Author's Notes: Here we go diving into the adventure/mission part of the story. Bear with me because in this chapter I'm going to introduce quite a few OC's, and new magic. I promise to make up for it by sprinkling some Sakura and Sasuke sweet moments throughout.
When she awoke that morning, Sakura found herself with her head resting on Sasuke's lap with his coal black eyes peering down at her. "Good morning Sakura. Did you sleep well?" Sasuke asked her as she sat up her face turning red all the way to the tips of her ears.
"Sasuke! Did I-? I'm so sorry." She stammered embarrassed and flustered as her heart thundered in her chest.
"It's fine. You were tired. Stop freaking out." He assured her. His long fingers tapped her lightly in the middle of her forehead and a little smile came to his lips. "Annoying." He teased making her turn an even deeper shade of red.
"Morning Sakura!" Naruto called out waving enthusiastically to her where he was seated with Sai eating instant ramen. "See? I told you she'd sleep for a bit longer Sasuke."
The Uchiha shrugged as he stood, stretched and then walked over to the campfire. "Whatever." He muttered as he rummaged around in his bag for his own breakfast.
"Don't be like that. I know you liked it. It was written all over your face." Naruto said with a smirk.
Sasuke grabbed his sword and smacked the Uzamaki over the head with the sheath, a loud crack resonating through the forest.
"Oww! What the Hell Sasuke!?" Naruto hissed pressing his hands to the now tender spot.
"It's far too early for me to listen to your crap." Sasuke muttered.
Sakura blinked and then dissolved into giggles at the sight smirking when Naruto pouted and Sasuke blushed while Sai looked on his head tilted as he observed the exchange. "Yes. This is how it always should have been." She said softly as she stood and folded Sasuke's blanket walking forward to join her squad.
"We're here." Sasuke said as they approached a village that was clearly in the stages of rebuilding. The four ninja instantly became serious as they surveyed the damage.
"The headman's house should be just a little further ahead." Sakura said glancing at the map given to them by Kakashi.
The villagers observed them from a safe distance whispering to one another and Sasuke knew that it was likely his presence that had them nervous. A young boy of about seven rushed forward to meet them eyeing them with curiosity.
"Are you Ninja?" he asked pointedly.
"We are." Naruto replied squatting down to the child's level. "We're from the hidden leaf." He said tapping the metal plate on his forehead protector. "We're here to find out what happened here so we can stop the bad guy who sent the monster." He explained.
"Oh." The boy replied. "You're probably here to talk to my grandfather. He's the headman. Follow me."
Sasuke watched his best friend in awe. Getting on that child's level so quickly was something he never could've done. They arrived at a house near the middle of the village that had clearly been damaged in the fighting. The boy motioned for them to stop and then dashed inside the gate.
"Grandpa! There's ninja here! They want to talk to you about the monster." He called out as he disappeared through a door.
Moments later, a man dressed in sand colored robes with white hair appeared and motioned for them to enter. They gathered in the man's living room and Sakura handed him a letter written by Kakashi detailing the situation and their reason for being there.
"I see. You want to know what happened to our village." He said as his daughter a pretty woman in her early thirties served tea to the ninja. He took a deep breath and then began to speak. "It happened about one week ago. It had been a normal day just like any other when all of a sudden a terrible roar sounded through the village and Kazuma, our village guard sounded the alarm. I rushed out to see what was happening and found a lion the size of a house attacking some of the men who had gathered arms to defend their families. It was ferocious and took down many men before a figure clad in black from head to toe appeared before it."
"What happened next Lord Headman?" Sakura asked.
"It was strange. The beast immediately quieted and began to growl at the figure though it was obvious it was frightened of the newcomer by the way its ears and tail were positioned. This person then proceeded to throw stakes into the ground around the beast and when it tried to leave, a barrier forced it back." The older man explained. "Then the stranger did something I've never seen in all of my years of living. I'm aware that except for under special circumstances, no person can effectively use all five chakra natures. However, this person used each one in turn on each of the stakes they'd set and then wrote a strange seal with their own blood. After that, the figure began to chant but it wasn't quite chanting, it was prettier, more like singing and the sky appeared to tear in two right above the beast which was immediately sucked in along with the stakes. The hole then closed and there was nothing left of the fearsome creature."
