranks on the people who came so they all left." His voice was perfectly even, as if he was merely reporting the weather, "and besides, if there's only fifty pages I can read, I want to make them last."
The jonin paused, frowning at the abysmal education. Most shinobi children picked up their first books at the tender age of three, and he himself remembered sitting down with his father's scrolls when he was two, barely able to hold them in tiny hands. He allowed Naruto to finish reading the page at his own time.
"This is actually getting exciting!" The blond boy said, "did something weird happen between Jio and Katsue during the last scene we skipped?"
Kakashi cleared his throat, "he…happened to say Miyu's name while he was…"
"Oh, that makes sense," Naruto interrupted, "that's why Miyu-chan is cheering him up, right? Because Katsue ran away from him and he came to her instead?" He looked up at his sensei with eyes filled with curiosity.
"Right," the jonin replied, "I dislike that scene…" He was staunchly on poor Katsue's side. She was a sweet girl who only wanted to achieve her humble dreams of being a civilian medic, unlike the fiery Miyu who ambitiously longed to leave her father's inn and find a life somewhere else.
"I like Miyu," Naruto told him, "she's so exciting!"
"But Katsue would be heartbroken," Kakashi tried, "she likes him more." Noting that they were finished with the page, his fingers slipped farther down into the book, seeing out the next 'safe' page.
"Miyu has guts," his student maintained, "when she realized that she liked Jio, she went right up to him and told him!" He pulled the book back.
"Katsue's feelings are much more subtle," the jonin put forth, "she's cultured, and knows how to deal with things delicately."
"Yeah well she's too delicate," Naruto stuck his tongue out, "Miyu is awesome! I bet she'll totally seduce him so that he'll never think of Katsue again!" He flipped to page one-hundred-and-three.
"Naruto…" Kakashi's voice was low in warning. He tried to take the book back, but Naruto already had a death grip on it.
"I'm reading this one at least, sensei," the blond boy informed him, "you can let me, or risk harming your book."
Kakashi sat back and thought about it. This scene was not as bad as the others, but it was bad in a different way. Jio and Miyu were interrupted halfway, but before that she had…
But his eyes were already stuck on the page, and he sighed and leaned over, asking himself how on earth his life had come to reading porn with his student.
The two characters began to kiss passionately after Jio had confessed his one night with Katsue, and Miyu had somehow forgiven him, only because of how it had ended. "I'll make you say my name again…" She whispered to him, "and this time you'll yell it to me…"
Naruto read, completely engrossed, as Jio leaned over to kiss her neck, slowly undoing the wide sash of her kimono. He read about how her silky clothes fell to the floor in a discarded heap and her slightly rough hands ran over Jio's bare chest. They moved down to push his pants away, allowing the cloth to pool at his feet.
"Ero-Sennin's writing gets better in the ecchi scenes," he commented, reaching over to turn the page.
"Yes," Kakashi muttered, "the prose flows much more smoothly." Jiraiya-sama truly did have a talent for writing. It was just that after Tales of a Gutsy Ninja, his talent had only manifested itself in flowery descriptions of anatomy.
"Is she going to lick him now?" Naruto asked, reading as slowly as ever. Miyu was slowly trailing soft kisses down his stomach, her fingers tracing the line of delicate hairs that led to-
Kakashi wordlessly reached over to pull the book away. He did it so quickly that his student barely noticed until it was hidden behind his back.
"Aw, no fair!" Naruto growled, "It was just getting to the best part!" He reached for the book.
"My sense of responsibility came back from its vacation," the jonin replied stiffly, "reading time is over." He sat back with book under his leg.
Naruto decided that this time, he wasn't giving up too easily. He put one arm on the older man's shoulder and pulled himself across, hand heading to slip under his leg and retrieve the prize.
But his hand paused just as it reached Kakashi's upper thigh, because he was so close to another region. He glanced down at the jonin's lap for a second, noting the barest hints of a bulge since his pants were stretched across it, and he wasn't wearing underwear under the grey cloth. Just hours ago, his sensei's hand had been there, stroking and touching and spreading his leaking fluid over himself…
"What exactly are you two doing?"
The two Konoha nin froze, and Naruto looked up quickly. He burst into a wide smile at the sight of Kankuro of the Kazekage's Council standing in the outer doorway. The guard standing beside Kankuro was too busy glaring at him to notice their position, and Naruto quickly sat back and pointed an accusing finger.
"Kakashi-sensei won't let me read his book!" He declared.
Kakashi merely shrugged his shoulders and positioned the book more firmly under his leg.
"This isn't an entertainment facility," the guard said evenly, "I'm not even sure why you have a book with you, but you're the troublesome ones with all of Kazekage-sama's exceptions. You're supposed to spend this time thinking about what you've done wrong."
