Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! Only the parts that I'm adapting into the original story line.
Fated Encounter
CHAPTER 17
Sakura wasn't very happy about her situation at all. Suigetsu had still tagged along even if he hadn't mentioned of joining them. And the few hours they've been traveling together she wanted to just get rid of him.
He had no clothes on him and ran around naked from puddle to puddle. To add to that he continued to rile her up constantly by commenting her outfit, looks or anything that might just bring him joy. Especially when he brought up Sakura's weight, she wanted to smash his head so hard that he would recover from it anymore. She was getting fed up with the comments.
Unfortunately, she knew he wasn't trying to be mean to her. The mischievous glint in his told her a whole another story. Suigetsu was obviously bored and very much used to being the 'Naruto' kind-of character all the time. But did he have to comment on her weight?
It was already bad enough that she was feeling slightly bit self-conscious because of it. And that thought made her almost laugh. Back in the day when she had a huge crush on Sasuke, all she wished she was thinner and skinnier.
But now that she was, she wanted to just be normal. It took a strain on her body and muscles, but there wasn't any quick fix to it. She needed to eat more and healthy if she wanted to regain her normal weight and hopefully look more like a human being.
Sakura, honestly, felt like ripping her hair off as another splash came from the puddle in front of them. Suigetsu's head emerged from underwater and he looked happy once again.
"Now that I think of it, wasn't your team the one to take down my mentor Zabuza?" Suigetsu asked while paddling around the water. It looked actually a bit comical since the water had to be only an inch or two deep, and Suigetsu looked like he was in deep water.
"Was he strong?" He made another round in the puddle, "I wonder what happened to his sword, though."
Another very bothersome trait that Suigetsu had was his ability to go through too many thoughts at once. She barely had even time to answer him before he had another topic to discuss about.
As Sasuke and Sakura rounded the puddle Suigetsu swam at the edge of it, "If you help me find the sword and I get it, I'll promise to help you."
Sasuke finally stopped his walking and stared at Suigetsu. It was a small movement of his head as he agreed on Suigetsu's plan.
"Eh, Pinky! Are you going to help me, too?" Suigetsu asked Sakura with a grin on his face.
"Put some clothes on." Sasuke commanded before Sakura could even consider answering the guy in the puddle.
"Stop being such a lame ass, Sasuke." Suigetsu quickly commented back with a pout on his face. "I'm sure no one mind me going around naked." He stared straight at Sakura, who flushed red from the comment.
"H-how dare you!" Sakura hissed at him annoyed and turned her back to him.
"What? You didn't deny it!"
"Like there would be anything to see."
"Ah!" Suigetsu's hand flew over his heart. "I'm hurt! How can you say something like that!"
"Stop acting like a child and get dressed!" Sakura glared at him. She was getting too many Naruto vibes off the guy, it was ridiculous. If Suigetsu decided to do any kind of sexy jutsu like Naruto does, then that is her limit. She will not tolerate anything like it. It was embarrassing and humiliating to downgrade women like that. Generally, to think of people as objects was disgusting to her.
Women and men were both beings that deserve a proper life.
"Well, I didn't know Pinky had some guts to her, too." Suigetsu chuckled from behind and this time Sakura didn't even dare to look at him. She was sure he was following them around stark naked still.
It was a wonder Sasuke was taking this so calmly. Either he was expecting something like this to happen or then he just tries to get Suigetsu to follow them. It had to be either two, because this was getting ridiculous.
Suigetsu was acting like an immature child prancing around. Yes, he was trapped in the tube for who knows how long, but that doesn't mean you have to forget about any decency at all. Even a pair of boxer would be appreciated at this point.
"The Great Naruto Bridge?" Suigetsu mused out loud and took a long sip of his drink, "What a strange name."
Finally, after a few more minutes of demanding Suitgetsu to get dressed he got the message. Sakura felt relieved to actually see the guy wearing something else except his own skin. It made it much easier to confront him because of his antics and even looking at him, because there weren't any private parts showing.
Even Sasuke seemed relaxed as his shoulders weren't as tense as they had been before. And that made Sakura feel even more calm. Tense and annoyed Sasuke made her on edge unconsciously. It stressed her out and it just wasn't a good sign all in all.
Sasuke was the epitome of calm and collected, so tiny things like tensing up and getting annoyed weren't that normal for him.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was staring at the name plate of the bridge with a raised brow. It seems that she wasn't the only one remembering their time as a genin team in the Land of Wave.
