The mission had been a success. At least in the eyes of her captain. The moon was setting and the air grew cooler around them as they sped across the tops of the small village in an effort to make it to the forest and make camp as quickly as possible.
Team Seven, all promoted and old, had been sent out as a protection detail for a politician who was up for re-election in a village near the border of Leaf and Sand. The boys got to stay in the shadows or posed as guests.
Sakura got to play the part of the man's date. And while he wasn't the worst man Sakura had ever laid her eyes on, his nervous grip had certainly bruised her waist and he'd kissed her cheek and mouth thrice. And because she was on 'guard duty', he never let her leave his side. Not for a bathroom break, not to grab a bite to eat. The entire night she'd been starved and the hanger was setting in the more she thought about it.
The yukata Sakura wore refused to stay upon her shoulders as she jumped from roof to roof. The multiple layers almost gave her pause as she moved, thankfully it was modified to allow for the movement Sakura could need. The black base with elements of red, gold, pink, and purple was stunning, and the obi was a nice scarlet with white accents.
Sakura hated the fact that she would most likely have to return it to the outfitting division. She would start saving up her ryo to purchase something as ornate and beautiful as this for some festival—if she ever decided to dress up for them. Something usually went wrong and she was called to the hospital or to fix some drunk friend's mistake. Yukata weren't the best for things like that.
Naruto's laugh cut through the air. She caught his snarky grin as he met her gaze. "I still can't believe you went through with ki—"
She shot him a glare and shook her fist, a silent promise to punch him to a pulp while he slept. It silenced him before he could finish his thought aloud.
And then he looked ready to speak again.
She quickly opened her mouth to truly bite his head off when Kakashi held a hand up, the usual signal to stop moving, as he landed on the next roof.
"What's up?" Sakura asked, taking the moment's break to tighten the obi tied around her waist. She couldn't wait to get out of the village and set up camp so she could change. Dancing and posing as glorified arm candy? Easy. Traveling in this dress? Troublesome.
And then there was the matter of the jasmine oil she had been drenched in.
Ugh I still reek of it. I won't be able to drink tea for a good while.
Which was a shame, she had just picked up a wonderful blend of it on her way home from a mission in Tea.
"I felt a chakra flare to our North, patterned, slightly familiar—but I'm not sure," Kakashi pointed in the direction he felt it. "We need to be on guard. Who knows what else is going on in this village."
Sakura closed her eyes, trying to see if she could sense it, but there was nothing other than the faint tingle from her teammates. She wasn't much of a sensor anyways.
Sasuke scratched at the back of his neck. "Do you think we should go check it out?"
The team gave a collective hum. Naruto spoke first. "I say we do. If it's familiar in any way, it could be an ally in need—or an enemy we should be on the watch for."
"Agreed." Sakura nodded.
Changing could wait for a friend in need any day of the week. Even if she could feel the oil mixing with sweat as they ran down her spine. The light makeup on her face was still holding strong last she had seen of it—but wouldn't discount the fact that despite the powder it had been set with, that it would start melting off too. She assumed the cool air was the only reason it hadn't done so already.
"Well," Kakashi drawled. "It's been decided. We'll check it out."
And so, they headed North.
Sakura kept an eye on the streets below for anyone she might recognize. At first, the streets were filled to the brim with stalls still open for business despite the hour of night, lights strung about between the buildings that let out warm air and scents of all kinds. Sakura eyed a stand that looked to be selling candied strawberries. The desire to double back before they left grew strong.
The lights faded between the buildings, but people still loitered in the streets, only now they looked worse for wear. An unpleasant stench filled the air, and for the first time this night, Sakura was glad she was drenched in the floral oil.
Naruto gulped audibly. "That doesn't look good."
They all paused and followed Naruto's pointed finger.
A group of what appeared to be mercenaries. White masks, speckled with blood, covered the lower halves of their faces, bandages, and cloth-covered their scalps. They were clad in tight-fitting clothes that blended into the air around them. She couldn't make out any symbols on the plates that covered their vital points, but still, she agreed.
She looked at Kakashi. "You think it was their chakra you felt?"
He shook his head. "No, I don't think they would be the type to flare a pattern. They look fine, I'm certain that blood isn't theirs."
"Let's keep looking. By the blood on their faces, I say their targets are around here. My bet's on that group giving off the flare."
Sasuke looked between them. "Should we split up?"
"No, we stick together." Kakashi then pressed a finger to his lips and signaled them to keep moving.
They looked down at every alleyway they passed, and everything seemed for naught when Sasuke spoke up. "Suna nin."
She saw them duck into the next alley, a four-man team, all limping visibly. The one that stood most decently kept looking over their shoulder. They didn't look to be in good shape either though.
Naruto bolted, not waiting for an order or plan to be formed.
"Let's go." Sasuke sighed.
The sound of a punch filled the air as Sakura landed in the alley behind the boys.
"Woah, we're here to help!" Naruto's harsh whispers held a bit of a lisp.
"You don't sneak up on people like that you brat." The one who limped the least spoke.
She recognized that voice, though muffled behind an Anbu mask, that lazy drawl that still sounded threatening could only be produced by one man.
She'd bumped into him a few times when helping the hospital in Suna. Be it his hate for speaking or her busy schedule, they hadn't interacted much past a few pleasant greetings and trading notes on a few samples.
They were nice conversations, though. Sakura wouldn't have minded getting to speak about a few more theories with him sometime. But that time wasn't now.
Now time was don't die time.
"We are here to help, though. We can set up camp outside the village, wait enough to get healed and get you to the nearest fit hospital in Sand. We'll carry you as needed. Let's get moving." Kakashi stepped further into the alley and helped one of the Suna-nin carry their teammate just past a large dumpster. Sasuke and Naruto took the other nin off of Sasori and started moving down the alleyway.
