Sweating was an inevitable part of traveling as a ninja, which involved less luxurious options to relieve one of said sweat. Sakura, who hadn't been on a mission as far as Suna for a year, especially not in the middle of summer, was very aware of her wet existence. Though the sun had fallen low enough to relieve the woman from its assaulting heat, she was still in constant motion that even the cooler breeze of the coming night couldn't squelch. However, Sakura was not a complainer; at least, she tried not to be, especially in the current situation.
Sasuke had barely broken a sweat, even with the thick cloth headband he now wore to hold down his growing hair in place over his rinnegan. She wondered if that was the calculated reason behind his get-up and concluded that she was most likely correct. But she also wondered if he chose that cloth band instead of the Konoha band as a part of his atonement. Did he think he was unworthy to wear it again? Uchiha was synonymous with Konoha, no matter if he wore the banner or settled for ambiguous loyalties. He would always be a part of their village. Ghosts of all the Uchiha settled there at some point, but she supposed she didn't have much of a leg to stand on to ask.
The couple had traveled another eight hours in silence; occasionally, they would stop to rest when Sakura stumbled, even when it was so unnoticeable that she didn't even know she'd done it. Nothing got past his eyes, and he'd made the excuse of needing a drink of water and, on their break, not drinking a drop. Sakura felt aggravated by his lack of confidence in her ability to withstand the expectations of a mission. Did he think she was that weak? As if she hadn't been a sanin trained ninja just as he had been. The lack of confidence vexed her, yet she didn't have much fight left in her to argue. But, she did wrestle with herself that if he did it again before she was ready just because of a microscopic misstep, she would give him a part of her mind. On the other hand, it was kind of sweet. She actively ignored that small voice that countered her annoyance and stuck to her seething frustration.
The sun was getting low; the nearest village was at least another four hours away. It would be dark before they reached it at this pace. She couldn't help but feel some responsibility for the slow pace. Even if she had higher stamina than Sasuke was willing to give her credit for, she could concede that she was far less agile than her partner. He was probably irritated that he had to slow his pace so much. Was that why he'd been even more silent than usual? Sakura knew better at this point to take his silence as anything other than an adjective to describe him. There was no use in contemplating the intricacies of Sasuke's heterogeneous mind. So, instead, she was going to focus on the mission. For the last eight hours, she'd done just that.
Reflecting on what little Kakashi had said about the Kazekage's condition, since it seemed even he'd gotten little information on just how ill the Suna leader was, Sakura was perplexed to know if anyone else had been sick in the last two weeks. Considering the mutation rate of a virus, it could be as simple as the flu or as dire as a rapidly deteriorating parasite. Of course, she would know much more when they got there. But, she wished she'd at least had something to go on and ponder on the long trek. The biggest clue that Kakashi had given them to the Kage's condition was that he was not entirely bedridden. That put things into a better perspective. If he could still walk around, the likelihood of the life-threatening virus was far lower than she'd feared.
"It's getting dark. We should make camp." Sasuke said curtly.
Being consumed by the medical knowledge stored like a library in the labyrinth of her mind, Sakura had almost forgotten she was traveling on this mission with a partner. The current of powerful chakra was the only indicator of her companion, which couldn't be wholly dismissed in such close proximity and reminded her she wasn't alone.
She simply nodded.
Sasuke had planned out ahead of time when to camp for the night. Having been on a year's travel, he knew the forests of the fire country better than most. He had mapped out the best rivers with lesser currents for safe bathing. It was to one of those spots he'd steered their journey.
Sasuke was aware of everything, almost to a fault. He knew Sakura was not as agile as he was, and if it were any other mission partner, he'd have been cross with their lack of fitness equivalence. However, he found himself enjoying the leisure pace. On his solo travels, he could control the pace. Sometimes, he'd take longer strides and others, he'd stretch out a path for days. Being with Sakura was a learning curve. He didn't want to leave her side, and he also didn't want to push her, not seeing any need to prove she was not slacking in her ninja training. She had far more endurance than he remembered, and it was his own misguided attempts at chivalry for why they made as many stops as they had. His awareness stopped him from taking a third break of the day before they'd settled in for the night. The last break had Sakura all but seething against a tree as she waited for him to "rest up." It was a crock, of course. He could go far longer than she knew, but he hadn't wanted to come off as uncaring towards her. He'd done enough of that for the last year of silence. He supposed silence in person was no better. It was that reason he made a wager with himself to attempt a conversation. He was starting to annoy even himself with his silence and lack of communication skills.