"So~ Sasuke, you never answered my question." Suigetsu started and took another sip, "Was Zabuza strong?"
Sasuke continued to stare at the bridge and not answer Suigetsu.
"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked again and tilted his head.
"Nothing." Sasuke snapped out of his reverie, "Let's go."
Sakura stayed behind with Suigetsu as they began crossing the bridge.
"Pinky?"
"Hm?"
"Was he strong? Zabuza, I mean?" He asked again his face openly curious.
"Yes, he was."
"But you managed to beat him?"
"Yes, and no."
"What do you mean by that? That doesn't make sense." Suigetsu pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Can't you be more clear?"
"There were a lot things that affected him and it was more like a group thing with the village than just our team beating him. Suigetsu, it's been such a long time now that I can barely remember it myself." Sakura answered truthfully. The things that happened in the Land of Wave at the time were stressful and hectic.
Luckily, Sakura still remembers Tazuna and Inari. Those two were such a blast to be around and she was very fond of those memories.
"But I can assure you that Zabuza was very strong." Sakura assure the guy and would have reached up to clap his back if it wasn't her small phobia of touching other people. Sasuke was an easy task to touch and be around, but other people was a whole another thing. And that is something she realized just now, when Suigetsu made a move to wrap his arm around her shoulder.
Her muscles moved and in a second she was out of his reach.
Suigetsu looked surprised with his arm in the air. Even Sasuke had stopped moving and was looking back at Sakura.
"What's wrong, Pinky?" Suigetsu scratched his head.
"Just don't touch me." Sakura quickly said back and straightened herself. "I don't like being touched."
"Okay, okay! Calm down." Suigetsu waved his hands and started moving towards Sasuke.
This time Sakura decided to walk on the other side of Sasuke. Previously she had walked in between the two guys, but after what happened with Suigetsu, she much rather has some space between them.
It was a calm trek into the Land of Wave and towards the tombs of Zabuza and his follower Haku. They remembered leaving Zabuza's sword there next to his grave embedded into the ground. Sakura hoped the blade was still there, but it was very unlikely. Who wouldn't pick up a sword that was lying around with no one to guard it.
"There!" Suigetsu suddenly yelled as they neared the edge of the cliff. He ran all the way to the two graves lying next to each other.
It was obvious from all the way into the forest that the sword wasn't there.
"It's not here. Are you sure you left it here?" Suigetsu turned to Sasuke and Sakura as they came from behind the trees.
"Yeah." Sasuke stopped walking and turned to Sakura, "Right?"
"It was supposed to be embedded in to the ground as far as I remember."
"But it's not here."
"We're not grave-guardians, Suigetsu." Sakura replied and turned to Sasuke, "Maybe we should go around the village and see if anyone knows anything. Someone must have taken it."
"Until I find that sword, I'm not joining you on your task."
"Why is it so important to you anyway?" Sakura asked as they started heading back towards the edge of the small mountain.
"Have you heard of the Seven Great Swordsmen?"
"I'm not sure." She said truthfully.
"Well, for generations they've passed down their swords and since I was trained by them, Zabuza's sword belongs to me." Suigetsu explained easily and Sakura could hear the admiration in his voice as he spoke about his mentors. "So it's more of a tradition then just wanting something. My brother was actually one of them, too."
Sakura didn't miss he past tense Suigetsu used when mentioning his brother. However, she didn't pry into it at all and they made their way into the village.
"We should get something to eat." Sakura finally said after a moment of silence. She was getting quite hungry since she hadn't eaten anything after they had left the hideout that night. Sasuke glanced at her approvingly and Suigetsu looked more than happy to get something, too.
"I approve!" Suigetsu said happily and bumped into another person.
From the other side of Sasuke, Sakura was able to see a purple beanie and a thin looking man yelling at Suigetsu, "Where are you looking at you asshole!"
Suigetsu instantly turned around and made a move to lift his hand towards the other guy when Sasuke stepped in. He grabbed Suigetsu's wrist in his hand. This seemed to only aggravate the other guy even more as he glared and took a threatening step towards the trio.
"Hey, hey! You got a problem-" An icy glance from Sasuke silenced him up and he took few steps backwards. His brow was twitching and a drop of sweat fell down the side of his face as he quickly turned around the started heading away from them. It didn't go unheard of any of them as the guy cursed rather loudly while making his way down the rather crowded street.
