SASUKE
"Hn… I'm just being realistic here Sakura" I tell her, of course I'm not being serious, but her face tells me she might have thought I was.
I turn my attention to the little hawk, kneel next to it and I pet his tiny head, just the way Garuda likes it and this little one likes it too I see.
"There" I say and Sakura is quick to kneel and start heeling the hawk. It takes her only a few seconds to heal it's wing completely, I have no clue if it's a similar process to healing a human, but nonetheless I'm impressed. The little one flies off before I have a chance to comment on it.
I turn to look at Sakura now, and I can't help but to eye her from head to toe. She looks so different now, her hair is shorter and neatly cut, framing her face beautifully, her face looks slimmer, her lips fuller, she's wearing a long red shirt, similar to the one she wore back when we were genin, with a black obi tied on her middle emphasizing her tiny waist and her fuller breasts and the shortest shorts I've ever seen a women wear, her legs are long and creamy. My throat goes dry. I look at her face one more time and I see something that hasn't changed. Her large green eyes, her beautiful green eyes.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, since we are pretty far from Konoha.
"Mmmm… I was just about to eat lunch, I'm on my way to Land of the Waives, I'm on a mission, A-Rank, there's a disease affecting a little village, I going to heal the villagers and find out if there's something contaminating the water sources there has been some concerns about a new virus and I want to make sure it doesn't turn into an epidemic ya know?" She says fast and without pausing for breath, she looks nervous for some reason.
"Hn…A rank huh?" I remember reading in one of Kakashi's letters about Sakura becoming jounin. "I am sorry to inform you, but you have failed your mission" I say turning the other way to avoid laughing at her expression.
"Wait…WHAAAAT…!" She says… loudly.
"A-Rank missions are secret, divulging the information is an automatic fail" I say in a serious tone. "Giving out intel like that, you're putting the village in danger…. But that is an interesting coincidence"
"Oh! Come on, I trust you Sasuke-kun" She responds with a dismissive waive of her hand. She still trusts me, like it's nothing, like I've never hurt her.
"Anyway… what is an interesting coincidence?" She continues before I have a chance to comment on it.
I know I shouldn't say anything, in fact I should just turn around and leave, with Konoha already on this case and sending their best medic to the village, my assistance is no longer needed. That is the right thing to do.
"Hn… I'm sort of heading there myself…" I say quietly, looking at the ground embarrassed of myself for not being able to stick to my convictions.
I turn to look at her and she is staring at me intently, a light pink blush spreading through her cheeks. I wonder what she is thinking right now that's making her bashful, then I hear it, the growling from her stomach, I have to contain my laugh one more time. I don't remember the last time I was this amused.
All of my previous thoughts are easily forgotten, I seem to remember a small tea house close by with what some people describe as the best syrup coated anko dumplings… Sakura's Favorite.
I guide Sakura toward the Tea house, then I seat on the table closest to the window. She's just standing there, with a confused look on her face. I look at her and she blushes at the eye contact, I motion for her to take a seat and she does.
"Emmm…What are…" She is about to ask, it's pretty obvious I think.
"You said you were about to eat lunch" I reply without letting her finish, she's staring at me again, with a silly smile on her face and a light blush on her.
The waitress finally arrives and I order for the both of us, I turn to look at Sakura again and the waitress is still standing there just looking at me, I clear my throat loudly and the embarrassed waitress takes her leave. Then as soon as we are alone again Sakura bursts into laughter.
"What?" I ask.
"Oh nothing, only I see you are still as popular as always" She says between giggles, teasing me for whatever the waitress was doing when I wasn't looking.
"Hn… I guess you would know" I say giving her a small smile, the one I know she likes, just to see if I can make her blush again. It worked.
"So… you didn't tell me, why are you going to Land of Waives?" She tells me, her face still red.
"Same as you I guess" I tell her.
"You heard about the disease?" She tells me, her expression completely serious now.
I nod. "An old lady asked me to come and take a look, she believes some newcomer is poisoning the people of the village"
"Mmmm Kakashi-sensei told me about that, he says it is quite unlikely, I am honestly more concern about an epidemic. I don't have much details about the disease only that it affects the eyes, Tsunade-shishou thinks it may be some kind of new virus"
"Hn… I guess we'll find out once we get there"
"…We?" She asks me again, confused.
"Yes we… We are going to the same place; it makes sense that we go together…" I tell her slowly as if I'm explaining it to a small child just to tease her. "Unless you don't want to…" giving her the option to reject my company... she has every reason to.
"Oh of course I want to Sasuke-kun!" She says. Damn it.
