A/N: I seem to be permanently late all the time now… hahaha? Enjoy!
Tinder: Dry wood or other combustible material used for lighting a fire.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.
Day 14: Tinder
Two pair of eyes kept a close watch on the hooded figure that sat at the bar. Green eyes turned their attention towards the food that came their way.
"Sasuke, the food's here." Haruno Sakura grinned widely as the waiter placed her bowl of udon in front of her. On the opposite side of the table, Uchiha Sasuke rolled his eyes,
"You do know that we have to keep our eyes on the target, right?" He whispered back but couldn't help his gaze being drawn towards her mouth-watering meal. She winked at him,
"Want a bite?" She offered him. He politely declined and instead took a sip of his tea. Sakura pouted slightly,
"You know that we need our energy to keep shadowing him, right? I bet he'd hear our stomachs grumbling from miles away." She explained before slurping her noodles; boy was she starving! Sasuke heaved a sighs he finally tore his eyes from the hooded figure,
"With how loudly you're slurping, I wouldn't be surprised if he heard you from miles away." He chastised slightly before he directed her chopsticks to his mouth to steal a mouthful. She huffed slightly,
"I'm just a normal person eating a bowl of udon… Is anything out of the ordinary?" She challenged. Suddenly, she felt herself grow drowsy and her grip on her chopsticks slackened. In front of her, Sasuke swayed in his seat as well. 'Shit, we've been drugged.' Were the last thoughts that passed through their hazy minds before their heads slammed into the table.
xxx
Sakura was the first to wake up; the fire element inside her worked hard to get rid of the drug in her system. Her mouth felt dry and stuffed, like there were cotton balls inside it. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open and it adjusted instantaneously with the dim lighting. She took in her surroundings and realised that she was lying on the ground with her hands and feet bound in rope behind her in some kind of warehouse. She pushed herself into a sitting position to get a better look of her surroundings and a small moan to her left caught her attention. Her head whipped around to find that hr partner was still groggy on the floor; his eyes blinked slowly into focus. 'Oh good, he looks mostly unharmed.' She thought in relief before she turned back to studying her environment…
The air was rather dry and dusty; and from the dark shapes that she could make out around them, it looked like they were in some sort of a dry wood storage; shit, that meant that she had to minimise her ability if they needed to fight. She called forth some of her element, just enough to singe the ropes that bound her. Rubbing her sore wrists, she made her way towards where Sasuke laid.
"Sasuke-kun, you feeling okay?" Sakura asked tentatively as she got rid of his ropes. Sasuke groaned inaudibly,
"I blame the udon; I knew you shouldn't have eaten that." He growled out. Sakura scratched her cheeks,
"Yeah I should have focused more on the mission…" She whispered back sheepishly. Sasuke sat up and looked around,
"Where are we?" He questioned as he rubbed the fog from his mind. Sakura shrugged,
"The most I can make out is that we're in a dry wood factory… Maybe you can spread out your element and check for signs of life, Sasuke-kun?" She suggested. Sasuke nodded and spread his element of air out,
"It seems we're not the only ones here, Sakura. There are monsters here with us, the kind that Konoha has been fighting against…" He frowned and as soon as the words left him, they both heard groans coming from all around them. They both called forth their elements as they got ready for battle. Sakura tied her waist long hair into a high ponytail and Sasuke braided his. Sakura tested out her element and also screamed in surprise when instead of an elegant flicker, her flames caused a small explosion in her hands. Sasuke gaped at her,
"Sakura, you've been in the organisation for a while now, could you at least try to control your flames?" He pleaded as the monsters inched closer. Sakura held her arms up,
"It wasn't me! The dust in the air is somehow enhancing my fire! If I'm not careful, I'll blow this whole place up!" She moaned in despair as the monsters attacked. Sasuke nodded,
"Okay Sakura, just try to keep your fire to a minimum and we should be fine." Sasuke advised her as his air swiped at the monsters, cleanly slicing them into pieces. Sakura huffed as she wrapped her fists in flames,
"Kind of tough when all your element wants to do is roam free and burn everything it touches." Sakura grumbled under her breath as her fist connected with the monsters, killing them instantly.
Sakura turned around just in time before a jaw connected itself with her shoulder. She yelped in surprise and she punched the monster back and her fire exploded erratically. The monster landed into a small pile of tinder and a small fire started. Sasuke immediately created a vacuum around the flames and extinguished it; all while giving Sakura THE look. Sakura stepped backwards,
"It was a reflex! Besides, if you can do that-" She gestured towards the vacuum,
"-Why can't you do it if I burn the whole warehouse down?!" She exclaimed. Sasuke sighed,
"Do you want to suffocate to death? Because that's how we're gonna die if I use the vacuum." Sasuke elaborated. Sakura sighed,
"I sure wish you were a water elemental at the moment…" She pouted. Sasuke rolled his eyes,
"You know just as much as I do that you'll end up arguing all the time. Besides, a water elemental is useless here… The place is fucking dry." Sasuke stated as he concentrated on the monster in front of him.
"And stop attacking so violently, Sakura. You're gonna get us killed if you're not careful." He cautioned.
"Don't worry, my strikes are accurate!" Sakura boasted as she accidentally slammed a burning monster into a whole pile of tinder. Her eyes widened at the huge flames that started spreading rapidly,
"Oops, my bad." She breathed out. Sasuke glared at her,
"I'm so done with you." He grounded out as he casted a bubble of air around them; the monsters screeched in agony as the fire lapped at them. Sasuke concentrated on ventilating the air around them; so that they'd have clean air to breathe. At his side, Sakura was busy absorbing the heat from the air so that they wouldn't burn their lungs as they inhaled it. Together, they worked in sync to safely get out of the burning warehouse.
xxx
They made it out alive, all dusty from the soot and the smoke of the flames; their hair singed and significantly shorter too. They both collapsed onto the ground I exhaustion once they were a safe distance away from the fire.
"I hope you're happy…" Sasuke grumbled out as his element was stretched to the limit. Sakura grinned from his side,
"Hey, at least we made it out alive! I can't say the same for the monsters though…" She chirped and wiped the soot from her face only to spread it instead. Sasuke shook his head,
"How are we a team again?" Sasuke questioned to no one in particular. Sakura hummed,
"We're a team because air strengthens fire? Also, we're kind of stuck together since our element called out to each other; so get used to it, we'll be together for a very long time." She chuckled breathlessly. Sasuke sat up,
"I should have gotten an earth elemental instead… At least they'll be quiet." He murmured. Seriously, his fiery partner could sometimes be quite a handful. Sakura followed suit and sat up as well; she looped an arm around his torso,
"Nahh, they'll just be stubborn and fight your every word." She teased him. Sasuke wrapped his arm around her shoulders,
"I should at least get someone with better control of their elements…" He jested back. Sakura gasped at him in mock indignation,
"What are you talking about?! With me around, we're the best and hottest couple there is!" She grinned at him and they sat close to each other; watching the glowing embers of what used to be a warehouse. Sakura looked up at Sasuke,
"So, what about the guy we were tailing?" Sakura questioned innocently. Sasuke's eyes widened,
"Shit."
~Up next, Day 15~