The makeshift team had traveled for miles with no sight of Sasuke anywhere although they were sure they were heading in the right direction. Every few miles, Jugo would stop and ask any wildlife he could find about a black haired boy that looked a lot like the girl traveling with them, and all of them confirmed seeing him running that way. A few of the animals made mention of another young man traveling with him, his hair just as dark, but longer, and a deadened look in his eye. Jugo, knowing it must have been Itachi somehow, decided not to relay this information to Sakaria in fear it would cause her to travel recklessly ahead. After running for so long, Suigetsu finally stopped when they caught sight of a small village nestled in the woods.
"Let's take it easy for the night," Suigetsu whined tiredly, dragging his feet toward the village as the other two stood behind him.
"But what if the trail goes cold?" Sakaria asked, looking back in the direction they had been traveling. "We could catch up to Sasuke tonight if we-"
"Yeah, but whose to say Sasuke isn't gonna keep running all night?" Suigetsu asked, still walking away. "He's crazy enough to do it."
"Suigetsu..." Jugo said, looking over to him, "Don't you think it would be smarter if we continued moving in the direction we've been going? We can make camp somewhere ahead, but to go off course just to get to a village could waste a lot of time."
Suigetsu turned back, his face flat and annoyed, "Look, I'm sleeping in a real bed tonight. Even if I have to kill someone to do it." Sakaria tensed slightly at her companion's claim, but a bed did sound nice. Maybe there would be an inn they could stay in so Suigetsu wouldn't have to act out rashly. Jugo said nothing and started to walk in Suigetsu's direction, sighing. With Suigetsu being as stubborn as he was, he knew that they would have to go along or split up, and Jugo certainly didn't want to be responsible for Sakaria's well being since he could hardly control his rampages.
"Oy, fireball, you comin?" Suigetsu asked, still walking away. Sakaria looked one last time in the direction she knew her brother to be, then caught up to her group, not escaping the feeling of longing she had to find him.
Once inside the small village, it seemed everyone Suigetsu or Jugo looked at was traumatized and instantly headed the other direction. Sakaria couldn't blame them. With Suigetsu's sharp teeth and weird appearance, and Jugo's size, we must look like a band of circus freaks. She thought, watching as a group of girls ran to the other side of the street to get further away. I'm the only normal one among us...
"Well, I'd ask someone about a place to sleep, but looks like nobody wants to chat," Suigetsu said confidently. Something about bringing that much fear to people made him feel good.
Sakaria stopped and looked over at a little girl who was hiding behind a fish stand, staring up at them. "Hold on," She said, walking over and kneeling next to the girl who stayed behind the stand, only peeking her blue eyes out at Sakaria. "Hi there!" Sakaria said brightly, "We don't really know this place too well, and I was wondering if maybe you could help us find some place to stay for the night," she said, closing her eyes with a big smile.
"u-uhm... A place to sleep?" The little girl moused, starting to come out of her hiding spot until she saw Suigetsu smile at her and hid again. "I d-don't know if you've asked, b-but Ayako has a lodge a-a little ways down the r-r-oad." Sakaria smiled and stood, digging in her pocket for a moment. She pulled out a few ryo to hand the little girl who took them from her reluctantly.
"Thank you! Oh, and don't be scared of those two," Sakaria said, pointing her thumb behind her at her companions, "They look tough, but they're really just big sissies!" The little girl laughed and ran away to find her group of friends, suddenly at ease.
"Hey, nice goin," Suigetsu said, as Sakaria joined him again, "But ya didn't have to give her money, ya know?"
"Maybe she'll be able to get something she really wants now," Sakaria shrugged, "I mean, she did help us after all."
"Yeeah, but I could have gotten that information from anybody for free," Suigetsu said, pointing at his sword on his back. Sakaria rolled her eyes, smiling gently at his tough exterior.
The three walked into the lodge and were greeted by a light blue haired girl who smiled brightly at them. "Hi there! Welcome!" She was taller than Sakaria and sported a light green kimono, showing off her cleavage seductively. Sakaria looked her up and down, scowling a little and wondering if they were in a lodge or a brothel. The girl's blue eyes met hers for a moment, then, after popping a confident smirk, scanned the rest of the group and landed on Suigetsu.
