Near to You Chapter 5

Chapter 4: Friend or Foe?


It wasn’t long before Sakura and Mello gave up on their search for Sakura’s locket. As they made their way back inside to the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate to mull over their failure, they passed Matt and Near walking in the same direction.

“It’s almost sundown.” Matt commented, jerking his head toward the window for emphasis before looking back down at the game in his hands. “What were you two doing?”

“Che.” Mello grunted, walking into the kitchen and slumping down at the kitchen table. “Nothing big. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oooo. I definitely want to know now.” Matt grinned, sitting down next to him. “Come on, spill it.”

“Go away.” Mello muttered, reaching for his chocolate bar and taking a vicious bite out of it.

Sakura gave a small laugh. “I’ll make some hot chocolate. Does anyone else want any?”

“I’ll have some.” Matt smiled cheekily, “And Mello will too, of course. What about you, Near?”

“I have some work to do.” Near hadn’t even sat down, and merely headed for the door again.

“Work?” Sakura furrowed her brow in confusion. “What do you do? I thought you all just lived here in the orphanage…”

All three of L’s potential successors tensed, but Near smoothly avoided the question. “We’re adults. We have to pay for our keep somehow.” And then he was gone out the door.

Sakura stared at the doorway for a few moments longer, frowning. “His social skills are a bit lacking, aren’t they? Geeze, I’m not interrogating him or something.” She merely sighed, putting a pot on the stovetop and filling it with milk.

“You aren’t going to use the microwave?” Matt had stood and was currently behind her, looking down at the pot. “It’s faster.”

“Where’s the cocoa?” Sakura stood on her tiptoes, reaching up to open the top shelves. “Ah! There!” She stretched her arms and her fingers briefly brushed against the can, sending it further back. “Kuso!”

“Here, let me help.” Matt grinned, leaning forward and grabbing the can. For a moment Sakura felt herself pressed against the kitchen counter, Matt’s chest against her back. Her shinobi instincts were on high alert, searching for any way to get out of the situation, to move and escape. She managed to calm herself, grabbing the can from his hand after he’d taken a step back.

“Thanks.”

“Hey.” Mello cut in, seeing Matt’s gaze continue to linger on Sakura’s face. “Why don’t you just use the instant packs of cocoa? It’s more efficient.”

“I thought you of all people would like real cocoa better.” Sakura scoffed, looking pointedly at the chocolate bar in his hand. “And you’ve never had my hot chocolate before! It’s amazing, I tell you! You’ll never go back to instant again!” She didn’t mention that back in Konoha all she had in her kitchen was instant everything. It was easier that way, since she was rarely home from missions. And when she was in Konoha she was always at the hospital, which meant she had very little time in between shifts. Instant meals and eating out was just simpler.

She wouldn’t deny that she enjoyed little moments like these, where she could pretend to be a civilian woman who had time to cook and clean. It was refreshing, reminding her of her childhood spent helping her mother.

“Whatever.” Mello grumbled, leaning his elbow on the table, sending a calculating glare in Matt’s direction. “Are you going to sit down or what? Weren’t you the one talking about getting to the next level on your game?”

“Oh, right!” Matt grinned, reaching into his jacket. “I’ve almost passed the last three hallways…” He slumped back down into a seat at the table, seeming to become completely engrossed in his game.

Sakura merely raised an eyebrow in question before shaking her head, turning her attention back to the hot chocolate. “Do you have any cinnamon sticks?”

“Eh?” Matt blinked, looking up from his game, before quickly looking down again, his fingers moving efficiently over the buttons. “What for?”

“For the hot chocolate, of course!” Sakura said exasperatedly, before reaching up into the spice cabinet. “I’m sure that Watari-san would have some…”

“Just leave it.” Mello grunted. “I like it plain.”

“What about whipped cream on top?” Sakura put a hand on her hip, turning to give him a reprimanding glare.  

“I just want the chocolate.”

“You’ll never know if it’s good if you don’t try it.” Sakura defended, now brandishing the spoon she’d been stirring the milk with beneath his nose. “People who don’t try new things are boring. Be adventurous! It’s just hot chocolate! I’m not asking you to change your entire lifestyle.”

“To Mello it’s the same thing.” Matt snickered. “He’s very particular about his chocolate.”

“Che.” Sakura merely took out a small bottle from the spice cabinet.