"What an incredible story." Sakura breathed.
The man nodded. "It is. The stranger fell to the ground afterwards and naturally we rushed to help them but a boy that looked to be around the same age as my grandson appeared out of nowhere and told us to stay back. He helped the stranger up and then this masked person proceeded to heal the villagers that had been injured in the attack. We tried to find out the stranger's name but they wouldn't speak to us. Only the boy would and he told us that the stranger didn't wish to be identified but was thankful for our gratitude. Then they both vanished in a puff of smoke similar to how I've seen ninja go over the years."
Sakura jotted down some notes on her copy of the reports and nodded. "Did the boy say anything about where they were going or anything?"
The older man shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I'm sorry."
"That's alright." She assured him. "We're just trying to gather as much information as we can."
"The boy, what did he look like exactly?" Sasuke asked.
The man looked at him his eyes narrowing slightly. "You're Sasuke Uchiha aren't you? Why are you here?"
"I'm here by order of the Hogake." Sasuke replied. "This mission is part of my journey of redemption for all of the suffering I've caused."
The older man paused for a moment and then nodded. "Very well then. Anyway, the boy looked a little strange. He was almost as pale as this fellow here." He said motioning to Sai. "His hair was metallic silver and he had a tall thin build. The strangest thing about him were his eyes though, they were blood red. It was eerie."
"Excuse me sir, would you allow me to show you my true eye color briefly? We're trying to find out if this boy's eyes were similar to mine. I promise not to cast any genjutsu on you. I won't even look you in the eye, that's the only way I could do anything to you at all." Sasuke explained.
The man seemed wary and shied away from the dark haired Uchiha. "I don't know." He admitted.
"Don't worry old man." Naruto spoke up. "If he tries anything, we'll snap you out of it and then beat him senseless." He said with a grin.
The man glanced around at the other ninja and then sighed. "Very well then. If it really will help."
"Thank you sir." Naruto said before turning to the Uchiha. "You heard the man, show him you're 'scary' eyes."
Sasuke shot the Uzamaki a dark look which only made the blonde grin wider before he focused his attention back on the older man. He closed his eyes for a moment, activated his sharringan and then opened them again noting all of the details around him as he did so. He carefully looked at the man but avoided his eyes as promised which he found to be very difficult.
"His eyes weren't like yours." The old man confirmed. Sasuke blinked changing his eyes back to black and bowed to the man. "The color was right but you have a pupil and those tomoes in your eyes. He had neither." He explained.
"Thank you for your help." Sakura said as she made notes in her report. "Do you know anyone who was healed by the stranger? I'd like to take a blood sample from one of them if possible."
The old man nodded. "Of course. My daughter was." He said motioning to the pretty woman in the room.
"Would you mind if I took a sample from you?" Sakura asked.
"Not at all." The woman replied with a smile. "I'll warn you in advance though, I have deep veins that are hard to find."
"No problem." Sakura said moving to the woman's side and helping the woman to tie back the sleeves of her kimono. With practiced speed and skill she wrapped an elastic band around the woman's arm just above the elbow and disinfected the skin in the crook of her arm. She pulled a needle from her bag and gently probed the woman's skin with her fingertips. In a flash she slipped the needle under the woman's skin and the attached vial filled quickly with blood. When it was full, she removed the needle and capped it while simultaneously pressing gauze to the woman's arm and releasing the elastic band. After a couple seconds she place medical tape over the gauze and smiled at the woman. "Your veins aren't any deeper than normal, they're just off center a little. Let your doctor know."
The woman smiled. "So wise for one so young. Thank you."
"Can you tell me anything more about this stranger?" Sakura asked as she labeled the vial. "Anything helps."
The woman thought for a moment. "Well, I believe that the stranger is a woman." She said. "A young one, but still a woman."
"What makes you say that?" The pink haired medic asked as her companions turned their attention to their conversation.
"Their hands." The woman replied. "When they took off their gloves to heal me, I got a good look at them. They were slim and the fingers were long and slender. It also might just be my intuition talking but even that is hardly ever wrong."
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Sakura pressed.
