*If you want to see what Miku and her new outfit look like check out my Photobucket, it's also under "dbswldnjs" There should only be one photo, that's her!
"So... there's no hope is there?" Miku looked at her cousin with big, sad eye's. "Is it... gone?"
Her cousin raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid not.. There's no saving it."
Miku let out a sigh. She had expected this ever since they returned from the sugar factory. Her outfit was toast!
"We managed to get most of the blood out, however... your last few missions just destroyed what was left "
"I guess.. it's time to go shopping." Miku growled. "I hate clothes shopping.
This afternoon, Squad 7 was assigned an escort mission.
"To escort Nakago Mitsurugi to the town of Sunagakure." Naruton read off, excitement rising in his voice. "Oh boy a real mission!" He was growing tired of the usual D ranked missions they were being assigned, and he would rather eat nails than spend another day training. Sure he could beat Miku no sweat! Sasuke on the other hand...
"We don't need you Sasuke. Miku, you should stay behind too. All Kakashi-sensei needs is me!" he boasted, sticking his tongue out at his other team mates.
Miku was too busy readjusting her new outfit to pay attention and while Sasuke heard his little outburst, he simply chose to ignore him.
"If you're finished..." Kakashi-sensei sighed, rethinking his decision to bring his squad with him. He had the option to do this mission solo but chose to bring them along to help develop their teamwork was starting to think that more arguing than teamwork will be going on. "Let's go collect our escort and get this over with."
Miku's new outfit looked good on her Sasuke thought, watching her play with the sash. Her old white kimono got completely destroyed so she had to go purchase a new one. She wore a short sleeveless black kimono with pink trim and matching black gloves with no fingers. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail rather than a side braid and even he had to admit that she looked good.
'She's just a friend.' He told himself. 'There's nothing wrong with thinking your friend is attractive.
'I look ridiculous.' Miku groaned, re-tying her long, pink sash for the fifth time. 'I miss my old kimono...'
"Stop fidgeting you look fine." Sasuke said completely emotionless. "You're irritating me."
She pouted up at him. 'Your lack of emotion and bipolarism are irritating me ' she thought, hoping he could read her mind. His eyes narrowed into slits as if he had read her mind and the two stood motionless glaring daggers at one another.
'He's so.. attractive. No wonder so many girls like him.' She thought staring right into his beautiful black eyes. She could see he was hiding so much pain, so much sadness. His eyes told her he was lonely.
'Why is she looking at me like that?' He wondered, admiring the way her eyes glittered as she searched his own. It was as if she could see right through him. Sasuke usually doesn't let people see his true emotions, so he 's rather quick to put up barriers and block people out. However this time he just let her read him as if he were an open book.
"It looks like those two are having some sort of.. moment." Kakashi whispered to the blonde standing impatiently beside him. "Should we leave them or..."
"HEY ARE YOU GONNA KISS OR ARE YOU JUST GONNA STAND THERE GAWKING AT EACH OTHER?"I Naruto yelled interrupting his sensei. "I WANNA GET THIS MISSION STARTED ALREADY!"
"We were not gonna kiss!/Why would I kiss her?" They both yelled back.
"I said I was sorry." The Uchiha repeated. "Why are you so mad?"
"Typical male. Doesn't know anything." She said coldly, refusing to meet his gaze. "Don't you have some brooding to do?"
She had been giving him the cold shoulder since they left the village and he wasn't sure why. Was it something he said? He was about to ask when he noticed that they were now walking with a man he had never seen before. How long has he been here?
"If you're finished quarreling. " Kakashi-sensei began "This is Nakago, the man we will be escorting. "
This, Nakago person looked to be a few years older than they were, with long purple hair tied in a low ponytail. He wore a man's kimono that was open enough to expose his toned chest.
"Pleasure to meet you all." he spoke, his voice soft and kind. "Thank you for escorting me."
"I'm Kakashi Hatake, the blonde kid with the annoying grin on his face is Naruto Uzumaki, the boy with the permanent scowl is Sasuke Uchiha and the young lady who looks scares of everything is Miku Tatsuki." The Jounin introduced each of his squad members to Nakago. "Their names should be easy to remember. Just think of how I described them to you." he chuckled at his own personal joke.
"Pleased to meet you all." He said bowing to everyone. Although he was bowing to everyone, he couldn't take his eyes off of Miku.
"Miku is it? Ah! A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He shot her a smirk.
'Kissass...'Sasuke thought. They hadn't know each other five minutes and he already hated this Nakago guy, and it wasn't because he kept staring at Miku. 'I don't trust him.' He made a mental note to stick to Miku like glue for the remainder of the mission.
Only for security purposes however.
Suna was about 4 days away by foot, 5 days of you stop and take a few breaks. The five of them walked for 22 hours before stopping for the night.
"So.. why do you need an escort anyways? " Naruto asked with a mouthful of ramen.