"You're going to repay me by buying me food." Suigetsu suddenly said and pulled his arm away from Sasuke's grip.
Sakura wanted to smack the guy right in his head for being so insolent. Just because Sasuke stopped him from causing a ruckus, it didn't mean he was going to own you anything.
Sasuke, on the other hand, shook his head in nonchalant manner.
When they finally found a small in with a cozy restaurant down stairs Sakura was ready to die of hunger. Suigetsu was feeling the same thing and right at the bat ordered ten yogurt desserts for himself. It was comical to see the nin devour such amount of food so quickly, but then she immediately recalled Naruto and his obsession with ramen.
This is getting really creepy, she thought to herself and stared at the soup in front of her.
And Sasuke was the one with almost nothing to eat. He only wanted a cup of tea and Sakura would have scolded him for skipping meals if it wasn't for Suigetsu's presence in their table. She doubted Sasuke would want her to be so open about his ways of eating. The situation aggravated her slightly more since he was always so adamant that she gets something to eat.
Sometimes she thinks he's embarrassed to eat with her, but then her thoughts are proven pointless when he actually eats.
"This is amazing!" Suigetsu yelled in delight. "There's no such thing as yogurt on that water tanks menu, if you know what I mean." He grins at Sakura and almost licks the glass cup empty.
With all the yogurt cups empty Suigetsu leaned back in his side of the table and looks at Sasuke.
"So what are we after when we get those two lunatics, eh?"
"I'll tell all of you once we get Karin and Jūgo." Sasuke said and before Suigetsu could inquire more a girl with an apron walks by their table. Suigetsu's mind turned on to something else right way.
"Hey! You!"
The girl's face was flushed as she carefully peered at the white-haired guy, "Y-Yes?"
"Do you know anything about the sword near the Great Naruto Bridge?"
"A little."
"Oh! Good! Because he would like to know where it is!" He pointed straight at Sasuke and as the girl's eyes landed on him her face flushed even more and she sprinted away from them while yelling, "I-I'll get s-someone who knows a-about it!". A loud girlish yelling echoed in the restaurant and Sakura looked over her shoulder at a group of servants huddling around the girl.
Was she actually like that when she was young?
How embarrassing, she muttered to herself and almost lowered her head.
Suigetsu's eyes were glinting from humor, "So you're quite a player then?"
Sakura felt his eyes on her before she even looked.
Suddenly all the girls had surrounded their table and were gushing from happiness. Sakura almost had an heart attack when they suddenly barged around them. She probably would have even jumped off the table if Sasuke's hand hadn't pressed against her thigh.
She wasn't very good at being crowded in the middle of people. It made her feel trapped and as if she needed to get away.
"You should go meet Tazuna!" One of the girls explained, "He surely knows anything that is going around the village and the outskirts of it!"
"He lives by the riverside!"
Sakura wanted to rip her head off. The girls were annoying her and making her feel increasingly more uncomfortable.
She leaned from behind Sasuke with a glare. All the girls took immediate notice of her and were frozen in place.
"Can you leave?" Sakura said with a scarily calm and even tone.
The girls nodded in sync and almost evaporated into thin air.
"You are scary, my friend." Suigetsu chuckled and devoured another yogurt dessert.
Here's chapter 17. Another update coming next weekend because this is my only ongoing story so far.
Thanks for reviewers:
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Guest
This is a quite a short chapter again. I'm still pretty sick. I have a really bad cough at the moment. I can't sleep properly and this has been going for over a week now. I'm so tired all the time. My summer job finally starts tomorrow and I'm really afraid I might do something stupid because of how tired I am.
If you haven't checked my profile, let me enlighten you. I was in a kindergarten for two days (this was two weeks ago) and I got the nastiest flu from there. I had horrible throat pain, fever and coughing. And since it is very normal for me for the cough to stick around even two weeks after the initial flu, I'm exhausted still because of it.
Luckily, my summer job this year isn't at the factory like the past two years. This time I'm actually doing the job I'm studying for. I'm much more motivated and happy to go to work than I was previously. And this also means I'm much more energetic to write.
And since this is my only on going story so far, I'll my time will be focused on this one.
So WEEKLY UPDATES PEOPLE!
Leave a review! They make me happy and hopefully help with this cough.
- Jakura