"Their skin was bronze colored." She said her eyes floating towards the top of her head as she pulled on her memory. "Their eyes were lovely. Dark purple with flecks of pink, blue and green near the pupil."
Sakura took down the notes and nodded. "Anything else?"
The woman thought for a moment and then sighed. "I'm afraid not. I tried to talk to them but the boy answered all of my questions." She glanced at the medic. "When I asked where they were going, the boy told me that they were trying to find the stranger's father. I asked where they thought he was and he answered that they thought he might be a ninja from the village hidden in the sand and asked me if I knew how to get there. I told them that all I knew was that it was in the land of wind."
"I see. That makes perfect sense." Sakura said looking at her companions.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Kakashi Sensei was right. They're headed to the land of wind alright."
Sakura wrote down a few more things before nodding to her companions. "Thank you so much for everything." She said bowing deeply.
"If you manage to catch up to that stranger thank you again." She said. "They didn't just save my life but the life growing inside of me." She said touching her belly that was just barely starting to protrude under her robes.
"We will." Naruto promised her before the group of four walked out the door. As they approached the gate, the boy ran after them.
"Wait!" he called out breathing hard. "That boy, his name is Ryuu."
"How do you know?" Sakura asked.
"When his friend was helping my mother I asked him and he told me his name is Ryuu." He explained. "Will that help you?"
"Darn right it will!" Naruto said with a grin. He reached out and affectionately ruffled the kid's hair. "Thanks a lot kid."
The child beamed up at the blonde and then studied them. "You guys fought in the war didn't you?" he asked.
The four of them nodded.
"Thank you." The boy said simply before dashing back inside.
"We should send a report to Kakashi about our findings." Sai said as they followed the main street out of town. "He'll probably have further instructions for us."
Sasuke nodded. "That's a good idea. If they're headed for the Land of Wind there are several routes they could take." He mused.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, and it sounds like they're looking for The Village Hidden in the Sand. If that's the case, he'll have to let Garra know."
Sakura nodded. "I agree." She glanced at Sasuke. "Would you mind summoning a hawk so we can send this to Kakashi Sensei?" she asked holding up a scroll with the blood sample secured in the middle of it.
He nodded his head, bit his thumb and slammed it to the ground. There was a puff of smoke and he took the scroll from Sakura and secured it to the bird's back before sending it off.
"What should we do now?" Naruto asked.
"I say we head to the next village and ask about Ryuu and his companion." Sakura suggested. "A little boy like that would stand out and it's on the fastest route into the Land of Wind."
"True enough." Sai agreed.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Naruto replied.
Sasuke merely nodded and she nodded back. "Alright then, let's get moving." She said.
Sasuke and Sakura walked side by side both quiet as they mulled over the facts of the case in their minds.
"Do you think it's possible that the boy Ryuu is manipulating that stranger?" she asked the Uchiha. "They could even be a puppet."
Sasuke shook his head. "It couldn't be a puppet. Even the best puppet masters have limits. Even if they use human puppets. The stranger was said to use all five chakra natures while fighting the beast. That would be impossible to achieve using a puppet that maintained a humanoid form."
Sakura nodded. "I guess that's true. I remember fighting Sasori and his human puppets were pretty versatile but none of them were able to pull off a feat that huge. I doubt a child could do what he couldn't."
"That doesn't rule out the possibility that the boy might be manipulating the stranger." Saskue said. "Just about anybody can be controlled if you use the right motivation."
Sakura nodded. "That's true too." She touched her hand to her chin and her brow furrowed as she thought. "Then again, it could be the other way around. Maybe the stranger is manipulating Ryuu. The obvious answer is rarely the right one in our world anyway." She said thinking about how everyone had been convinced that the tailed beasts were the villains of their world until learning the truth about how they had been intentionally summoned and used by evil men.
Sasuke nodded and then reached out as Sakura tripped over a tree root and stumbled. "Are you ok?" he asked as she crashed into his chest.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Stupid tree." She muttered tapping her toe on the ground as she adjusted her shoe on her foot.
