Hey guys! Thank you all so much for being so patient! My MSc has been taking up the majority of my time, and I had to suddenly redo a lot of project work over the last few months (not my fault, and now rectified), so I was swamped. I had been 75% finished this chapter at the time, but my eyes would be burning by the time I would get home after having been staring at a computer screen for so long, so writing was difficult. That said, things have since calmed, and I'm really enjoying the work again. :D

You've waited more than long enough, so I won't delay you any further.


Healing, Practising and Pretty Lights


Through the combined efforts of Naruto and Sakura, the arms of the Uzumaki and Uchiha were now fully recovered. All of Hashirama's cells had been replaced with those of the boys' own bodies. Once again, they were able to use Ninjutsu safely, even if the new arms were still in need of further working out.

The healing of Naruto and Sakura was also successfully tested on Gai (who would likely make a full recovery as a result) and Ami (who insisted on testing everything from a papercut to fatal wounds and legitimately screamed in excitement when every level of healing was confirmed fully functional).


With the boys well on their way to recovery, Ami was excited beyond words for the opportunities that lay ahead for combination techniques. In this spirit, she had invited Sasuke out to get lunch while they discussed potential jutsu combinations. Upon being teased by her teacher in front of him, she insisted that she had pursued the Uchiha first due to her excitement to work with a shinobi so proficient at elemental Ninjutsu. The Uchiha himself wisely said nothing on this subject, only that he accepted, and looked forward to hearing her ideas.


Put simply, the lunch went well.

There had been a brief period during which it was uncomfortable due to unsavoury looks from bystanders, but a single dark stare from the Konno, and unpleasantly gazing eyes were quick to avert themselves.

Sasuke had felt proud of himself for the joke that perhaps if they combined abilities, they could generate a glare that would freeze men solid, grinning at the giggles that flooded from her mouth.

Seeing the ice-user's excitement and hearing her ideas regarding potential techniques had him eager to start, but Ami would be leading him on this, so he didn't try to take control. She had much more experience with teamwork, after all. He honestly felt lucky to have such a teacher.

Once she had accompanied him back home (he lived closest nearby), the Konno stepped in momentarily.

Sasuke was instructed to wear comfortable clothes, and bring a bottle of water.

They would meet at Keijousai come midnight for practise.


Ami paced back and forth in her room. It was 11pm. She could feel her stomach twisting with nerves, but couldn't fully understand why. She had taught many people to dance. She hadn't even felt this nervous with Sakura, who had been the first person she tried this kind of synchronisation with. Naruto and Sai had felt fine as well. Different, but fine. What was it about teaching Sasuke that made her feel so anxious? Was she simply eager to protect him, since he had obviously been so nervous about trying this out?

...Was it something else? No. She would not allow herself to feel that. She had decided that she had already crossed a line by flirting with him, playfully or not. Sasuke was hurt, and healing. Physically powerful as he was, he was mentally and emotionally vulnerable. He needed a friend. She would not betray his trust in her.

Ami had come up with an ideal plan for training any beginner. She was sure of this, experienced with it. And if she had missed anything or gotten anything wrong, she knew that she had the knowledge and skills to properly adapt the plan.

She would not let him down.


His heart was in his mouth.

Every step towards Keijousai made his nerves wind tighter and tighter.

He had no more idea how to dance now than when he had rejected her, but he wouldn't allow that to hold him back.

He knew that Ami had his back.


The Konno had beamed when she saw him, having waited excitedly at the front of the dormitory for the Uchiha to arrive.

She led him to the gym-like room in a far corner of the premises and the two closed themselves in. Ami explained the soundproofed walls and large mirror along the wall that were to aid improvement of one's form. Sasuke realised that this must be one of the areas she used in training her students.

The stereo was already loaded with a tape and set up.

Ami placed her two full water bottles by the side of the room, and Sasuke put his own bottle next to them.