"Do you have any rooms available?" Jugo asked, his face as emotionless as ever.
"Well, I'm not sure. Were you all wanting to get a separate room?" The girl asked, her eyes moving up and down Suigetsu and a small blush coming to her face. Something inside Sakaria started to burn as she watched the girl.
Without noticing her stares, Suigetsu walked up and leaned nonchalantly against the counter, "Hmm... I guess that depends on how much it would cost us to stay separately." He said, rubbing his chin.
"Well..." The girl blushed, looking up from the reservation book she was holding, "I could save you some money and only charge you for two rooms... and you could come and stay with me." She batted her eyelashes at him, and Suigetsu raised an eyebrow.
"Or," Sakaria said, suddenly stepping up to the counter and practically pushing Suigetsu out of the girl's line of sight, "You could charge us for two rooms anyway, since that's all we'll need." She turned to Suigetsu, "I'll stay with you and we can give Jugo some space... just in case." She tried to make it seem as though she was being thoughtful and keeping them safe from Jugo's urges, but in reality, she couldn't stand watching the innkeeper look at Suigetsu that way anymore.
Seeing right through her, Suigetsu smiled a sly, smug grin, and looked back over at the blue haired girl, doing his best to stoke the fire that was burning in front of him, "Hold on now, just why would you want me to come stay with you?" He teased.
"Well... I mean... I dunno. I could think of all kinds of fun things we could do..." The girl said with a giggle, her face turning an even deeper shade of red. Suigetsu watched as Sakaria snarled at her words.
"Hmmm... Fun huh?" Suigetsu purred, his eyes not leaving the Uchiha girl beside him. "Wanna show me what you mean?"
"Sure," the girl said, walking around the counter and extending her hand to place it on Suigetsu's chest.
It was then that Sakaria did push Suigetsu out of the way and snapped viciously. "Don't put your hands on him." The girl was shocked by this, then furrowed her eyebrows at Sakaria who was slightly shorter than her, but stood firm and confident. "Look, we just need two rooms. One for him," She pointed at Jugo, "And one for he and I." The girl, who was getting increasingly annoyed by Sakaria's alpha presence, flipped through her book.
"All I have are two rooms on separate floors," she said, almost gritting her teeth.
"Whatever," Sakaria snapped, snatching the keys from her hand as soon as she pulled them out.
"Don't you want to know what the cost is?" She asked sarcastically as Sakaria dragged Suigetsu down the hallway by his shirt.
"No," Sakaria called back. She could feel Suigetsu snickering in amusement as she pulled him down the hall.
"Well if you need anything..."
"We won't!" They started up the stairs.
"I wasn't talking to you!" The girl barked as the two headed upstairs and the red haired man accompanying him walked into his respective room on the first floor.
Sakaria opened the door quickly and dragged Suigetsu inside. After slamming it shut, she sat on the bed, pulling off her shoes. "What was all that about, girlie?" Suigetsu grinned, sitting beside her.
"I just didn't think she should have her hands all over you, that's all," she said, annoyed, "she's working. You would think she'd at least be professional."
"Mmm... I didn't see a problem with it," Suigetsu said, looking over at her with a sarcastic smile.
"Of course you didn't. You were practically eye fucking her from the second we walked in."
Suigetsu raised an eyebrow at this, dropping his amusement for a moment, "What are you talking about? I didn't even notice that girl until you started acting weird." He was all for fun and games, but didn't like being accused falsely.
"I wasn't acting weird," Sakaria reiterated, "I just didn't think she should put her hands all over you... You can't trust people. That's all."
"Are you sure you weren't just a little jealous?" Suigetsu mused.
"Jealous? Of what!?" Sakaria hadn't ever had this feeling before, but she knew her white haired friend must be right. Why else would that have bothered her so deeply?
