Chapter 04

The sky turned deep black once again after the sun gave way to the familiar soothing presence of the bright full moon. It grew peacefully quiet inside the woods as towering shadows covered the surroundings. Only the soft whispers of the breeze and the gentle rustles of the leaves echoed among the slumbering trees and animals inside the forest.

Team 7 had already finished setting up the camp and were now gathered near the warmth of Sasuke's bonfire. They've already eaten dinner, so all they have to do now was to rest and relax. They have to get ready for the journey tomorrow, after all.

However, there was one problem. How could they enjoy themselves if the tension that lingered all around them seemed unusually thick?

Luckily enough, there was one person who didn't seem to be affected by the uneasiness...

...and that was mainly the reason why the members of team 7 were such in a bad mood.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan..." Sasuke heard the lecher sigh in utmost bliss.

Sasuke was calmly leaning against one of the trees as he watched the rather... irritating scene unfold before him. He was supposed to be staring at the bonfire without a care in the world, but the lecher's annoying fake moans and cries kept on distracting him.

He watched at the corner of his eye as his pink-haired teammate continued to sit beside their charge. She was busy tending to the lecher's bumps and bruises.

"Damn lucky perverted bastard." Sasuke heard Naruto grumble under his breath. The fox boy was sitting cross-legged near the bonfire and was glaring at the grinning Henta.

Again, the lecher let out a contented sigh.

The fox boy snorted. The young Uchiha tore his gaze away from the two.

Too disgusting...

"I-I'm... s-sorry, Henta-san..." Sasuke heard Sakura say. He could tell from the tone on Sakura's voice that her apology was forced. He couldn't help but look at them again. "I got uhh..." Her hand shook as she rubbed the healing cream against the lecher's cheek. "...a little... carried away." She muttered before she forced herself to smile at him.

Sasuke admired the girl's patience for their charge. The lecher had just violated her... privacy. Anyone would have killed Henta by now after pulling a prank like that, but Sakura...

She actually had the guts to be the one to ask for forgiveness!

Sasuke didn't know if he should be amazed at the girl's determination to make their mission a success, or just plain irritated because Henta was still alive and actually had the nerve to enjoy Sakura's presence!

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan..." The lecher's voice sounded so... lecherous to him. Naruto's back tensed. "Forgive me, too. I couldn't help it..." When Sakura turned to her side to get something inside her bag, Henta's face leaned closer to her.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Naruto growled warningly.

"You're so..."

"Oh no, you DON'T!" Naruto suddenly bolted upright. He grabbed Sakura by the waist and pulled her away from Henta's puckered lips.

"Naruto!" Sakura gasped. "What are you doing?"

The blonde glared angrily at the innocent-looking lecher. "He tried to kiss you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he shoved her behind him. "Stop looking so damn innocent, pervert!"

Henta blinked at him. "What are you talking about, Naruto-san?"

"I swear... after this mission..." Naruto gritted his teeth. "I'm gonna beat you up REAL good."

"Naruto..." Sakura sounded tired. She gently laid her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Calm down already." She whispered to him and walked towards Henta to sit beside him again.

"B-But, Sakura-chan...!"

"Henta-san... can you lean your cheek a bit closer? I'm going to apply this cream." She ignored Naruto's protests as she reached out for Henta's face again. Sasuke saw Naruto's face go red in anger when the lecher's smile widened even more.

Sasuke scowled.

He was kinda hoping that Sakura would beat the hell out of the annoying lecher.

Just as he was about to turn away in disgust yet again, a scream jolted him out of his thoughts. He raised an eyebrow at them when he saw Henta grasping his cheek in pain.

"W-What the heck?" Henta stuttered as he inched away from the calm-looking kunoichi. "What is t-that..? It hurts!" He pointed at the small container that Sakura was holding in her hand.

"Oh, this?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sakura's medicine in order to find out what drove Henta to become one of those stuttering idiots. Sakura held the medicine in front of their charge.

The medicine looked quite familiar...

Realization dawned upon Sasuke's face.

A smirk tugged at his lips.

His dark eyes drifted towards Naruto's direction. He noted that the dobe wasn't angry anymore. Sasuke assumed that he must have recognized the medicine, too, because he was grinning broadly now.

"I made this medicine just for you, Henta-san!" Sakura smiled brightly at their slightly scared charge. "Come on... Let me put it on you... It'll make you feel... better." Sakura's smile was unwavering. Sasuke could tell that she was enjoying this.