Ami quickly explained that they were soundproofed and far enough from the sleeping quarters that nobody would hear the music, then threw on some dance music and took him through one of the gentler warm up routines she liked to use for beginners.

Once the warm up was finished, they were ready to start training.


"Ready?" she asked, her expression bright but gentle.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." he admitted.

Ami smiled softly, taking his hand in hers. "That's okay."

The corners of his mouth turned up in relief.

"Let's start off by stepping in time with the music." the brunette instructed.

Sasuke nodded. He activated his basic most basic version of Sharingan, all set to memorise her motions.

Ami stopped. Anxiety showed on her face. "I'd prefer that you didn't use those eyes, actually." she knew that she had said it too quickly, and silently cursed herself.

He deactivated them at once, looking both stung and nervous. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just-"

"You didn't frighten me." Ami corrected at once, with a small shake of the head. "You're my friend, Sasuke. You don't frighten me. I just..." her eyes dropped to the floor as she tried to think of what to say.

She peeked back up at him, and his eyebrows were knitted in confusion, handsome face painted with gentle concern.

'Oh god, he's precious...'

She didn't want to admit that the thought of him watching her so closely, remembering every motion with immaculate memory, her image forever burned into his mind's eye made her self-conscious... and excited.

Ami swallowed lightly. "I appreciate that you want to learn quickly, but if you're too used to learning to mimic me rather than to really feel a dance, it'll make things much more difficult in the long-run." she explained.

His tense shoulders dropped with relief. "Oh... okay, I understand. Thank you for explaining."

Ami smiled again, thanking the heavens that she had been able to think of an honestly valid reason for her reaction, even if it hadn't been what she had been thinking of at the time.

The switch on the player pressed down with an invisible push of air, and a gentle acoustic guitar piece began.

Sasuke waited for Ami to take the first step, and allowed himself to be led.

The girl brought him forward, brought him back, then once that was working well, she started to add turns, surprising him. Despite the alteration, Sasuke followed smoothly with Ami's guidance, his only sign of disorder being a small gasp of surprise and a light stagger on the first change in step.

The Konno began counting, and Sasuke tried to take notice of how it related to the charming plucking of guitar strings. Two more turns, and the boy had the hang of it, stepping at the same time she did, and not just being pulled along cluelessly.

"Well, we know you have rhythm." Ami praised.

The Uchiha chuckled quietly, turning again. "I'll trust your judgement on that."

Ami added a few more motions, including twirls, twists and dips, and Sasuke followed along with relative ease, remembering the patterns.

Ami was pleased, and he seemed proud as well. It was going better than he had expected, especially without Sharingan as an aid.

She found herself smiling at him as he looked down at their feet, beaming to see he was getting it right.


Sadly, such success couldn't last forever.

Learning such moves off was no good for combination training. Ami only did it to get the boy used to moving with her, get a feel for his motions and learning speed and give him a confidence boost.

She could tell that he was much less tense now than he had been, and felt that it was time to move on.


"That went really well." the brunette smiled, slowly turning down the music until it was no longer audible with a soft coil of air, and their dance motions decreased with it to stop altogether, "We're going to try something new now, but it's a bit tougher."

Sasuke's face dropped a little, momentarily betraying his nervousness.

Ami was still holding his hands, though she pretended not to notice. "You have the most basic elements; a sense of rhythm, the ability to move with another person and the ability to adapt to changes. Those are all extremely important, so you've done great to pick them up so quickly."

Sasuke audibly swallowed, sensing the unspoken 'but' in the air.

"From here on out, it's a steep learning curve. You'll get it down sooner than you think."

Sasuke gave a puff of breath, hoping to quell his anxiety with it, failing miserably. "Okay, what's the next step?"

"Well," Ami released his hands, stepping back, "You need to learn to dance on your own too."

The raven's mouth pulled into a grimace.

This idea had 'instant mortification' written all over it.

"I... uh.."