Sakura wasn't much of a social person herself, far more introverted than many gave her credit for, marred by her aura of confidence. It allowed others to affix traits she didn't necessarily possess. Sasuke's silence bestowed him with the same treatment for the characteristic of being unfeeling, which was wholly incorrect. He felt a great deal, but the lack of expressing those feelings garnered the attributes placed on him. In that way, he felt a kinship with Sakura. They both played roles out of the misunderstanding of others. How lonely it was for him, and he assumed, with small snippets of evidence in the misty green eyes of his companion, that she felt the same way. He supposed that was where they had some common ground.
"You can take a bath first. I'll start the fire." He had made a conscious attempt at softening his voice and adding a few more words than he usually would. Small steps make significant strides in other ways.
Sakura looked at him for longer than was necessary. She looked as if she wanted to say something, and Sasuke was nothing if not patient. However, he didn't know if she needed coxing or if she was resolute to take her time and gather her resolve. Whatever the question or comment was, he wanted to give the impression - which was genuine - that he was willing to listen and hopefully generate a reply.
"I," She began. Whatever question or observation seemed to die quickly in the woman's throat. She was curious about many things revolving around the actions of the Uchiha, but she also wondered if it was too early to bring up any of her gripes about his behavior. She had many questions; the one that had just ceased to come out revolved around their last meeting before he'd disappeared for the year. 'The poke," as she'd dubbed it, had seemed to mean a great deal more to her than it had him, and the question that coated her tongue was why did he even bother?
At that moment, it took Sasuke to realize Sakura's vote of confidence in him had wavered, and his level of agitation increased. Was that even fair of him? What confidence did he give her to confide in him? Experiences as children, when life had yet to bloom with all the complexity of adult emotions, were a far cry from current predicaments. She would warm up eventually to him, he hoped. But, in the meantime, he had to push himself past his own comforts to share room in her world. She wasn't going to chase; he was coming to terms with a missed pursuit he should have participated in. He had now won the cat role, and his mouse (a term unbefitting of Sakura in meekness) was far more innovative at maneuvering through the maze than he was. Eventually, he hoped to catch up.
Sakura was quick to the river, dipping her sore toes in first to test the waters and finding the water was the perfect temperature. She happily danced as she stripped her sweat-covered clothes from her thin frame. Sakura had always struggled with insecurities, as most people do, but in the category of her sex, she struggled to accept her small chest the most. Her forehead was its own can of insecurity worms, but it was her decidedly sexual physique that she picked at mentally. Often, her mind would wander off in a useless comparison of the Konoha women's chest sizes. The only other woman she didn't feel underdeveloped next to was Tenten, and then, in the wake of realizing her scornful comparing, she'd be eclipsed in a fog of contrition and shame. She hated many things about herself and her lack of a stronghold on her insecurities, and the monster that stemmed from it was a big one. As Sakura soaked away the twelve-hour travel from her body, she reflected on her situation to distract her from her "lackluster" feminine form.
Sasuke had made the fire quicker than he probably should have. Now, he sat with a fire set, two roasting rabbits he'd caught as quickly as they'd settled, and a wandering mind. The target - the woman bathing fifty feet away. The canopy of trees and shrubs kept her well hidden but in earshot in case of bandits or rogue ninjas. However, that didn't stop the mental images from playing like a vulgar adult movie in his head. Hormones, as natural as they may be, sickened him. He felt like a predator, and his mind was ready to confront the prey. Sakura was the unlucky meal. The Uchiha's body was stiff in more ways than one. While seemingly focused on the fire, his eyes hid the mirage of X-rated images playing behind them.