Naruto snickered. "Aren't you the lucky one, ne pervert?" The fox boy asked as he enjoyed the way Henta's face turned deathly pale. Naruto was sitting cross-legged again near the bonfire. He wore a really big grin on his goofy face as he watched their teammate and their charge interact with one another.

The young Uchiha glanced at the bonfire. For some reason, he didn't mind the lecher's groans and cries anymore.

In fact, he relished every single one of them.

Sakura felt herself relax at the sound of Henta's muffled cries of pain. Hell yeah! Inner-Sakura laughed inside her head. That'll teach you for being such a big pervert! She applied more pressure on one of Henta's bruises. This caused their charge to squirm in agony.

Sakura giggled to herself not because of Henta's contorted expression, but because she remembered a funny memory that happened between his teammates and her a few months before. She remembered how Naruto and Sasuke tried their very best not to scream in agony while she put her medicine on their bruises. The day after that, their bruises were gone for good and they were good as new!

She bit her lip to force down a laugh. Naruto had a really hilarious expression plastered on his face back then!

Sakura was about to continue her torture on Henta using her infamous homemade medicine when something fell down from Henta's sleeve. The soft breeze carried it away from him. Soon enough, it landed beside her. A paper...? She glanced at Henta to ask what it was, but the said charge was still far too busy writhing in pain. He didn't seem to be aware about the paper... or anything else for that matter.

She reached out to pick the paper from the ground. It's... a picture? She thought in surprise as she turned it over and saw a picture of a young woman smiling back at her. She grew curious. "Henta-san?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah?" Henta was still in a daze. He looked like he was going to pass out any minute now.

Sakura felt slightly guilty.

"Who is she?" Sakura held out the picture in front of his face. Henta focused all his attention on the picture that Sakura was holding. The girl almost jumped back in surprise when Henta's eyes widened in shock before he grabbed the picture in her hand in one swift motion.

"Eh?" Naruto was also surprised at Henta's strange actions. "What's wrong with you, pervert?"

"None of your business!" Their charge snapped back at Naruto in an unsually harsh tone. He hid the picture inside his shirt.

Sakura was surprised. "Henta-san...?" She had never seen Henta this upset before! She grew even more curious when a bead of sweat trailed down his cheek. His eyes hesitated a bit before he looked at her again.

Team 7 waited for him to talk. They watched him let out a huge sigh before his expression changed and he smiled at them again. "She's..." He paused. "... my lover. She's the girl whom I was telling you guys about!"

Sakura frowned at his answer. Was he... lying?

Her gaze unconsciously drifted to Sasuke's direction. He was glaring at Henta. Sasuke-kun's suspicious, too... Sakura thought to herself. But... why would Henta lie to them like that?

"Really?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I thought you were just making that whole bullsh... I mean, story up!"

Sakura expected Henta to snap back at Naruto with a witty remark, but weirdly enough, he just shrugged.

After that, everyone grew silent again.

"Well!" Sakura exclaimed in an attempt to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. "Let's all go to sleep."

A couple of hours had already passed since Sasuke's bonfire burned up its last remaining strength. Its remains left a trail of thin gray smoke that seemed to quietly sneak its way up into the dark and cloudless heavens from above.

It was already past midnight. Team 7 and their charge were already safely tucked in each of their respective sleeping mats. The small comfort that their blankets provided them was their only source of warmth as they fought against the coldness that surrounded the woods.

Not a sound could be heard from any of them as they continued to lie down there with their eyes closed and their breathing even. There were a few rustles and movements every now and then, but that was all.

No talking. No shouting. No growling. No screaming.

For once, silence reigned among them for a very long time.

And yet, not one of them was sleeping.

The reason was simple enough. They were far too busy keeping their senses alert on a certain person's movements.

One should never take things too lightly whenever there's a pervert around... especially if he was sleeping somewhere near you...

Sakura heard some muffled noises from Naruto's direction. The fox boy was positioned beside her and was muttering something under his breath. Sakura wasn't sure if he was talking in his sleep or what...

After that, she heard some rustlings. It seemed like they were coming from Sasuke's direction. Her gaze turned towards the dark-haired Uchiha and noticed that Sasuke had rolled on his side and was now facing her. She couldn't see his face since he was positioned a good distance away from her, so she couldn't tell if he was asleep or not.

Sakura couldn't take the tension anymore. She wanted to sleep so badly! But how in the heck could she sleep when a pervert was on the loose?

She tilted her head up to steal a glance from the said pervert. He was positioned somewhere near one of the trees and had his back turned towards them.