"I haven't done anything wrong," Naruto protested, sliding off the bed and running to the bars, "we're in here because of a mistake, right Kankuro?"
"Um…" the Suna boy looked slightly nervous and rubbed his head, not knowing what to say.
"Ch. Kankuro-sama, you have ten minutes," the guard told him. Then he turned and left the room. Kankuro looked back at the two Konoha nin, and stepped forward. He came to the bars and held out a wrapped package, and Naruto's mouth watered the moment he saw it.
"This is just something Sakura-san sent," he told him, "apparently she's not allowed in here, but I have clearance and I decided to bring it for her."
Kakashi reached out and took the package before his student could swallow it whole, wrapping and all. He pulled it open to isolate the two paper cups of rice and packets of seasoning, and passed one to Naruto, who grabbed it and immediately ripped it open. Holding the other, he turned back to Kankuro.
"We appreciate it," he nodded, "our old guard disappeared, and the new one is not too cooperative."
"Yeah," Naruto mumbled around a mouthful of rice, sitting back on the bed to eat, "he's horrible. I want Taji back."
"Aha…I don't really know anything about that," Kankuro admitted, "I'm just here because Sakura-san agreed to out with me if I cancelled my mission to deliver this."
There was sudden silence in the cell. Kakashi inwardly groaned and then looked back at Naruto, who had paused mid-bite. The blond boy slowly put away his food and stood up, coming back to stand by the bars.
"You're not allowed," he said carefully, "Sakura-chan likes me."
"Well I'm sure she does…but as a brother, you know?" Kankuro shrugged, "she spent all those hours saving my life, and I couldn't help but fall for her a bit."
"She's turned into a wonderful young lady," Kakashi agreed, not knowing why he was speaking up.
Naruto looked thoroughly unimpressed.
"I won't hurt her or anything," the Suna boy went on, "you have my word that she'll have a great time at dinner tonight. In fact, I even found this new dining place-"
At that, Naruto burst into laughter, "you hurting Sakura-chan?" He wiped tears from his eyes, "that's too funny!" Kakashi silently agreed that he probably wouldn't be able to lay a hand on their teammate without her pulling a Tsunade.
Kankuro didn't find it very funny, "well I only came to tell you that," he huffed, "have fun in prison, kid." He smoothly put in the fact that he was older.
"Oi! Wait!" The blond boy protested, arm reaching out through the bars, "you can't do this! I wanted to take her on her first date! She was my friend for longer, you know! You can't-" He watched miserably, arm still outstretched, as Kankuro exited the room.
Kakashi patted his shoulder, "well, it's not her first date," he sighed, "it's her second."
"What?"! Naruto turned to give him a sharp look, "who was her first?"
"Lee. With you and Neji and Tenten away, we decided to have a teacher-student team challenge, and Sakura and I lost because of a little bad luck. She had to go on a date with Lee and I had to go around all day carrying Gai on my back."
His student winced, "that sounds horrible."
"It was. He's rather heavy and dragging him to the washroom after 'piggyback training' was pure torture." Kakashi winced, "and he's not much of an acorn anymore either…"
Later that evening, the two other members of Team Kakashi were once again gathered in Sakura's hotel room.
"You can turn around now," Sakura announced.
Sai removed his hands from his eyes and turned around to see his teammate standing near the bed. She was running a hand through her hair, looking thoroughly agitated. It may have had something to do with the long, light pink kimono she had just changed into. His anbu-trained eyes ran over her form, noting that her attire was completely unsuited to running.
"Is that necessary?" Sai asked blankly, "the rental was almost a thousand ryo."
"Well he's picked out somewhere fancy, and as a council member he's pretty rich too," she groaned, "now I have to look the part. Why can't he take me to a dango place or something?" She reached into her pack and pulled out a small red clip, slipping it into her hair. Hopefully it would keep the sweaty pink strands away from her face.
"I suppose it is a must," the pale boy agreed, "he cancelled his mission to help us, after all. I believe that merits social gratitude."
"The things I do for my teammates…" Sakura muttered, looking herself over in the mirror, "how do I look, anyway?"
"As horrible as always, Sakura-san," Sai replied brightly.
"Well I'm sorry I asked," she muttered, knowing that this was the boy who thought Tsunade-sama herself 'looked like an old lady' and Yamanaka Ino 'had the nose of a pig'. Frankly this was the best she'd looked in weeks. Then she took a deep breath, "ok, I only have to figure out a way to scare him off. How hard could it be to scare off one guy?"
"It seems easy indeed. You do it on a daily basis."
"Shut up, Sai," she deadpanned, "Kankuro is a persistent one. But he won't last long when I show him what a thoroughly uncultured, unfeminine and socially inept girl I am," a feral grin spread across her face. This was going to be fun.