Round and perky breasts on a slim frame assaulted his mind, and he wasn't at all offended. Grossly, he welcomed the images and hated himself for not being strong enough to resist. Graphic visions of the subtle dip in the curvature of a well-defined back, separating the bottom of the spine from a toned and supple ass, raided his brain. The worst part was imagining these body parts as wet as they were now. He groaned and was surprised to hear that it was audible. He had to get a grip, or he might find he'd embarrass himself far beyond what he could repair. But, the assault continued to the point that he had to rearrange his suddenly tight pants inconspicuously. He didn't know how to stop it, wasn't sure he wanted to or had the resolve.
Flashes of the soft, small palms running over pink, hard nipples, washing away the grime of a long day, were almost maddening. He wanted to feel them, envious of the owner's own hands that had unabashed access to every part of its body. He felt like a rabid animal. He was all but certain he had to be salivating. Why was it now, under the moon and stars, that he always found Sakura's naked company in his mind? He felt possessed.
The images didn't cease, convinced he'd have to "take care of it." It was risky; the culprit was only a few feet away. Would he be so crass as to give into his desires with her so close? He would have to bear it, he'd decided. She was far too close, too real, and too human. Before, he could manage to push the guilty feelings of sexualizing his friend and instead look at it from a logical and natural perspective. But, with her here, a real and a possible partisan to sexual encounters, he couldn't bring himself to give in. His respect for her was outweighing his resolve, but just barely.
He couldn't stop the mental warfare, though. His brain was wholly against stopping its siege on his mind and sex. A much-needed adjustment of his member wouldn't hurt anyone, he convinced himself. With a swift brush of his covered hand, he made himself only a monochrome more comfortable.
In his visions, his brain didn't dare imagine the valley between the woman's legs. Sasuke knew it would be his undoing, and with his little control over his brain, he made sure to block it out. If he imagined seeing it, he would go down the rabbit hole of what he could do to it. Another involuntary audible groan left his pursed lips. The man focused harder on the fire.
Would she be back anytime soon? The assault on his brain was amplified due to the knowledge that she was, in fact, completely naked, only a few strides away. Her accessibility was driving this onslaught. His brain may relent if she were fully clothed, speaking, or even just existing directly before him. God, he hoped she would hurry.
Sakura took her time. She didn't know if it was because the water was warm against her aching body or if she was actively avoiding an awkward time at the campsite. Worrying about it would only serve to sour the moonlit bathing break she currently enjoyed. The solitude was as cleansing as the bath. It allowed her to separate the tangled mess her brain was in.
Sakura stood from her crouched position in the water. The moonlight shone down onto her pink skin, and she happily drank it in. The sound of water swaying, the faint rustling of tiny forest animals who scurried to the water to drink.
The sounds of the nature surrounding her, its constant and impartial reverence of life around it, made Sakura relax. This time, her brain washed away the anxieties that had left crooks in every muscle and weighed her down. The world grew silent, and she felt completely at peace. She supposed it was similar to meditation, which she'd been hard-pressed to master one day to tame her anger.
The shift in the surrounding nature was almost subtle. If she'd been any more relaxed, she might have missed the sudden presence that slithered at the trunk of a nearby tree. Anyone's first thought would be with utmost confidence that their mission partner decided to sneak a peek. If it had been any other man than the asexual Sasuke Uchiha, she might have entertained that thought and not increased her guard. But, for a myriad of reasons, one vital factor being that her partner was the Last Uchiha, Sakura was instantly on red alert. Nakedness is one of the last things on her mind: survival and concern for her mission partner were at the forefront. Concern only that he hadn't already taken out the interloper, a fact that allowed her brain to conjure up scenarios in which he was incapacitated to do so. She'd have to manage on her own, which she was confident in her ability to do.
The shadow shifted into the downcast light from above and with the reveal of his face, Sakura could see his perverted smirk. His teeth were entirely too big for his small mouth, which didn't seem to stretch over the exposed bones as it should. With deeper observation, the man - decidedly a rogue ninja from the clouds, given his scratch headband and unmistakable cloud emblem - had an aura of pure darkness. It was as if he'd brought the shadows he'd been hidden into a cloak surrounding his body. The intent of evil was so strong that Sakura felt her stomach lurch. He was no ordinary rogue ninja.