"We can't keep moving too much farther, though. Fox has been hit pretty hard. You're a medic, can we get patched up here?" One of the other masks spoke up, a bat, Sakura thought.
Sakura stepped closer to Sasori. "Not the best conditions, but if needed I can. Let's just try to get out from the open, hidden behind something at least if we can't find an open place. I can heal up anything that could slow us down. What happened—"
A voice sounded behind them. "I think they're this way. Check all these alleys."
Sasori, hidden behind a tortoise mask, took a wide stance. "No time. Looks like we have to fight." He lifted his arms and suddenly jerked forward, cursing.
"Ready or not, here we come." The voice sounded closer this time. "They aren't in this one either."
An idea popped into her head. A stupid idea—but an idea all the same.
She looked at Kakashi. "Keep everyone behind that dumpster." Kakashi nodded, Naruto and Sasuke faltering a second before complying, too far away to do anything else. Everyone was hidden from sight in less than a moment.
Sasori moved to follow. Sakura gripped his shoulder, stopping him.
Sasori lifted his head. "What are you—"
"Sorry about this." She ripped the mask off his face and flung it behind the dumpster.
Sasori's eyes went wide with shock and she wrapped a leg around his waist and used the momentum to spin herself against the wall of the building behind them, using chakra in her other foot to hold herself up to keep her weight off of Sasori, whose arms were braced against the wall. With his back hunched and body leaning, she had an inch of height on him.
And then, she kissed him.
Sasori stiffened a moment, his mouth opening slightly in what she thought was shock. She took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.
She quickly undid her obi, letting it fall. Yukata now hanging open, she wrapped an arm around his neck and rooted her hand in his hair. His body and gear, and her hand now covered by the draped yukata, she started healing the trace wounds along the surface of his body. A few bruises on his back and chest. Anything internal could be fixed later. Getting him to look normal was priority.
He slipped his arms under the shield of her yukata after he dropped his pack to the ground beside their legs, well hidden.
Soon, his fingers started dancing against her skin. Trailing patterns and designs that left a fire in their wake.
Shadows fell across the ground.
She gave a sharp tug at his hair, drawing some kind of sound from his mouth as she mixed it with a moan of her own.
Someone cursed. She drew her head to the side and Sasori moved his own to the crook of her neck, peppering it with kisses. She gasped as he bit the skin atop her jugular.
The three mercenaries from earlier stood at the entrance of the alley, Sakura noted the symbol of Ald on their chest. A group of murders for hire.
Sasori's breath was hot as he moved to her clavicle, not even phased by the presence of the men who had been trying to murder he and his team. She spoke the first thing that came to mind.
"It usually costs to watch on a normal night. But, I don't do kinky stuff like that with virgins. Unless," She made show of looking down at Sasori and drawing up his chin with her finger. "Did you invite them, dollface?" She gave her best shot at sounding seductive.
"No." He growled, straightening his spine he pressed his nose against hers. "And I'm certain I paid for the whole night, so they can take a hike." His glare was murderous. He pressed his pelvis and torso against hers, grinding her spine against the wall. The thin material of her yukata did nothing to protect her from the scratches she was sure were forming.
He's going to kill me. I can feel it. No sleeping tonight, only fear and death. And fear of death.
She laughed, hoping not to sound too nervous, and tapped his nose. "My oh my. You most certainly did." She turned her gaze back to the group and gave a slight wave, doing her best not to mind that she'd fully exposed herself to them. Her stomach was freezing. She was thankful for the under bindings she wore. "You'll have to head to Madam Carp's. Tell them Cherry sent you, you'll be plenty taken care of—"
"Would you shut up!" The man standing in the middle of the three barked. "Have you seen any Sand ninja about? They've taken something of ours and we want it back." He stepped further into the alley.
She gasped and held a curled hand to her lips. "There are ninja about? That sounds dangerous." She gave a little shudder.
"Don't worry, I can protect you. Maybe that means it's time we go back to my place?" Sasori said, kissing her once more. His hand moved to cover her chest.
"I like the sound of that." She giggled.
His lips were dry as they moved across her, but were quickly smoothing out as their kiss deepened.
"Forget them. We have targets to find." Another harsh voice sounded, and soon, the men left. They didn't break apart for several moments. Be it fear of the men returning or the fact that her mind felt totally lost as Sasori deepened the kiss once more.
"You guys can stop sucking face now, that's gross." Naruto hissed.
Sakura jerked her head backward, bashing it against the wall. She swore, and so did Naruto.
"My eyes! Teme she's naked!" He cried.
Sakura quickly crawled off Sasori, who now leaned against the wall and wiped his mouth, smudging the lipstick she'd left on him.
"I am not naked. It was the only thing I could think of." She hissed in response.
"Oh? Jumping me is the first thing that comes to your mind. I'll remember that." He smirked at her as she fastened the obi about her waist again. She tried to stop the burning in her cheeks.
"See if I save your backside next time." She looked to Kakashi, whose one visible eye was crinkled in amusement.
"Let's get them back to camp and get patched up. We should have enough rations and food for you guys too if you're lacking. You can fill us in on what happened when we're safe." Kakashi delegated who would carry who and they set off. Sakura started walking down the alley, only to be caught by the arm by Sasori.
His mouth pressed against her ear. "I still get the rest of the night to enjoy you, correct?"
She blushed and kept on walking, doing her best not to pay attention to the way Sasori smirked and hit his lip as he tied his mask back upon his face. Or think about the way he felt pressed against her earlier. Or how his fingers had danced across her as they kissed.
She wasn't thinking about it at all.