When Sakura walked into the mess hall at promptly 20:00 hours (she was tempted to arrive late on purpose for some show of autonomy but thought better of it) Shee was the only person there. She expected to be facing all three idiots from Kumo but was slightly relieved when she saw him alone stand when she entered.

Before she spoke to ask what her "punishment" was he wordlessly pointed to a corner of the room where a bucket was sitting on the floor and a mop was propped against the wall. For the umpteenth time that evening her jaw fell open. That was her task? Cleaning the mess hall? Weren't there shinobi already assigned that duty?

As if reading her mind Shee said, "I asked the person in charge of the kitchen to inform his staff not to clean the mess hall after the last meal was served."

Sakura finally noticed how dirty it was. No. Not dirty. Filthy. Wrappers, napkins, plastic cutlery, chopsticks and many other things were strewn over the dozens of tables and on the floor. Mystery piles of goo were everyone, too, along with more identifiable food items such as fish and rice and such. Sakura made a disgusted face. Didn't shinobi have any respect? Sure, they weren't responsible for cleaning the mess but they could act with a little more decorum than a toddler and clean up after themselves, couldn't they?

Sakura would rather do anything than this. She could clean and sharpen weaponry, file paperwork, be an errand girl or messenger for a day, whatever! Anything was better than this!

'Anything?' Inner Sakura asked with a scoff. Images of herself kneeling in front of toilet seats pervaded her mind. Sakura shook her head. Okay. She could do this.

Without responding to Shee she walked over to where the bucket and mop were. Garbage bags were conveniently hung on the side of the bucket and she got to work collecting all of the trash. Shee didn't speak a word to her, just sat back down at the table closest to the exit. He didn't even watch her really. When she glanced up occasionally she saw only his profile as he sat there in contemplation. That peeved her off slightly. It's not like she was untrustworthy and he had to babysit her to make sure the task was completed. Didn't he have better things to do?

Throughout the course of her cleaning various war party members came into the mess hall to speak to him. Sakura's cheeks burned with embarrassment as each person that entered did a double take. Here she was, renowned medic nin and apprentice to the Hokage, wiping down tables.

By the time she started mopping her irritation had blossomed into full blown anger. This was ridiculous! Shee was the one that was acting like a jerk earlier when he didn't want her to sit with him. Anybody would have reacted the way she did, right? Who cares if he was her superior.

She frowned, thinking back on the course they all had to take on war and military etiquette. It wasn't so much different than what she was used to back home since Konoha operated under Marshall Law, but there were many other factors that had to be taken into account now that they were actually at war. They were split into war divisions instead of rank, they had to answer to their division captain, but also had to be mindful of any superior. She knew she needed to heed that course as much as anyone because being the Hokage's pupil gave her a lot of pull back at home, even with jōnin. Everyone was obligated to listen to her requests (more like demands) since most were on behalf of Tsunade-sama, but that was not the case here. If a shinobi refused to comply with Sakura she couldn't run back to the Hokage to tell on them. And the same with insubordination.

Sakura sighed. It was the nature of war, after all. She would have to be more careful next time. Or just be more cunning in her ways of getting back at assholes like Shee so she didn't get caught.

When she glanced up again Sakura saw that Shee now had different visitors...the two other assholes who decided to tattle-tale on her. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she watched them snicker amongst themselves, clearly enjoying the show. Well, the other two were. Shee was listening to them but wasn't including himself in the banter.

It didn't matter. Shee was the clever one who came up with the punishment of cleaning the mess hall since the "incident" happened in this very room earlier. Well, she would show him clever.

She had started at the back and had been working her way forward, closer to Shee, which was perfect. She slowed her pace, not enough to make it noticeable but to give her time to keep mopping until those bozos left. She had to wait a few more minutes and had almost ruined the plan she concocted when she heard one of them make a snide remark about her, as if she couldn't hear, but then they finally left.

Making sure the mop was completely soaked with the murky liquid she stealthily came up behind Shee, concealing her chakra signature. Just as soon as the second one disappeared through the tent flaps she attacked. She swung the dripping wet mop right toward his head and with a squishy squelch it connected.

Knowing that Shee was a ninja and a rather strong one at that, Sakura had milliseconds to react before his inevitable counterattack. She was on the other side of the room before he even turned. But the odd thing was he just stood there, facing away from her, shoulders high and tensed, water dripping down his body. He didn't say anything, but she could sense how he was feeling from the way he was emitting angry waves of chakra.

For a moment Sakura felt uncertain. Maybe she had gone too far.

With deliberate slowness Shee turned, his dark eyes hard and raging. Uh oh. He was really pissed.

And just as fast as she had moved away from him he was coming at her...with the bucket in hand.

With a yelp she dashed toward the only exit she would reach before Shee got to her: the opening to the kitchen. She jumped over the metal serving line and dropped the mop as she went deeper into the large kitchen, her eyes frantically searching for anything to defend herself. She knew she had only seconds before she might feel the water with God-knows-what in it being splashed on herself, and an idea popped into her head like lightening. Like the strike of a snake she moved toward the refrigerator and pulled open the door, using it as a shield. She could hear Shee behind her and she scanned the items in a frenzy looking for the one thing that might make him pause.