Suddenly feeling exposed in more ways than just physically, Sakura crouched into a fighting stand. For one, it had some effect of hiding her nakedness, and two, because she felt the stranger was already waging an attack. She'd be ready once he did.
The newcomer made small steps towards her, and Sakura took steps back like a dance. Her clothes, which sat near a bush at the river's ledge, were within reach. Her mind was unfixed on the clothes but the kunai hidden beneath the neatly folded pile.
It was a flash of dual movements, Sakura dove for her kunai, securing it in her hand, and the stranger lunged at her from the edge of the river. The man swiftly corrected his footing, dodging to the left of her kunai swipe. She'd just barely nicked him on the cheek. A rippling laugh, like a snarl, blasted from his lips as his bulbous thumb swiped at the blood dripping from the fresh cut. He didn't even look at the red-coated finger before he licked it clean. Sakura internally gagged.
"Quick and sexy. I picked a good one tonight." His voice was dripping with inclination, leaving the pinkette feeling dirty even after a bath. "I bet you'll be a screamer."
His next assault was predictable as the brute barreled at her. Sakura jumped above him, turned back as she landed, and, with the momentum, swung a violent right hook at the back of her attacker. The man squeaked in surprise at how strong the hit was, sending him to the ground as shock left him there. He found that he couldn't breathe and clutched at the blades of grass beneath him.
Anyone else would have passed out immediately, and it was the realization that her opponent was very much conscious that Sakura's blood ran cold. She should have put more power into the punch; 30% wouldn't be enough for this guy. She hated increasing beyond this level as it was much harder to evade killing her opponent. Not one to kick a man while he was down, Sakura watched to see if he was just slow to pass out. Unfortunately, he was slowly staggering to his feet.
The situation wasn't good. Naked, cold, and pissed off was not a good combo. God help anyone having to deal with Sakura in this state. In the anger that radiated through every pore, Sakura wound into a powered-up punch. The man had finally reached his feet, and while his grotesque smile had vanished, his malignant aura was still strong. She smirked as her fist glided toward its target. He was still slightly dazed but managed to evade the onslaught. With her target missed, Sakura's assault landed on the grassy space he had occupied, leaving a crater. The man had jumped back, almost falling into the water, and pulled out throwing stars. He must not be a strong jutsu user, which was an advantage to Sakura.
As the stars barreled towards the pinkette, she weaved expertly to avoid them. One only made a paper-cut-sized laceration on her shoulder. In the assault, the man had flashed out of view. Sakura listened to her silent surroundings, focusing on any signs that the attacker may be ready to ambush. Time slowed, and Sakura stayed in position. Then, as she had expected, the rogue ninja jumped from the tree, and as he was falling with his sword positioned to strike, Sakura cleaved a balled-up fist directly at the attacker's face. The fist hit square on, and the man flew across the forest from the punch's force.
Grabbing her clothes, she got dressed after making sure to sense for more enemy chakra. Checking the passed-out man's pulse, Sakura had controlled the strength level just enough that the man was alive but in much-needed medical help. The possibility that she fractured his skull was high, but it would be hard to know for sure without a scan. Instinctively, her slender hands glowed the healing green hue on his wound, enough so to make sure he at least wouldn't die but stay effectively incapacitated for an extensive period of time. The medical nin curled her hand around the collar of the incapacitated man; she dragged him to her campsite to meet up with her companion. She wondered if Sasuke might have found them some dinner as she walked. She was starving!
Sasuke had been itching to touch himself just as he sensed the presence of a foreign chakra. He was never so happy to be in an impending battle. All sexual desire was eviscerated from his veins, and replaced with focus. The battle would be quick, but at least he wouldn't have to battle with his perversions and instead had a physical target to relinquish his pent-up frustrations. He wondered if he should drag this out to avoid the lingering desire. Nanoseconds of these thoughts waved through his overactive mind but landed on a certain pink haired kunoichi. Was she safe? He had a permanent beacon on her chakra and hadn't noticed any spikes, which was good enough, for now. His distractions would be minuscule and allow him to focus on his opponent.