She looked up at him and Sasuke suddenly became acutely aware of their proximity and position. His hands grasped her biceps steadying her while hers rested on his forearms. When she looked up at him, he could feel her breath on his face and when he looked into her eyes he quickly became lost in the endless pools of green. His breath caught in his throat as she smiled up at him her lips slightly parted and the urge to feel those lips with his own seeped into his being. He tensed and was about to act on that impulse when he suddenly became aware of a pair of blue eyes studying him intently. He jumped and suddenly pushed Sakura away blush tinging his cheeks.
"You should be more careful." He muttered to the pink haired medic before walking swiftly ahead catching up to Sai.
"What was that all about?" Sakura asked as Naruto came up to stand beside her.
"Don't worry about it. Sasuke might be smart when it comes to a lot of stuff, but he's clueless when it comes to love." The blonde said with a smirk.
Sakura chuckled. "This is coming from the guy who had to have his girl snatched by some creepy guy from the moon to figure out his own feelings?"
Naruto blushed and then wrinkled his nose. "Hey! Give me a break Sakura! We both know I'm as dense as a rock most of the time. Sasuke's different though, he's supposed to be the smart one." He glanced at his best friend. "Right now, he's being pretty stupid." He muttered.
Sakura shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about but we should probably hurry to catch up to them. Those two ice princes will leave us in the dust if we're not quick enough."
Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go." He said jogging alongside her until they caught up with the rest of their team.
"There's only one room available?" Sasuke asked flabbergasted as he and the rest of his companions stood at the front desk of the only inn in the small town.
"I'm afraid so. It's a suite room though so it has two king sized beds. Four could easily sleep comfortably in those." The inn keeper persisted.
The Uchiha's brow twitched. This was one of the reason's he preferred to travel alone. None of this awkwardness happened.
"We'll take it." The Uzamaki replied quickly slamming the money down on the counter.
"Naruto!" Sasuke protested. The blonde groaned and grabbed the Uchiha by the ear and dragged him away from the rest of the team. "What the Hell?!" Sasuke hissed.
"Listen pretty boy!" Naruto hissed. "I've been Sakura's teammate for a very long time. If you deny her the opportunity to sleep in a warm bed and take a hot bath she'll make you eat dirt. Just deal with it!"
Sasuke thought for a moment and then sighed in defeat. His friend had a good point. They would deal with having one room if it meant keeping their heads from being cracked open by her monster fists.
"Fine!" Sasuke relented.
Sakura took the key from the innkeeper and bounded up the stairs to their room and squealed with delight as she tossed her bag onto the nearest four poster king sized bed and quickly ducked into the bathroom. "I call first dibs on the bath tonight!" she exclaimed a few minutes later.
"Of course." Naruto replied with a grin. "It's all yours."
"We know better than to fight you for that Ugly." Sai agreed.
"Come again!?" she snarled glaring at the pale boy.
"Isn't the view wonderful?" Sai said quickly. "I think I'll draw a picture of it."
"Good idea. After that you can pick the place you want to be buried!" she hissed shaking her fist at the painter.
"Now, now Sakura." Naruto said cautiously reaching towards the pink haired medic. "You know Sai, he just says whatever comes to mind."
She whirled on the blonde. "So, do you agree with him? Do you think I'm ugly too?"
"What? No! Of course not!" Naruto replied quickly. "Even if I did, I wouldn't be stupid enough to say it to your face."
She growled and leapt forward grabbing both of her teammates by their ears and slammed their heads together with a loud crack that left the two ninja laying on the ground clutching their sore craniums. "I'm going into town to see what there is to eat. See you!" she said before leaping out the window and landing lithely on the streets below.
"Damn it Sai! You and your big mouth." Naurto hissed.
"I think yours is bigger than mine." Sai protested. "The same can't be said about what's between your legs though."
Naruto turned tomato red at the comment and then glared at the painting ninja. "Sai
I swear one of these days I'm going to cut you down to size." He glowered.
"Down to your size?" Sai replied.
"Damn you! Just shut the Hell up!" Naruto growled tackling the pale ninja to the ground.
Sasuke watched the exchange and felt a pang of regret. The three of them were so comfortable together and he felt like an outsider. It was his own fault of course. It had been his choice to leave but seeing his replacement acting like that with Sakura and Naruto made him realize just a little bit what he'd missed out on.
