Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
A/N: Sorry for long wait! Now I bring you Hana chapter 13! Enjoy!~
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The view of Konoha city gates grew smaller as the carriage went further down the dirt road. Sakura looked out the back window and couldn't help but feel a little anxious. It's been awhile since she last left Konoha and that was when she was accompanying Tsunade on trips to different cities. Jade eyes watched as the city finally disappeared from her sight. She turned back around and faced forward then towards the side window. A few moments passed and she let out a small yawn.
The carriage wasn't small and it certainly wasn't big. Enough room to fit two people but even so, Sakura felt that her traveling companion was sitting very close to her.
"You should get some rest. It's a long trip to my village." Sasuke suggested as he leaned his head against the back of his seat closing his eyes.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sakura answered. Now that she's thought about it, she hasn't been getting much sleep the past few days. She was busy teaching Shizune what to do while she was gone. She also stayed up nights making additional medicine for their clients in case Shizune forgot how to. Sakura let out another yawn and leaned over to her left side so her body was resting against the side wall of the carriage. She stared out of the window and saw nothing but grass and trees. She heard the horse's hooves against the dirt road. She could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier.
"Where am I?..."
Sakura couldn't make out where she was. She kept seeing different scenes at different angles. At first she saw a tree, an extremely large tree. It was as if she was on the ground itself looking up at it as if she was a mere ant. Then she felt herself being physically pulled away and what she saw next is what seemed like the busy streets of Konoha. She was looking at her shop from the opposite side of the street. Sakura tried to move but she couldn't control her movements. It was another dream where you watch what's going on.
Her dream made her jump from one area to another. Some areas she can recognize and areas she's never been to. She can hear faint whispers and children laughing from a distance but couldn't see them. Sakura thought about the Uchiha village and in a flash she suddenly sees what looked like Mikoto and Fugaku, Sasuke's parents sitting near a table inside a room. She couldn't make it out, everything in the room was extremely blurry. All she knew was that she was very close to the Uchiha elves, literally up to their faces. Then the setting changed again. This time she was in a dimly lit room. She can see a window, which looked like it was the only source of light for the room she was currently in. Sakura looked around and saw what appeared to be a person sitting at a desk in the center of the room but couldn't make out their features. She saw the person get up from their desk and walked over to where Sakura was. The blurry figure became more defined as they got closer.
"What do we have here?" a male voice echoed.
"Madara..?" Sakura once again felt herself being pulled again to another environment. This time she was outside. There were many trees and she can make out what looked like a road. It seemed like this time she was high in the trees and looking downward but moving, as if she was on a horse in full gallop. She spotted another figure. This particular person was moving fast and in one direction under the cover of the trees.
"Who is that..?"
Sakura tried to get a closer look but her vision soon faded and returned to darkness.
"Mmm..." Sakura groaned as she shifted her body as she began to wake up. She took a deep breathe in and inhaled and took in what smelled liked the forest after rainfall. Jade eyes slowly open, blinking a few times in the process. Blurry vision started to became focused and Sakura noticed she was leaning the opposite way from where she originally was, it was soft and warm. Sakura looked up and immediately went from groggy to awake in a split second and sat up straight, heat rushing to her cheeks.
"I was sleeping on him?!." Sakura thought loudly to herself. She then peered over at the ebony haired elf who was still sleeping, arms crossed against his chest. Sakura couldn't help but look at his sleeping figure, he looked so peaceful. Curiosity began to take over and Sakura inched her head closer to observe Sasuke's sleeping figure.
"He has long eyelashes." Sakura's eyes wandered down to his lips and didn't realize that she was subconsciously inching closer to him.
"Even while asleep he still looks handsome." Sakura let out a small smile.
"He also smells really good..." Sakura realized her face was right in front of his. With wide eyes, she quickly moved back to her original position and placed her hand across her mouth, blushing.
