Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

She'd never really left the village before, save for missions—and it wasn't like those allowed her much place to admire the world around her, either. Always traveling fast, keeping to dirt roads and forest paths; when they rested, the camp sites were set up during the night, somewhere not too straying into density of the woods or the shelter of a cave. There was never much left to appreciate.

It was only when they passed through the villages that she found such an opportunity; staring in awe at the change of structure of the buildings, decorations and cultures varying in intensities (sometimes more reserved, sometimes vastly more flamboyant than in Konoha), the smell and aesthetic of foods inspiring her taste of adventure. Sometimes she would find herself having to hold back from jumping onto rooftops, too taken by the urge to know what exactly surrounded these villages she knew next to nothing about.

She'd been so fascinated by the things she had gotten the chance to see—the damp rocky vastness of Iwa, the brilliance of the stars and never-ending sand dunes in Suna, the sky-high industrial buildings of Ame that never seemed to rust despite the continuous downpour of the clouds—but despite it all, in the end, the marveling sights had been such a small fraction of the world out there.

But this would all change, after today. In a few minutes, she'd be stepping over the borders of her village at Sasuke's side, ready to face whatever wonders had slipped from her grasps before.

There was something at the thought that made her stomach knot so tightly. Could she really leave for so long?

She looked up from the gate-worn cobblestones, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and stared thoughtfully at the road ahead, before she turned to gaze towards Konoha's scarcely crowded street, swallowing. Her fingers played with the strap of her bag.

"You don't have to."

Sakura's eyes shifted on him, and she blinked, mouth parting lightly. He was watching her; carefully, diligently—no doubt trying to read into her hesitance.

Making sure she wasn't just doing this because he wanted her to.

"If you're not sure about this, I don't want you to feel like you have to come with me." There was a glint of something in his gaze, like a flash of well-hidden discouragement, but Sakura wasn't sure if she'd merely imagined it. When he slipped his hand into his pocket and swallowed, though, she knew she hadn't. "It's an offer, Sakura—nothing more. You don't have to come just for my sake."

Slowly, her eyes softened. She smiled, small and sweet, but entirely genuine. Sasuke could be so kind, at times; strangely selfish and selfless all at once.

"Of course I want to, Sasuke-kun. Right now, there's nothing that I want more than that."

There was something that changed in the way he held himself, then, a lightness to his features that sent her heart careening faster.

"No goodbyes?"

She shook her head and smiled wider, hands clasping in her lap. "They're probably all sleeping right now," she said, turning to face Konoha's streets, just barely starting to wake. She would miss this place.

Sakura could hardly help herself from blushing when Sasuke stepped beside her, shoulder brushing hers lightly. With the kindest smile, she looked at him and murmured, "And besides—they'll understand."

His lips lifted, in the slightest mirror of her own smile. The sight had her heart stumbling.

"Hn. Ready?"

Readjusting the pack over her shoulders, she beamed at him and said, "Readier than I'll ever be."

His eyes softened, lips tugging higher. Tenderly, he lifted his hand and pressed two fingers to her forehead—a gesture that still sent her heart racing even now. There was such fondness in the act, such underlying feelings of deep care and gentility... such history—one that Sasuke would perhaps someday soon feel ready to unveil.

Cheeks warm and belly flopping, Sakura watched as Sasuke started down the road in wide, long strides, feet quickly scurrying to fall into steps beside him. Reaching out for the long sleeve of his missing arm with one of her hands, she held on lightly, a small smile to her lips.

She could only smile wider when he spared her a quiet, almost-shy glance, and simply let her.

.

.

.

She noticed it all too-effortlessly—the change in him.

It had only been five hours since they had left Konoha, but already, there was a peace to Sasuke, a calmness to him that she didn't think she'd ever seen before in him through all the years they'd known each other. He had always been such a tense man; obtuse, and full of repressed passion, held in place by the thick chains of darkness of his past... until the war ended. But even then, in his time back in the village, Sakura could see there was always this rigidity about him, this stiffness to his posture that told her that he wasn't quite done healing yet. He hadn't yet forgiven Konoha.

