Pulling My Weight

Chapter 26 || Allies

Sakura launched herself at the assassin, grinning when he caught her easily, strong arms wrapping around her waist and steadying them both.

"Pinky-chan," he greeted, and Sakura could hear his smirk, "you're like an excited puppy." He laughed.

Sakura harrumphed, indignation warring with amusement at the comparison, and squeezed tighter before letting go. "Nice to see you too, Yuki-san. Also, you need to wear a bell, I swear. " She snarked back, drawing another chuckle from the raven and unable to fight her own responding smile.

"Thought you've been getting better at sensing, not worse." He shot back, and Sakura barely managed to fight back a wince. "I managed to run alongside you for a solid ten minutes and you didn't notice."

"Ah, yeah," she hedged, hand rising unconsciously to scratch at the back of her neck, wondering how to best explain the situation to the assassin, "I may have... depleted my reserves and overloaded my coils... a few days ago..."

Yuki stood still for a few seconds, eyes narrowed, scrutinising her. "And the Godaime... sent you on a solo mission? Psh." He scoffed, and while there was derision in his eyes, long exposure to the man let Sakura see the undertone of apprehension and genuine concern underneath. "And they say Kiri was ruthless."

"I can still fight!" Sakura defended herself, a little insulted. "Just, my chakra is a bit... capricious, at the moment."

"I know, pinky-chan, I wasn't doubting you." Yuki said offhandedly, frowning, his mind seemingly far-away.

But the offhand compliment was enough to shut Sakura up and send warmth rushing to her cheeks, because the acknowledgement that he'd offered so freely, so carelessly – it felt so good.

Then, the grey cloud that had gathered above the assassin's head cleared up, and he was back to his usual, more-than-a-little unhinged self that Sakura was familiar with.

"So, what had you so deep in thought before you saw me, hm, pinky-chan?" he asked casually, falling into step with Sakura as they continued towards Kiri, not bothering with ninja speed just yet.

"Ah, I was just... wondering, I suppose." Sakura evaded, then sighed, letting her head thump lightly against Yuki's shoulder, keeping it there for a few steps before pulling away. "Ne, Yuki-san... do you think I'm like Orochimaru?"

Yuki tripped.

Actually honest-to-god tripped, and in that moment, Sakura was certain that the world was ending.

The fact that the assassin caught himself not a half-second later didn't matter. Yuki had been the epitome of 'apex predator' in her mind, cat-like in his grace and stealth, and seeing him trip like a genin had felt like a violation of one of the most basic principles Sakura lived by; water was wet, Genma was her partner, Shikamaru was a genius, and Yuki didn't trip.

Yuki didn't fall, but Sakura was aware that her jaw had hit the floor in his stead.

"Yeah...no. We're camping. I need to be sitting down for this conversation." He grumbled at last, and Sakura drew comfort from the fact that there was amusement in his eyes, even if it was overshadowed by something she couldn't quite decipher.

Then, his words registered, and she started complaining because it was barely dusk!

However, despite her grumblings and less than graceful protests, Yuki had still dragged her into the forest that surrounded the path they were on and sent her to find water and kindling while he set up camp. Twenty minutes later, they were sitting around a small fire, eating fish, taro and skirret stew that Yuki had cooked. Sakura sat with her back against a tree, her bedroll beside her, soaking up the warmth from the fire and nibbling on a taro leaf, quietly impressed at Yuki's creation.