"Don't worry, just follow my lead." Ami smiled, "I'll teach you some basic moves, and then you can mix them up later in a way that suits you. You can always try and learn new things in your own time as well. Dance is flexible, Sasuke. And everyone does it differently."


She taught him some simple steps, getting the boy to use the mirror to check his form as they learned.

She walked him through a number of motions, starting off with just legs and then adding in arms. They would do them without music and then with, learn three individually and then practice them in successive combinations.

Sasuke had thought that his respect for the Konno girl could grow no greater, but here he was again, stumbling through what she made look so easy. He couldn't feel upset when he looked at her though. She was so clearly happy to be sharing something so dear to her with him.


He was taught about a dozen simple moves, having him repeat them beside her, both of them facing the mirror so that she could track his progress and catch and correct sloppy motions. He picked them up relatively quickly, though not nearly as fluidly as Ami could make them. Only time and practise could rectify that.

Nevertheless, the brunette thanked and congratulated him, and the music was gently silenced yet again.

Ami took a few mouthfuls of water, watching her teammate brushing sweaty bangs out of his handsome face, then forcing herself to look away.

Utterly unaware, Sasuke drank greedily from water his own bottle, no longer embarrassed about his thirst exceeding hers, having long accepted that she was more used to these dance type motions than he was.

"You're doing great."

"Thanks, are we going to keep learning dance moves?"

"Actually... I think that it would be best for us to try dancing on our own, of our own initiative." she instructed.

"Oh, so we end it here and practice alone, then meet up next week?"

"No, no. I mean now, in front of each other."

His eyes bugged. "I don't get to practise that alone first?"

Ami looked apologetic. "It's good if you do that too, and you can use this studio whenever you like, but I really think that it's better if we practise together."

Sasuke felt his anxiety rearing its ugly head, but quashed it as best as he could, waiting for her to elaborate.

"It would be different if I was just teaching you to be able to dance by yourself, but our end goal is syncing, so this isn't about looking professional, it's about connecting." she explained, "Practising alone will help you feel used to the motions, so that's good too."

The raven was not pleased, but he saw her point.

"It's going to feel weird." she warned.

Sasuke made a face in displeasure.

"It's going to feel awkward."

His face contorted further.

"And you're going to feel very clumsy beside me."

A small groan escaped from below his upturned lip.

"But, it's a necessary step."

Sasuke sighed, placing down his bottle after one last drink. Putting this off wouldn't get him anywhere.

He stood opposite Ami.

"Alright." he said, steeling himself, "What exactly am I going to do?"

Ami locked eyes with him. "You're going to dance for me. And I'm going to dance for you."

The Konno felt his heart hammering, but flashed him a reassuring smile. "I know that it's nerve-wrecking, but believe me, we have to do it sooner or later. Dancing separately in our own individual ways, but still resonating is the only way that this can work."

Sasuke was much more worried than he looked, and considering his expression, that was saying something. "...I have to admit, I still don't fully understand what you mean."

Ami nodded in understanding. "I've been where you are, so I understand. It's difficult to put into words, but I promise you; we can do it. And when we do, we'll know."

He felt a bit more at ease to know that she didn't consider him stupid.

"We're not going to get this today. Nobody would. It's the most difficult part. It took Sakura and I weeks of non-stop practise to even start syncing, so I know that you're going to suck at first-"

"Wow, thanks."

Ami ignored the sarcastic remark, "-but, just focus on sucking as earnestly as you can. Don't half-ass it, even if you feel like it won't make a difference either way."

Her cheeks coloured somewhat before saying the next part, and Sasuke's eyebrows lifted in curiosity of what was to come.

"Remember... this dance represents the relationship between us... so I'll be dancing for you too, Sasuke."

With the main thought in his head at that moment being; 'Okay, but you're an amazing dancer and I'm not and I'll probably look like a drunk on rollerblades.', Sasuke didn't trust himself to speak. Instead, he nodded, giving a grunt and still looking nervous.

Ami took a couple of steps back. "Okay, I'm going to start the music now."