This adversary wasn't what he'd been expecting. From the ratted clothing, bulging stomach and greasy hair, Sasuke considered that the man may not be a ninja at all. It was this apprehension that stopped his hand from unsheathing his sword in a graceful dexterity to fight. Instead, the patient nin stood with his hand holding the hilt of the sword and analyzed every small movement of the newcomer.
"What do you want?" He said in his typically cold tone.
The disheveled man didn't speak immediately, which made Sasuke slightly unnerved. Was the man lost, a ruse, or just stupid? There were many possibilities that could happen now, and Sasuke wasn't entirely uncertain that there was a full-blown attack brewing. There was something off about this whole thing. The unmistakable crashing of something powerful breaking the ground rumbled through the quiet. Sakura. The last Uchiha's eyes narrowed, gritting his teeth at the dirty man who hadn't moved an inch even as the ground shook beneath them. That was all but an answer to his question.
"I don't have time for this," Sasuke seethed lowly.
The Uchiha turned his back on the intruder, unwavering in his resolve to protect Sakura, before engaging in a game of interrogation. Though he'd turned around, Sasuke knew every move the stranger made. He could see as the round man began to sprint towards him. As quick as the lightning that he could conjure in the palm of his hand, Sasuke sidestepped behind the brawny man and flashed behind his back. His sword was positioned and neatly swung to connect with its target. The stranger fell quickly to his outstretched stomach and groaned, the gash he'd sustained from the nin staining his ragged clothes red. Content with leaving his would-be attacker there to die in order to flash to his comrade, he was stopped in his tracks by the almost incoherent mumbling of the dying man.
"We just wanted…." His breathing was ragged. "Just wanted…to touch her."
The color drained from Sasuke's body, as if he'd been ensanguinated on the spot. Two concepts had become suddenly aware to him at once: one, the man was referring to his pink-haired companion, which made him want to kill the man all over again, and two, the distinct use of the plural, we. Feet carried the last Uchiha faster than his brain could keep up, and as his mind slowly rebooted, his body naturally locked onto the unmistakably warm chakra of his worldly tether. She was alive; he could garner that much information, but the state in which he may find her was another question altogether. Her vitals were strong, perfectly normal, and yet he couldn't get the man's dying words out of his head, we. She must have been in a fight, deducing that had to have been the ungodly sound of splitting earth earlier.
The uncharacteristically erratic man had come face to face with flushed pink cheeks that matched the short strands of its owner as he flashed right to the edge of the river. His heart felt like it had suddenly been shocked back to life after a period of cessation. Why had he felt like nothing in the wake of ambiguity to her physical state? It didn't matter just now; what mattered was the unmistakable life flowing through his companion in the form of blood-pulled cheeks. If he'd been an affectionate person, he may have hugged her. Sasuke huffed in the aftermath of his body and, more abjectly, his heart's reactions. His body reset to factory settings, as stone-cold and rigid as ever, and his eyes, which had been enthralled with the beautiful face of the Haruno woman, shifted to the body being drug effortlessly behind her. The sight may have sent chills down his spine if he'd been in the right state of mind before now. Unlike his opponent, this one was alive, albeit only by a dangling string. The kunoichi defeated her opponent without breaking a sweat or needing external assistance. Inwardly, Sasuke smiled proudly. Regardless of these low-level bandit's skill levels, it was still a treat to be proven right that Sakura was damn strong and exceedingly capable.
"You too?" His voice was flippant, but he was anything but disinterested.
His body language looked strained, Sakura noticed. Suddenly, his aura, darker and capricious, had shifted back to normal in nanoseconds. Remarkably, it was as if he hadn't been in distress, which was precisely why Sakura convinced herself that she had imagined it. Looking the man over, she couldn't help but smile. As hurt as she may have been by his actions towards her, Sakura was not blind to his beauty or power. Just as quickly as the thoughts came, she pushed them away to focus on what he'd just said. Me too? So, there was more than one.
