Mix between SasuHina Month 2018 #1 Home and SasuHina Renaisssance Week 6/28/18 Woes: Hiraeth, I guess

They lay together in a small cave, hidden behind a waterfall in a deep, forgotten part of a jungle, entangled underneath a flimsy sheet, keeping each other warm with the crackling of a small fire he had lit. The light cast a soft glow, illuminating the paleness of their skin, its dying embers dancing in the reflection of their eyes and deepening the shadows that their entwined bodies made against the stony walls.

The sound of the waterfall was thundering, stronger than ever from the heavy rainfall, but together with the sound of their breathing and the sparks popping in the fire, it lulled them towards the edge of sleep, their eyelids drooping in contentment and peace.

Her breast bindings lay in a heap where her mask and armor were laid forgotten with his cloak and katana. There were her scrolls, her extra brush. An extra yukata, extra kunai. Her own medical supplies, an extra roll of bandages, until she didn't know which one was hers or which one was his anymore.

"I'll be going tomorrow." The sound of her voice caused him to stir awake.

"Going?"

She lay cuddled against his chest, hair splayed in a mess behind her. His head lay against one outstretched arm, the other holding her close to him. The pressure of his hand on her lower back deepened, as if it were to keep her in place longer.

"Going ho—" she caught herself. "Back to Konoha." She pressed her ear against his chest, listening to the steady lub-dub of his heart.

He grunted.

She heard through the rumbling of the vibrations against her cheek, after she had almost fallen asleep, "What do they say about us?"

Her eyes fluttered open and she found him staring intently at her. "Kiba," she responded as she felt his one of his hands come around the back of her neck and thread upwards into the back of her hair, sending shivers down her spine. "Can smell you on me when I return." The other hand he placed on the length of her abdomen in a soft caress, dragging it slowly around her waist and then across her lower back again, bring her even closer to him.

They were chest to chest now and she closed her eyes, wondering how she could always feel his electricity even without his chidori by just the touch of his fingertips. "Shino," Sasuke's nose trailed down her cheek and then her neck, until his lips settled between her collarbones. "Tracks me with his kikaichu. He always knows where I am." He kissed her there as she tried to remember what she was trying to say.

"Kakashi," his other hand came up to join the other one in holding her face gently and he brushed his fingers down the length of her silky hair with it. "Knows I take longer than I need to on my missions."

"Kurenai says I have a glow. Sakura," she felt his lips ghost back up and across her neck, "asks if I know when you'll return," against her jawline and her chin, "And Naruto…"

She trailed off as Sasuke interrupted her, kissing her deeply and slowly. Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his shaggy hair, bringing him as close to her as he was to him.

"What about him?" he asked in a husky, low voice against her lips.

She laughed lightly, breathlessly, her hands coming to rest against the lean muscles on his chest.

Her shining eyes met his. "He knows that I am not the same."

He stared at her for a while, studying and marveling at her. The curve of her lips, the ever-present flush on her cheeks. The richness of her hair that was the color of a starry, midnight sky matching the curtain of lashes that framed her wide, expressive eyes. "Is Konoha your home?" He asked finally.

He watched as her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead and hesitancy flash in her eyes, as her lips pressed together.

And then Hinata couldn't ignore the ache in her chest. Because when she was back in Konoha, she only found herself wanting to return back to this cave. Back to Sasuke. Back to the feeling where being with him, she felt complete.

"It has my clan. And my friends. My sister. But," she swallowed, "not you. And that empty feeling without you — it's not home for me."

"You love them," he reasoned.

And I love you, they heard in the silence, their foreheads touching as they closed their eyes, breathing in time together.

"And you," she asked hesitantly. "What is your home?"

Opal eyes met mismatched eyes once again, before he sighed, squeezing her closer and kissing her forehead. "I never understand what people say when they say to come home. Naruto with his, 'I'll drag your ass back home!' Or 'Teme, why don't you come home?'" He said, and she could feel the bitterness as he quoted them. "Or Sakura with her, 'Sasuke-kun, don't you want to come home?' Or Kakashi with his, 'Konoha is home to the sharingan, to the Uchiha.""

His eyes looked pained. "But home to me… is my brother. My father. My mother. And like you said, this empty feeling without them — it's not home for me. They are never going to be in Konoha ever again." There was a finality to the edge in his words. "Over the years, I've gotten used to it. It's numb, but the pain is still there."

She gave him comforting squeeze, reaching her head upwards and planting a soft kiss to his jaw.

"And you," he continued. "Being away from you…brings the pain back. It's this hollow feeling again, but this time, it's without you. And when I'm apart from you I feel…". His eyebrows turned down as he searched for his words. "Homesick. This longing. Missing you...wanting to return to you."

Her breath hitched as she saw the burning emotion in his eyes. She reached out to place her palm gently to his cheek, giving him a soft smile and saying, "If you are here, I don't need to be anywhere else."

It was a promise. It was a confession.

And he answered, dipping his head lower towards hers, cherishing the feel of her soft skin and full lips pressed against his, "With you, I am home."


A/N: I listened to Michael Buble's "Home," Lion King 2: Simba's Pride's "Love Will Find a Way," and Adele's "Lovesong" while writing this, so... go listen while you read, I guess haha


"Love Will Find a Way," Lion King 2: Simba's Pride

Anywhere I go, I'm home

If you are there beside me


"Lovesong," Adele

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am home again

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am whole again