Timely Magic

He was panicking, he couldn't find Sasuke despite the boy being right in front of him 5 minutes ago. He must have gone ahead while Naruto was distracted by talking to Sakura-chan. "Don't worry, Naruto, we'll find him. Is there anywhere he could have gone??" she places a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

"He- he could have gone back to Obaa-chan, but I don't think so.... I can't sense his chakra, which is making me anxious." he fidgeted, his eyes downcast as he reached out, searching for the raven's chakra. "Chakra is your energy right?? The thing you use to use magic??" she whispers, almost like she's worried she'll send him into a panic if she's too loud. Or maybe she's doing it so he can listen to their surroundings.

"Something like that, I can't sense him. Why can't I sense him???" he was hyperventilating now, he put a hand on his heart to try to calm himself down. "Why don't we go back to the place you're staying at, we'll figure out what to do from there."

"Alright" he croaked, they walked silently through the woods. Carefully watching just in case they came across Sasuke. Naruto had a bad feeling about all of this, after all, they still haven't found the source of the ominous chakra yet. He just hoped that whatever it was hadn't come across Sasuke.

They reached the village- CITY! Sakura-chan called it a city. They reached the city soon enough, still watching for any sign of Sasuke. They walked until he reached the building where he was staying, he walked up 4 flights of stairs, walked down the hall and quietly opened the door. Slipping inside they stalked to the room where he was staying, he took a deep breath before opening the door. He slouched in disappointment when Sasuke wasn't there, even though he knew he wasn't cause he couldn't sense his chakra.

He was honestly hoping that Sasuke was just concealing his chakra.

"SOoooo, this is where you've been staying??" Sakura looked around the room, not that there was much to it. It was small, with only a window and nothing else. "Yeah, Obaa-chan found us on the streets and offered to let us stay here."

"I see, so, do you just sleep on the floor??" she turned to look at the blond who was leaning against the closed door. "Yes?? Why??" he queried as he tilted his head. "I just, wasn't expecting that. I honestly wasn't expecting you to live in this district either."

"Why weren't you expecting it??" he folds his arms, eying the girl in the room, waiting for her to elaborate. "Well, I'm from a better part of town, I guess I assumed you were too. And almost everyone I know sleeps in a bed, so you know..." she fidgeted nervously. "Oh, I guess that makes sense.... But what's a bed???"

Her head snapped up and they stared at each other for a few minutes before she said, "Oh, I almost forgot that you're 5,000 years old. A bed is a place you sleep, it's off the ground but on the ground and it's normally soft... Uh, you have pillows and blankets on it and sometimes other things???"

He thought silently to himself, trying to figure out this foreign thing. Then it hit him, "OHHHhhh, you mean the thing that was at Yamanaka's house. The futon looking thing that's on a wooden table looking thing that is soft and we sat on to play the video game?? That's what it's called??" he was bouncing and getting closer to Sakura with every statement, by the time he was done he was in her face.

She put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back so she could have some personal space, "Yes, that." He smiled sheepishly and backed up. "You don't sleep with any blankets??" he heard the pinkette say after a few moments of silence. "No, Obaa-chan doesn't have any spares, Sasuke and I didn't want to take hers from her." he explained as he sat on the floor.

"I see, how do you stay warm then??" she followed suite and sat across from him, shivering slightly. "Well, we are used to dealing with harsh weather, whether that be scorching heat or bitter cold. Though we have been sharing body heat recently."

"So, you cuddle when you sleep??" she asked with a slight smirk, as if she knew what his feelings were. "I mean-I-you don't have to put it that way!!" he whined softly. She giggled and said, "So, I'm right??"

He huffed and looked out of the window, "Yeah, but you don't have to put it that way... It's not like we're doing it intentionally, I tend to cling to things while sleeping if I'm not under a blanket."

"Mhm, sure..."

"What- what're you implying, Sakura-chan?" no, his voice did not crack. "Nothing, just find it interesting how nervous you are right now."

"I'M NOT NERVOUS!" he yelled, maybe a little louder than he should have. "Yeaaah, suuuuure... Whatever you say, Naruto..." she teased as her smirk grew wider. He opened his mouth to retort when the door opened, they both jumped and turned towards the door where Obaa-chan stood there, looking at them. "Obaa-chan, I can explain-" 

"Nono, it's quite alright, you can bring your friends over whenever. Where's Uchiha??" she worriedly looks around the room, even though she can see the entire room from the doorway. "That's part of why I'm here, Obaa-chan. We went for a walk in the woods, which is why Naruto's very dirty, and one thing led to another and now we don't know where Sasuke is."

"You don't know where he is?" she sounded alarmed, eyes widening slightly. Naruto shook his head, eyes watering slightly, shoulders slumped. "That's not good, quickly, I'll make you breakfast."

She ushered them out of the room and scurried to make them breakfast, he and Sakura were silent the entire time. When the food was in front of them they began to talk, "I'm so sorry dear, but I never got your name." Obaa-chan said fondly, the tension still there. "Huh? OH, it's Sakura Haruno." she bowed slightly, being careful of her hair and the food.

"Nice to meet you, Haruno, I'm Nozomi Hirano." she smiled sweetly, as she also bowed slightly. "So, where did you last see Uchiha?"

"Last I saw him is when we were heading back here, he was walking ahead of us." Sakura put a finger to her lip as she spoke, Naruto wasn't sure if that was intentional or not.

They continued to discuss where the young raven might be, and they ended up telling Hirano everything about how Naruto and Sasuke ended up there. She was surprised, but understood. They talked until noon coming up empty handed, Sakura got a call from her parents and left after a quick apology.

Naruto was exhausted, and Obaa-chan noticed and made him go lay down. He complied after a few protests, as he lied down he wondered where Sasuke was and what had happened to him. He doesn't know how long he lay awake, but he knows when he finally fell asleep, that it wasn't a peaceful one.

He could feel consciousness returning to him, slowly but surely. He grunted in pain and tried to seek out warmth, his eyes snapped open when he realized he wasn't on the forest floor anymore. He took in his surroundings silently, hoping whoever moved him didn't realize he was awake yet.

His brows furrowed when he got a good look around, it looked an awful lot like his old sensei's place. 'But that's impossible, it's been 5,000 years' He sat up and slowly made his way to the door, silently noting that he was no longer in his previous clothing. He cracked open the door, peering out of it, once he deemed it safe he stalked out of the room.

He creeped down the hall, listening for anything unusual, it was all too nostalgic. As he walked he started to realize something, this place was a labyrinth, just like his sensei's. Not to mention, he swore he could sense their chakra. 'It couldn't be-' He followed the feeling until he was in front of an all too familiar door, he pushed it open and his jaw dropped at the sight he was met with.

His sensei, alive and well, sitting on a zabuton drinking tea. "Hello, Sasuke, it seems you're finally awake." their gold eyes shined with joy as they gazed at the Uchiha prince, who was still frozen with shock at the door. They stood up, placing their yunomi on the pedestal. "We have so much to catch up on"