"I just assumed that… am… never mind… It would be like we are on mission together!" She finishes and flashes me the loveliest smile.
Her last statement weights down on me, a reminder of what I've missed. I drink my tea in silence while Sakura eats her dumplings, neither of us say anything, she seems lost in her thoughts as well.
I pay the waitress and prepare to leave. She doesn't seem to have notice I've been standing here, ready to leave, for a few minutes. "Are you coming or not?"
"ah… yes"
Even though we still have 3 days of travel before we reach Land of the Waives, we walk at the slowest pace possible. Sakura tells me what has been going on in the village, she tells me about Naruto's wedding, that they were sad that I missed it but they all understand, she tells me about how she created the Children's Mental Health Center and how now most of the hidden villages want to do the same and how she was supposed to start a tour to help but got interrupted by the Kido incident, she also tells me she's embarrassed for being taken hostage by Kido and apologizes for interrupting my travels to try and save her, I try to remind her that she saved herself and that it doesn't matter but she doesn't seem to accept it.
Then she starts asking questions about my travels and I answer to the best of my ability, I haven't had a conversation this long in years, she seems genuinely interested in everything I say, happy even, and I can't help but to give her what she asks for.
"I was just in Ame" I tell her. "I was there to meet a young boy who knew Itachi, quite well apparently, he kept telling me how much of a good person Itachi was, even during his time with the akatsuki"
"But you already knew that" She says with a sad smile on her face.
"Well yes, but it's still nice to hear it from someone else" I say "After that I went to rice country to find a place Itachi used as a hideout, the view was breathtaking, rice plantations as far as the eyes can see, at dusk it looked like the sun was melting into the earth, I spent a couple of weeks there assisting the farmers, then… well I came here"
"That's amazing Sasuke-kun, you've been to a lot of places"
It isn't until now that I realize how long I've been on the road or just how much of my journey has been about Itachi.
Sakura's yawn brings me out of my thoughts. I must have finally bore her with my stories. But I can see dark circles under her eyes, she does looks exhausted.
"You're tired"
"What makes you say that?" she replies in between another yawn.God this girl…
"Hn… it's like the 1000th time you've yawn" I tell her, trying not to sound like I'm not making fun of her.
"I'm sorry, I had an early morning"
"We could make camp" It looks like a good enough place, flat, enough trees to take cover even though I haven't seen other people on the road for a couple of hours.
She makes a face at my suggestion and I remember just how much Sakura hated sleeping on the woods, maybe she'd rather look for and inn.
"Sure, this place is perfect" She says while removing her obi and weapons punch and setting them inside a scroll.
"What are you doing that for? Shinobi should be ready at all times, what if we are attacked during the night?"
"Do what? get comfortable? Please, like anyone would mess with me" She as she winks at me… I'm speechless
"I'll be right back"
She returns after a couple of minutes holding some pieces of wood. "Its getting kind of cold, do you mind?" she says while she signals to her lips trying to imitate my katon. I do what she tells me, arranging the kindle and doing a small fire ball to light it.
"That's amazing Sasuke-kun!" She says way to excited over a small jutsu. "I've always found fire styles interesting"
"Hn… pyromaniac"
"Heeey!" She says with a small pout and then giggles a little bit.
"We should probably get something for dinner"
"Oh! I got that covered!" She tells me while she pulls a bento box from another one of her scrolls. "It's just something simple I prepared to eat at lunch"
The bento box contains a variety of rice balls, fish cutlets, a couple of sandwiches and vegetables arranged skillfully and beautifully in various levels. It's so much food I want to ask if she made all of this for herself but I don't, last thing I need is accidentally calling her fat or something added to my list of transgressions.
"So… how is it?" She asks.
"Hn, it's the best meal I've had in a long time" I answer honestly. I've been surviving on game or things I buy to eat on the road. I don't remember my last home cooked meal.
"I'm so glad! Naruto always complains when he eats my food" She tells me.
"What did you expect from the loser? So much ramen has probably burned off his taste buds" I say.
"Thank you Sasuke-kun" She says, and she gives me the sweetest smile ever. It's so easy to make her happy.
We finish eating and go to sleep, both of us reclined on the same tree, our shoulders almost touching. Well Sakura goes to sleep, I stay up all night thinking of all the times I had this girl next to me and didn't think much of it, of all the times during my travels I wish I had her next to me and of all the other times I've pushed her away.
I don't deserve to stand next to her, but I can't bring myself to leave, I am that selfish.
I think about her smile, the way her eyes seem to sparkle when she looks at me, and the way she blushes when I tease her. After everything I've put her through and after disappearing for two years there is a thought I can't get rid of.
Sakura still loves me…