"If you were unfeminine you wouldn't be wearing your sash tight enough to actually imitate curves," Sai commented, "and if you were socially inept, you would go in your kunoichi outfit."
Sakura brightened slightly, "so you think I'm feminine and lively?"
"Completely uncultured, thought," he replied bluntly, "you need no help pretending in that area."
The smile was replaced with an exasperated look that was beginning to look completely at home on her face. Sakura pulled on her cloak and stomped over to the door. Sai came behind her, dressed in his shinobi outfit with a grey cloak thrown on top for protection against the heat and – on the way back – the cold. Kankuro had reluctantly agreed to have him there as 'chaperone', only because otherwise Gaara would send Temari instead. And they had all agreed that that would be a bad idea.
One hour later, Haruno Sakura was seated on her knees across Kankuro, who had actually gotten them a private dining room. A table filled with the tastiest dishes found in Sunagakure separated them, and Sai sat on the third side, regarding the food with complete nonchalance.
Sakura's mouth watered by just looking at the spread, and her hands yearned to reach for her chopsticks and gulp it all down Naruto-style. No! Inner Sakura admonished, stop thinking about the stupid food, you have a guy to scare away!
"How do you like it here so far, Sakura-san?" Kankuro asked lightly, a soft smile on his face. He calmly reached for his chopsticks and a bowl.
"It's been…um…nice," she replied. The hell are you doing?! You're not supposed to make small talk!
"We've had lots of fun," Sai added with a bland smile.
Kankuro turned to give him a look that clearly said 'I didn't ask you'.
Sakura took her own bowl and picked up a pair of chopsticks in the other hand. Her eyes scanned over the dish, noting the supreme quality of the clay it was made of, and the beautifully glazed pattern painted into it. She discreetly sent a small amount of chakra into her hand, and the bowl shattered and fell onto the floor in pieces.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, moving the cloth of her kimono away from the clay dust, "sorry, that happens sometimes," she said smoothly. Take that, cha! How do you like a girl who can't control her own super-strength? She looked up, expecting to see a disapproving look on his face. Instead, he looked completely smitten.
"Oh don't worry, Sakura-san!" He turned to rap twice on the floor, and footsteps approached from the hall outside, "how did you get so strong?" There were stars in his eyes.
"I…um…trained," she stuttered, watching as one of the waiters immediately came in to sweep away the broken pieces. He shot her an extremely disapproving look, and she wanted to sink into the floor.
Sai calmly continued eating.
"Did I mention that you look really nice today?" Kankuro went on as if nothing had happened, "the color pink suits you so well. I only wish we had Konoha's beautiful Sakura blossom trees here in Wind Country too."
Could you get any more flowery? Inner Sakura wondered. "You look nice too, Kankuro," she told him. Why are you complimenting him? All those kunoichi lessons have rotted your brain!
"So how many days until you return to Konoha?" He went on, "you know, there's a Suna art show tomorrow-"
"Is there?" Sai inserted smoothly, "I would love to go."
Sakura groaned quietly and Kankuro shot him a quick glare, as if daring him to interrupt again. When the pale boy sat back, he continued.
"And we don't have any onsen like you do in Konoha, but there are some rather beautiful oases in the desert that we could visit during the day," he tapped his chopsticks, and then turned back with excited eyes, "and at the end of next week we have the Shodai Kazekage's festival, the anniversary of the day Sunagakure was founded."
His genuine excitement tore at her heart, and Sakura felt bad for what she had to do. But she really didn't like him in that way, and this was the nicest way she could think of rejecting him. She put a wide smile on her face.
"Sounds interesting!" She picked up a brown slice of something from a plate nearby and savagely shoved it into her mouth, chewing furiously. And again, cha! Zero table manners!
"Great!" He laughed, "and it's nice to see that you're enjoying the food! Do you like that one?"
She chewed. And chewed. And chewed. When she'd finally swallowed the stupid chewy stuff, she smiled, "it's not bad." It really wasn't, once she got around the chewiness. She reached for another with her chopsticks.
"It's a delicacy here, you'll never find it in Konoha," Kankuro told her, "it's Tanuki meat."
Sakura withdrew her empty chopsticks and stared awkwardly around the room, trying not to think of the bite of adorable animal she had just swallowed. This was not going well. Why wasn't he the least bit frightened, or disgusted?Why was he still staring at her with that goofy smile?
Sakura felt like banging her head against the table. Kankuro was still giving her that goofy smile, completely oblivious to her desire to toss him into the nearest brothel and run out of the country. Sai continued eating his food. Well, at least someone was enjoying himself.
At that moment, the sliding door opened and another waiter entered. She bowed her head slightly, "we hope you are enjoying your stay. Would you like any drinks to accompany your meal?
"Oh, what the hell," Sakura grunted, "bring me some shochu."
Sai groaned.