"Am I a pervert?!" Sakura couldn't believe that she almost kissed Sasuke while he was sleeping.
Moments later the carriage came to a stop and Suigetsu knocked on the front wall of the carriage, waking Sasuke up in the process. Sleepy onyx eyes revealed themselves and looked over at the pinkette seated next to him. Sakura was facing away from him and appeared to be looking out the side door window. A few moments later the carriage door opened on Sasuke's side and Suigetsu popped his head halfway inside.
"Wake up love birds, we're stopping to set up camp for tonight, it's almost evening." Suigetsu said with a toothy grin on his face.
"Love birds?!" Both Sasuke and Sakura thought aloud. The two both stole glances at each other and quickly turned the faces in the opposite directions.
Sasuke cleared his throat. "How about you go water the horses Suigetsu." Sasuke said to his subordinate, glaring at him.
"Hehe...right away boss!" Suigetsu replied with a nervous laugh.
"We're stopping for the night, we should reach my village by tomorrow." Sasuke said to Sakura as he stepped out of the carriage. He reached out his hand towards Sakura. Sakura looked at him in confusion.
"Are you getting off or do you plan on spending the night in there?" Sasuke asked impatiently.
It finally clicked in Sakura's mind that Sasuke was offering her help to get out of the carriage since it was a good foot from the ground itself.
"Oh! Uh sorry" Sakura said quickly as she maneuvered her way out to the exit of the carriage and placed her hands into Sasuke's. Right before she could step on the side steps of the carriage, she accidentally stepped on the hem of her cloak and tripped forward. Instinct took over and Sakura immediately closed her eyes put her arm in front of her to break the fall but she didn't hit the ground. She soon opened her eyes.
"Idiot.." Sasuke muttered under his breath. He caught Sakura in time. Both his arms were around her waist supporting her off the ground, while her arms were around his shoulders and neck.
The world around them became silent. The last time they were this close was during the ball several months ago. Sakura's heart was racing, she literally thought her heart would jump out of her chest. Sasuke's grip on her tightened a bit more.
Sasuke didn't know what came over him but held Sakura tighter and buried his face onto her soft slender neck and stayed like that for a minute.
Her smell was so intoxicating to him, he couldn't control what his next action was.
Sakura spoke out in an embarrassed tone of voice that broke the silence between them.
"Hey..Sasuke you can put me down-" Sakura stopped talking as she felt something on her neck.
The sound of footsteps can be heard and snapped Sasuke back to reality and released his grip on the now red faced woman in front of him.
Sasuke quickly composed himself as Juugo appeared with two large bags under both his arms.
"Shall I set up camp for tonight?" Juugo asked in a calm manner.
"Yes." Sasuke answered quickly. "You and Suigetsu should set up camp 30 feet over there by the trees."
"And I can get water for the horses!" Sakura interrupted as she walked hastily into the forest behind them.
Suigetsu had both borses with him and looked in the direction Sakura went with a look of confusion.
"How is she going to water the horses if she doesn't have anything to hold the water in?"Suigetsu questioned. "Plus there's a river in the opposite direction." Suigetsu added.
Twigs cracked and grass rustling underneath Sakura's feet as she made her way through the unknown forest. She was breathing heavily and reached a random tree and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath. She felt dizzy from what happened minutes prior.
"That Uchiha..he kissed my neck. That..That bastard!" Sakura screamed inside her head. She can feel her face is still hot with embarrassment. Her chest still pounding. She held her hand up to the spot where Sasuke kissed her.
"Calm down Sakura. Deep breaths." Sakura said to herself.
Several minutes passed and Sakura can feel herself finally calming down.
"Shit, I forgot to grab a bucket to get water for the horses." Sakura made her way back to their camp and already saw Juugo setting up tents for them and Suigetsu building the campfire. Suigetsu saw Sakura and called out to her
"Hey Sakura! You don't have to get water for the horses, I already got some for them!" Sakura answered back. "Alright!"