"Yeah," She almost chuckled. Her free hand went nervously to the nape of her neck, though she wasn't quite sure why she'd become nervous now. Was it because Sasuke spoke to her in sentence form that was something other than a command? "He wasn't much of a challenge, but it was my first time fighting naked."
The words evacuated her lips without getting permission from her brain, and Sakura's face twisted in horror at what she'd just said.
Sasuke's cheeks reddened for multiple reasons: the fact that she'd so casually mentioned being naked (which was a given due to the fact she had bathed) and that she'd been naked in front of another man (regardless of having no other alternative and being stuck in a compromising position that she'd expertly fought her way out of). His two colored eyes snapped to the man clinging to life, and Sasuke wanted to snap his neck for the privilege the degenerate had forcefully appreciated. With his temper flaring to a dangerous degree, Sasuke avoided the green eyes of his companion, if only so she didn't see the color change on his cheeks, and turned his head to hide his face behind his overgrown hair.
The silence was painful. Sakura envied her defeated foe at her feet in that he was at death's door. She felt her stomach would crawl out of her and onto the grass at Sasuke's feet. Her embarrassment was almost too much to bear, and she wished she was lights out, too.
To avoid the dark thoughts of killing the already unconscious man and to try and move past the mental image of Sakura's nakedness gyrating around, bouncing and wet as she dominated her adversary in a show of power - Sasuke cleared his throat. It was an almost silent sound, but enough to chip away at the tension between them. His face was a little less pink, the heat had gone down, and his nerves had settled enough that he convinced himself the tinge would be invisible in this light and turned back to his shorter partner.
"Good." With that, he turned his back to the woman. "I'm glad you're alright, Sakura." He stood there only momentarily and then leisurely walked back towards camp. "Dinner is ready if you're hungry." He announced over his shoulder. "You need to rebuild your strength."
Sakura barely heard the man as she stared at his retreating back. She bolted in place at the realization that that had been the longest conversation since he'd returned to Konoha, back to her. She lingered on his words. He was glad she was okay. She caught herself, allowing her heart to swell and her mind to play tricks, just for a moment. She felt the prick of tears well at the corners of her eyes and fought like hell to keep them down. There was no way in hell she was going to break so easily. Besides, she knew what he meant. He cared nothing more about her well-being than a fellow ninja and former team member. The romantically affronted pinkette would not dance with the devil of hope and assuaged her girlish tendency to hang onto every word, every look, and every thought perpetrated by the Sharingan user. She had to repeat the disillusions to herself. Don't take it for something else. Don't fool your heart again. The mantra repeated for her to move her body from the spot and state he'd left her in. It doesn't mean anything. It never does.
Dinner was quiet as the pinkette grazed her food. The groaning of the bandit she'd disabled was a notable distraction, as well as her subservient heart. Sakura was depressed. The culprit was her own head. Why had she clung to his words like a leaking lifeboat? She was even more depressed that Sasuke seemed exceptionally unbothered. He had finished his food quickly and was setting up the tents for bed. No other words had been spoken since their exchange by the river, and Sakura was dwelling far too much on the silence they should have comfortably basked in. Instead, Sakura just sighed into a mouthful of rabbit.
Sasuke had noticed the shift in Sakura's mood but had no solution to the problem. The source of her mood may have been the best starting point to fixing whatever was dragging her to this tainted mood, but he hadn't the slightest idea of what set her off. It could have simply been that she was tired; that would make sense given how long their day had been. She could be cold, so he was putting up the tents, so she could rest and warm up before the temperature dropped. Or, and he was unwilling to believe this possibility, she was upset directly with him. As he put the poles securely into the ground and rose the tents, he thought hard about every word and action he'd done since setting down for camp and had come up empty. A dastardly ripple of an idea bubbled into his mind, and he did his best not to tremble at the thought physically; he could always ask her directly. But what good would that do?
