Himika was up bright and early the next morning, she wasn't someone who liked sleeping in so she tended to be up whenever the sun rose.
Silently, she slipped out of bed, quickly walking towards the bathroom so she wouldn't wake Sakura, who slept soundly in the bed beside hers. She locked the door behind her and changed into her clothes, also brushing her hair and pulling it up and out of the way.
By the time she left the bathroom, Sakura was just waking up, rubbing at her eyes tiredly.
"Good morning." Himika greeted her teammate with a cheerful wave.
"Morning..." She mumbled back.
"Are you feeling alright, you were up pretty late last night with all that poison stuff." Himika asked.
"I'm alright, and besides, you were up late too." Sakura replied.
"True, but I'm used to running on less sleep." Himika shrugged.
The two fell into a semi-awkward silence with nothing else to say. Himika took a seat on her bed and pulled out a small sharpening stone and a kunai. It didn't need to be sharpened, but it gave her something to do. Sakura picked up her clothes and went into the bathroom to change.
When she returned Himika stood up, putting away her things.
"Let's go see if Kakashi-sensei and Naruto are up," Himika said. "Kakashi-sensei should have Gaara's location so we can go retrieve him."
"Okay, let me just grab my gloves and we can go." Sakura replied, walking over to her nightstand.
She picked up the gloves and pushed them into her pouch for later, then nodding once at Himika.
Himika silently left the room, knowing that Sakura was following behind her.
Himika knocked on the door, a little awkwardly. "Kakashi-sensei, it's Himika and Sakura."
Kakashi opened the door, dressed in all his gear and ready for battle, further in the room, Naruto sat on his bed, also dressed and ready to go.
"Well team," Kakashi began, not a hint of his usual laziness/ drowsiness in his tone. "We just have to wait for Pakkun to arrive with the location of the Akatsuki and then we can go save the Kazekage."
Naruto and Sakura, cheered, making Himika feel slightly bad about not doing the same. She lazily punched the air.
"Uh... Woohoo?" She cheered or tried to.
Naruto just slapped her on the back, which didn't even make her stumble.
"That's the spirit Himika!" He exclaimed. "Let's go save Gaara!"
"We still don't have the Akatsuki's location." Himika said, making Naruto wilt.
"Oh, yeah." He mumbled, scuffing his shoe against the floor.
"So what do we do to pass the time?" Sakura asked, a hand on her hip.
Himika tapped her chin in thought for a moment, her face then morphing into a smirk when she looked at Sakura. Her eyes gleamed, and no one was sure if that was a good thing.
"Hey Sakura," Himika said, making the girl turn to her. "You up for a little spar?"
Kakashi paled, holding his hands up to stop his two physically strongest students.
"Now now, why don't we wait until we're back in Konoha?" He suggested nervously. "I don't want to destroy any of Suna while we're here."
"Come on sensei," Sakura pleaded. "It's only a little spar."
"Rules?" Himika asked.
"No lethal blows, try not to break anything either, it's a pain to heal myself, although there is a hospital nearby," Sakura said. "No involving anyone else, so injuring anyone else, and don't break anything too badly."
"How about you don't break anything?" Kakashi pleaded.
Sakura and Himika ignored him, instead, they were warming up, stretching and staring each other down like animals starved of a good fight.
"Hey!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Take it outside."
Like any normal person would, Himika opened the window and jumped out, rolling to her feet when she hit the ground like she just did a summersault and didn't just jump from the second floor. Sakura shrugged and followed her friend's example.
Kakashi was at a complete loss for words.
And what of Naruto? Well, he was practically vibrating in his seat at the thought of saving Gaara.
~~~~~
A loud smack rang through the streets, making Kentaro flinch as he whipped around to look at Hinami, her cheeks now cherry red from the slap.
"Why'd you hit yourself?!" He exclaimed, staring at her in worry.
"To distract us!" She chirped, wincing when she smiled.
"Distract us from what?" He asked.
"See! You completely forgot!" Hinami giggled.
"About school you mean?" Kentaro asked with a sigh. "I'm worried, but not because it's school. I've been to school before, it's because school here is different. I mean, did you hear what Shikamaru said?"
"What did he say?" She asked, scrunching her face up in concentration.
"They teach kids to fight with knives from age ten, sometimes much younger if they're clan raised," Kentaro mumbled. "Shikamaru said he held and practiced with a real kunai when he was about four! Four!"
"Well, I don't have to worry!" Hinami giggled slyly.
"Why not?" Kentaro asked.
"Knives and blades can't break a ghouls skin." She replied.
"Ah, right," He sighed. "How unfair."
"Don't worry Kentaro," She smiled. "I can protect you!"
Kentaro ducked his head, warmth spreading across his cheeks.
"Yeah, you can protect me..."
~~~~~
Although she didn't need to, Himika wasted her time, stretching her arms and legs as she waited for Sakura to finish doing the same. She cracked her knuckles, making Naruto flinch at the volume. Sakura grinned and then did the same, making Himika mildly impressed for a moment.
"Are we really doing this?" Kakashi asked. "Maybe we should talk about this, maybe have a friendly spar back home?"
"You ready Sakura?" Himika asked, pulling out a kunai.
"Ready." Sakura nodded.
"When this kunai touches the round, we start." Himika replied, throwing the kunai up.
Sakura and Himika jumped back, preparing to attack. The kunai clattered to the ground and they charged, Himika having the advantage as she was the faster one. Sakura caught her punch, using her other hand to try to land a punch to her temple, which Himika dodged by ducking, kicking her legs out to try and sweep Sakura's feet out from under her. Sakura bent over backwards and sprung off her hand, dodging the sweeping kick. The two charged again, but before either of them could and a blow, Kakashi grabbed them both by the collar of their clothes.
Himika was in the midst of a kick, and the pale blue haze around Sakura's hand faded.
"It's Pakkun," Kakashi said, staring into the distance. "He's back."
Himika let out an uncharacteristic whine, leaning towards Sakura.
"We'll continue this later." Himika whispered.
Sakura nodded in silent agreement.
Kakashi gently released the two girls, greeting the little brown pug who skid to a stop before them.
"Pakkun, did you find their base?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes, and I also ran into Gai and his team on the way here, they were busy fighting a bluefish guy," Pakkun replied with a grunt. "We should hurry and meet him."
"Agreed," Kakashi sighed. "Everyone, go gather all your weapons, I'll be back in half an hour or less, I have to go speak with the people in charge of Suna until the Kazekage is back, or until they get a new one."
"We will bring Gaara back!" Naruto roared.
"Then let's go get ready." Himika huffed, licking her lips. "I'm actually a bit hungry, I wouldn't mind tearing a chunk out of someone we consider the enemy."
Naruto ignored that last bit.
"Well, I don't see why you couldn't tear a chunk out of them." Kakashi smiled.
Himika smirked.
"Call me back when you need me." Pakkun said, then vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Naruto had then begun chanting.
"Gaara! Gaara! Gaara!"
Himika rolled her eyes with a small smile.
A/N
Sorry guys, I haven't had much time to update, but I hope you liked the chapter.