One Day at a Time

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

Day Eight: Silence Come Take Me

After the second round, Sakura had looked no better, yet somehow her spirits seemed lifted. They had not said a single word since their conversation the previous night. Words felt unnecessary right now. Whatever they said would not change where they were or how well they fared. The person who had returned the chuunin to their cell had placed a large plastic bowl filled with water by the door before retreating and leaving them to their fate. Kakashi knew better than to be thankful for it. Koroku only wanted her clean for the next time he would see her.

This time around when she had come back, she never let her legs fail her. She only returned quietly to his side before sitting down, a little wobbly but never faltering. They simply greeted each other by a quick look before Kakashi went to retrieve the bowl and brought it to her, sitting behind her with his legs extended on each side of her before picking up the handcloth that was floating on the surface of the water. She made no fuss when he removed her shirt and no effort to cover herself up. The air around them felt heavy, but the couple were nonetheless happy to be reuinted for the moment. Kakashi wrung the wet cloth above his companion's neck, letting the excess water run down her sensitive body.

The small, content sigh that she let out brought a shy smile to the Copy Nin's lips. He rubbed her shoulders first, one after the other, careful not to apply too much pressure. The angry bruises on them warned him well enough that a rough massage wasn't what would do her any good right now. She groaned lowly when he skimmed over her ribs, obviously in pain. There was no blood to scrub away, but he could tell from the near black color of this particular bruise that a broken rib or two hid underneath. He rinsed the cloth in the clear water before squeezing the excess liquid against her neck in a silent apology.

Once he was done with her back, he tugged gently at her shoulder for her to lean back against him. She complied easily, her eyes closed the whole time as she simply tried to enjoy this little moment of peace and relaxation he was trying to offer her. It was a meager gift if compared to what she had and would endure, but it was the most he could do for her right now. His hand wandered slowly from her shoulder, up her neck to finally cup her cheek. His ears were attentive to her breath, listening intently for any hint of what she enjoyed. His hand dragged down her cheek and passed underneath her chin to caress her other cheek.

She let out a slow, deep breath and her body mellowed in his arms. At least she seemed to be relaxing a little, she showed little sign of pain. He rinsed the cloth again, trying to ignore the red hue the water was starting to take. He wrung the cloth above her collarbone, letting the water drip down her chest to soothe her wounds. His own cheek was pressed against Sakura's at this point and the fingers of his free hand brushed her hair with a will of its own. He moved on to clean her one of her arms lazily, as if time didn't matter. He didn't want time to matter. Time would pass.

The jonin released a breath he'd been holding in his concentration and Sakura's lips almost brushed his when her head turned towards his. A quick look down showed him flaring nostrils, indicating she was simply breathing deeply. Then he remembered orange he'd had just minutes before they were captured. Was its scent still present in his breath? He placed a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth, his lips barely ghosting over the skin, before her head moved back to its original position. The heat he felt radiating from her cheeks let him guess that his teammate was most likely blushing.

When he reached her hand, he used one of his own to hold hers up while the other continued its finicky cleaning. Black and red eyes moved to the side where they could see a glimpse of his partner's face when her fingers tangled with his in a soft hold. This moment brought a great deal of comfort to the silver-haired man. Sakura was truly a tough woman. She would handle herself just fine through this. He needed to stop racking himself with guilt over their situation. The best he could do was hold his own and help her through it, not consider giving the enemy what they wanted just for a chance to make it easier on her. He had no doubt she would kick his ass if he uttered a single word to their captor.

Her arms didn't take long to clean and he rinsed the now lightly red-stained cloth again. He placed it in her hand, forcing her fingers to close around it with his larger hands. A soft whimper came from her slightly parted lips when she lifted her arm, only to let it drop back to its original position. Clearly her broken ribs prevented her from moving her arms without pain. He retrieved the cloth from her somewhat hesitantly, tilting his head so he could see her expression. She simply nodded, her eyes closed in either pain or embarrassment. He couldn't tell. He dabbed the cloth to her cheeks first, an attempt at both teasing her and cooling down the heat she emanated.