"Hey Sasuke! Will you go and find Sakura and bring her back?" Naruto asked. "I don't think it's the best idea for her to be by herself and you're the only one she won't pummel into the ground right now."
Sasuke sighed. "Fine. I'll be right back." He said approaching the window. He closed his eyes and then opened them again revealing his blood red sharringan and scanned the streets below for his pink haired teammate's chakra signature. After a few minutes, he locked onto it and leapt to the streets below. Moving quickly through the streets, he found her standing near an herb stand talking with the shop keeper with her knees slightly bent. As he approached, a teenaged boy just a year or two younger than he was, grinned and walked past running his hand along her back side as he did so. The Uchiha saw red and moved with blinding speed to the pink haired medic's side. Sakura however reached the boy first and slammed her fist hard into his face sending him flying down the street. She growled and yanked the boy up by his collar.
"Who do you think you are touching me like that?" she demanded.
"It was an accident!" the boy stammered clutching his bleeding nose.
Sakura's grip on the boy slackened a little but Sasuke was there in an instant glaring down at the boy. "Lies." He snarled. "I saw your face. You planned that and enjoyed every second of it."
Sakura glared at the kid for a moment longer before letting him go. "I should really hit you again for lying to me but I'm pretty sure I'd break your jaw if I did." She said before turning towards Sasuke and slipping her hand into his. "Let's go before I change my mind."
As they made their exit, the boy sat up with the help of a friend and gaped at the couple.
"Do you think that guy was her boyfriend?" the boy asked.
"I don't know but if he is you're lucky." His friend replied.
"What do you mean?" the injured boy said as he struggled to stand with his friend's help.
"Don't you see it? That crest on the back of his shirt?" he asked pointing at the red and white fan design. "That's the Uchiha family crest. You just crossed paths with Sasuke Uchiha and you made the mistake of touching his girl. You're lucky to be alive dude."
The perverted teen swallowed nervously. "Yeah."
Sasuke glanced back having heard their conversation and decided to erase any doubt in their minds of his identity and who Sakura belonged to shifting his eyes from black to bloody red just long enough for the teens to recognize it before turning back. He then shook his head at his own thought. Sakura didn't belong to him because he didn't deserve to have her.
The teen's friend shuddered. "Yeah, you better sleep with one eye open tonight."
The teen gulped "Even that wouldn't save me."
Sasuke smirked at their reaction to him earning a strange look from Sakura. "What's up with you?" she asked.
"Nothing. Just enjoying your show." He said quickly earning a blush from her.
"Quiet you!" she muttered. "Why are you here? I thought you were in the room with Naruto and Sai."
"They asked me to come find you." He explained.
She snorted. "I don't need anyone to babysit me. I'm not some weak woman who needs a man to protect her all the time."
"We know that." Sasuke assured her. "It's not you we're worried about, it's the idiots that cross your path and piss you off we worry about."
She opened her mouth to protest but didn't get a chance to speak when high pitched squealing rent the air.
"Oh my gosh! It's Sasuke Uchiha! The snake sannin!" a girl with red hair squealed before running up to them nearly knocking Sakura over in the process. "You're just as handsome as the rumors said." The girl breathed.
Sakura sighed as she retained her balance and pulled her hand free of his as she dusted off her clothes.
"Really? Sasuke Uchiha!" another girl squealed running up to the dark haired boy.
Sasuke cringed as he tried to shake off the girls by not answering their questions. He much preferred the dirty looks and glares he normally received compared to his nonsense. His eyes met Sakura's and he offered her an apologetic shrug which she returned with something that looked suspiciously like disappointment in her eyes. He couldn't tell if she was disappointed with him or with herself but it didn't really matter at the moment. He'd come to find her and bring her back to their hotel so that's what he was going to do.
"I need to go." He said shortly to the girls forming a loose circle around him.
"Don't go!" a female voice whined.
"Stay here! I'll buy you something to eat!" another one purred as hands grabbed at him.
He battled with the two sides of him, the side that wanted to just get out of this mess of females with a single leap, scoop up Sakura and run and the part of him that demanded he be polite and slip away from the twittering fan girls without causing a scene and then run off with Sakura. The boldest girl he'd ever met moved in front of him grabbed his face and began to pull it to her own. Panic flooded his system as every cell in his body rejected the girl's advance as he struggled out of her grip. He felt the instinct to grab his sword but fought it trying his best to not cause a scene.