But on these roads, as she walked by his side, there was none of that. Freed from the walls of the village that had drenched his family name in the crimson red of blood, Sasuke carried himself with a graceful sort of ease that sold transparency on the lightness of his heart.

This was where Sasuke felt he was meant to be, she realized. This was where he felt he had purpose.

This was where he found recovery.

Perhaps this should have scared her. If these roads were where Sasuke truly felt at peace, more comfortable than he ever could be in Konoha—he could end up never coming back. Never settling in the village he was born in, in the village she could never part from.

He could end up never coming home.

(a hopeless wanderer at heart; always searching for answers, always somehow held up by the sorrows of his past.)

But Sakura wasn't worried at all; because people's needs would always change, and Sasuke, she knew with an unwavering certainty of her heart, would not always need this as he did now. He would someday find what he was so desperately looking for, she was sure. And when that day would come, when he would finally feel he'd repented for all of his sins—he would carry that peace he felt now everywhere he went.

He would finally be free, in the way he truly wanted to be.

(free of himself, free of his sins; free to love and live as openly as he'd been so desperately craving to, since the war ended.)

"Looks like it's going to rain."

Blinking, Sakura paused in her steps and looked up to the sky, humming a soft sound of agreement as she noted the thick, darkened clouds, heavy with the promise of a storm.

"Doesn't look like it's going to be pretty, either," she murmured, shifting her gaze to him. His eyes were still drawn above, lips pulled into a frown. She couldn't help but to smile at this.

"What a start," she said. "Maybe I shouldn't have come with you after all—it could be a bad omen."

Sasuke looked at her then, his frown deepening, before rolling his eyes and allowing his lips to tug into a faint smile when she giggled at him, her own smile light and teasing.

"Come on, we better find shelter," he said. He reached for her wrist, locking his long fingers around it in a firm hold, and tugged lightly. "I know a place not too far from here."

She let him lead her off the path, and through the thickness of the trees, far into the wilderness until the path disappeared from her sights and she couldn't see the sky anymore. Sakura grew almost anxious, uneasiness twisting in her gut, but couldn't help but to feel assured as Sasuke confidently guided them both, strides easy and sure, reminding her all too clearly of exactly how long Sasuke had been on his journey. He knew where he was going.

Soon enough, they arrived in a more secluded area of the forest, where the trees were larger but fewer, and the land was more rounded, forming soft hills and sharp, ragged slopes. She could hear the sound of running water in distance, and could only guess there was a river somewhere not too far.

"This place is beautiful," she said, when they finally came to a stop and Sasuke's hand fell away. "How did you stumble upon this?"

"I don't like to stick to tracks. Too many people who want to cause trouble, and there isn't much to see," he said. "For the most part, I try to follow the rivers."

"Don't you ever get lost?"

"Sometimes." He shrugged. "But finding paths is not as complicated as you might think. A lot of people live around these woods."

That surprised her. Living alone outside of any community wasn't unheard of, but it was certainly uncommon, especially so far off from the protection of large villages like the Hidden Leaf. It was dangerous, especially with the missing-nin constantly roaming about these forests.

"You're worried," Sasuke stated. The look in his eyes was curious.

She almost blushed. "I just—I can't stop thinking about how unfair it is, for those families who live here and don't have anyone who can protect them. It's sad to think about what might have happened to them. Especially during the war, you know? I heard rogue ninjas were everywhere after the Kages left to fight Madara in war. There wasn't anyone to stop them."

He watched her quietly, for a moment, gaze so unbearably fond. While there was once a time she had wondered to herself if he found her knack of overbearing empathy troublesome and stupid, she knew that these days it was something Sasuke truly admired in her.

Wetness splashed against her cheek, and she jumped a little, head tipping reflexively in the direction it came from. She felt a few more drops splatter on her clothes, heard the faint tapping of rain on leaves, before Sasuke took hold of her wrist once more, urging her to move.

"It's starting—let's get inside the cave before we get soaked."

Sakura merely nodded, and allowed him to guide her to their refuge.

.

.

"It's really not letting up, is it?"

