“Welcome”:
Freezing in shock along the dirt path into the village, Sakura couldn't help but gape.
She remembered the numerous underground bases she'd been through with naruto when they'd been searching for Sasuke, but the sight before her was like nothing she could've imagined.
The village was set up in a valley, a snaking river cutting between it. The rolling rumput hills akting as a natural barrier let Sakura get a good birds-eye view from where she stood. It was simply beautiful. The river winked back in the afternoon sunlight as the nasi, beras fields cascading down the opposite bukit, hill rippled with the wind. The village itself was a complex maze of buildings and roads embellished oleh the tress and plants native to Oto.
Wide-eyed, Sakura looked to see Sasuke staring back at her. Seeing him standing before Otokagure, before his village, Sakura felt an overwhelming sense of amazement. "Sasuke, you–"
"Come on," berkata Sasuke and Sakura was at his side as he turned to continue towards the village.
She wondered if he was simply trying to be modest atau if there was another reason he was playing down his accomplishments. To turn Oto into this beautiful place before her, that couldn't have been easy. It made Sakura wonder what exactly had happened during those years they'd been apart.
Entering the village, Sakura found her idea of spending an entire tahun here shift. She'd been assuming she'd be forced underground to train medics like Kabuto, but now things didn't seem so bad.
As they walked through the streets to where Sakura assumed she'd be staying, many of the villagers looked up from whatever they were doing to say hi to Sasuke. True to his nature, Sasuke gave them a curt nod as they continued on.
Sakura couldn't help but wonder how much the attention annoyed him.
They walked for another ten menit atau so before approaching a moderately sized two-story house. She frowned. That was far too big for her, but she couldn't think of anywhere else they would need to stop at.
Walking inside, Sakura watched Sasuke toe of his nin-sandals and she did the same before the curiosity got to her.
"What are we doing here? Whose house is this?"
"Mine."
Sakura nodded dumbly when Sasuke glanced at her, before walking to the first door on the right. Sakura followed him into what looked like a living room and up the stairs to the detik floor.
Opening the first door on his left, letting Sakura go in before him, he said, "This is your room."
Sakura's head whipped around so fast she nearly got whiplash.
"What?" she said, a mixture of surprise and horror. "I'm supposed to live with you?"
She caught the slight furrow of his brow, as if her words hurt him somehow, before it was smoothed away and nothing betrayed what he was feeling.
"You saw all the construction in the village?"
"Yeah," replied Sakura, not sure what he was getting at.
"A lot of families are sharing homes still."
Sakura immediately felt her cheeks burn. Of course! Sasuke couldn't just bump some family waiting to get their own halaman awal for her. She felt like a selfish fool.
Lowering her head, she said, "Sorry, I didn't realize."
"It's fine," berkata Sasuke.
After an awkward silence, Sasuke said, "I'll let anda get settled."
Sakura was surprised as he disappeared through the door at the end of the hallway. He moved like a ghost.
Sighing, she dropped her bag on the floor selanjutnya to her new tempat tidur and collapsed onto it, looking up at the ceiling. The warm summer wind blew in through the open windows before a soft tinkling sound followed.
"Wind chimes?" murmured Sakura, with a frown before a tentative smile found her lips.
She supposed it was Otokagure and the beautiful noise almost sounded like a warm welcome.
"Perhaps this tahun won't be so dreadful after all."
. . .
Chapter Seven_
"Home Sweet Home":
It was official, Sakura decided when she woke up the selanjutnya morning, she'd made the biggest mistake of her life. Oto was pleasant, she supposed, very scenic and the people seemed nice enough yesterday, but it simply wasn't Konoha. In Konoha she had a routine, a life. atau at least as close to one as she could get without interfering with her work schedule.
She expertly ignored the little voice in her head (that sounded a lot like Ino) mocking: Workaholic.
Still, she was comfortable in Konoha. Now, however, as she lay in a foreign tempat tidur that was being showered in the morning light, it hit her. What exactly was she supposed to do here? She would be teaching, she knew that much, but that was only for six hours at best. That left eighteen hours. Of course she would be sleeping. If she really pushed that, she'd be left with—ticking off the longest she could manage to sleep, Sakura frowned.
"Damn," she muttered, "eight hours of this."
As if on cue a bird let out a loud squawk.
Glaring at the ceiling, Sakura kicked off the covers and got to her feet. Wallowing in self-pity was hardly helping anyone! Lifting her bag, she pulled out a change of clothes deciding she might as well mandi, shower and get ready for her first hari in Otokagure.
Poking her head out the door, she looked to the end of the hall to see Sasuke's door closed—his chakra signature still inside. Biting her lip she eased her own door open a bit lebih before taking hurried steps to the bathroom across from her room. Shutting the door quickly behind her, Sakura let out a small sigh of relief.
She'd managed to find the bathroom easily enough last night at one in the morning. That was when she realized she wasn't simply sharing a house with Sasuke, but a bathroom as well.
