The bright burning light of the fire was comforting against Hanare's cheeks, and she did not hesitate to further lean in toward its source to get more of that heat that contrasted sharply with the cold night air surrounding them. She had been sitting by the fire by herself, trying to cook the meager meat she had managed to steal from their not-so-well-supplied food reserves. Only her thoughts started to wander off and she lost track of time and now all she got was burned blackish-meat. Well she had seen worse, so she was bent on eating it anyway. Just as she was glaring at her now disgusting meal, Sasuke came out of the clearing where most tents in the camp stood, and took a sit on a rock next to hers, not even bothering to greet her. She naively waited for him to say something. He had not talked to her in days. She often saw him, coming in in the early morning from her watch duty just as he was heading to their underground headquarters.

Even though he was far from being what a normal person would consider sociable, he had at least come to develop basic social skills with the teammates he directly worked with. But he seemed to have lost those few skills in the last few days. She could not remember the last time he even greeted her properly. A quick nod was the most she had gotten out of him at her repeated attempts to talk to him lately. And that was getting really tiring. She could see that something was deeply troubling him. Sasuke had always been an unusually quiet person, but this level of aloofness was out of character, even for his standards.

"What's on your mind?" she asked, her tone light, trying to cover her deep concern for him. She refrained from laying a hand on his forearm. They no longer had such a dynamic and she respected that. It's just that sometimes she got those urges back and she had to control them.

He did not answer her. Sasuke only ever spoke when he thought it was necessary. And he clearly thought that it wasn't the case now. Just her luck! Hanare sighed heavily and took another bite of the overcooked meat resting on the wooden stick she held in her hand. She chewed it impatiently and swallowed it whole before raising her head again and giving him an angry look. Only he wasn't looking at her so that too was quite a useless move on the stoic Uchiha.

"Hanare…" he warned, still not looking her way. Right, at least he had felt that look.

"What?!"

"Stop it." His tone had that edge. Too bad it didn't scare her.

"I'll stop it if you tell me," she said coyly, finally holding his gaze with hers when he turned his head to look at her with his infamous stare. Typical.

"Hn," he nearly growled.

"Did I just hear something?" she teased.

"Hana-"

"Any news about Sakura?" she interrupted him.

That got his full attention and she caught the ghost of sadness playing on his handsome face before he schooled his features into his usual stern expression.

"Nothing so far," he said wearily.

"It's been weeks," Hanare supplied.

"Hn."

"Then why hasn't she come out yet? Being undercover for too long is no good in the current situation."

"We've had no intel on her or from her since ten days," he said while running a hand through his messy hair.

A few silent minutes passed between them, neither of them moving or talking, both too caught up in their meddling thoughts to carry on with the conversation. Hanare eyed Sasuke from the corner of her eye, noticing the tired lines under his eyes and the way his hands involuntarily twitched every now and then.

"You should get out of that cave sometimes. Being locked up is starting to affect you," said Hanare gently. "And not in a good way if you want my opinion."

"Whatever," he simply replied. Typical again.

"Why do you stay down there, anyway?" she asked, taking another bite of the burned meat.

Once more, she got no answer to her clearly voiced question. So she took another bite of her meager dinner and gave him her best glare. This time at least he saw it. Good.

Bracing herself for what was to come, what she might unleash with just a few words, she dropped her gaze to the floor in front of her feet, contemplating the moist earth beneath her sandals. She did not know how to say it, for she did not know much about what may or may not have actually taken place. All she had were her suspicions and glimpses of information. But deep down, she knew she would hate herself if she did not voice her concerns to Sasuke.