Naruto: Blind

When she had finally managed to get her giggles under control, she managed to gasp out a statement between her deep breaths. "I wish you luck on your epic endeavor, Kanaye," she mused breathlessly, "you'll need it."

"You always have the utmost confidence in me Sakura," he replied dramatically, "You flatter me."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up," she smirked, holding her cramped stomach, "Anyways, we were on our way for lunch—do you want to come along?"

Taking this as an indication that they were going to be moving again, Sasuke reached out with his arm; she automatically linked hers with it.

"If this guy doesn't mind—" Kanaye said jokingly, giving Sasuke a light punch on the arm, "—sure. –I really need to come up with a nickname for you."

"I don't mind," Sasuke said with a growl, shrugging noncommittally, "No nicknames."

A smile came to Sakura's lips; she got the feeling that Sasuke had just agreed to Kanaye's presence because she had already invited him to come along, and was merely being polite—as polite as Uchiha Sasuke could be. Inside she got an inkling that Sasuke wouldn't mind anyways that her brother tagged along; if he could stand Naruto, he could definitely put up with Kanaye.

"Come on, let's go," she said brightly with a light laugh, leading Sasuke by the arm down the street while grabbing Kanaye's sleeve and dragging him after them, "There's a nice café that Lee-san took me to once; we'll go there."

"What? You went out with a guy?" Kanaye suddenly exclaimed with melodrama, "My little sister is growing up!"

Sakura merely rolled her eyes. Kanaye had become acquainted with a number of her guy friends that she often hung out with, but he hadn't come to know many of them as well as he had known Naruto. While he did not know Lee as well as he did Konoha's number one loud-mouthed ninja, he had met him and knew that there was as much of a relationship between her and Lee as there was between her and Naruto.

"Oh, just shut up," she retorted, shaking her head slightly, tired of the teasing.

Sakura was too busy leading them towards the café she mentioned to notice, but Sasuke faltered slightly at Sakura's ambiguous retort. Kanaye had caught the movement though and studied the young Uchiha for an insightful moment. Sakura's response was a clear indication that she had never gone out with Lee, but the tone in her voice merely sounded annoyed. If one did not see her actions, her remark could interpreted two ways: the first was that she was annoyed at her brother and just wanted him to back off; the second was that she was on the defensive over the matter and didn't want any more meddling in her private life.

Maybe Sasuke had just stumbled on the path, but Kanaye was doubtful—he had strong suspicions that his small stagger had something to do with interpretation number two. Now why this would bother the youth that was currently hanging on to Sakura's arm, he didn't know—but he had his suspicions and was going to do what he could to find out the answers. Getting answers from someone who didn't know, or trust you—hmm, could be difficult, better get working on his epic quest.

"Oi, Sasuke," he called out to the dark-haired man suddenly, "What do you think of the nickname 'Spikey'?"

Sasuke almost stumbled again while Sakura choked on her spit.

"Absolutely not," Sasuke replied firmly, casting a trademark glare in the platinum-haired jounin's general area.

Sakura merely smiled from where she was at, resisting the urge to giggle. It would be an interesting day to say the least.

Sasuke was still feeling grouchy from the early morning losses that he had suffered while training, and while he didn't mind Sakura's brother, said sibling wasn't doing anything to improve his mood. It was like having a second, less annoying—not to mention more mature—Naruto around. Sakura had beaten him twelve times that morning, five of which had occurred in very short succession between each other. Sometimes it was almost impossible to tell where on earth she was coming from or what her attack was. The rustling of her clothes and the jangle of objects helped to some extent, but it became almost useless on a windy day.

The losses themselves were a hassle, but the addition of Sakura's brother, Kanaye, bouncing nicknames off of him wasn't really making his day any better. He was brooding, and he knew it. So what? He didn't care what others thought. He would much rather be training and devising methods of how he could conceivably kill Itachi than take a break for lunch.

The first indications that they had arrived at the café came when the chatter of people on the streets became more concentrated off to the left, and as Sakura guided him in that direction, he knew his assumption was correct. He was slightly thankful to have finally arrived, despite wanting to skip lunch all together—he was tired of having Kanaye bouncing nicknames off of him.

"Is this the place?" asked said jounin.

"Yeah," Sakura confirmed cheerfully pausing in front of the outdoor seating.

"I see a table over there," Kanaye said, his voice projected slightly away from the two of them, "Do we just take a seat or what…?"

"Go grab it before someone else takes it!" Sakura snapped hastily at her brother, and Sasuke couldn't help but be reminded of how she treated Naruto.

"Okay, okay! Sheesh!" Kanaye exclaimed before his footsteps were heard jogging away.

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