“What’s that?” Mello peered over her shoulder suspiciously as she added a few drops to the milk.

“Mint extract.” She explained, stirring the concoction. “Hand me the cocoa, will you?”

“Mm.” Mello grunted, handing her the box absently. He watched as Sakura took a few spoonfuls of the dark powder and added it to the hot mixture. The white milk slowly turned a milky chocolate color, darkening as the cocoa mixed with the milk, thickening.

The smell of chocolate and mint filled the room and Mello admitted that it smelled nice, even if he liked his hot chocolate plain.

“Aha!” Sakura gave a triumphant shout, making Mello jump back a bit and Matt tip back in his chair. Matt managed to right himself without completely toppling over in time to see Sakura pull something out of the spice cabinet.

“Mello, get me three mugs please!”

“Uh,” Mello gave a nod. “Right.” Is she always this loud and expressive?
Sakura took the cups from him, placing the cinnamon sticks she’d found in them. She gave a contented smile as she took the pot of hot chocolate and carefully poured it into the three cups. “Here we go! It’s too bad we don’t have any whipped cream. I could put that on top and then sprinkle cinnamon over it…it’s really delicious!”

Sakura took the mugs and placed them on the table, one cup in front of Matt and the other two at the empty seats. Mello sat down in front of a cup and she did the same, giving an almost worried smile in Mello’s direction.

“Well um, go ahead and try it!”

Both Matt and Sakura zoned in on Mello as he begrudgingly grabbed the mug and held it out in front of him.

Mello took a hesitant sip, and both Sakura and Matt waited anxiously in silence. Time seemed to stretch, and Mello’s face was unreadable. Finally Mello took another sip.

“It’s drinkable.”

Matt gave a sheepish grin, and a bright smile slowly spread across Sakura’s face. She gave a small giggle, before taking a sip of her own drink.

“I’m glad you liked it.” She and Matt exchanged a look, hiding their laughter behind their hot chocolate mugs as Mello sent them a scathing glare.

“It’s really good, Sakura-san!” Matt agreed after taking a sip.

Sakura just continued to smile. “Do you think Near and L-san would like some? I’ll make some more for later tonight.”

“Right!” Matt nodded, while Mello merely stared down at his mug, absently stirring the hot chocolate with the cinnamon stick. The flavor was rich and smooth, and the touch of mint was refreshing, while the cinnamon made it warm and heady. A small smile spread across his lips, a smile he quickly hid behind the rim of his mug.

Perhaps having Sakura around wasn’t a bad thing at all.

---

An hour or so later and Sakura found herself sitting back in her borrowed room. Watari had already delivered her hot chocolate to Near and L, and Matt and Mello had gone to their own rooms for the night.

“Yosh.” Sakura sat down cross-legged on her bed, taking a deep breath. It was time to see if she would be able to get in contact with Konoha. If she was gone any longer and Tsunade didn’t hear anything back from her, she might panic.

Besides that, she’d promised to have dinner with Naruto when she returned. If he didn’t get any news from her soon, he might head out of the village. The last thing she needed was him going nine-tails and then rampaging around the ninja world.

Sakura bit her thumb before doing the necessary hand signs and then slamming her hand down on the bed. “Kuchiyose no jutsu!” There was a puff of smoke and then sitting in front of her was a small gray slug.

“It worked.” Sakura grinned triumphantly. “I was worried that my summonings may not reach here. Hello, Komuii.”

Komuii merely twitched a bit, trying its hardest not to ooze slime all over her sheets.

“Komuii, I need to know if you can get in touch with shishou. This is very important. The information that I have obtained could mean a power difference in the latest development. I don’t think the information is safe here.” Not if someone deliberately sent me here to get me off track. Even if the mission was a trap, the information I got out of it is vital to political relations between our two villages! If this information doesn’t get to Tsunade-shishou in time…

Sakura reached into her pack for the scroll she’d placed there. “It’s a good thing that I hid this. Those guys are going through all of my things with a fine-toothed comb!” She ran her still bloodied thumb along the scroll and activated it. There was another puff of smoke before a second scroll appeared. Sakura placed it on the small pack wrapped around Komuii’s throat.

“Here you go. I’m counting on you to get this information to shishou.” Komuii nodded, before poofing out of sight.

Sakura sighed, leaning back against the headboard. “Oi. Now what am I gonna do?”

---

“…did you…hear that…?” Matt whispered to Mello.