"It's just a kiss." The girl protested grabbing for him again.
His chakra flared as his patience hung by a thread. Damn these fan girls and their annoying ways. He stopped for a moment, not it wasn't annoying, the word was far too tepid. Their advances were irritating, revolting. There was only one girl that he'd ever had the desire to kiss and it sure as hell wasn't the lusty blue haired girl trying to sexually assault him in the middle of the street.
A flash of pink caught his attention and he was relieved when Sakura's small but strong hand wrapped around his arm and pulled him backwards as she put herself between him and the octopus of a fan girl.
"If it's really just a kiss, why don't you go find some willing victim instead?" Sakura said glaring at the girl.
"What's it to you bitch?" the girl demanded putting her hands on her hips. "It's none of your business."
"It is my business because you're trying to sexually assault my teammate in the middle of the street you nasty, desperate, oblivious, fan girl." Sakura snarled.
The girl staggered back shocked by the pink haired medic's words. "It.. it wasn't like that. I wasn't assaulting him. I was just trying to kiss him." She protested.
"Did he show any indication that he wanted to kiss you? Do you have a history together that would indicate that he holds any sort of romantic feelings for you?" Sakura asked pointedly.
"Well… I…." the girl stammered.
"When you put your filthy hands all over him, did he move closer or did he push you away?" Sakura continued without missing a beat.
"He... Well…" the girl muttered.
"If some strange man had done to you what you just did to him, would you have called it assault?" Sakura demanded.
"That's…"
"It's a yes or no question!" Sakura snapped. "Answer it!"
"Yes." The girl squeaked.
"Damn right it is!" The pink haired medic growled.
Sasuke stood in awe of his teammate. He'd half expected her to punch the girl but this, it was even more effective. He hadn't asked her to come and help him but she had anyway and told the girl exactly what he wanted her to know. Her maturity and strength continued to amaze him. He could easily see why she was often compared to her teacher Lady Tsunade, she wouldn't have put up with that scene either. "Sakura." He said quietly. She turned to meet his gaze with her eyes blazing and he realized how much she really wanted to punch the girl in spite of her relatively calm exterior. "Let's get out of here." He said pulling her into his arms and leaping up to the roof tops.
"Sasuke! Put me down." She demanded.
"No." he replied. "If I do, you'll be tempted to go beat that blue haired girl."
She glared at him. "What are you saying?! Do you wish I hadn't stepped in or something? Did you want her to kiss you? If you wanted that so much you-"
"Thank you." He said interrupting her angry rant.
She stopped and looked up at him. "I really appreciate it. I don't really know how to deal with people and fan girls have always driven me crazy. That blue haired one was the boldest one so far. If you hadn't intervened I probably would've ended up in trouble for pushing a poor girl to the ground."
Sakura snorted. "Yeah. She would've brought out the water works and everything to save her own skin."
Sasuke nodded as he worked his way towards the inn. "Did you find a place to eat?" he asked trying to change the subject and ease the anger out of her.
"Well, I walked past a noodle house." She said tapping her chin. When he cringed she smiled. "But further down the street was a sushi bar."
"Thank heaven." He breathed.
She snickered as he jumped one last time landing on the banister of their room. The pair walked inside to find Sai sitting against one of the walls sketching in a notepad while Naruto was sprawled out across one of the beds smiling at a photograph in his hands.
"Aww! How sweet Naruto!" Sakura said as she bounced on the bed next to him slipping the photo of Hinata from his fingers.
"Shut it Sakura!" He hissed snatching it back while his cheeks turned bright red. "What took you guys so long?" he demanded as he stuffed it into his shirt pocket.
"Sakura decided to beat up a couple of perverts." Sasuke said in a matter of fact tone.
"Liar. I punched one and lectured the other." She protested. "Anyway, I found a sushi bar that looked good. Does that sound good for dinner?"
Sai's eyes lit up at the mention of one of his favorite foods. "Really? I wasn't expecting to find a place like that here."
She smiled and nodded. "I figured it would probably be our last chance to have it before heading to the Land of Wind."
