In the morning, the rain outside had ceased and Sakaria woke up in a haze, confirming that last night hadn't been a dream by the position she was sleeping in and the water soaked sheets and carpet. The entire room was a mess with blankets and sheets strewn haphazardly across the bed and floor, further proving that sleep had been the least of her concerns the night before. She sat up, looking around the room and winced as a sharp pain seeped from her neck. She lifted her hand to the area to hold it suddenly until the initial sting subsided to a gentle ache. She then stood and walked into the bathroom to look into the mirror, analyzing the inflamed area and the perfect outline of Suigetsu's jagged teeth that branded her otherwise pale skin. Parts of the wound were already beginning to scab in an attempt to heal and Sakaria sighed, hoping it wouldn't scar. Although the sensation pained her, she flipped her long, now dry hair over her shoulder in an attempt to hide the damage.
After brushing her teeth and getting ready for the day, Sakaria emerged from the bathroom again, half expecting Suigetsu to have come back into the room by now, but he hadn't. She found this odd, but decided to dismiss it, and walked down to the lobby to find the innkeeper leaning over her desk looking bored. "Good morning," Sakaria grouched, reaching into her pocket for her coin purse.
"Geez, you know the world is at war so... you could be a little friendlier?" The girl said while tapping a pen on the desk apathetically. "Especially since I had to listen to you and lover-boy all night." Sakaria smirked slightly at this as a small feeling of triumph spread through her.
"Sorry, we just don't know how to keep it down sometimes I guess," she chirped. The innkeeper rolled her eyes and told her the total for the two rooms, and Sakaria handed her the money. "Speaking of which, have you seen the guys I was traveling with anywhere?" She continued, looking around the lobby.
"I think they left earlier this morning... said something about grabbing breakfast at some yogurt place nearby." The girl suddenly grinned wickedly, "you mean prince charming didn't tell you they were heading out? He must not care about you that much if he just left you here."
Sakaria gnashed her teeth slightly, then rolled her eyes, deciding to let it go. "Which way did they go?" The innkeeper pointed, and Sakaria nodded and headed out the door, content to never see the blue haired woman again.
After walking along the streets and scanning over the markets, her hair still thrown over her shoulder for coverage, Sakaria stopped at a yogurt shop and looked inside the window to see Suigetsu and Jugo sitting at a table with several parfait glasses surrounding them. She sighed in a mixture of relief and annoyance. After walking inside, Suigetsu flashed a big, snaggletoothed grin at her and motioned her over with his spoon still in hand. "Hey there, girlie. How'd you sleep?" He beamed, seemingly full of energy.
Sakaria slid in the booth next to him, almost reluctantly. What's he so chipper for? "I slept fine, thanks." Her voice came off as cold, masking her confusion. This caused Suigetsu to frown a little.
"Hm. I expected you to be a little happier to see me," he grumbled, his free hand sliding to her lap and intertwining his fingers in hers. Sakaria looked over at him and pulled away slightly, uncomfortable with showing so much affection in front of Jugo, who was as stone faced as ever.
"Well, you did leave without asking me if I wanted breakfast," Sakaria sighed, leaning her elbows on the table as Suigetsu, who was slightly offended, pulled his hand back, and took another bite of yogurt.
"I thought I'd let you sleep..." He said, scooping more of his breakfast onto his spoon without looking at her. "You seemed tired." He side eyed her, grinning slightly. Sakaria paid no mind to this and turned her attention to Jugo.
"What about you? What's your excuse?" She teased flatly.
Jugo looked shocked momentarily then shrugged. "Suigetsu said you'd be there when we got back."
"Thanks a lot guys," She huffed. Taking her seriously, Suigetsu waved the waitress over to them and ordered her something to eat, still confused by her stoic mood. Where had the playful girl he had spent the night with gone? Was she regretting last night already?
A few agonizing moments of silence passed and the waitress brought Sakaria a parfait glass filled to the brim with lavender yogurt. Suigetsu licked his lips slightly and smiled after finishing his sixth cup himself. "I think you'll really like that. That's my favorite."
"Why does that mean I'll like it?" Sakaria asked, her voice sounding harsh and almost venomous. Suigetsu, still confused and slightly disheartened, shrugged.