The two had been walking down the hall and had managed to eavesdrop on most of Sakura’s conversation.

“It has to be Kira.” Mello hissed. “She said ‘shishou’, right?” Kira must be her master! His stomach twisted a bit, and the lingering taste of the hot chocolate in his mouth turned bitter at the thought that Sakura was really their enemy.

“Do you think it’s information on us?” Matt wondered. “But what was she using to communicate with ‘Komuii’? We checked for any communication devices and she didn’t have any. And where could she have hidden the information where we wouldn’t have found it?”

“She’s a danger to us!” Mello clenched his fists tightly. Dammit! And I thought that maybe it was all coincidence…stupid. It’s never coincidence. Was it so bad that he’d wished desperately that Sakura wasn’t there for ulterior motives?

“But if she knows Kira…” Matt swallowed, “Then she already knows where all of us are! And she’s seen L!”

“Right! We have to tell L!” Mello nodded harshly. “We can’t let her find out L’s real name. We can’t let her find out anything. If we do…Kira will win.”

They both nodded, hurrying off towards L’s office.

---

Sakura didn’t know how much longer she was going to be able to remain at Whammy House. She felt a bit more relieved now that her message had been sent to Tsunade, as well as the fact that her summoning worked at all in the area.
With that in mind, she decided that getting her weapons back from L was her top priority.

“Yosh!” Sakura whispered determinately, tying her hair up in a ponytail. “I’ll get my weapons, sleep for the rest of the night, and leave sometime tomorrow once I get my bearings. While I was out looking for my ‘necklace’ with Mello I scouted the area initially. There aren’t any large chakra signatures nearby, so I’m nowhere near a shinobi village…”

She slipped on a pair of socks, looking over herself in the mirror. She was dressed in the borrowed pajamas that Watari had given her, which consisted of a an oversized t-shirt and nothing else. Satisfied that she wouldn’t freeze to death and was too tired to change into anything suitable anyway, she headed to the window. If she remembered correctly, and judging by the sound of L’s footsteps, his personal office where he spent most of his time (and would logically hide her weapon pouch) was two floors above her own, and five rooms to the right.

She slid the window open and gave a small shiver. Winter was closing in on the area quickly, and she almost went back inside for warmer clothing. Instead she climbed out of the window and balanced on the windowsill for a moment, before grabbing the ledge above and hoisting herself up effortlessly. Her feet stuck on the side of the house with a small application of chakra and she began her laborious trek upwards, trying to hide in the shadows made by the roof and buttresses as much as possible. She didn’t want to expend anymore chakra on a genjutsu, and from what she could tell from her initial scan of the place, there were no security cameras that would catch her at the angle she was walking at.

Feeling rather proud of herself, she barely noticed that there was a soft glow coming from the room up ahead. She inwardly cursed as she realized it was L’s office. Frowning, she inched closer, hearing a soft murmur from inside and seeing the silhouettes of several figures—including one sitting in an awkward position on a chair that Sakura instantly recognized as L.

“Are you certain about this?” That was L’s voice, and Sakura narrowed her eyes, leaning in closer so she could hear better. The voices were muffled, but they were distinct enough that she could recognize who was talking for the most part.

“We heard her communicating with someone. She’s definitely in league with Kira.” Mello grunted.

Kira? Who is Kira? Sakura’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“She could be an assassin that Kira sent to get rid of us.” Matt put in.

“We already went over this. She could have killed me long before this.” Near commented coolly.

“Not unless she wanted to get information on L and Whammy House.” Mello defended, “Then she would have to come here and befriend us, right?”

“She could have taken me and tortured me.” Near put in, but it didn’t sound as he believed it too much himself. Then again, Near didn’t get attached to people, so there was no point in defending a girl he had just met.

Sakura blinked slowly. They…were talking about HER? They thought she was some assassin sent be ‘Kira’, whoever that was.

Well obviously, L and the others have been hiding things from me too. What kind of people are they that someone would hire an assassin against them? Sakura’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. <Very well. I need to leave sooner than I thought. Tonight I’ll get back my weapons and leave before daybreak. The less time I spend here, the better. </i> She didn’t mention the fact that she would miss the disfucntional little group of geniuses. It had been nice, pretending to be a normal person for a few days.

But she was a shinobi above all else, and she didn’t have time to waste when her village could be in danger. She needed to get back to Konoha quickly.

There was no time for goodbyes.

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