Still, she told herself trying to stay positive, it could be worse.
The moment she stepped under the warm water, she heard footsteps getting closer and closer—her jantung beating faster and faster—until they stopped before the bathroom door. Her breath caught in her throat as her mind screamed: Way to jinx it, anda moron!
After a few jantung stopping detik the footsteps drifted away again. Sakura released her breath. But of course Sasuke would hear the water running. Still, she thought to herself, selanjutnya time she needed to lock the door simply for the peace of mind.
When she stepped out of the shower—the room full of warm steam—Sakura went to grab a towel from under the sink cabinet. When she found them empty, she wanted to scream. Where the hell was her brain this morning? Just because she kept towels somewhere didn't mean Sasuke put them in the same place.
Glancing around the bathroom, she didn't see any sort of closet atau drawer. Her cheeks burned as she realized her two options. One—she could slip back into her dirty clothes and pretty much undo what the mandi, shower had just accomplished atau see if she could find a towel without running into Sasuke… naked.
Closing her eyes, Sakura tried to think of where towels might be located. She recalled a narrow door beside the bathroom—it had to be a linen closet of some sort. Gathering whatever courage she had, Sakura decided she would check there and if it was void of a towel she'd just put her dirty clothes back on and go from there.
Taking in a deep breath, Sakura eased the door open scanning the hallway. About to take a step out of her sanctuary she noticed a dark blue—could it actually be!—towel on the floor just in front of the door. Not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, she snatched it up and shut the door—her jantung now beating at an erratic pace she recalled her sebelumnya fear of Sasuke walking in on her. Hugging the towel around herself and relishing in its security, Sakura decided she would have to remember to thank him sometime.
After getting dressed and pulling her damp hair into a ponytail, Sakura ventured down to the dapur all ready to make small talk only to find it void of life. She frowned before she saw a note left on the counter.
"Sakura,
Here are directions to where anda need to meet the other medic-nin.
—Sasuke"
Sakura read through the crude instructions and stuffed the note into her pocket before looking in the fridge for something to eat.
Settling on a simple bowl of cereal, Sakura ate it quickly enough before deciding to check out where she'd be doing her teaching. It wouldn't hurt to leave early—especially considering if she got lost.
That night, after teaching an exhausting crash course in the basics of being a medic-nin, Sakura decided perhaps her time here wouldn't be so hard to fill.
Going to find something quick to eat for dinner, Sakura couldn't wait to revisit her new bed. Falling asleep that night, she realized she hadn't seen Sasuke all day.
The fact unnerved her lebih than she believed it should.
. . .
Chapter Eight_
Domestic Deviance:
Sakura had officially been in Otokagure for an entire week and had seen Sasuke a grand total of two times. Once had been an awkward encounter in the hallway. She came out of her room just as he was heading towards his. After a good nerve-racking menit atau so, she berkata hi and he nodded before walking past her. The detik time had been on the porch. She was coming halaman awal and he was leaving. This time she refused to be the one to say the first word.
Neither spoke.
It was odd, thought Sakura, as she would lay awake at night listening to the cicadas.
Living with Sasuke was like living with a ghost. She couldn't exactly consider it the same as living oleh herself. Things would be moved from where she last saw them, for starters; and there were little things like the towel incident. atau the time she had used the last of the milk. She'd meant to get some lebih on her walk halaman awal from work, but forgot. The selanjutnya morning a new carton was resting on the refrigerator door. And the coffee! Sakura couldn't get over how nice it was that Sasuke got up earlier than she did so the coffee was always ready oleh the time she ate breakfast in the morning.
It was rather nice to have someone else, mused Sakura, to share the responsibilities of day-to-day life.
Still, it was really starting to irritate her that she never saw him. She argued with herself for the first few days that the feeling was pure nonsense. She should still be frustrated with him and grateful for the space, but when it came down to it, she was getting lonely. Sakura supposed she could try and make friends in Oto, but she didn't even know where to start! The village itself was still pretty much a mystery to her. All she'd seen was what was along her route to and from the training center.
So, with no other option, Sakura concluded she would just have to take matters into her own hands.
That was what led her to decide to come halaman awal early from teaching and cook dinner.
She was in the middle of doing just that when she heard the front door open and close. Smiling to herself, she headed towards the dapur doorway to tell Sasuke makan malam would be ready in fifteen minutes. She didn't get the chance, however, when she noticed the foyer was already empty.
Crossing the hall, she just managed to see Sasuke on the stairs before he disappeared upstairs.
Frowning, she shrugged it off and decided she could just get him when it was ready.
After setting everything on the table, Sakura smiled at her own cleverness and went to get Sasuke. There was no way anyone could refuse a meal. Especially one that smelled so good!
Knocking on his door, Sakura's brows furrowed slightly when he opened it just enough to see his face.
He didn't say anything—he simply stared at her expectantly.
Swallowing, Sakura said, "I made dinner."
"I'm busy," berkata Sasuke as he stepped back into his room.
