Sakura's Point of View
It was later that same day that I learned what would later on be confirmed over and over again: that summers in Otokagure were stifling hot. I would have imagined they would be rather cool, seeing as the country had an opening to the ocean, but the capital was too far away to make a difference.
That particular evening, I wanted nothing more than to shower, slip into my favorite silk pajamas, and sleep with the covers flung all the way to the other side of the room. The last twenty-four hours had been long and tiring and hot and nothing quite like the free day I had imagined I would grace myself with.
I was setting away my clothes – old and new – in the closet when Naruto appeared in my doorway. Between taking over the hospital and meeting with the elders, I'd had no time to truly settle in, and since I was sure that the worst was just about to come, I tried to get that over with that night.
"Whatcha doing, Sakura-chan?" he asked, his voice as cheerful and as excited as ever. The only time I had heard Naruto sound serious was when he made me the promise of bringing Sasuke back; his tone changed when his friends were in danger, as well, but even then, passion dominated it rather than seriousness.
I smiled. I never wanted to see a day when that tone would disappear. "Settling in," I answered.
"More like settling your clothes in," he muttered under his breath.
I laughed. "Come on in, Naruto," I said, waving him over. "What did you need?"
"I just wanted to tell you good night!" he declared, almost proudly. "And to tell you to go to sleep."
"I will," I assured him with a nod, recognizing his concern. "I just need to finish this." I gestured to the mess of clothes, shoes, boxes and shopping bags around me.
For a moment, he was silent. Then, leaning against the doorframe, he crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, I think you and the teme will get along perfectly," he said.
I raised a curious eyebrow, pushing for an explanation.
He shrugged. "He's not planning on going to sleep anytime soon, either."
Later that night, after I had finished turning my room into a home away from home, I showed up in the doorway of his office. He was buried behind a stack of paperwork, looking over a couple of files, and was so engrossed in his work that he even failed to sense my presence.
Tucking a strand of rebel hair behind my ear, I leaned against the doorframe and cleared my throat. The silk of my nightgown rubbed against the skin of my thighs as I shifted.
Sasuke looked up. I saw the dark circles under his eyes and the flecks of curiosity in his onyx orbs.
"I…" I paused and sighed, trying to find my words. I had tried so hard not to think about what I was about to say that it was now difficult for me to break through my own shield. "I didn't want to say this in front of Naruto—which is probably one of the reasons why it took so long—but… I believe you have to know."
He raised an eyebrow, but placed his pen down, granting me his full attention.
I tried to keep my emotions in check, but my voice still came out as a whisper, "They made experiments, Sasuke. On people. On children. I know you know this. But they documented every step. Every reaction. Everything."
There was a brief moment when surprise flashed across his face, before it was shadowed by a myriad of unreadable feelings which soon settled in an emotionless mask.
"How do you know that?" he asked after a lengthy period of silence.
I swallowed, my pride keeping me from squirming under his intense gaze. "I found the files in the archive room in the hospital."
Sasuke let out an uncharacteristic sigh—and in that moment, he seemed a million years old. "Where are they?"
"I burned them," I answered simply, immediately.
I expected a tantrum. It never came.
Instead, he simply looked at me with an unidentifiable emotion in his dark eyes and nodded. "Good."
A/N: Thank you all for your support!
Sakura waited for a week until she told Sasuke about what she found in the hospital.
Sexy nightgown on my Flickr account!
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