He nodded, ignoring the lump in his throat.

"Remember, just do whatever motions come naturally to you."

He nodded again, swallowing.


She had picked a slower piece, which made it easier for him to move through steps. It was yet again, the simple guitar song, kind and familiar, friendly and comforting. The pattern looped, so it was easy to follow and easy to know what was coming.

He didn't get sick of it. He liked the way it sounded. She felt the same way.

Ami had clearly put thought into choosing the music, wanting to make things as easy as possible for him.

Sasuke appreciated the sentiment.

For a while, he simply swayed, embarrassed that it was all that he could think to do in the moment. His embarrassment faded however, when he saw Ami doing the same motions back at him, smiling kindly. After a while, she began to gently move her arms in time with the swaying, and gave a simple twirl. He followed suit, changing his own motions slightly.

Baby steps.

Sasuke made the next new move, knowing that Ami had been patiently waiting so that he could go at his own pace. Ami went to follow suit.


But try as they might, the two couldn't synchronise.

As time went on, smiles drooped and fell, replaced by grimaces of frustration.

Sasuke couldn't shake his self-consciousness, feeling that so much of what he had learned had simply fallen out of his ears for him to trip over. There was lack of practise, certainly, but it felt as though there was more to it than that. Even Ami, who could do any kind of dancing, was missing the most obvious cues at times. During this stage with Sakura and the others, it had been untidy, and there had been sloppy motions, missed steps and even the occasional falling over, but there had always been smiles and laughter accompanying it.

As for this... this felt anything but fun.

This felt guarded.

They were both holding back and letting go in all the wrong ways.

Even Ami felt discouraged and confused with how this was turning out, and it showed in her dancing, to the point where she actually stopped mid-motion altogether, furrowing her brows in concentration as she tried to figure it out.

He continued to try for a moment, but after the girl had remained still for all of five seconds, Sasuke stopped altogether and just looked at her helplessly.

This dance was a representation of their relationship.

And it was a mess.


"...Is it me?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Ami dropped her outstretched arms and straightened up. "No," she said, quickly, but not too quickly, with a slight shake of the head. This wasn't a lie.

Sasuke felt his chest fill with some level of relief. "...Do you know what it is?"

The ice-user stared at the stereo, and then her own feet, before looking back at him. "...I'm not sure."

While Sasuke didn't realise it, that sentence was a lie.


Something was lacking, and they both knew it.

While unsure of what exactly was amiss, despite her reassurance, Sasuke mentally blamed himself.

On the other hand, Ami knew very well what the issue was, though she couldn't bring herself to express it aloud.


Her second response had said it all.

What they lacked was honesty.


Ami wasn't sure what she felt for the boy, toeing the line between her flirting being half-joking and half-serious. Sasuke was doing what he could to not inflict his feelings on her, or make them obvious. He was confused at how she was behaving, constantly worried about whether or not she had already figured him out, and what she might feel.

Their confusion and avoidance had come through in the form of sweaty palms, off-beat dancing, missed steps and mild staggering.


The issues in their relationship would not be resolved overnight, especially in the middle of a dance practise.

The Konno resolved to figure out how to salvage this without letting Sasuke feel inadequate, mind working at a million miles an hour.


She suddenly gave a loud clap. "Step one: Learn the basics. Done. Step two: Begin the most confusing and difficult part. Going well so far."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to say, but Ami put a reassuring hand on each shoulder.

"We made a lot of progress today, and we're going to make a lot more." she smiled. "I've taught plenty of people to dance, and every student is different. Whatever you may think, you're honestly doing really great at picking this up." She moved her palms from his shoulders to hold his hands, absent-mindedly looking him up and down and squeezing a biceps as she did, saying: "It helps that you're so fit."

Sasuke blinked at her, trying to keep his face its usual colour, but when Ami also realised that she had basically just been checking him out and feeling him up, her cheeks darkened and his followed suit.

