Reminiscence

Memory: Intuition Under the Night Sky

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

-:-

The midmorning's sun gently penetrated through the clouds and caressed Konoha with its gentle warmth. Sakura found herself wandering around the streets on the team's day off, walking aimlessly on the streets finding something to do. Somehow, she found this day lacking fun, and wanted to change that. However, that was not in her power and all she could do was find something amusing and entertaining that could cause her boredom to fade away until later. Hearing Naruto's familiar slurping, she sighed in frustration, and walked towards the Ichiraku Ramen Stand. Seeing the familiar blond hair in view, she quickened her pace, and seated herself next to her teammate. Naruto looked up from his bowl, his electric blue eyes sending out waves of energy as light was reflected off his eyes.

"Oh! Sakura-chan!" He said.

Sakura looked at him and smiled.

"Morning, Naruto."

Sakura turned around on her chair, her gaze averted to the passing villagers. She noticed that today was unusually peaceful; the birds were happily chirping and frolicking, children were on the streets playing, and couples and families walked together in bliss. Her emerald eyes searched for something familiar, but her mind already knew that what she was looking for would not pass by.

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura turned her head and faced her teammate.

"Are you okay?"

She turned her head once more, this time her gaze set on a bird flying freely in the air, chirping happily and going on about its day as if there was nothing wrong with life.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Naruto inwardly shrugged to himself and continued on with his ramen, obnoxious slurping sound effects coming from him time after time. Sakura found herself considerably tolerant with his bad manners today; she found that it was too peaceful to disrupt with her and Naruto yelling down the streets about a matter so little.

"Naruto..."

Naruto took his face out of the bowl once more, and turned to face her.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked at him, her face showing evident pain and confusion.

"I don't understand much. But somehow, I feel like something bad is going to happen...with Sasuke-kun. I just...hope nothing does. We'll make it through the exams alright...right?"

Naruto stared at her, a rare silence looming between the two. His electric blue eyes searched her, and finding nothing, he sighed.

"Of course Sakura-chan. We'll all make sure nothing will happen! Besides, I need to pass if I want to be Hokage someday."

Sakura looked at him, and nodded, a small smile creeping onto her face. Some of her pain and confusion was assuaged by her teammate's answer, but she couldn't help but wonder what would happen with the exams.

-:-

The day slowly passed by as Sakura's day was filled with utter boredom. But alas, she lay down on the familiar field where she had first familiarized with Sasuke, staring up at the stars. She found herself nearly dozing off in the serenity of the field and night, realizing why Ino and Shikamaru loved to gaze at the clouds or the stars. It's peaceful and it feels like everything just melts away... Hearing someone quietly walking towards her, she remained silent, but her senses were alert.

"Go home."

She sighed, and looked up at a dark figure, and found it staring down at her.

"Why? It's peaceful here. I'm not actually bored..."

The figure took a seat next to her, a look of frustration and irritation overshadowing his cool face.

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" She asked him.

Sasuke looked at her once more, his onyx eyes and raven hair almost merging with the night. His lips were graced with his usual frown, but there was something unusually bothering him.

"You can get sick. And if you do, I'm too weak to do anything."

Sakura's emerald eyes shot open, and her mouth was slightly open.

"You're not weak. Don't sound stupid, Sasuke. You're strong."

He stared into her glittering emerald eyes, and lay down next to her, looking up at the sky that seemed to be glittering with millions of diamonds. Sakura sensed that he was too frustrated with himself to answer, and just remained silent, calculating that it was the best thing to do when he was frustrated and his self-esteem was considerably low. Which, was rare, since he acted so full of himself at times. A comfortable silence drifted between them, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

It seemed like an eternity before Sakura finally found herself lightly dozing. She was cuddled next to Sasuke who had an arm around her waist, and she was comfortable against the warmth of his body. Sasuke made no move to wake her; her normal and slow breathing against his chest was no bother. He continued to stare up at the glittering sky, contemplating on if there was something bothering Sakura. He had heard from Naruto earlier that she had seemed worried about the exams, and without letting Naruto know that he had actually cared that Sakura seemed to be in pain, he slipped off to find Sakura. That led to where he was now, the sleeping Sakura lying next to him, and him staring up at the night sky that he found so much comfort in.

After a few hours, Sakura finally woke up, and shivered as the cold wind crashed against her skin. Judging by the darkness and the position of the moon, she guessed it was well past midnight, and that sunrise was approaching in a few hours. I was sleeping for that long? ...Where's Sasuke-kun? Looking to her side, she let out a sigh of relief, as she found a dozing Sasuke right next to her. Remaining still in fear of waking Sasuke from his sleep, a smile crept onto her face as she felt Sasuke at tranquility. It was rare to see him so peaceful, especially out in the open. Feeling him turn on his side to face her, her smile grew wider, and she slowly sat up and stretched her arms.

"Hn..."

Sakura slowly turned around to find onyx eyes staring at her, and welcomed his conscious presence with a smile.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. His face showed crankiness.

"Did you sleep well?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke stared at her, and stretched his arms, letting out a sigh of relief, as his muscles felt relaxed.

"I would have slept more if you didn't get up," Sasuke gruffly said.

Sakura stared at him, and a faint blush appeared at her cheeks. Embarrassed, she averted her gaze to her feet.

"I'm sorry," She whispered.

She felt Sasuke's strong hands bring her to face him, and found him smiling at her when she finally gathered up the courage to look at him.

"It's fine."

Sakura nodded, and she remained sitting in the field, not minding at all that the morning dew was already beginning to set on the grass, and that she was getting moist and could be getting sick if she stayed out any longer. Hints of the sun were already showing, and she smiled as the coldness of the morning was soon to be swept away.

"Go home."

Sakura looked at Sasuke, and smiled. It seemed like yesterday was happening all over again.

"I will...once the sun comes up."

He stared at her, giving in to her stubbornness, his knowledge telling him that she would not leave until she got what she wanted. Shrugging it off, he watched her, and noticed her eyes zoning out. Worried, he engaged into more conversation.

"Sakura..."

She looked at him, the orange-pink hues of sunrise making her beauty glow.

"Are you alright?"

A small smile graced her lips, and she slowly nodded.

"Yeah. Everything's all right. But I can't help getting the feeling that something will go wrong. I have a feeling that something will tear us apart. And all of us will get hurt. Something like intuition, you know?"

Sasuke smirked as he heard the familiar 'you know' added to the end of her sentence, and breathed in the fresh morning air.

"Nothing will tear us apart. I promised forever didn't I?"

Sakura couldn't help but smile every time he brought up the promise, and nodded.

"Okay."

-:-

Sakura and Sasuke walked home together after sunrise, the streets of Konoha already flooding with its inhabitants at the early hour. The two were at peace as the gentle warmth of the sun caressed their skin, and walked in a comfortable silence as not to give away their secret relationship. As they continued on, Sakura couldn't help but keep having an intuition about the exams.


I can feel something is going to go wrong...Are the exams what destiny put in our way?


Tbc.