"I am not a shinobi, and I was in a town close to Konoha visiting a friend. On my way there I was nearly killed by some ruthless and rather unpleasant shinobi so I decided that it was better to request some assistance for the walk back home." He explained. "And what a lovely group they've chosen for me!"
"You're weird but you gave me ramen so I like you." Naruto grinned shoving more face.
"I like you too. Lady Miku would you like some?" Nakago asked holding out a ramen cup.
She shook her head. "No..no thank you I don't feel very good." she replied with a small smile. She hadn't been feeling good since last night, probably a result of her frolicking in the lake in the middle of autumn with Naruto two days earlier. 'I guess it's my own fault if I come down sick.'
"Very well. Please feel better soon." He replied giving her another smirk. He was handsome, any girl between the ages of 12 and 18 could see that. However Miku didn't feel the least bit attracted to him. Not like she was to Sasuke. When he wasn't being a pessimistic ass he was rather sweet, in his own way and he was funny, unintentionally of course.
"Perhaps you need someone to sleep next to tonight, keep you warm and.. prevent you from getting any worse." Nakago said interrupting her thoughts about the Uchiha sitting beside her.
"I'm going to get fire wood. Lets go." Sasuke said suddenly, jumping to his feet and dragging Miku into the woods with him.
"Don't mind him." Naruto said when he saw the confused look on Nakago's face. "He's naturally an ass and just doesn't like it when people move in on his turf. "
"They... are together?" He asked in disbelief. "That delicate rose and that... obnoxious badger?"
"I've never heard anyone compare Sasuke to a badger before, I like to think of him as more of an angry cat. No they're not officially together but he likes her, he just doesn't know it yet." He explained not looking up from his food.
Nakago's face contorted into a look of pure evil. "I see..." he said in a voice that made Kakashi himself pry his nose out of his book. When he saw the look Nakago had on his face he began to wonder.
'Just who is this guy... Clearly he isn't telling us everything."
"Sasuke! Hey stop where are we.. where are we going?" She was trying her hardest to get him to let go of her but his grip was too strong. "Tell me what's going on?!" she screamed. This time he stopped.
"That guy... is just.."He growled, clenching the fist that wasn't locked onto Miku's arm.
"He was only being nice.. I think."
"Nice? Ever since we met up with him all he's been doing is in undressing you with his eyes it's sickening." He said through clenched teeth. "I want you to stay away from him."
Miku blinked. "Excuse me?" Was he.. caring? Does he even know how to care about people? 'But why would he care about me...?' she wondered. 'I'm nothing special.'
He turned to face her, and saw the confusion written all over her face.
'Why am I caring about her?' He asked himself, suddenly becoming just as confused as Miku was. "I've been doing a lot of thinking..." he started, suddenly feeling nervous. "... and... you.. you're my best friend." he said quickly. "So I feel obligated to look out for you." He felt both relieved and like somebody just roundhouse kicked him in the stomach.
"Really?" Miku couldn't believe her ears. She had never had a best friend before. Hell... she never had a friend before. "We're best friends?"
He nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Don't make such a big deal about it." He said shoving his hands into his pocket, turning back into his usual self.
"Yes sir." She giggled walking up beside him. "I thought we were going to get firewood?"
"Hmph.. I don't know what you're talking about."
When they got back to the others, Naruto was bound and gagged and Kakashi was unconscious.
"What's going on?" Miku asked, stepping closer to Sasuke. Without thinking he put his arm around her protectively. "Where's Nakago?"
"I am right here do not worry." A voice called from the forest. "We were attacked suddenly, they told me to run."
He began tom walk towards them when Sasuke held out a kunai. "Tell me the truth." He demanded. "What really happened? "
Nakago looked surprised. "Whatever do you mean?"
"If you were attacked."Miku began. "Where did the attackers go? and how did they end up in their current states?"
Naruto began to roll towards them, mumbling something through his gag. Sasuke let go of her and rushed over to untie him only to be struck in the leg with a knife.
"Sasuke!" Miku started to run over but was stopped by a pair of strong arms.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He whispered in her ear."I don't want to harm you, m'Lady."
She shrugged him off, quickly backing up to create distance between the two of them. He had a sneer on his face that caused chills to shoot up her spine. This escalated quickly..
"Your sensei figured out the truth. It had to be done.." He explained. "You see.. I am a wanted murderer. That's what they label me as anyway, I think of myself as more of a.. garbage man cleaning up the filth in the streets. You know, cheating wife, misbehaving child. I just dealt with an unfair older brother before you guys came along."
"Then why did you ask for assistance?" She asked, taking a few steps back towards Sasuke. "Why did you need escorts?"
"Miku!" Sasuke called. She ignored him.
"Incase I was attacked." He chuckled. "I needed some.. protection. There are ANBU everywhere looking for me."
"Miku run!"
"Sorry but she can't run. If she tries..." His face contorted once again into a look of pure evil. "I will kill her. Now.. I still need an escort. Miku.. go collect your boyfriend. The others can stay here and rot."