Sakura went back to the carriage to retrieve some belongings from the back. When she retrieved her smaller bag she went to the other side of the carriage, that was facing away from camp. Sakura dropped her bag on the ground and can feel the all too familiar heat rise up to her cheeks.
There was Sasuke right in front of her with his backside facing her, shirtless. He was in the middle of changing into lighter clothing due to the fact it was getting warmer in the region.
Sakura couldn't help but stare at at his well defined muscles thanks to years of constant training. When he noticed there was a person standing behind him, he turned around.
"Oh..my..god. Those abs of his.." Sakura thought as her jaw dropped slightly. "Oh my god I am a pervert!"
Then she noticed some scars on his chest and her demeanor changed.
Sasuke was caught off guard when Sakura suddenly came up to him and touched his chest with her right hand, tracing her fingers over his battle scars.
"Did...it hurt?" Sakura asked with a hint of sadness and worry in her voice.
Sasuke looked at Sakura and placed his hand on hers on his chest. " I am an Uchiha, we fight to protect those who are dear. These are scars from the war long ago.
"The War..I see." Sakura turned around and headed back in the direction she took leading into the forest. She turned her head and smiled at the Uchiha, who finally put on a grey short sleeve shirt on.
"I'm going to take a look around the area for herbs, I should be back soon." Sakura said as she walked into the forest. Sasuke watched her leave into the forest. He knew deep down that her smile just now, was fake.
Old memories of her childhood began flooding back. The good and the bad. Sakura didn't care where she was going. she just wanted to be alone. Sakura found herself on another dirt road. The sun was setting and she's been walking for a good 30 minutes. Sakura sat down against a tree facing away from the sun and looked at the orange sky. The same sky she and Cai would play under, the same sky her family would spend countless nights under just watching and counting the stars. Sakura started feeling physically ill.
"Are you alright Miss?" Sakura looked up and saw a young boy around 10 with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Sakura got up and patted dirt off her skirt.
"Yeah I'm alright, it's getting late you should head home kid." Sakura said to the young boy.
"My name is Erik not kid!" he said in a childish manner.
Sakura laughed a bit. "Alright Erik, you should head on home before you get in trouble with your mom."
"Don't worry Miss, my house is just down this road. My mum won't get mad." Erik smiled.
"Well it's almost dark, you should hurry on home." Sakura said in a nagging tone.
"Yeah, Yeah I got it, I'll go home." Erik said before running off. A memory quickly flashed before Sakura.
"Yeah, Yeah I got it" Cai said as he ruffled his hair to get grass out of it.
"Cai.." Sakura whispered.
There was a thud and Sakura snapped out of it and looked in front of her.
"Owwww!" Erik yelled out as he was holding onto his knee with both hands. Sakura rushed over to the boy.
"Let me see your knee." Sakura said in a calm voice, kneeling down.
Erik let out a small whimpering sound as he removed his hands from his knee. Sakura can see he scrapped his knee and was starting to bleed pretty badly.
"It hurts!" Erik cried out.
"Well that's what happens when you run too fast and fall." Sakura looked into her bag for any bandages and ointment.
"Damn I left my medical bag back at the camp. If he doesn't get treated it might get infected. There's only one other way to treat it." Sakura thought.
"I'm sorry Erik, it seems that I've left my medical bag behind. There's another way though, so don't freak out too much Erik." Sakura placed one hand on the wound.
"Ow! You're touching it! It hur-" Erik stopped complaining when he saw Sakura's hands illuminate a green light. His eyes widened at what was happening to him. Sakura removed her hand and Erik grabbed at his knee and examined it.
"It's..gone. The cut is gone!" Erik's eye's brightened up in amazement. Sakura stood back up and helped Erik back up on his feet.
"That was amazing! How did you do that?! Thank-" Erik was interrupted by an older woman's screaming voice.
