in for the kill

note1: More random fluff. I'm surprised I haven't made an angsty chapter yet. I will though. It's unavoidable.

arc one: dawning
chapter: puddle

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Her mind was blank and she felt the most relaxed she had in weeks. The rain had just let up and a gentle mist hung over the valley. Leaping from tree to tree, Sakura let her thoughts drift. After much begging and valid arguments on her behalf, Pein had finally allowed her outside for a run. The familiar feeling of her muscles burning and the wind whipping through her hair had put her in an excellent mood. Nothing could ruin it now.

"Hey Bitch! Are you almost done with your damn run yet? It's fucking freezing out here!"

Except, maybe, for Hidan. The three ground rules she had been given for her little outing had been: one; no attempting to escape, two; she had to have an escort with her at all times, and three; she was not allowed to kill and/or maim said escort. They hadn't seemed like a big deal until she was told who her escort would be. Rule three was becoming more and more difficult to follow.

Sakura sighed and stopped in a large field, unfortunately close to a large puddle of muddy water. (She would regret her choice of landing spots soon enough.)

"Fucking finally! Damn, Bitch. I thought we'd never be done!" Hidan continued to swear as he landed next to her. In the puddle. Fuck.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as a giant wall of water flew towards her, Hidan turning his head just in time to see her look of horror before it came down on her head. He started to laugh, but stopped and swallowed when he saw the look of fury on her face. Muddy water soaked her pink locks and dripped down her face. Her cloak was soaked, and she was shivering. This wasn't going to end well. She was about to rip Hidan's head off when she recalled rule number three. Beheading the Jashinist would definitely fall under the category of maiming. A wicked grin grew on her face as new course of action came to mind.

Sakura tackled him. Right into the mud puddle from hell. Revenge was sweet.

"The hell?!" He sputtered. His normally silver strands had turned a dirty grey, and mud was smeared across his cheek. (Hidan loved his hair. If it had been anyone else besides the pretty, pink haired kunoichi laying on to of him, they would have been dead.) Sakura chuckled.

"Revenge."

Hidan raised an eyebrow. Two could play at that game. Grabbing her waist, he flipped them over so he was now on top.

"Oh really now?"

"Mhmm." She grabbed handfuls of mud and smeared them across both sides of his face. "It's pretty fun."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, for sure." Grabbing his own handfuls of mud, he spread it from her collar bones down to her wrists. She grinned. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

…

When they arrived back at the base they were both covered head to toe in the sticky mud, identical grins on their face. Kisame looked at them strangely, about to ask what the hell had they gotten into, but shook his head and decided that sometimes it was better not to ask.

note2: Mmmm mud-wrestling with Hidan. Sign me up.