In the Blink of an Eye (Sasusaku)

Master and Student

For the next couple of days, Team Seven was bombarded by useless D-rank missions. Most of the time they were finding someone's lost cat, painting an old fence, or building small sheds. Today they were out in a small stream, catching fish for an elderly couple.

"Why the heck do they need fish?! Can't they just buy it from the market?!"

"Settle down, Naruto," Kakashi drawled. "A mission's a mission."

The blonde boy threw a glare at his sensei, before, once again, slipping on the cool, wet stone beneath their feet. Sakura ducked out of the way to get out of the splash range, but sadly her top managed to get drenched. After the medic had first learned that they were doing a mission with water, she opted to change out of her regular black hoodie and throw on a crimson tank top.

I wish I wore something waterproof, the girl huffed. Now, one of my favorite tops is ruined.

The three genin had already been standing in the stream for hours, the afternoon sun beating down hard on their backs. Every once in a while, one of them would catch a fish, in which, their teammates would watch in amazement because how did they catch a fish? Usually, many more times than they would admit, that person would promptly lose the fish, and it would happily swim back into the stream. At the moment, the only fish they had was a puny common shiner*, already shriveled up at the bottom of their bucket from the heat because they had forgotten to submerge it in water. We're going to fail this mission.

*It's a type of freshwater fish. I'm not going to lie to you, I looked it up.

Sakura stood in the water knee-deep, trying to remain absolutely still as the fish curiously circled around her feet. It was hard not to shiver when a gust of wind came by, with her damp clothes and all, but she told herself to remain strong when she saw a particularly courageous trout slip in between her ankles. It was a hefty fish, with silver skin and black tips on its fins. The kunoichi raised her stick, eyes solely trained on the oblivious fish swimming at her feet. This is it...

3..

2...

1...

SPLASH!

Sakura had to almost leap out of the way when a sharp weapon pierced the water beneath her. The wine hued blood of the fish permeated the slightly mossy green water around her, mixing to stain the water an ugly brown. Lifting her eyes, Sakura's confused gaze met the smug expression of a victorious Sasuke.

"You!" She snarled, pointing her finger accusingly. "That was my fish! You saw me about to catch it!"

The Uchiha merely shrugged, pulling the injured, yet still wriggling, fish out of the water. "Too late."

The kunoichi growled, a burning rage growing in her belly. That was my fish! How dare he? CHA!

Without a second thought, the kunoichi raised her hand and swiped it across the water, drenching the boy. The muddy water stained his normally blue shirt a sick shade of brown and ruined his otherwise pristine, white shorts. A few beats of stillness passed as Sasuke stared down at his clothes in horror. Sakura held her breath.

I can't believe I just did that.

"Ha!" Naruto yelled, clutching his belly in laughter. "Sakura-chan totally got you, Sasuke!"

The jinchuriki's raucous laughter filled the atmosphere around the genin, unobstructed in the air. The kunoichi, on the other hand, felt the blood drain from her face when she saw the Uchiha start shaking. I really shouldn't have done that. Sakura reached out her hand, about to apologize to the boy, when, suddenly, the roar of water filled her ears.