"I think," Suigetsu said, scooting closer to her, "Someone doesn't like to share." Sakaria snarled slightly at this and turned away from him, disgusted by her own feelings. "Now you know how I felt when that guy with the ponytail stopped us in the woods." He said, grabbing her face and pulling it toward him. With her chin between his thumb and index finger, he grinned and pushed his forehead into hers. "I don't like sharing either." With that, their lips finally met, and Sakaria felt heat rush from every area of her body into her face while she settled into the kiss. Though she was embarrassed, especially for letting her jealousy get the best of her moments ago, she couldn't help feeling relieved that this moment was finally happening. She took in everything as Suigetsu's hand traced from her chin down her jawline and then toward the back of her neck, pulling her closer and sending chills down her entire body. He pulled away after a moment, pressing his forehead against hers again. "I'm glad you feel that way," he said, chuckling slightly, "Or else I might not have been able to do that." He looked into Sakaria's deep black eyes, which were wide with anticipation of what would happen next, and pulled away, grinning at her disappointment. "Let's head to bed. I'm exhausted."
"Oh... Okay," Sakaria was dumbstruck. Had that actually happened? She always thought she would have shared her first kiss with Shikamaru or someone relatively normal, but Suigetsu was anything but. Everything about him was different from his white hair and lilac eyes, all the way down to his sharp teeth that matched his quick witted personality. Yet, this man who was so obsessed with killing and causing trouble, had kissed her, and it felt so right. So perfect. She watched as Suigetsu pulled the blankets down on the bed she was still sitting on and started taking off his holster of water bottles and his sword, setting them in the floor beside him.
He looked down, noticing the lack of space in the room. "Hm. No place to sleep on the floor. I guess you'll have to share something." Suigetsu grinned, pulling off his shirt. "And you better not take up the entire bed." Sakaria quickly turned her head to focus on the floor as Suigetsu unbuttoned his pants and slid them off, standing in a pair of grey undershorts. "Where'd that fiery attitude go?" He teased.
"I..." She looked back up at Suigetsu, trying to look confident although her face was on fire. "I don't get you," she growled, standing up herself and pulling down the blankets. She started to crawl into bed, but Suigetsu's puzzled gaze stopped her.
"I don't get you, either," he said, pointing, "Are you gonna sleep in your clothes?"
"What else would I sleep in?" Sakaria asked, looking down at her outfit, confused. "Especially when you're practically naked!" Suigetsu laughed and walked over to her, causing Sakaria to flip over and sit on her side of the bed to face him, not trusting what he'd do if he managed to back her into a corner. "W-What are you doing?" She asked, watching as Suigetsu kneeled and ran his hands across her right thigh.
"Helping you out," he cooed, untying the tape she had on her leg to hold her weapons holster in place, "I know this can't be comfortable." Sakaria watched as Suigetsu unraveled the white tape, then pulled her holster from her leg. When his hands reached further to the button on her shorts, Sakaria's hand instinctively rose up to grab his, stopping him again. He raised an eyebrow. "You keep acting like this is a big deal... Don't you remember? I've already seen everything... and even if that hadn't happened, I taught you to swim and you were half naked. If I didn't do anything to you then, what makes you think I would now?" Sakaria's hand moved away, but Suigetsu looked up at her nervous expression and sighed. He then stood and leaned over her, pushing her to lie back on the bed. He pressed his lips gently against her forehead, then nuzzled his face next to her head to whisper in her ear as he felt his bare chest press against her tank top. "I'm not going to do anything you don't wanna do. I want you to be comfortable." He couldn't understand where this tender personality had come from. He'd never really been this way with anyone until now, but something about her drew him to want to make her feel safe. Sakaria nodded, then smiled herself.
"... You really are a big sissy aren't you?" She teased, running her hands from Suigetsu's sides to his back, then holding him for a moment until he pulled away, almost snarling. He slunk back down and pulled at the button of her shorts then pulled them off of her legs. After taking a deep breath to fight the urges building inside of him, he moved back up to her and pulled her up by her arms. In a few quick movements, he pulled her tank top over her head, taking in the gaze of her body once again before him in her black panties, lit up only by the moonlight coming through the window. He placed his hand on the side of her head, intertwining his fingers in her hair, and pulled her to him, kissing her again, then pulled away and jumped on his side of the bed.
"Goodnight," he said, leaving her half undressed and still seated in the same spot. Sakaria, completely dumbfounded, finally convinced her body to lie down and pulled the blankets over her. The feeling of Suigetsu's hands on her was complete bliss and she wanted him to turn over and hold her, but for some unknown reason, she couldn't convince herself to ask for this. She only hoped that at some point, Suigetsu wouldn't be able to resist and would come to her on his own. She thought about this for hours until finally drifting off to sleep.