He showed none of the hesitation he felt when he scrubbed a spot of blood just above her breast, which he tried not to look at. She had never given him actual permission to see her this way. It just felt wrong to let his gaze linger, even if it was only out of curiosity for what this woman kept hidden from him. He was quick to remove any dirt of blood that had been on her small breasts, trying to make this moment remain enjoyable and to keep awkwardness and tension out of the mix. The area he targeted next was her abdomen. His eyes focused on the thin scar, where Sasori's sword had pierced her. The skin was barely elevated and darker in color than the rest, but it was still hard to catch if you weren't looking for it. A great bonus to be healed by Sakura was that she was very skilled when it came to not leaving scars. The body of her sensei would bear quite a few more if it wasn't for the fifth's apprentice.

This scar reminded him of how brave she could truly be. She had taken down one of Akatsuki's member, which he knew from personal experience was no easy feat. Even with a sword through her mid-section, she remained focused on her goal and never feared for her life. The objective was most important, she would fulfill it at any cost. The fact alone that she was still alive proved how incredible she was when she put her mind to something. The jonin couldn't possibly be grateful enough to the fifth for taking her under her wing. Her work had made miracles for his teammate.

He stopped for a moment when he was down to her hips. He saw no sign of any tearing on her panties, only some blood that had dripped on them. Koroku's scent was strongly present on her, though he was now having trouble telling why. The bastard had been in close contact with his teammate for the last three days, which blurred his keen sense of smell a little. If he had... The fact that he didn't pick up any hint of latex relieved the Copy Nin a little, but doubt still clouded his mind. What if Koroku or Sakura had made any attempt at hiding this detail from him?

She shook her head no and their eyes locked together for a moment as he searched hers for the truth. It wasn't hard to believe that she'd hide such an event from him to spare him. He found nothing but determination in those bright emerald orbs though and he came to the conclusion that he was simply being paranoid. He resumed the cleaning of her hips, rubbing away the last of the dirt on her upper body. She brought her foot closer to her at this point, folding her leg so he would have easy access to all of it without having to move.

Somehow, cleaning her legs felt even more intimate than cleaning her chest had. The Copy Nin quickly pushed the thought aside though, preferring to focus on the task at hand than to let his mind ponder on why this was inappropriate. He could tell he wasn't alone in this particular thought, the way she swallowed harder when he started rubbing the cloth to her inner thigh was a pretty clear indicator. When he inspected it more closely, he noticed that what had left her so many small cuts were in fact fingernails which had broken her skin from gripping it too hard.

His breathing quickened as he tried to control his anger, trying to think about anything else but what he knew would happen sooner or later if he didn't find a way out soon enough. He was brought out of his thoughts when his companion backed up against him until her body was pressed flushed to his. He felt her cheek move against his until her breath fanned against it every few seconds. Her fingers came up to touch his chin, just barely, just putting enough pressure for him to turn his head to hers. The urge to pull her in a possessive kiss was strong, causing him to avoid looking at her entirely. Surely she knew what he had been thinking about, what had just made his blood boil.

His breath hitched and his eyes fluttered closed when her hindside squirmed against his crotch insistenty. What was she doing? Her lips placed tiny kisses along his chin, up to his jawline. He mentally cursed at himself for the pang of desire that coursed through him for a second. This was no time to get aroused. His mind was quick to remind him that he had remained proper all the while he cleaned her nearly naked body. It was the girl who was purposefully doing this. The cloth was quickly dropped and forgotten so he could still the movement of her hips with both of his hands before she could get any other reaction out of him.

It left him with no way to stop her lips, which were ghosting across his cheek, slowly making their way to his. She placed a long, slow kiss to the corner of his mouth and he swallowed hard, keeping his lips shut tight as he breathed through his nose. He didn't like admitting how much he wanted this girl. Not just right here and then, but all those times she flirted with him. He wasn't sure if he even allowed himself to know just how bad it affected him, he preferred to act as if she was just any other young and attractive girl any man his age would like to have. She made his will crumble a little every time, bringing him closer and closer to the realisation that he had a particular attraction for her.

He waited for the moment her lips would press against his in their real first kiss, but it never came. Instead, she buried her head between his shoulder and his neck and just laid there with him. It took him several seconds before he released the tension in his body, wondering if she would restart her ministrations on him or not. He was glad when he concluded she wouldn't. Being high on desire and wanting to take her right now and then were not feelings he wanted to experience in this place. He would disgust himself to no end. He didn't care what their relationship would be like once they got out of here. He just needed to make sure she made it out okay.


Chapter Nine: Click Here