A comforting night
As peace progressed and new small villages emerged, it was rare for them to have to sleep outside during their journey, but this evening, they had no other choice as the rain was keeping them from going on, and the village was too far to make it in time before the storm hit fully. So here they were, stuck in a cave that they conveniently found as they were looking for somewhere to spend the night relatively covered.
Sasuke kept glaring at the sky near the entrance, as Sakura was drying their sleeping bags near the fire they had lighted. The young kunoichi was looking fondly at her companion, secretly laughing at his vehement glaring.
They had been on the road for a few month now, and it was hard for her to hide her affection, even more as she started to know him, to understand him better as each day passed. And it was also made hard as he was way more polite and amiable now than he was when they were kid, or when he tried to kill her. She shuddered at the thought. These weren’t pleasant memories to think about, but she knew they would have to breach the subject somehow one day, if they were to be, at least, friends again. She still wanted more than that with him, but after everything that happened, she wasn’t sure that it was a good idea anymore. They have been through much, and after ignoring her for a long time, he had tried to kill her, then he had helped her, but he betrayed her again before he was able to realize his mistakes. And moreover, as the years passed by, she understood his say in it was important too. She didn’t want him to feel obligated to date her just because she had always loves him, nor did she want to be a simple pawn in his plan to restore his clan. She was aware that they would have to talk about it someday, but this wasn’t that day yet, and so she just enjoyed his presence for now.
She called him over as she took out their provisions. She heard him scoff before he came to sit next to her around the fire. She wasn’t offended by the noise, as she knew it was addressed to the weather, and not at her. He wouldn’t have sat next to her if that was the case. She gave him his fried fish with a smile, that he accepted with a quiet ‘thank you’.
They rarely ate in silence, and this evening was no exception as they discussed their plan for the next day. They also talked about the news of Shikamaru and Temari’s wedding which had taken place eight days earlier. Sakura had to remind Sasuke of who, exactly, Temari was, and she kindly mocked his poor memory of names, which was ironic for an Uchiha. The young woman then started talking about the fields of apple that they had passed during the day, and how the flowers were of a beautiful color, making an overall amazing ensemble.
“Nh. I think I still prefer the field of cherry trees we saw some months ago.” his voice and whole attitude was nonchalant, but his remark made Sakura flush red to the root of her hair. She knew he probably didn’t mean anything by it, as he was even denser than Naruto, but still, willingly or not, he had complimented her, which never stopped from making her blush.
As she tried to get her face color under control, he had finished his dinner and was now preparing to go to sleep, as she was supposed to take the first shift of the night. Even in times of peace, Sasuke insisted on having someone on guard at all times. He didn’t like being vulnerable to a possible unknown danger, which, considering his history with betrayal, was understandable.
Sakura finished her dinner before turning her face to look at her companion. He was turning his back on her, but by the sight of his regular breathing, he had already gone to sleep. This was something that never ceased to amaze her: how fast the young man was able to fall asleep. She always had to toss and turn before she could actually find any semblance of sleep, and she would wake up pretty easily in the beginning of the night. That annoyed her in her daily life, but she quickly came to the realization that it would be an asset as a shinobi. At least, she wouldn’t fall asleep during one of her shift.
Sighing slightly, she took out a book from her bag. She had bought it on one of their stops into one of the many villages they had visited. It was a story about two persons falling in love, but they couldn’t be together as their families were enemies. She didn’t know the end yet, but she was pretty sure it would end in a tragedy. All stories like that did.
As she progressed in her reading, the sun went down completely, and the animals of the night started to make themselves heard. That was why she preferred to take the first shift, in addition to her difficulty in falling asleep, she could be aware of what was around from the beginning, and know if any suspicious noise was heard. Sasuke, on the other hand, didn’t need that, with his Sharingans he could tell with a simple any menace approaching. These were the main reasons for their arrangement, though Sakura knew there was another one that her friend didn’t tell her about. She didn’t why she thought that, she just had a gut feeling, as it appeared. And she had learn from her sensei, Kakashi, that she should always trust her gut. But she didn’t really mind that he wasn’t telling her, after all, there were still many things she didn’t know about him, though she hoped to remedy that, pressuring him wasn’t the answer.
It was around the middle of her shift, and near the end of her book, that she heard some rustling. It wasn’t a noise from before, so she immediately categorized it as suspicious. She lifted her head from the book and listened more intently. She heard it again, but it didn’t come from outside of the cave, it came from inside, and it weren’t leaves rustling, but fabric. The young woman carefully turned around without making any noise, her gaze instantly falling onto her partner.
Sasuke, who had been sleeping quite peacefully for the past few hours, was now frowning in his sleep. He was also moving around too much for it being random. She saw his mouth moving, but couldn’t make out what he was saying.