"I dunno. I just thought you'd want to try it at least." He leaned his cheek on his arm that was rested on the table, suddenly trying to appear uninterested, though, in reality, his feelings were hurt.
Sakaria took note of this and scooped a spoonful of the light purple food into her mouth. He was right, she did really like it. After eating it rather quickly considering how hungry she'd been, Sakaria turned to Suigetsu with the last bite on her spoon. "You want the last bite?" She asked feebly in an attempt to be nicer.
Suigetsu looked up at her, lifting his head from his hand, then smiled slightly. "Nah, I think I've had enough."
Jugo raised his eyebrow at this as Sakaria shrugged and put the spoon in her mouth. He'd never seen Suigetsu turn down food like that. He's focusing on her neck an awful lot today... is he actually going to try and kill her? He thought, genuinely not putting it past his companion.
After they finished their meal, the group left, heading back in the direction they'd come from. The only thing that was heard amongst the trio was the gravel of the trail crunching beneath their feet until Jugo said, "You're wearing your hair differently, Sakaria."
This jolted the girl as she made sure to comb her thick hair over her shoulder more in order to ensure the mark on her neck was hidden. "Oh. Uh, yeah. Sometimes I just like to.. Uhm... wear it this way." Her eyes darted to Suigetsu as he snickered knowingly behind her.
"I think I like it the other way," Suigetsu teased, cutting his eyes at Sakaria who snarled at him, silently telling him to shut up. Jugo suddenly regretted ever bringing it up.
"How long do you think it'll take us to get to Sasuke?" Sakaria asked in an attempt to remind Suigetsu they'd be seeing her brother soon.
"Who knows," Suigetsu said dismissively, "I'm sure we'll catch up to him sooner rather than later." He seemed entirely unfazed at the thought of Sasuke seeing his mark on her because he was. In fact, the idea sort of excited him a bit. Meddling was one of his favorite things to do after all.
"Apparently, Sasuke's been at the same spot for quite a while," Jugo chimed in, looking away from the bird that had perched on his finger while the other two talked. "If we hurry, we should catch up to him in no time."
"Hear that, fireball? You ready to see your brother again?" Suigetsu said playfully. These words caused Sakaria to stop in her tracks, and her two companions turned to her confused. Her stance seemed paralyzed and fearful as if impending doom was approaching them. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"I..." Her voice trailed off until tears beaded in her eyes, "What if he doesn't want to see me?" Jugo was taken aback by this. Why was she asking this now? Especially considering they were so close to finding her brother. Conversely, Suigetsu walked to her and put his hand on the back of her neck, almost forcing her to walk forward.
"Of course he'll want to see you," he reassured, grinning, "Do you really think Jugo and I would have gone through all this trouble to get you here if we didn't think Sasuke would be over the moon that you were with us?" With that, Sakaria wiped her tears with her forearm, straightened herself, and the three continued into the woods once again.
Jugo talked to several of the forest animals along the way, all confirming that Sasuke hadn't left the area he'd been in for quite some time. The trek through the woods seemed short lived and they reached a large cave much sooner than any of them expected. "In here," Jugo said, heading inside. Sakaria reached out suddenly and grabbed his sleeve without looking at him. "Hm?" He stopped and turned his head to her.
"Do you think... maybe you could go in and just... warn him?" Jugo and Suigetsu both raised their eyebrows at her request.
"Warn him?" Jugo repeated her question, confused.
"I mean..." Sakaria's voice trailed off as she kicked the dirt underneath her meekly after letting go of Jugo's sleeve. "I'm sure Sasuke is probably dealing with a lot of stuff in his head right now... so maybe things would go over better if you guys told him I'm here instead of me just walking in."
Jugo started to interject, but Suigetsu put his hand up to him and walked back toward Sakaria, closing the distance between them so she had to look up at him. "How about we all walk in and you can hide somewhere until we let him know you're here. That way we know you're not gonna get cold feet and run off." He was saying this partially due to her sudden change in behavior since the night before. Sakaria nodded and Suigetsu grabbed her shoulder through the silky locks draped over it and dug his thumb into her wound intentionally as if to remind her it was there. "Don't run off on me now," he teased. Sakaria winced and pulled away slightly, gathering her confidence as she pushed past them to walk into the mouth of the cave, intent on finding a hiding spot.