The Konno released his hands and cleared her throat, trying to play it off. "Let's leave it at this for today, and meet up again this weekend, same time and place. That'll give me the chance to review everything so that we can begin work on step three. Sound good?"

He couldn't help but ask, cheeks still tinted with rose. "What's step three?"

Blue eyes glittered as she smiled. "Doing our best, until we figure this out together."

Despite his hesitance, Sasuke nodded. He was nervous, but he wanted this. He wanted to get this right. For both of them.


After their cool down, Sasuke said his goodbyes and headed home, thanking her for the lesson.

Ami saw him off, then went inside, wondering (a) what the hell she had been thinking when she decided to fondle him and (b) how in god's name she was going to make this work.


Realistically, there was no way of lying. If they were going to do this, then they would have to put everything out on the table.

Ami would hesitate to say what she believed Sasuke felt for her. At the end of the day, she could read blood-flow, heart-rate and all kinds of muscle motions, but those were only indicators. They were clues. Nervousness. Excitability. They were educated guesses, but guesses were what they were. She barely knew her own feelings, let alone his.

Sasuke was resilient. He was brash, and emotionally clumsy at times, but he had a good heart. He was reliable, capable, intelligent, hard-working and talented. He had ambition, and goals, and sometimes he had tunnel vision about it, but then again, he was only a teenager.

He was one of the most precious people in her life, and without him she would not have become who she had.

She couldn't pay the price of screwing up their relationship.

She would not let him down.


Whatever the pupils had told those back home, it must have been positive. There was no other way that the class could have grown so quickly.

The students were smooth in their motions, making their forms as light and as breezy as they should be. Ami walked among the dozen wind-learners as they continued the familiar routine, making corrections here and there, but overall satisfied with what she saw.

As she watched the students before her, spotting a clone of hers cleaning a walkway with no less than three eager orphan helpers, she also mulled over how best to handle her third lesson with Sasuke.


For the second one, she had simply decided to repeat the most successful parts of the last lesson. Ami thanked him for his patience, and went on to explain that she had since realised that a few more practise sessions at moving in general would be better to make synchronising easier when they were ready to come back to it.

The Uchiha was understanding and grateful, not angry in the least. Despite their first lesson's difficulties, he had been eager to get back to it even before she had explained the change in plan.

God... she treasured him.


"Did you do it this way with the others?" the raven had asked.

"No, but every student is different. Sakura and I had gone out clubbing, so we were used to dancing together, and we did it differently. Naruto's the kind of energetic, extroverted person who lacks in skill, but makes up for it with energy and not caring about getting things wildly wrong until he figures them out. When the physical section is easier with practise, the more emotional side will get easier too."

"...What about Sai?"

"He's an artist, so he's naturally sort of good at this kind of thing. I'm still figuring him out, though, to be honest."


It was a half-truth. While Sai did have surprisingly good rhythm, that played only a small role in this kind of connecting. Two people could dance terribly and sync perfectly all at once, so long as they were properly enjoying each other's company. Maybe improved skill would help Sasuke feel at ease?

Maybe she was stalling? Well okay, she was definitely stalling too.

So two days wasn't enough time to sort out her feelings for her close friend/teammate/ex/former enemy/possible crush. Sue her.


"So... have you already figured out how to sync with everyone else?" the Uchiha asked nervously.

"Oh god, no." Ami snorted. "I can synchronise with Sakura. Naruto's so eager to enjoy it that he kind of runs away with it and forgets the point of the practise. He finds really bizarre dances and then shares them with me. Stuff like 'the lawnmower' and 'cat with a toy'. Sai is graceful, but he has difficulty letting loose and feeling the music. Plus, I know him the least. I practise with the others too, but I'm mainly focused on you right now."

His heart leaped in his chest. "...Can I ask why?"

"Well... there's a few reasons." she dared to say.

"...Such as...?"

"Our elements feed each other, so our combinations have particularly strong potential."

He felt a little let down, but then she continued.

