Chapter 2: Disappointment

Sakura was alone when she woke up the next morning. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, Sakura remembered the dreams she had that night. One of the things that stayed with her the most was the look on Naruto's face when he had realized what she had done. It haunted her. She knew that she probably wouldn't see him or anyone else from the village again, but it still bothered her that she cared what they thought. They didn't know about what had spurred her to do what she did.

Sakura stood and tried to smooth out her dress. For once she was glad that there was no mirror around. She probably looked like crap. Sakura decided to take a bath as soon as possible, and maybe wash her dress. Not that it really mattered though; there was no one around who cared what she looked like, or how she smelled. There was always Sasuke, of course, but next to his brother, he was the most wanted in the village. To be quite honest about it, he was the last thing she needed.

Sure, she had had a crush on him when they were children, but when revenge took over his life, he had change almost over night. Then when he had left the village, she had lost all respect for him. They were both different now, but strangely, life had thrown them back together. Sakura didn't know what to make of this new arrangement, but she figured as long as they kept their distance from each other, everything would work out alright.

Sakura yawned as she exited the tent. The sun was rising and it looked as if Sasuke hadn't moved an inch since she had last seen him. He had slumped a little, and his head was now supported by his hand, so he had fallen asleep at some point during the night. "Sasuke?" she asked quietly.

His head shot up. "What?" he answered; voice scratchy with sleep.

Sakura stepped closer. "Did you stay here all night?"

"Yes", he replied and stood up. "In case there were any more Nins after you." He started to pack their stuff together, including the tent. "You need to get ready, we have to start moving." Sakura nodded, and then helped him to pack things away. He picked up his backpack and covered their tracks. Then he said: "Try to save your strength. It's going to be an exhausting walk."

She nodded. "I'm ready."

Sasuke covered his eyes to look at the sun. It was quite late already, but they were still on schedule. To be honest, he was surprised. It was exhausting to walk up hill all day under the burning sun, but Sakura hadn't complained at all. She had adapted to his speed until about an hour ago, when she had gotten a little slower, then he had adapted to her pace. He threw her a quick glance. She looked tired and sweaty, but she didn't say a thing. He remembered very well the days when they had been on the same team. She had complained a lot, about lesser things. She had definitely changed.

But he had to be careful. It was indeed a strange coincidence that she had come so close to where he stayed during her escape. He had heard her scream and out of curiosity, he had followed the sound to see what was happening. When he had recognized her he hadn't thought about it and helped her. Now he figured that it might have been a mistake. His loyalty could cost his head,but he'd be careful. If she wasn't who she was pretending to be, he would find out soon enough. And if she was planning to betray him or his superiors to restore her reputation, he would stop her by all means. He would keep an eye on her for a while.

The path they were following parted and Sasuke recognized the place. "We're almost there," he told her. "If we turn left, there is a small mountain lake; we can spend the night there."

She exhaled in relief and quickened her pace.

As he had said, they arrived at the lake after a few minutes. Sakura was astonished. "This place is beautiful!" she whispered.

"It's safe." he emphasized. "If we set up the tent over there, no one will see us and anyone who tries to attack us will have to come from this side." He pointed to the left. Quietly, Sakura helped him with the tent and once again he was positively surprised that she didn't complain.

When they were done, Sasuke yawned into his hand. He started to feel the exhaustion from the lack of sleep. "I need to rest, can you keep an eye out for a few hours?"

"No problem!" she said cheerfully. "Ah, Sasuke… do you have a towel for me?" He just nodded and pointed at his backpack, not wondering what she would need the towel for. Exhausted, he crawled into the tent and undressed. He wrapped himself up in the blanket and was fast asleep within no time.

With a quick glance into the tent, Sakura made sure that Sasuke was fast asleep. The lake proved to be a perfect opportunity to take a bath. By the shore she undressed and threw her clothes carelessly over a nearby bush. She placed the towel on the grass and then waded into the water.

The water was cold at first, but after swimming a few rounds in the lake, she hardly cared any more. After the long walk in the hot sun it felt wonderfully refreshing. She would have liked to wash her clothes too, but other than her dress she didn't have any clothes with her.

When she returned to the shore after a few minutes, she got an unpleasant surprise. The branches of the bush had given in and her dress was half lying in the water. "Ah crap." Sshe complained and wrapped herself up in the towel. She pulled the wet clothes out of the water. They were mostly soaked.

Uncertain, she looked around herself. What was she going to do now? Sasuke was asleep and she didn't want to wake him. She felt cold now that she was out of the water. She snuck back to the tent and threw a glance inside. As expected, Sasuke wasn't awake. I'll probably need some clothes, like, now. She thought as she eyed Sasuke.

Uh, bad thoughts, she scolded herself quietly. Having Sasuke find her mostly naked was probably not a good thing. He'd probably just giver her one of those 'you're such a reject' looks. Shivering, she hung her clothes over a tree branch, hoping that they would be dry by the following morning.

She would have preferred to spend the entire night outside, but she didn't want to risk getting sick. Sasuke wouldn't have been too pleased about that, so she eventually put her head into the tent and whispered his name until he opened his eyes. "What's wrong?" He sat up quickly. "Is somebody attacking us?"

She hung her head. "Well… no. I just need your help…"

He came out of the tent and paused for a moment when he realized that she was wearing only a towel. "Sakura? Where are your…?"

"My clothes?" Embarrassed, she pointed at the branch where they were hanging. "I was taking a bath in the lake and they got wet. I… I don't have any other clothes with me…"

For a split second she could swear she had seen a faint blush on his cheeks before he cleared his throat and turned away from her to search for something in his backpack. He pulled out black shorts and a shirt and handed it over to her unceremoniously. "Go get dressed," he grumbled.

She smiled at him thankfully and got into the tent. Clumsily, she slipped into his clothes while he patiently waited outside. They smelled good, like clean laundry with a hint of Sasuke's unique scent. But she was still cold and the shorts didn't spend much warmth. "Are you done yet?" she heard him say.

"Yeah. You can come in." She replied and he entered the tent. It was small with two people inside and she was a little scared of spending an entire night here with him. He picked up the blanket and placed it on her shoulders. "Keep yourself warm," he said curtly. "I don't want to have a sick person with me."

She nodded quietly and he laid back down, trying to get some more sleep. Sakura realized in disappointment, that nothing had changed at all. He still thought of her as a burden.

…tbc…