It had been three hours since they had taken shelter to the cave, but the rainstorm still had yet to ease in strength, cascading in sheets against the entrance. She and Sasuke had been forced to move further away when the water had started pooling around their feet.

If they had built a fire, it would have been useless by now.

"Probably won't for a while," he said, never looking away from the heavy downpour. His brows were furrowed. "We should get some rest while we wait."

"Shouldn't we take shifts?" Sakura asked, tucking her knees to her chest. She felt a little chilly.

His gaze shifted on her, then. "We don't have a fire—there's nothing to draw people to us, unless they want to hide out in here. And if they do, we'll hear them coming."

He was right. The ground was hard enough for any trained ninja to hear any tap of footsteps coming their way, and with the rubble of rock slabs spread out at the entrance, it was unlikely they wouldn't be alerted of someone's presence.

Still, Sakura mulled her lips, rubbing her hands to warm her freezing fingers, before tucking them between her knees. "It would have been nice to have gotten the time to build a fire, though."

She looked up at Sasuke again, finding him watching her quietly, carefully.

"Are you cold?" he finally asked, brows furrowed.

Swallowing, she wrapped her arms around her legs and countered softly, "Aren't you?"

"No." He paused, eyes flickering to her bared arms and mostly bared legs, before he said, "But I'm also better dressed for this weather than you are."

She blushed, if only meekly. "I'm fine, Sasuke-kun. It's nothing I can't handle. I'll be all right."

His brows pinched together once more, lips mulling. Sakura couldn't help but to look away, tucking her chin to her knees. It was then that she heard him sigh, clothes rustling briefly before he said, "Come here."

She looked up quickly, meeting the sight of Sasuke holding his cloak open, and flushed even darker, lips parting open to gape. "I'm fine, really—"

"Sakura. Get over here."

Mouth snapping back shut, Sakura gave a meek nod and shyly made her way to his side, heart pounding deafeningly against her ears as he wrapped part of his cloak around her. It pounded even harder when he carefully slipped his arm around her waist, drawing her close to offer her his own warmth.

"Better?"

Cheeks burning hotly and face pressed against his shoulder, she clung to the material of his cloak. Holding it closer to her, she said, voice shaking lightly, "I—Y-Yes. Um... thank you, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn." His arm fell away from her waist, no doubt to help him balance himself now that she was leaning onto him. It didn't make her heart beat any less fast. "Get some rest, Sakura. I'll wake you when it's time to go."

"Aren't you going to sleep, too?"

"In a little while. I'm staying up for a bit longer."

She tilted her chin up to look at him, green eyes meeting the all-too-distant look on his face. The one he always wore when he was caught up in his past—when he was thinking about his brother.

Her throat grew tight. "Did he..." She paused, clutched his cloak tighter and looked down for a moment, words caught up in her tongue. Sasuke seldom ever brought up Itachi, and she didn't want to overstep. "Did Itachi like the rain?"

He stiffened against her, if only just slightly. Sakura swallowed again, looking down and away from him. She never wanted to push him, especially about these things.

A long silence settled, before he finally said, voice so very quiet, "No... not my brother." He let out a breath, then, slow and soft. "But... my mother did."

Gently, Sakura pressed her cheek to his shoulder, and asked, "...Will you tell me about them one day, Sasuke-kun? About your family? You've never told me what they were like."

"Someday," he hummed. He let out a sigh again, one that suddenly made him sound so tired. "But not today."

Sakura smiled. "Okay." Burying her face in his shoulder, she closed her eyes and whispered, "Goodnight, Sasuke-kun."

"It's not night yet," he said, the smile evident in his voice.

"I know, but when it will be, I'll be asleep, so I'm telling you now."

He huffed a breath, then, one that sounded so painfully close to a laugh.

"Good night, Sakura."

A little late, sorry! My midterm needed MUCH studying (and I still did awful, I think :/) and then I had a bit of difficulty with my writing. Once it got unblocked, though, it went pretty smoothly! I do have another midterm this week, but I kinda doubt that I'll be late again! I anticipate I'll get much writing done in the next few days because it's going so well! So next update should be right on schedule (meaning a week from today). :)

Hope you enjoyed!

DeepPoeticGirl