"Plus... I just really like dancing with you."

"...Oh."


That was all he had said, and she had been so shocked at her own reactions to what she had said that she had barely been paying attention to his. God, how she regretted that lacking focus in hindsight.


Ami was brought back to the present when she noticed a flaw in one of her student's dancing. "Naomi, loosen your shoulders, you're too tense. I can tell that you're trying to keep the form, but don't try to lock yourself in place."

Yet another distraction, Aiko approached from behind.

Ami kept her eyes on her students, despite giving Aiko a quick once-over with divining to check for any injuries. "Hey Aiko." Not even a bruise, but the mission had been painting a fence within the village, so what did she expect?

"Hey sis. I met Tsunade-sama when I came back from today's mission, and she asked me to tell you something."

"Do we need privacy?"

"She just asked me to tell you that the thing you've 'been moaning about' has been arranged. She asked me to specify that it's the thing with your-" she made quotations with her fingers around the next word "'-friend', since apparently you've been moaning about a lot of things lately. She says that you should meet her for details, and tell and bring your 'friend'." She made the same quotations again. "Does that make sense to you?" Aiko looked confused, but seemed relatively satisfied with her message delivery.

A 'friend' that she had been moaning about something for could only refer to so much with so many people.

Ami smiled, turning to look at her sister. "Yes, it does. Thank you Aiko. Much appreciated."

The Genin nodded. "You're welcome. I'm going to go eat dinner. Do you want anything?"

"Thank you, but don't worry about me." the ice-user replied, looking back towards her class. "I'm going to go somewhere after this, and I'll probably end up eating elsewhere. I think there's still leftovers in the fridge."

"Okay." Aiko nodded, turning on her heel and skipping back indoors. Baby had run out to meet her just as the younger girl went indoors, nearly tripping her. Despite Aiko's squawk of alarm, the feline didn't care, and simply did what she could to mimic Aiko's skipping while following her back indoors.


After the class, Ami quickly cleaned up and headed over to Sasuke and Taka's house.

With a quick explanation, Sasuke was eager to accompany her to the Hokage's office. So eager in fact, that he activated his eyes, gripped her sleeve, pulled her out to the balcony and used his Rinnegan to teleport them right outside the Hokage building, having swapped places with a single falling leaf.

Ami was startled at the sudden sensation of the concrete beneath her vanishing and reappearing as dirt, and slightly fell over on the boy, squeaking a bit with her free arm flailing.

"Sorry, I should have warned you." Sasuke admitted, helping her back on her feet, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm okay." Ami said, flustered. She quickly released his sleeve once she had reassured herself that the ground would not suddenly vanish again.


The duo swiftly made their way up the stairs as they talked, excited to learn more about the current situation, coming to a stop right outside Tsunade's closed office door.

Ami felt her heart flutter a bit when the Uchiha smiled at her while joking; "You have no idea how much I've missed teleportation's convenience the last few months."

Ami grinned back, and went to reply, only for the office door to slam open and nearly wallop her as herself and Sasuke jumping back out of the way of a green, black and silver blur.

It was Gai doing wheelies in his wheelchair, cackling madly.

"I'm going to miss the fun I had with this! There's nothing quite as thrilling as racing you with a handicap, Kakashi! But, that said, the hospital needs it back!" He jumped up, doing a handstand on the chair as it continued to roll along the hall on just its back wheels. "May the next person it serves heal as well as I did!"

"Yes, yes, Gai." the masked sensei strolled out after him, hands in his pockets and calm in contrast to the circus-worthy man in green spandex. "It's good to have you back." His dark eyes fell on Sasuke, who seemed to be processing Gai's eccentricity (something he had long forgotten, but was now receiving a vivid reminder of). His gaze then turned to Ami, once she walked out from behind the opened door.

Both of his former students looked up at him.

"So, what were you two doing out here in the hallway?" he asked, eyes moving back to Sasuke.

