Kitsune and Neko

Chapter 16

-Flashback (A few months back.)

"Can't sleep?"

"Can't sleep."

Aiko was standing in the kitchen of the Uzumaki safe-house, pouring herself a glass of apple juice. She was dressed in plain white t-shirt and blue shorts. Her face clearly showed that she was tired."Want a glass?" She asked, turning around and facing Sasuke. He nodded and she poured him one.

"Hungry?" Sasuke asked walking towards the kitchen counter and picking up his glass. He was wearing an olive green shirt with the small Uchiha crest on the back along with black joggers. He had no expression on his face.

"Nah, just need to get my mind off of some things." She answered truthfully, sipping some apple juice. She just had a nightmare about her past.

"Oh." He said taking a sip. He could see that she had been sleeping, but had recently woken up from her tired expression. He also understood that the girl didn't want to talk about it so he didn't ask her. And Naruto had to go on an escort mission as the Mizukage had personally requested him, so he made it his job to cheer up the tomato-head. "I know a way to get rid of those thoughts. Follow me" He said finishing his glass of apple juice and leaving the kitchen. Aiko finished her own glass and followed him. Sasuke finally stopped as soon as he reached the training grounds in front of the house.

"So you want to train in the middle of the night?" Aiko asked, raising her eyebrow. Sasuke gave a small chuckle in response. Sasuke had started showing his emotions in front of the people he trusted instead of holding them in.

"No, you can't just train all the time. Your body also needs rest." He said sitting down. "This training ground is facing the sea so it receives cold breeze during the night and it's a nice place to talk. Whenever I want to get my minds off of things, I come here and talk to my cat, Kara because if I talk with Naruto, he won't even give me a chance to speak as soon as he opens his mouth." Aiko chuckled, as much as she loved her brother, she knew that once he starts talking, there's no stopping him. "Luckily, I happen to be a great listener and I want to know more about you. After all, you are our team member." He said gesturing for the redhead to sit down next to him.

"So we are going to tell each other things that we think the other doesn't know, right?" Aiko asked sitting down. She did not know a lot about Sasuke because unlike her brother who was an open book, Sasuke didn't talk that much about his likes and stuff. "You go first!" She said tilting her head a bit to look at the older male.

"Okay, black and blue were my favorite colors, but recently I've been attracted to olive green." He said, not wanting to start with anything that might remind her of her nightmare.

"My favorite one is probably sky blue."

"Before becoming a rouge ninja, I was a stuck-up brat." Sasuke admitted.

"I am not surprised." She said with a smile in a teasing tone. "Before you guys found me, I actually used to escort people that were transporting goods. They didn't pay that much, but it was enough for me."

"I used to have a dog named Shiro who hated me a lot and one day bit me. So I, being the stuck-up avenger, tried to drown him." He admitted. He did not know why but talking to Aiko felt so natural.

"No way! You killed a dog just because he bit you?" Her eyes widened slightly. "You're evil, Sasuke!" She said jokingly.

"Hey! I tried to kill him, but that dog knew how to swim. And in my defense he bit me first and a six year old Sasuke does not like being bitten." He said slightly pouting. He had rarely pouted before and had stopped pouting since the Uchiha massacre, but while talking to Aiko all of the walls that he had built were breaking one by one."Anyway, did you have a pet before?"