Bump Buddies: Take Two

|Part Five|

|YOU|

When I woke up the next morning my body felt as if I slept on a bed of rocks. For no reason at all, my muscles ached and my joints felt like they had been replaced with rusty gears. I forced myself out of bed and made my way into the kitchen. Sasuke is already seated at the breakfast table with a bowl of oatmeal in front of him.

"Morning," I grumble, pouring myself a cup of coffee before sitting across from him.

It was silent for awhile, but after so long I decided to speak up. "How are you liking your team?"

"They're fine. It's not like I'd have the choice for a new one if they weren't." Another pause before he continued. "We're entering the chunin exams."

"I know," I nod.

Sasuke looked up from his bowl and arched a curious brow. I quickly realized my mistake and tried to clear it up before Sasuke could get suspicious. "I ran into your sensei a few days ago. He mentioned it to me."

The explanation seemed to deter Sasuke's curiosity and I held my steaming cup up to my face, letting the smell fill my senses as I watched him. He didn't notice at first, but when he did he tossed his spoon down in his bowl and glared at me. "What is it?"

"What's what?" I ask innocently.

"You're watching me. Just spit out whatever it is you want to say already." There's a curtness to his voice. "Do you not want me to take the exams? Is that it?"

I could feel the building anger roll off of him like a wave. He was jumping to conclusions, and I could already tell that in his mind, he assumed I viewed him as weak.

"No. That's not it," I tell him, and his anger lessened. I look away from him and play with the lip of my cup. "I was just wondering. What would you think about me dating?"

Sasuke's expression melted into a look of boredom. "I assumed you were already."

"You did?"

"I don't care. Just don't be gross in front of me." He stood and took his bowl to the sink, then as he headed towards the door his fingers poked my forehead.

I was stunned into silence. I can't bring myself to move or speak as my mind tried to wrap around what just happened.

"Do whatever you want," Sasuke said, then he was out the door.

A lump formed in my throat and I rubbed the spot on my head that Sasuke just touched. His action spoke louder than anything he could have said to me in that moment. It was a gesture Itachi issued for only him and I growing up. A silent show of affection. One that I had never seen Sasuke use before.

My mind wandered. What would it even be like to date? I had never thought about it as an option, considering I lived with Sasuke and he was always my first priority. Every man that had come into my life had been casual and never lasted long. Kakashi was the longest running, and even then we had only been seeing one another for a few months. And once again, we weren't dating. But what we had was the closest thing to it that I had ever experienced.

The idea of having someone I could show off openly was thrilling. More than that, the idea of someone wanting to show me off made my heart flutter and butterflies erupt in my stomach. But the sadness I felt thinking about ending things with Kakashi was equally fierce. I could always date and continue our arrangement, as long as it didn't get physical with anyone else. That would be the best option until I could decide exactly what it is I wanted, but something felt wrong about that.

Not knowing what I wanted, I decided to put that thought on the back burner. I cleaned myself up enough to feel presentable before leaving the apartment to request another mission.

The administration building was close to my home, so it didn't take long for me to get there. Once I was inside the building, I headed straight for the hokage's office.

The shinobi stationed outside greeted me with a slight bow of his head and pushed the door open for me. I thanked him and went inside.

Lord Third was leaning back in his chair with his hands folded when I entered. He watched as I approach the desk, saying nothing.

"I'm here to request a mission," I spoke, but he already knew as much. I was here at least once a week making the same request.

He leaned forward. "I was waiting for you to come back. I have a mission ready for you. It's another co-op where you'll be travelling with a partner. All you'll be doing is receiving a file from a shinobi of the hidden cloud, then returning it to me."

"It sounds relatively uneventful. Could I ask why it's a co-op?"

The hokage didn't seem phased by my question. "With the unpredictability that's come with so many missions lately, I feel it's best to have at least two shinobi on each assignment," he explained. "Which is why one of my most trusted will be joining you as reinforcement."

That peaked my curiosity. "Who would that be?"

The door opened once more and footsteps approach my side. I turned to look at whoever it was, and was surprised to see a familiar face.

"I'm looking forward to working with you," Genma said, smiling with his senbon still clenched between his teeth.
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Sorry it's a bit of a short one. I tried to make it longer but it just would not crest that 1000 mark like I had hoped