Just as she turned around Shee was directly behind her. Just as she had hoped, he paused, noticing the eggs that Sakura carried in both her hands and the rest of the arsenal within easy reach.

"Truce," Sakure panted, watching him warily.

Shee's eyes went wide. "Truce? You fucking hit me with a mop!" he growled.

Sakura cringed. He did have a point.

But she didn't want to give him any advantage, and she especially didn't want to come in contact with any of the water Shee managed to drag around without spilling a drop.

"Uh..." She tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for him not to throw the water on her but it became apparent he didn't want to hear any of it. Just as he swung the bucket back Sakura reacted instinctively. She pummeled her eggs at him.

The water splashed on the floor as he dropped the bucket to wipe egg muck off his face. And just like earlier that day when Sakura got food all over him she started to laugh.

And Shee had had enough.

With a speed that belied Sakura's senses he pushed her against the shelves in the fridge, grabbed his own eggs and smashed them on her head. Sakura's laughs turned into full out howls as she too reached blindly for the little white weapons and tried to break them over Shee's head. He grabbed a hold of her wrists though, and they pushed against each other. Sakura was trying to get her eggs on him and he was preventing her from doing so.

With the aid of a little chakra Sakura managed to push him away from the inside of the fridge. Shee could see that she was trying to get him away from the food and tried to take the ones that were already in her hands, which resulted in them breaking, running egg content down their arms. They struggled against each other more. Sakura was actually trying to push him into the puddle of water that he spilled from dropping the bucket. When he realized this it was too late and he slipped backwards, landing hard with a muted "oof." Sakura tried with all her might to wrench her wrists from his grip but she underestimated his strength and ended up falling with him, landing on top of him.

For an endless moment Sakura found herself staring into Shee's dark eyes and he was staring back just as unrelentingly. Neither of them moved, hesitating, but they both sensed when the moment became too awkward and Sakura swiftly backed off. She was assessing the mess on herself and what they caused around them simply so she wouldn't have to focus on Shee anymore when she heard his low muttered, "Ow."

"What's wrong?" she asked, watching him attempting to stand but favoring his right ankle.

"It's sprained," he answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Sakura said, scooting closer to him. She pulsed healing chakra to her hands and immediately put them around his leg.

She looked up when she heard him chuckle. "I can do this, you know."

Sakura's face warmed when she realized she forgot he was a healer, too. "Oh yeah. Oops. I forgot." But she didn't stop healing him. And he didn't stop her.

He had a peculiar look on his face, like he was little confused about something, but also amused. Sakura refrained from asking what he was thinking. He no longer seemed to be angry so she just let the comfortable silence take over.

When finished she carefully stood and he followed. She sighed when she looked around herself again.

"Here. I'll help," Shee offered quietly, much to Sakura's surprise. Again, Shee filled up the bucket with water and Sakura grabbed two mops. They worked silently in tandem. After wiping the floor dry and putting away the supplies Sakura asked shyly, "So there's nothing else?"

Shee looked at her, again with that bemused expression tinted just slightly with humor, and shook his head. "I think you've received enough punishment." He smirked.

After closing up and shutting off the lights they both went out the back way. Sakura stopped dead in her tracks when she took in the makeshift lake before her, then looked down at herself. She might as well go for an evening dip, that way she would only have to hang her clothes to dry later instead of cleaning each article individually. She caught Shee's questioning expression, probably wondering why she suddenly stopped.

"Want to go for an evening swim?" she asked cordially, gesturing to the body of water.

At first Shee looked dubious.

"Oh c'mon! Your clothes will wash a lot faster this way."

For a few moments he seemed to be attempting to contradict her logic but he eventually found he couldn't and nodded.

They walked to the water's edge then Sakura started to take her boots off which were covered in egg slime. She unwrapped her weapons holster and laid it beside her shoes, then untied her medic skirt. That would have to be cleaned separately since she had all of her medical supplies inside and didn't want to take them all out. Shee glanced at her actions with a raised brow. "You're comfortable with parting from your weapons?" he asked.

Sakura scoffed. "I'm not going far. Besides I don't want my weapon's holster to get wet. It would take forever to dry and that's extra weight I don't want to carry." Then she added in a mildly scolding tone, "Sheesh, will you lighten up?"

"For all we know there still could be enemy nin lurking."

"I'm pretty sure Naruto took care of that."

He didn't respond and Sakura watched with smug satisfaction as he did the same and also took off his arm and leg guards.

The water was like bath water and Sakura waded until she was waist deep before going under. She ran her hands through her hair to get the mess out then came up. She untied her hi-tiate and scrubbed it clean. It was a warm evening with a balmy breeze. The atmosphere of the compound, though the hustle and bustle of duty could still be heard, was quiet and calm. Sakura closed her eyes. It reminded her of home.

She opened her eyes and glanced over at Shee who was looking at the sky, above the tops of the trees surrounding the compound. His expression looked relaxed.

Thinking of home she decided to ask him, "Have you been able to get back to Kumogakure since the start of the war?"