"What are you doing to my son?!" A woman with blond hair and blue eyes who appeared to be in her late 20s ran up to Sakura.
"Mom look she made my cut go away, look." Erik explained to his mother. She looked at her son's knee and pulled him close to her and scowled at Sakura.
"Stay away from my family you witch! I saw what you did to my son from down the road!" She yelled at Sakura. Erik's mother then pushed Sakura away, hard enough for her to stumble and lose her balance and fell backwards but someone was behind her to prevent her from falling down.
"I assure you, she is not a witch." A masculine voice said from behind her.
Sakura looked up in shock. "Sasuke..? What are you doing here?"
Sasuke looked down at Sakura. "I was looking for you, since you took too long coming back to camp." Sasuke looked back up to the woman who was now clutching her son close to her.
"Is that any way to thank a person who has helped your child?" Sasuke said looking into the woman's eyes. Sasuke can see the fear entering her eyes.
"All of you are the same..Elves, Mages and Tainted! You are nothing but evil! You do nothing but bring death!" The woman spat out.
Sakura clenched her fist in anger.
"Let's go Erik!" The woman started to literally drag her son down the road by his arm. Erik turned his head to look back at Sakura and smiled. He used his free arm and waved at her.
"Thank you Miss!" Erik called out. This only aggravated his mother more and she pulled harder to make him face forward.
Sakura relaxed her hand and waved back, smiling even though Erik was already facing forward. When they were both out of sight Sakura turned towards the Uchiha elf.
Sakura held both hand behind her and eyed Sasuke. "So you followed me huh?"
"Hn." Sasuke tucked his hands inside his pants pocket and started walking back to their camp. Sakura followed closely behind him.
It was already dark and the moon was clear in the sky. Sakura looked up and the moon's light reflected off her eyes and she stopped walking and closed them. Sasuke noticed Sakura stopped walking and looked behind him and saw Sakura standing still, taking in the moon's light. She opened her eyes slowly showing her jade eyes now glowing slightly. She blinked once again and the glow was gone.
"I want to show you something Sakura said grabbing the hem of Sasuke's shirt, leading them back into the forest.
After what seemed like 10 minutes Sakura stopped in front of a a large tree with hanging branches and green leaves touching the ground.
"It's a weeping willow tree." Sakura explained. She then pushed the leaves and branches aside revealing a small grassy meadow with very little trees that block the sky and spring orchids scattered throughout the meadow that have been untouched by man. Sakura walked into the middle of the field and laid down on her back on the grass, completely relaxed. Sakura lifted her head up and motioned Sasuke to come over who was still standing by the weeping willow tree. He activated his sharingan and quickly scanned the area for any other persons. When he was sure there was no one else in the surrounding area he closed his eyes to deactivated his sharingan and walked over and stood next to Sakura. Sakura lifted her hand and gently pulled on his pants leg getting his attention.
"Lay down here with me, it's nice." Sakura said.
"Tch." Sasuke reluctantly sat down beside her and laid down on the grass. The next thing he saw was the starry sky and how bright the moon was. It was indeed a nice scene.
"Earlier with the child and his mother, thank you." Sakura said softly.
Sasuke turned his head towards Sakura. "About earlier when you tripped I didn't know what came over myself.."
"The sky is beautiful tonight." Sakura said smiling warmly while looking up. Sakura shifted her arm and her hand lightly bumped next to Sasuke's hand.
"Ah. It is beautiful." His fingers lightly touching Sakura's hand.
"Lets stay here for a little bit longer. there aren't many nights like this." Sakura said as she slowly intertwine their fingers
"Just awhile longer." Sasuke answered. Their hands now fully intertwined with each others.
Hello everyone! I apologize for the super long wait for this chapter to come out. Work always gets in the way :(
100 Followers! For Hana. Just wow, thank you a lot everyone for reading and supporting Hana!
I hope you guys look forward to the next chapter of Hana~!