One Day at a Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its character and make no money from this.

Day Seven: Close your Eyes

It took everything in him, every last bit of his control to not scream. To not go after her. To no attack. To... Let her be taken away. He knew when Kosuke came up and he offered him no answer that it would happen. But it didn't take away any of the pain, rage or frustration he felt when he dragged Sakura out of the room, out of his reach. He couldn't do anything for her.

For the first hour, he hadn't moved an inch. He had kept his ears sharp for any clue as to what was happening to his teammate, but the only sounds he heard were those of his own heart beating hard against his chest and his irregular breathing. He tried hard not let his imagination go hyperactive, afraid of what it might show him.

While he waited for the second hour to pass, he paced the room incessantly. He couldn't keep still no matter how much he tried, or else his thoughts could only go to what his best friend was currently going through. He tried counting the number of bricks the walls contained. He stopped at four hundred and thirty seven.

When three hours had passed, he had given up pacing around the room. He sat in a corner, staring at the door intently. Waiting for when it would finally open. His mind wandered to the unlucky times he had been caught by enemies. Hm, that had been some awful times. Yet, he would give anything to be at her place. She was still young. She shouldn't have to go through this.

Who was he kidding. He'd been much younger the first time he'd undergone torture. They were shinobi. Shinobi did not let their emotions rule them. They were trained to do this. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself, but it was no use. No matter how good a ninja he was, this was hard to endure. He had been entrusted with this mission because he was expected not to break. He had been confident in his ability to sustain any kind of pain, but when she announced she had been added into his mission, his confidence crumbled to nearly nothing.

If he said anything before they had a good plan to escape, they were dead. Without a doubt. So until he came up with a plan, he really could do nothing for her. Unless he managed some sort of trade with Koroku. Then maybe he could get her out of this. If only they hadn't been after such critical information, he could have given up on the mission. Forbidden jutsus couldn't just be passed around like this. No matter how hard he tried to convine himself, he just couldn't bring himself to firmly believe that this justified letting his partner go through hell.

Sakura was finally given back to him, shoved him the room with no delicacy. She stumbled and fell to her knees when they gave out under her and she laid on the floor. He hurried to go to her, worry gripping at his heart as he heard her labored breathing and took in her apperance. Many bruises marred her pale skin, which was now several hues of blue, purple and red. He didn't bother to count the nicks and small gashes that still oozed blood.

"Sakura..." He breathed out, biting the inside of his cheek. He had never seen her so battered. He gathered her in his arms as carefully as he could with tied hands and carried her closer to the wall, where he could dit straight and let her lean on his chest. The cold hard floor couldn't possibly be of any comfort.

"H-Hey. Missed me?" Her voice was strained, she was definitely trying to hide the amount of pain she currently felt.

"Terriibly." His answer was completed honest. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling the faint scent of her strawberry shampoo. It always smelled so sweet. He'd never smelled it on anyone else, which made him wonder just where she bought that shampoo. She relaxed against his him, allowing her breathing to become less irregular.

"Who thought I'd get to see you without a mask." She teased him, tilting her chin up so their eyes could meet. It brought a small smile to his lips.

"I'll let you see my face any time you want when we get back to Konoha." He whispered down at her, cupping her cheek in his hand. She leaned into his touch, her lips parting as a small sigh left her mouth.

"I'll take you up on that. T-Then I can brag to Sasuke and Naruto. They won't be a-able to believe their ears." He tried to ignore the way her voice broke throughout her sentence, an obvious sign that she had received a pretty bad blow to her ribcage.

"I'll even tell them that you k-kissed me." She chuckled and grinned, making him feel a little lighter. She was still in an okay shape to mess around, so her injuries surely looked worse than they actually were.

"I kissed your clone through my mask, it doesn't count." He countered while he placed his hands around her waist, holding her against him which gave him a false sense of being able to shield her from all of this.

"It's not like there's a-anyone in Konoha who can brag about more than that." She threw back and huffed in indignation, seemingly a little mad that he thought their kiss didn't count.

"That's just what you think." He said before he could stop himself. Great, now he was sharing his sex life with her. Why did she have this power over him, the ability to make him tell her more than he really wanted to?

"Huh? Seriously? We always assumed you were like a-asexual or s-something. We never saw you with any c-company. You're just always reading Icha Icha." Her confession ticked him off a little, but he didn't give it much importance.

"That's because I am a discreet man, Sakura. I don't blabber about who I bed." He hated displaying his private life, even more so in this kind of situation. She dropped the subject after this, probably feeling a little discomfort towards the subject.

"You never gave me a birthday gift after all." She complained lightly, only half joking. She had something planned.

"I kissed you , like you asked." He retorted, wondering what she could possibly want right now.

"You just said it didn't count." She whined, obviously irritated. True. She had a point.

"Fine, so what do you want?" She took a moment to ponder over his answer, leaving him to take wild guesses at what she could possibly desire from him.

"How about you take me on a date when we get back home?" She sounded a little grim to him, her voice filled with a half-fearted will for hope. It nagged at him.

"Don't you have plenty of boys your age who would take you?" He countered, trying to avoid her demand. He wouldn't really mind if it only meant accompanying her to dinner and walking her home, but she couldn't expect more of him.

"Sure, but there's none who are as intriguing as you." So he was intriguing to her now? Hm, that was funny.

"Okay." He could entertain her little wish if it cheered up a little.

"Okay?" She repeated, as if unable to believe her ears. Well, that was cute.

"Yes. I'll take you on one date. Happy?" She nodded her head warily, as if expecting him to tell her was joking. He chuckled at her behavior, wondering if he really did that many things to mae her doubt him.

"Try to sleep now, you need it." They'd need plenty of energy for the two months to come if they wanted to be okay for their date.


Chapter Eight: Click Here