Her abrupt question got him out of his daydreaming and he turned to answer her. He shook his head. "No. "

"Tell me what's Kumo like. I've never been there."

"It's just like any other hidden village," he answered, his tone bearing a slight tinge of impatience, as if her request was a silly one.

Sakura wanted to argue that that couldn't be true. Every hidden village had its own customs and even the way their shinobi were trained altered between each village. Sakura thought of Kirigakure. Before the Fifth Mizukage was appointed leader Sakura understood that the Village Hidden in the Mist operated in a much different way than Konoha, to put it lightly.

"Oh c'mon, not all the hidden villages are exactly the same. For example, like in Konoha, I bet in Kumo you don't-"

"I don't want to hear anything about Konoha!" he suddenly snapped, his dark eyes turning piercing.

Sakura blanched at his venonmous tone. Shee turned his back on her then, effectively ending their discussion. There was enough mystery to this guy that irked Sakura, like earlier when he didn't want her to sit with him and now, obviously not wanting to talk about her home. She didn't understand. Training went so well yesterday. Well, except for the time...

She remembered when he accused the Zetsu clones of being only Konoha shinobi. What an absurd accusation! She also remembered his open distaste of Sasuke. And now how he shut down at the word 'Konoha.'

"Why don't you like Konoha?" Sakura asked curiously. The way his entire body stiffened made Sakura believe she hit the nail on the head. There wasn't a problem with training yesterday because he was ordered to do so, but any interaction beyond training, like her sitting with him, was unacceptable to him.

He didn't answer. Sakura wondered if his dislike was geared toward all other villages besides his own or if it was reserved especially for Konoha.

She sighed, feeling defeated. He didn't owe her an explanation. She wondered what she would have to do to break through that rough exterior of his. Obviously just asking him about it was the wrong course of action. She had an inclination to apologize...for what she didn't even know; 'sorry that you hate my village,' 'sorry that you go from seemingly content to mad in a flash at the mention of my home...'

They were comrades, fighting on the same side. And they were bonded in a particular way because they were both healers. Surely he could appreciate that fact, right? Plus...Sakura was dying of curiosity. Shee was the only Shinobi she met that expressed such blatant hostility against another village. He was also a leader, second-in-command in his unit. He would have to display at least some amount of tolerance for that fact alone. The realization allowed Sakura to choose the best possible method of getting him to open up.

"Look Shee, you're supposed to be a leader. It's unprofessional of you to speak and act so openly against another village. It's your responsibility to be an example to your division and all those under you to act in a way that doesn't make it obvious you're for or against one village. Besides, your bad attitude is not beneficial towards the war efforts. I'm sure the enemy would see your hatred as advantageous to them-"

He suddenly whirled to her, exploding, "You have no idea what you're talking about! You have no clue what I've been through! What my family's been through!"

Sakura's eyes went wide with his partial admission. So it was personal. She should have known. Realizing that he'd said too much he made a clicking sound with his tongue and faced forward again.

A few long beats of awkward silence stretched between them as Sakura contemplated on where to go from there.

"You're right," she said softly, slowly taking a few steps in his direction. She watched as Shee focused on the ripples in the water she created between them. His face was impassive. "I don't know what you've been through, or what's happened. It may not be my place, but as a Konoha citizen I would like to apologize on behalf of those who did you harm. I'm sure there was no ill-intent."

Shee scoffed, closing his eyes. "You don't know," he said simply, then added, "And it's pathetic to use a blanket apology for something that's irreparable."

Sakura frowned, now really curious as to what Shee was referring to. Surely it couldn't have been as bad as others stories she's heard. She knew there were shinobi whose family members had been killed by those of another village, but it was hardly ever personal. It was out of duty, because of a mission. Shinobi automatically understand that, seeing as how they probably killed another person's family, too. It's unfortunate but unavoidable, something that must be accepted early on. If every shinobi hung onto revenge they would lose sight of their purpose as shinobi...just as Sasuke did.

And with that thought Sakura decided to take a huge risk with her next statement. Shee would either avoid her from now on or really understand. Sakura deemed this would show what kind of quality Shee was made of.

"I think you're being hypocritical," she stated evenly. Shee's head snapped up and he glared at her.

"How so?" he almost growled, obviously taking umbrage.

"When we met yesterday you looked down on me when we talked about Sasuke. You've fought against him so you know what his story is. But your hatred of my village is based on wanting revenge, right? Wanting to repair something that you say is irreparable." She paused, waiting for a reaction. He merely kept staring at her. "I should look down on you for the same thing. Everyone has a story, some worse than others. Some people, like Sasuke, can't handle what's happened to them and run away. Others come to terms with it and move on."

Sakura wasn't sure which category that put Shee in. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe it was the latter, seeing as how he wasn't a rogue shinobi silently killing off Konoha nin, but where Shee was at right now was where it starts; the path toward not accepting something that blinds you from the worthy things in life, like duty and honor...and love.

Sakura looked deeply into Shee's unreadable eyes for a few moments longer, then turned and trudged back toward her belongings, leaving him with, hopefully, much to think over.