Just as Sakura mumbled, "Oh, i-if you're busy, I guess–" the door shut softly in her face.
It took a lot of willpower not to meninju, pukulan the door down, but she restrained as she went back and ate the food—glaring at the empty kursi across from her the entire time. That was when she decided if he was going to be a jerk that was the last time she did something nice for him!
As she was cleaning up, though, her anger towards him was waning a bit. For all she knew he could've been really busy. He was in the midst of creating an entire village for crying out loud! Sighing, Sakura fixed him a plate before wrapping it up and sticking it in the fridge.
Clicking off the dapur lights, she went upstairs to go to bed.
It was about four hours later that she heard footsteps pass her door. Frowning, she silently left the warmth of her tempat tidur and slipped downstairs to hear Sasuke start the microwave. As carefully and quietly as she could, Sakura slipped up to the dapur doorway just as the microwave beeped.
She smiled to herself when she saw Sasuke pull out the plate she'd fixed for him. He was leaning against the counter as he ate. She didn't know what possessed her to stand there and watch him eat, but when he put the dish in the dishwasher and yawned Sakura took notice of the dark circles under his eyes.
Realizing he was about to go back upstairs, she slipped back into her room just in time to hear him reach the puncak, atas of the stairs.
Wrapping the covers around herself, Sakura decided it was time she found out what exactly Sasuke had been up to for the past seven years.
. . .
Chapter Nine_
"Sincerely Sakura":
Dear Naruto,
Hi. How was your mission? Good, I hope. If you're bleeding, in pain atau otherwise injured please go to the hospital. Now.
I know anda think anda don't need to, but anda know how I worry. All healed up? If not, stop membaca and go to the damn hospital. I will know if anda don't.
There anda go, now don't anda feel better?
So I suppose you're wondering why I left anda this letter and why I wasn't waiting for anda with a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's? I got a mission. I know what you're thinking, 'Why leave a letter? I would've found out from Baa-chan.' anda really need to tampil her some respect, oleh the way. Well, it's a bit lebih than just a simple old mission. Don't panic. I'm not in danger. It's just... I wanted to be the one to tell anda this even if it's through a letter.
I'm currently in Sound. With Sasuke.
Be quiet naruto and stop shouting obscenities. Your neighbors are already at their wits end. Take a deep breath.
All right, here's what I know:
Sasuke has taken over Otokagure. How and when, I'm not sure. He came with a peace treaty, so I'm taking this as a good sign. He requested that I come and train a group of medic-nin. I can only hope they're not Kabuto-clones. As for Sasuke, I haven't seen him yet. Sorry. I would've liked to tell anda how he seemed, but I'm meeting him after I drop this letter at your apartment.
Tsunade trusts him and I'm honestly not sure what to think. I'm beyond pissed that I'll have to be away from Konoha for a tahun (maybe anda can visit?). I'm also nervous to be going to Sound. I don't do well in those dark and dank underground compounds, but I'll survive.
I know you're going to start worrying, but don't. I will be fine! I promise. I just don't know what to think about this, anda know? I can handle being in Sound for a year, but Sasuke! I've never been able to understand him like anda do and I know I never will.
I wish anda were here.
Sincerely,
Sakura
P.S. – It was my turn to pay for Ichiraku's. Money is in the envelope. It's enough for two. Take Hinata with you, okay? Also, feel free to the food in my house! It'll go bad otherwise.
naruto was frowning as he finished the last sentence. Very carefully, he folded the letter in half, put it back in the envelope and—making sure it was aman, brankas on the table—he ran from his apartment, slammed the door and screamed, "BAA-CHAAAAN!"
Ignoring half the village yelling at him to shut up as he ran through the streets to the Hokage Tower, naruto stormed into Tsunade's office. He was just about to open his mouth when Tsunade said, "No."
"But, Baa-chan!" protested Naruto. "You can't expect me to just sit here while Sasuke and Sakura are–"
"I can and I will," berkata Tsunade. "First, Sakura's a big girl. She can take care of herself. As for Sasuke, I know this is hard for you, but you're going to have to wait. We've just barely entered into an alliance with Oto and while I'm trusting Uchiha, I can't overlook the fact that he trained under Orochimaru atau the fact that he is now leading that man's village. anda will wait."
"Like hell!" berkata Naruto. He'd be damned if he just sat here while his best friend was only a two hari travel away.
"Naruto!" berkata Tsunade, anger heavy in her voice. "If anda step so much as one toe outside this village without my permission atau a mission scroll, I can promise anda that I will personally make sure anda are never eligible for the judul of Hokage."
"What!" shouted Naruto. "You can't do that!"
"I can and I will. This is for your own good and the safety of this village. anda will wait until anda are diberikan permission to go to Otogakure."
naruto scoffed, muttering every curse he knew under his breath as he stormed out of Tsunade's office.
The old hag may have won that round, but naruto would be damned if he gave up so easily! She'd have to cave eventually.
