Sakura heard the sounds of steadily flowing water, the Uchiha slowed to a stop. Nozomi-san and the emerald eyed four year old stopped on the same branch as him and listened as he started to speak.

"We can only stop for about fifteen minutes, it's probably a good idea to have some lunch though."

"Very well," The crimson haired lady turned to the younger girl as she continued, "You rest here with Uchiha-san, I'll go fill up our canteens at the river." Obeying the silent command Sakura dug through her things and pulled out her empty canteen. Hopefully they wouldn't be travelling for too long since the heat of the sun had been glaring down on them ever since they had started their journey.

The brown eyed Haruno took the canteen from her and Shisui before rushing off. The young girl's gaze turned to the twelve year old boy next to her. She watched as a bead of sweat rolled down his face, noting the pink flush that adorned his features. She didn't doubt that under her mask her own cheeks were red from the warmth of the sunny day. Sakura was just thankful that the cool materials of her clothes provided her some relief from the heat.

"So.." The boy tailed off awkwardly. "Shall we sit down on the ground?" Without responding the petal haired dropped to the ground and sat down, leaning against the trunk of a tree. The curly haired Uchiha joined her on the ground, he stood there awkwardly for a few moments before sitting down opposite her.

'Hopefully Nozomi-san will be back soon..' Sakura couldn't help but glance in the direction that the red haired woman disappeared off in. 'I'm not good at interacting or initiating conversation with people outside the Clan.'

Fortunately it appeared that Sakura didn't need to worry about starting up a conversation since the preteen did so for her. "What do specialise in combat wise?" He asked.

"Mm.." Sakura hesitated, it may sound ridiculous but she wasn't sure if she was allowed to talk with the Uchiha. Nozomi-san had voiced everything for her when she was around but now he was asking her directly. She didn't want to sound rude or anything by not responding but she also didn't want to do something she wasn't allowed to. Clan stuff was such a pain..

Before she could ponder on it any longer Nozomi-san returned from the river. The woman dropped down to join them before walking over to them and handing them their respective canteen.

"I thought we were going to eat our lunches?"

"Oh, right!" The dark haired male dug through his things and took out a storage scroll. A bento appeared in his hand in a poof of smoke and Nozomi-san looked at her expectedly. The crimson haired woman was a hopeless chef. The last time the redhead had cooked everybody in the entire compound had nightmares for a month, some even longer. Ever since Nozomi-san had learnt that she could cook the older female had demanded that she made her a bento at least once a week. The four year old soon learnt that the woman's stomach was an endless pit.

'Well at least this counts as her bento for the week.' Sakura thought as she took out two bentos from one of her storage scrolls. She handed one to the lady who was licking her lips as she stared at the bento.

Nozomi-san shifted her mask so that her full, red lips were visible. She opened the bento and took in the scrumptious sight that greeted her chocolate orbs. The lunch consisted of miso soup; kashipan; gyoza dumplings; yakitori; edamame beans; and some mochi.

"You've outdone yourself, this looks delectable!" The redhead had drool escaping out of the corner of her mouth as her eyes roamed over the contents of the bento, trying to decide where to start.

Sakura opened her own bento that had noticeably less in it then Nozomi-san's. She had miso soup; yakitori; edamame beans; and some mochi. The petal haired four year old knew that she most likely wouldn't finish all of the food but she had no doubt Nozomi-san would be able to eat all the left overs.

She looked over to the Uchiha who appeared to be eating some sushi. Sakura had made sushi before and she found it a rather enjoyable experience. She learnt most of the recipes she knew from a cook book that Isao got her for her third birthday, there were still several dishes she had yet to learn.

The trio finished eating and Nozomi-san went to quickly refill their canteens. Sakura pulled her mask back down so that her lips were hidden again. Compared to Nozomi-san's rich red lips Sakura's were a soft pink.

"We should be able to reach the border between the Earth and fire country within the next two days. We're actually making really good time." The Uchiha said. Sakura nodded her head in acknowledgement.

Moments later Nozomi-san returned and she handed them both their canteens, "We should probably conserve as much of our water as we can since we probably won't reach another water source for at least a day."

"I have a few extra bottles of water that we can drink if necessary, my auntie warned me before I left Konoha that I should pack extra fluids."

"Very well, we should continue on our journey. How long do we have to complete this mission?"

"We have two weeks to complete this mission but if we run into any problems I can send a message back to Konoha to inform the Hokage how long we'll take or whatever." The Uchiha answered.

"Sound good! Let's get going!" The chocolate eyed woman said before she jumped into the trees. Shisui glanced at Sakura before he followed the older woman into the trees. Sakura took a deep breath and followed after them.

"So Swirl-san, have you ever been to the Earth country before?"

"Swirl-san?" Sakura could tell that Nozomi-san was amused.

"Yup, since you guys aren't telling me your names I've decided to give you guys affectionate nicknames! Aren't I the greatest?" He grinned.

The crimson haired woman rolled her chocolate brown orbs, "Whatever Pretty Boy."

Sakura sighed silently as the two chatted, honestly, sometimes she wondered if Nozomi-san's mental health was ok, it wasn't exactly uncommon in their clan. The girl made a mental note to ask Niko-san for some pain killers when she returned from the mission. The headaches she got whenever she was around Nozomi-san were starting to become tedious.

She tuned out of her thoughts when Nozomi-san slowed down to run alongside her.

"I thought you were... conversing with Uchiha-san?"

"Tch, he's too loud; I was beginning to get a headache." The pink haired girl detected annoyance in her teachers voice.

'Does she not realise that she's making just as much noise as he is?' Sakura sighed. "I see."

Even though Nozomi-san was only seventeen she still acted like a child. The green eyed child sometimes wondered why she was so respected but then she remembered that the woman was extremely skilled in combat.

"Anyway, we'll be travelling for the rest of the day so try and preserve your strength."

"Hai Sensei!"

"Oi! Stop calling me that, it makes me sound old!" Nozomi-san huffed. Sakura smirked slightly from underneath her mask, she loved teasing the older woman.

Shisui turned to look back at them, confused by the red head's sudden outburst, "Are you ok?"

"Fine." Nozomi-san growled, glaring at the preteen. The Uchiha glared back at her and that's how another argument broke out between them.

'And she was acting so mature earlier on..' Sakura thought as she watched the two bicker. 'This is going to be a long mission.' She sighed.


A/N: Erm, sorry that not much is going on, I'll make sure to put some action in the next chapter for you guys. Love you all!

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!