"You were thinking of me?" Sai asked his head tilted a little with his confusion.
"Yes." She said with a smile. "I owe you for that sucker punch during our training session."
Sasuke shook his head, this woman was so selfless. He couldn't remember the last time she put herself first.
"I'm going to take a bath before we go out if that's alright." She said grabbing her bag of toiletries from her travel pack.
"Go ahead." Naruto said. "It's all yours."
As she closed the bathroom door Sasuke couldn't help but notice how Sai and Naruto both smiled. Something clicked in his brain and he smirked. "I get it now." He murmured as he heard the water run and Sakura humming a little tune. "You actually want her to take a bath first because it's one of the only things she does for herself, am I right?"
Naruto and Sai both blinked and then chuckled and nodded.
"I never thought about it like that, but yeah." Naruto replied.
"She deserves that much for putting up with Naruto all of the time." Sai replied.
"Hey! You're way more annoying than I am." The blonde hissed.
Sasuke leaned against the wall as his mind whirled. This was Sai and Naruto's way of giving back to Sakura and thanking her for all of her hard work. He wondered what he could do to thank her for everything she'd done for him since he'd arrived back in the village. He had recently come to terms with the fact that though he would never stop trying, he'd never truly be able to make up for the years that he had been away chasing his vendetta. However, he could start repaying her for what she was doing for him now. He just wasn't sure what do give her or do for her at the moment.
"So there are only two beds here. What are we going to do about that?" Naruto remarked.
Sasuke blinked in surprise and focused his attention on his blonde haired friend. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, I can't sleep with Sakura." Naruto said in a matter of fact tone. "The same thing happens every time. I smack her in my sleep, she wakes up and punches me in the face. It's just a nightmare." He said scrubbing his hands over his face clearly recalling painful nights.
"Sakura and I have no trouble sleeping together." Sai replied in the same matter of fact tone. "She tosses and turns at first but once she actually falls asleep she doesn't move and I don't move at all once I lay down."
"Yeah, you sleep like a dead man. It's actually really creepy." Naruto agreed shuddering a little. "What do you think Sasuke? Do you want to sleep with Sakura or do you want Sai to sleep with her?"
The Uchiha blinked dumbfounded by the entire conversation. It was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever been a part of in his entire life. It all sounded so… dirty. Of course it was just part of being a ninja to share sleeping quarters and beds but to hear about Sakura sleeping with other men on a regular basis out loud was just unsettling in a way that made his stomach churn. He knew it was literally only sleeping in the purest sense of the word but it still irritated him. In his mind, there really was no reason any of them needed to sleep with Sakura. The three of them could probably fit into the king sized bed. It wouldn't be comfortable but it was better than any of them sleeping with their only female companion.
"I don't think any of us should sleep with her." He said. "It's a large bed, all three of us could fit if we needed too."
"Are you sure Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "I really am a messy sleeper and Sai might sleep like the dead but that means that if you need to move him in the middle of the night you're screwed because he either won't budge or he'll wake up and try to kill you."
"That happened once Naruto and I told you I was sorry." Sai replied with a long suffering sigh.
"Well excuse me for having trouble forgetting about the time I tried to wake you up and ended up on my back with a kunai at my throat!" The blonde snapped before turning back to Sasuke. "Nobody is going to want to sleep in the middle and you know it."
Sasuke sighed raking a hand through his ebony hair. He had a sinking feeling in his gut that he was being forced into a corner and he didn't like it, not one bit.
"You and Sasuke haven't had a chance to sleep together since the war ended. Why not take this opportunity?" Sai suggested.
Sasuke's brow twitched with irritation, there was no way in Hell he was going to let his replacement sleep with Sakura and sleeping with Naruto was torture. He'd learned that after being stuck to the idiot for three days during their genin days. The only one he trusted to sleep beside her and not try anything was himself and the whiskered idiot but the latter had already declared that it wasn't going to happen.
"Fine! I'll sleep with her!" he spat out irritated at the smirk and giggles that Naruto tried to hide behind his hand.
"Sleep with who?" Sakura said as she stepped out of the bathroom dressed in her normal ninja gear again minus the arm and legs warmers, her hands rubbing a towel through her hair to dry it.
