The petal haired kunoichi angrily tossed various items onto her bed. Her travel pack, a change of clothes, bandages, etc. In the midst of the mayhem her roommate/best friend Kikiyo (Kiki for short) Ranasura walked in and was hit on the forehead by a flying hairbrush.

"Hey!" she objected to this strange and unusually cruel greeting.

"Sorry Kiki. I didn't know you were there." she apologized.

Kikiyo was a short girl with short black hair with dark purple streaks, brown eyes and an attitude problem. She wasn't great at tai jutsu and wound up a medical specialist as she was the right type. She had gone ahead to teach Sakura basic first aid since Sakura was always getting into scrapes.

"So what's up with trashing your room, anyway?"

"I have to leave on a three day mission" Sakura said while stuffing a bar of soap into her pack.

"Oh"

"It's a D-rank mission with Sasuke." She tied up her pack and hefted it onto her shoulder.

"Joy." Kiki said, sarcastically sympathetic.

"I have to pose as a geisha and seduce a nobleman"

"...I feel sorry for you." Sakura could tell her friend meant it from the heart.

"Thanks" She was truly grateful for her friend's sympathy as she checked and made sure all her kunai and other weapons were where they needed to be and easily reachable. She has gotten into the habit of having at least ten blades on her at any time, not including the kunai holster. In her hair, in her mouth, in her shoes, up her skirt, down her shirt, she had developed an addiction to blades.

Needless to say her stalkers were a little better at keeping their distance.

She offered her friend a weary grin and said goodbye before leaving to meet Sasuke for the unwanted mission.

oOoOo

Travel the rest of that day was quiet, but not uncomfortably so like before. It was more companionable, except that the only way this temporary truce was achieved was through ignoring the other as much as possible.

But good things never last, as doom did descend upon them at the campsite Sakura had chosen that night.

oOoOo

Sakura POV

Shit, I thought shit shitty shit shit shit. I can't believe I left it! What am I supposed to do, sleep on the ground?! I'll freeze, it's nearly November!...

Just then Sasuke walked up with the fish I had sent him to catch. He looked for a moment at the nonexistent fire I was supposed to have built.

"I can't cook if there's no fire." He stated the obvious.

"I'm sorry your royal highness. I'll fix it right away." I snapped in mock-sweet tones. Forgetting my bedroll had not made me more kindly disposed toward chicken-hairdo-dude over there.

Irritated, I stomped over to the campfire, piled in wood and dead leaves, and grabbed the flint that had been lying next to the mess.

I probably sat there for five minutes trying to light that fire, but I was angry and preoccupied so I didn't do as well as I would have other wise.

Sasuke let out his breath in a way that was almost a sigh. "Give it here. I'll do it."

For whatever reason this annoyed me more and I chucked the flint at his stupid perfect forehead.

He caught it. Of course he did. Damn bastard. Couldn't even let it hit him.

Then–the NERVE of him– he struck the pile alight on the first try. I bet he's proud of himself. Just thinking that tempted me to march over there, take the flint, and shove it down his throat.

It was about this time that I realized I was becoming unreasonably violent. To calm myself, I decided to go down to the river and wash my face.

Coming back into camp I was a lot calmer than I was before.(translation: I was a lot safer than before.) Dinner was also quiet, mostly because my mind was elsewhere and I didn't feel like talking (Sasuke never feels like talking).

When the fish was cleaned up, Sasuke climbed into his own bedroll while I stood there awkwardly.

He raised his eyebrows slightly at me.

"None of your business." I said coldly. He shrugged and got comfortable. A few minutes passed and then...

"I forgot my bedroll."

End POV

oOoOo

Another awkward moment of silence. This pair seems to have a lot of those. Then, something happened that if Sakura hadn't been Sakura, she would have fallen over dead, then & there.

Sasuke made room for her in his bedroll.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked in the most normal voice she could manage.

"It's late fall. I wont let my first mission outside the village fail because I allowed my teammate to freeze to death."

Sakura stood still except for the occasional twitch, thinking it over. Finally she relented and grudgingly walked towards him. When she crawled in she curled into the tiniest ball possible and glared at nothing in particular, ignoring her heart, which was beating so hard it was almost painful.