Concerned, she approached him slowly. She didn’t want to surprise him and risk getting a chidori in the chest. As she got closer to his sleeping form, she started to make out some of the noise that he was making. There were groans, whimpers, but also some words, their sense lost on the irrationality of sleep. He was mostly repeating the words ‘No’, ‘Stop’ and ‘Please’, which meant that he was probably having a nightmare, and by the looks of it, it was most likely a nightmare about his past.
So, advancing even slower than before, while making some noise in case it could alert him of her approach, she reached her hand out to him. Once she was close enough, she made a louder noise than before, but it seemed he was completely unaware of the outside world and would not hear anything even if a storm was raging on right next to him. Sighing, because she really didn’t want to die, but she knew she couldn’t leave him like that, she lightly grazed his shoulder with her left hand.
Then, as if he hadn’t been completely deaf to the world just seconds ago in a surely deeply terrifying nightmare, he got up as fast as lightning, a chidori already alive in his left hand. Sakura would be ashamed to admit that she jumped a bit at the suddenness of it all. As soon as she got over her surprise, which was quite quickly, she raised her hands up in a show of innocence while shouting Sasuke’s name, hoping it would stop him before she could end up with a gaping hole in her chest.
She felt the pressure and heat of his technique as he stopped just short of touching her. His eyes were wild, wide open, lost to the rest of the world. He seemed to take in her features as she let out a silent but long sight of relief at being alive. She didn’t close her eyes and just stared right back at him during the time of his examination. Then, as quietly as she could, as if she was talking to a frightened deer, which he would never admit to be like, she spoke.
“Hey, Sasuke, it’s me, Sakura. It’s okay. You’re alright. Right now, we’re alone, in a cave in the middle of nowhere. You were sleeping while I was keeping watch and reading the book you said was a ‘stupid waste of my time and money’. Do you remember?”
Even as she said all that, she could still see the doubt in his eyes. She should have expected it. He had been deceived by words and genjutsu far too many times to believe her just like that. “You don’t seem to believe me, so I’ll tell you something that I’m sure, only you and I know about, alright?” he still seemed unsure, but she ignored it as she searched her memories for something she could be sure that only they knew.
“You remember last year? You came back to Konoha right in time for Hinata’s birthday, though you didn’t really knew it at the time. There was gonna be a big party and all. You came, because Naruto forced you to. It was funny because you practically didn’t say a word during the entire time you were there. Then, at one point, you had enough so you started to leave, and I followed you. I caught up to you outside of the garden and I accompanied you to my place, since you didn’t book an hotel. We were in the living room, and I was helping you turn the sofa into a comfortable place to sleep. I didn’t realize it then, but you had had a few drinks, and you didn’t really had control over what you were doing. But you kissed me. At first, I was burning up with joy, because I had always dreamed of this moment, ever since we were children, but then I tasted the alcohol in your mouth and I pulled away.” she made a pause there, preparing for the rest, and seeing that her story had reassured him, and that he was now relaxing a bit more. “You didn’t understand, and when I tried to explain that this didn’t feel right, that you were intoxicated, you hugged me. And you apologized. And then you started snoring.” she finished with a soft sight of fondness.
She didn’t laugh at the memory, but by the way Sasuke was looking at her, her amusement must have been pretty clear on her face since he was practically pouting at her. This forced a chuckle out of her, and without even realizing it, she lifted her hand up to lightly stroke his cheek. But, unlike what she was expecting, he didn’t pull away, and even started to nuzzle in her hand, like a cat. It was quite cute if you asked her, and her smile must have been mirroring her fondness, since he smiled back at her in a way she had never truly seen before.
“I… I won’t pretend to know or even understand what you’ve gone through, or what you dream about every night, but if you want to talk, or to just have someone at your side, know that I’m here, I’ll always be here for you.” her words were genuine, as she realized he didn’t need to redeem himself anymore, not in her eyes at least. For the past year and a half, he had proven himself trustful and deserving of happiness. Of course, she was still aware of the many mistakes he made, but he was doing everything in his power to make it right, and to do better.
“Sakura… I… Thank you.” he lowered his eyes as he said it, but she knew he wasn’t doing it because he was lying. Sasuke had always had a hard time dealing with his emotions, and it was still hard for him to express them, even to people he trusts. But seeing him like that, trying to be better with her, it made her heart fill with a strange kind of warmness. And she felt it settle in her stomach, a pleasant feeling spreading through the rest of her limbs.
This feeling was so intense, that she couldn’t help but press a gentle kiss on his forehead. She heard him gasp lightly at the gesture and she tried to pull away, worried that she might have been too far, but she was stopped as she felt two strong arms hold her back and pulling her in an embrace.
His hands on her back, his chin propped up on her head, her own arms hugging him back and her head pressed up against his chest, she felt better than she had ever been in a very long time.