Sasuke couldn't help the blush that came to his cheeks fueled by embarrassment at being caught saying such a misleading thing. He cleared his throat and forced the stoic mask he usually wore onto his face before he spoke again. "We were just discussing the sleeping arrangements for tonight." He explained.
"I'll sleep with anyone but Naruto." The pink haired medic blurted out quickly. A blush soon colored her cheeks at her own words and she chuckled nervously. "Anyway! The bath is free. There's probably time for one more person to take one before we head out for dinner."
"I'll go next." Sai said grabbing a neat bundle of clothes from his bag. "I shouldn't take long."
"Ok." Sakura said with a wave before she flopped down on the bed next to Naruto. "So what did you guys decide?"
"Sai's with me." Naruto said as he rolled to his back resting his head on his hands.
"He must have drawn the short straw." She mused.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when there was a tap at the window immediately drawing the three experienced shinobi's attention from their conversation and setting them on high alert. The all visibly relaxed when they recognized what was at the window.
"Looks like your hawk made it back." Naruto said as the Uchiha opened the window and the bird of prey glided inside with a scroll tied to its back.
As Sasuke worked to relieve the bird of his burden, Sakura moved closer to study the animal. "He's so beautiful." She murmured.
"Are you saying what I summon isn't?" Naruto asked.
"Well, you summon toads so…" she replied.
"So what? You're the new freaking slug queen." The blonde haired man replied haughtily.
"Yeah I am. Did you know that my slugs could reduce you to bubbling pile of nothing with acid toad boy?" she replied.
"Really? They can shoot acid? I had no idea. That is so cool!" Naruto replied his eyes widening.
The bird now relieved of his charge vanished with a soft pop and Sasuke unrolled the message his eyes scanning over it quickly.
"What does it say?" Sakura asked moving to stand behind him to read the message over his shoulder.
"The blood sample is still being analyzed but so far there are no signs of the new chakra being dangerous to the patients or having and malicious properties." He replied.
"That's good news." Sakura said breathing a sigh of relief.
"Since it appears this new threat is headed to the Land of Wind, he's informed Lord Garra. The Kazikage has since requested that we go to The Village Hidden in the Sand to meet with him in person to discuss what we know and so that he can provide us with a team of sand ninja to guide us through The Land of Wind." Sasuke continued.
Naruto's eyes lit up. "I can't wait! Garra and I have a lot of catching up to do."
Sasuke shook his head. "I never imagined you two would end up so close." He muttered.
"Well yeah, I mean we're friends now and besides, I'm going to be Hokage one day soon so being on good terms with the Kazikage is a huge advantage right?" Naruto said enthusiastically.
"We should be able to make it there in two days if we go at a decent pace." The Uchiha mused touching his hand to his chin. He wasn't really comfortable with the idea of meeting with the Kazikage. He and Garra had never been on good terms and he knew the red haired man didn't trust him. The trek across the desert also had him worried, there wasn't much in the way of cover and it made them vulnerable to enemy attacks. With a mystery person rumored to have incredible power and terrifying beasts both at large, the idea of being that exposed didn't sit well with him.
Sakura nodded. "I agree." And then to his surprise, she took the scroll from him and rolled it back up placing it in her bag. "Sai will be out in a couple of minutes and you're getting that look on your face when you start to worry. Let's go out and enjoy dinner and then when we get back you can worry, strategize, and plan as much as you want, ok?"
Sasuke blinked once again amazed at her sense of perception and then nodded. "Very well then. I suppose that's acceptable."
"Excellent." She said as Sai exited the bathroom shaking the excess water from his hair. "Now let's go get some sushi! I'm starving. Although, I vote we travel by rooftop."
"Why is that?" Sai asked.
"There's a certain blue haired young woman I'd like to avoid if at all possible." Sakura replied.
"Why?" Naruto inquired.
"Don't worry about it." Sasuke replied.
"Fine, but if we're doing it that way, it's a race. The last one to the sushi bar buys." Naruto said with a grin as Sakura pointed out the restaurant on a map of the town left in their room.
"Sounds good to me." Sasuke replied as the four ninja assembled on the balcony their eyes focused on the roof top of their target across the village.
"Ready? Go!" Sakura cried and in a flash, the race was on.