Blinded by Fear

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After reaching the place the birds had come from, they still hadn't found Sasuke, but, after speaking to some of the forest animals nearby, Jugo was able to gather that he had been in the area. Suigetsu set Sakaria down and grabbed one of his water bottles from his waist, taking in gulps before throwing himself on the ground next to her. "You can't be serious..." Jugo complained, looking back at Suigetsu as he rested back on his elbows.

"I've been carrying her for miles!" Suigetsu said, his voice exasperated after he lost the motivation from finding the scroll earlier. "Besides, it feels nice to sit back in the rain for a minute." He lifted his head as the raindrops poured down on him.

"I'm going to go talk to the others who reside here, maybe they can tell us what direction Sasuke went," Jugo sighed, disappearing into the trees.

Alone again, Suigetsu looked down at Sakaria as she lied on her back, some of her hair plastered on her face from the rain. He watched as raindrops hit the skin of her thighs and rolled teasingly down the sides of them. You know, you really are a pain in my ass, he griped to himself, any other girl in the world wouldn't get this kind of treatment from me. They could forget it! He snarled slightly at the thought, but because you're Sasuke's precious little sister, I guess I have to accommodate you. Geez, it's like you really are some kind of princess. He knew the last part wasn't true. Most of the things he did for Sakaria had nothing to do with gaining Sasuke's favor. In fact, he probably would have done them if she wasn't related to Sasuke at all, but he didn't want to admit that to himself. He sighed, battling with his devotion to her in his head, then wondered, When the hell are you gonna wake up, fireball? He was beginning to worry. After all, it wasn't often he'd seen a fire user pull off a wind style jutsu. Just how much chakra did that take out of you? Just as he started to ponder what he'd do with her body if she didn't come to, she opened her eyes slightly. "Hey there," he said, sounding much more friendly than intended.

"What happened? Where's Jugo?" Sakaria asked, sitting up on her elbow and holding her head with her free hand.

"Ah, he's fine," Suigetsu said, waving a hand in dismissal, "He's off talking to some birds about where Sasuke is..." Sakaria looked at him, completely confused, but decided to ignore it. "You've been out for a while... You feelin' okay?" He tried to come off as uninterested as possible, but it wasn't working.

"I think I'm dehydrated," Sakaria said, trying to get her bearings. Suigetsu held out his water bottle, and she took it reluctantly. "Are you sure you have enough?"

"We can get more," Suigetsu shrugged. He wasn't feeling the best himself, but he definitely didn't want her passing out again. He watched as the girl wrapped her mouth around the straw and drank quickly. "Better?" He asked as she handed the almost empty cup back. She nodded to him in thanks.

"How did I get here?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Suigetsu said, rolling his eyes, "I carried you." Sakaria looked at Suigetsu who was obviously exhausted from all of this.

Genuine confusion gleamed in her eyes, "Why?"

"Eh? What do you mean, 'why'?" Suigetsu asked, also confused. Why wouldn't he carry her?

"I don't get it," she said, studying him closely, "That just seems like a lot of strife to go through for someone..." Suigetsu looked at her, and then looked down at the ground.

"Look, I'm just trying to get you back to your brother," he said, "I don't want him pissed at me because we found you, but you didn't manage to make it back to-" he stopped, mid-sentence, when he noticed Sakaria shaking her head and smirking.

"You keep saying that's the reason, but..." she gazed up at him, a willful look in her eye. "I know that's not it."

"What's the reason then, fireball?" Suigetsu asked, half attempting to hide behind his lies, and half curious to see if she'd figured him out.

"You care about me," Sakaria said, resisting the urge to rest her head on his shoulder. Suigetsu turned and looked down at her, seemingly embarrassed for a split second then he shook his head.

"I just got through telling Jugo, I hate all of you. Him, Sasuke, you, Karin... the whole lot of you." A small smirk crossed his face without him realizing.

"Oh, well if you hate me so much, I guess I can ju-" She started to get up to walk away, but in an instant, Suigetsu appeared in front of her and tackled her to the ground playfully. With a hand rested on either side of her shoulders to support him, he looked down at her, his white hair wet from the rain and hanging down around his face, curtaining his toothy grin.

"I told you, I can't let anything happen to you until I get you to Sasuke..."

Sakaria giggled from underneath him as he pinned her. "What if something does happen?"

"...I'd never forgive myself," Suigetsu said after pausing, suddenly serious. He could feel himself gravitating toward her as he stayed on top of her, shielding her body from the rain. Sakaria's face turned red, and her eyes ventured away from his.

"I..." She thought hard about her response, deciding if she should actually say the things coming to her mind, "I... Think I want something to happen to me before we find Sasuke..." She said awkwardly, leaning up on her elbows.

"Oh yeah?" Suigetsu asked, leaning closer. "What would that be?"

Sakaria could feel the heat of his breath on her face while the rest of her body shivered in the rain. For a moment, the entire world disappeared, and the only thing that mattered was then. That place and time and the man hovering above her. She couldn't resist the nagging feeling she'd had for the past few days, and was beginning to think she shouldn't have anyway. Suigetsu had been the only person, aside from Itachi, to really take her under his wing and show her the world outside of cleaning houses in the leaf village, the only person to not only believe she was talented, but to test her strengths and help face her fears, and the only person, it seemed, to even relatively understand her. He never stood in the way if she wanted to do something or told her she was wrong. In fact, without Suigetsu, Sakaria would still be stuck in the village, just as miserable and lonely as she had been before. He didn't treat her like an outcast, but like an ally and a valuable member to his team. As all of this rushed through her head, Suigetsu's lips brushed against hers gently.

Just before their lips finally met completely, Jugo came from the trees, "Everyone I've talked to says-" He stopped and raised an eyebrow at the two as Sakaria threw herself flat on the ground again, flustered, and Suigetsu sat beside her, his forehead pressed into his palm, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing at all," Sakaria sighed. Jugo was reluctant, unsure of what had just happened to cause them such irritation, but chalked it up to them annoying each other just as they always had, and continued to let them know that the animals had told him they had all seen Sasuke heading north.