She tore her gaze away from Henta and pulled her blanket up to her chin. Is he really sleeping...? She asked herself as she forced herself to remain wide awake. She wouldn't dare give Henta a chance to take advantage of her tonight!

Minutes passed by and Sakura found herself falling dangerously into a deep slumber. She wanted to pinch her hand to keep herself awake, but she couldn't get her hands to move anymore.

Just as she was about to give in and let sleep take a hold on her, a shadow loomed over her face. Her drowsiness was immediately thrown aside as her ninja instincts kicked in.

And a resounding slap was heard.

"Ow, Sakura-chan... What did you do that for...?" Naruto groaned as he rubbed his sore cheek in pain.

Sakura was more than surprised. She quickly sat up and glared at the frowning fox boy. "Naruto...? What the heck are you doing?" She demanded. He nearly gave her a heart attack!

"I was just checking up on you..." The fox boy muttered before his lips turned into a pout. Sakura felt slightly guilty for slapping Naruto like that. "I don't trust that pervert."

"Neither do I." Sakura mumbled. "But, thanks for being worried about me." She gave Naruto one of her most charming smiles. This caused the fox boy to blush deep red. "But don't surprise me like that ever again! Now go to sleep!" She gestured for him to return to his mat and sleep. Naruto hesitated at first, but Sakura glared at him again so he was forced to do what he was told.

A few seconds later, Naruto was already fast asleep.

She sweatdropped.

She let out a deep sigh. Oh, how she envied Naruto...

Just as she was about to lay down, a shadow towered over her once again. She turned around and nearly cried out in surprise when she found Henta grinning down at her with his arms outstretched. "Sakura-chan... Can I sleep next to you? I'm... scared."

Her vein twitched. You sick...! This pervert must be up to something... "Henta-san..." She muttered to him in annoyance. "Go back to your place and sleep."

"Come on, Sakura-chan..." The pervert persisted. He turned to crawl beside her. Sakura's eyes unconsciously drifted back to Naruto's direction.

Only to hear the said fox boy snoring loudly in his sleep.

"Go away, Henta-san!" Sakura hissed when she felt him touch her hand. She inched away from him and glared at him angrily. "I said, go back to sleep in your own mat!"

Henta ignored her and continued to advance towards her. "Sakura-chan... This is our last night together. Can't I just sleep beside you just this once?" He said, his tone pleading.

"No!" Was Sakura's immediate reply. "Now get away from me, you pervert, or I'll smack your face!"

"Smack? You mean kiss? Okay!" His grin widened even more as he laid his hands on her shoulders. He closed his eyes and leaned in towards her.

Sakura felt her blood began to boil. Inner-Sakura was demanding release. "Henta... you big..!"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence, however, because someone had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from Henta. A hand reached out and whacked Henta at the back of his head. The pervert fell down to the ground with a soft thud. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and found out that he was unconscious.

"So damn annoying."

Sakura was shocked at the sound of Sasuke's voice. She looked up and saw him staring down at her with a cool expression on his face. "S-Sasuke-kun..?"

Sasuke ignored her and let her go. He stood up and grabbed the now unconscious pervert by the shirt and dragged him towards Henta's sleeping mat. As soon as he arrived at Henta's place, he let go of his shirt and dropped him there. Their charge bumped his head on the ground, but Sasuke didn't seem to give a damn.

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat when Sasuke turned to look at her. Even in the darkness, she could feel his eyes piercing right through her. Her mouth instantly went dry.

"There." He said. "I've knocked him out. He won't be bothering you for a while." He scowled. "Now go to sleep. You guys are keeping me awake with all those noises."

Sakura was surprised. Sasuke knocked Henta out... so she could sleep? Sakura got up from her mat and slowly walked towards him. She could feel Sasuke's eyes watching her every move. She started to blush. It's a good thing it's quite dark...

She looked down at Henta and poked him several times on his side to see if he really was sleeping. She wanted to make sure... When Henta didn't respond, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Uhh... thanks, Sasuke-kun..." She turned to look up at Sasuke, but blinked when she didn't see him standing there. She saw him walking towards his own sleeping mat.

She got nervous when Sasuke stopped and tilted his head towards her. "What are you standing there for?" He raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "Go to sleep." He repeated as he turned to lie down again.

Sakura nodded and rushed to her sleeping mat. With a big smile on her lips, she snuggled her face against her blanket.

She could finally go to sleep! And it was all thanks to her dear Sasuke-kun!

Sleep claimed her eventually. But if only she had stayed wide awake for a moment longer, she would have seen the cold glare that Sasuke recieved from a certain person.

Well... Too bad.

To be continued…