The woman had all but expelled a concrete lack of confidence in confiding in the man who'd abandoned her for a year. Did he have a right to try and pry into her feelings as if he should be their proverbial shoulder to cry on? He didn't think so. No, he knew so. He had far longer strides to make to show Sakura he was trustworthy with the delicacies of her heart. But, even so, the question lingered at his lips and sizzled his tongue as he sat across from her. She hadn't eaten much, which all on its own wouldn't do, and she looked weighed down by something much bigger than he could comprehend. Shouldn't he try to lighten her load for her sake, if only to be a distraction? Pride or whatever psychological reason stopped him from shouldering her hurt, be damned.
"You should eat more than that, Sakura." Another command. He needed to stop doing that. It was so militarily distant and formal, which were all words he didn't want to describe his relationship with the pinkette. He should try rephrasing. He silently cleared his throat and watched the woman, who stared back.
"I don't want you to be too exhausted tomorrow." That was good. Progress. Not the best, but good for him.
The silence lingered as a shocked Sakura all but gave up on any interest, which there already had been little, in the food before her and stuck it solely on the unexpectedly talkative man. Should she talk back? Would that do anything besides become a one-sided exchange, or should she take what little she was given and settle?
"I'm not that hungry." She grumbled. A small, unintentional pout on her lips.
Sasuke was stuck. He didn't know how to proceed. He could push the issue and risk her wrath, or he could let it go and keep a close eye on her energy level tomorrow. He supposed his eyes would always be focused on her, as they had been all day, so the ladder option wouldn't be much of an exerting task. However, he found that he wanted her to eat, for her sake. She'd had dumplings, admittedly large, and a fourth of a rabbit. After a long day's journey, all of that simply didn't add up to nearly enough. So, he chanced poking the bear.
"Eat, Sakura." For all intents and purposes, he hadn't meant for it to come off so forcefully. But, since it had, he hoped it would be enough to push the issue without much resistance. However, the furrowed pink brows of his beautiful companion, which was almost exactly what his mind thought up at the face she made, told him otherwise.
Sakura was almost flabbergasted. He was trying to tell her what to do? After everything, he honestly thought she was still that little girl he could push around that would follow every word and look at it all like it was gospel. Call it recompense or pent-up defiance, but Sakura was not going to be his lapdog. She wasn't hungry, she wasn't a toddling child, and most of all, she wasn't his concern.
All but throwing the rabbit at the man, Sakura stood up.
"I'm going to bed." Stomping off to her tent, which she mentally thanked the man and didn't dare verbalize the sentiment, she called over her shoulder in a hard voice. "You can eat it."
Sasuke sat with the sticky and warm carcass in his hand. He'd caught the food in her assault, of course. The feeling akin to whiplash in his mind. Taking a bite, to avoid wasting a perfectly good meal, Sasuke vowed to avoid talking altogether. But, as he reflected on the woman, he settled instead on retracting on making commands. Though, he knew that wouldn't come so easily.
**So, this was a lot longer than usual. I wanted to get a few things out of the way to set up the story. The next chapter is serving up the meat and potatoes of the story. There will be fluff and sexual themes in the next chapter; smut is not here yet, but it's setting up for it. Plus, some cute moments will be in the next one, and essential plot points are set up, too. So, stick around for that.
Thank you to everyone who has commented on the story! It means so, so much! I did want to address that I am taking a lot of liberties with the story and how I tell it. Since we have almost no backstory on how these two got together, I am writing from a fan perspective of how I wish Sakura would have stood up for herself. She won't be perfect, and she won't be consistent. Hell, she probably won't seem entirely in character, but I doubt most of the characters will since I'm not the creator. But I'm having fun with the story and hope you guys won't take it so seriously. I'm writing it how I want to, and I hope you all enjoy it regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the direction or character development.
Alright, I've babbled on enough. Thanks for reading, bookmarking, and all the Kudos! I am so inspired by all of it and so happy to see the engagement! Stay tuned for the next chapter. I hope to get a few more out over the next couple of days, but uploads may be a little slower due to work, school, and birthdays. But, for the most part, I will be consistent with the uploads.
Bye, for now~
Monsta