"We were just going to see Tsunade." the raven replied, not liking the airy tone in Kakashi's voice.

"About what~?"

"It's classified." Ami said simply.

"Isn't it wonderful to see them all grown up?" Gai boomed, chest swelling like a randy pigeon. "They're both Jounin, handling classified information-! K-Kakashi-!" He began to weep, and Sasuke looked mortified. "Y-you must feel so p-p-proud...!"

"Thank you Gai-sensei." Ami soothed, having long-adapted to the Taijutsu-specialist's easily-moved nature. "That's very kind of you."

"Be kind to me and get the fuck in here so we can close the damned door." Tsunade grunted, hunched over her desk and rubbing her temples to try to soothe her headache.

"Come on, Gai, let's get barbecue." Kakashi soothed.

Ami gave a little bow, "If you'll excuse us-"

Sasuke ducked in ahead of her, and Ami shut the door. They both approached Tsunade's desk, and the woman sighed heavily as she leaned back to straighten her posture.

The Jounin waited for their leader to speak first.

"...I'll be giving a press conference on you know what at noon on Friday of next week. It'll be held in the conference suite downstairs. I'll need both of you there. People will have questions."

"Are we allowed to say anything?" Sasuke asked, his eyes growing wet as he understood just how seriously this was being taken. Just how close they were to success.

"I'll be explaining the entire story, so you can say whatever you want." she replied, "People will be angry. Some probably won't believe it. It could become ugly, though we'll diffuse that as much as possible."

"I'll do anything that I can to help." Ami said immediately.

"Good." Tsunade replied, "How you do that, I'll leave up to you. You're good at adapting, so do what you think is best at the time."

"Understood."

"Will we be on stage with you, or in the crowd?" Sasuke asked.

"I'd like you both to be on stage. For both safety and ease of deliverance."

They nodded.

"I'll have visible security and so on set up, and there'll be hidden guards, too. Leave all the little things to me. To recap; it's next Friday, noon, in the conference room downstairs." the Hokage continued, "Any more questions?"

The pair paused, looked at each other, then turned back to Tsunade and shook their heads lightly.

"Well, if you think of anything, let me know." She reached into a drawer and dropped a file down on the desk. "In the meantime, go to the North Pole."

They blinked, and Ami picked up the file. She held it open, tilting it so that she and Sasuke could read together.

"It's very easy, you just need to check on a seed vault out there. Make sure the facilities are left as you found them, and bring back the few different samples that the scientists have requested. Ami, you can fly you both there and back in a matter of hours, but it would take months by boat. There's a food shortage issue due to disease in the midlands that they're working on combating. The seed samples they've requested may potentially be disease-resistant crop varieties, or useful in intercropping approaches. The scientists need to pick up the samples by early Thursday at the latest, since that's when they're passing through Konoha, so you two can leave anytime before then, so long as you get back in time. Keep in mind how short the days are there right now. There won't be a moon, and you don't want to be stuck flying or searching in the pitch black."

"Alright..." Ami mused, handing Sasuke the folder and moving to a globe Tsunade had, mentally calculating how much time she thought the journey would take with a small drawing compass. "...Looks good... Sasuke, what day would suit you? We'd need to leave here at around 5am."

"I'm free whenever suits you."

"How about Tuesday, then? That gives us both preparation time and extra cushioning."

"Perfect." he handed Tsunade back the file, and she noted their acceptance and planned departure date and time. "Don't bring food, I'll pack us lunches."

Ami couldn't help but smile at the kind gesture. "What should I bring, then?"

"You're already flying us there." he chided, "Just bring yourself."

Ami went to reply, but noticed that Tsunade was staring at them, jaw dropped, pen touching against her lower lip. She looked as though she were seeing them for the first time.

Both teenagers caught on quickly, embarrassed.

They weren't dating, but they were certainly acting like they were.

"...Bye." Tsunade said, grinning slightly despite herself.

The duo bowed with sincere thanks for both the mission and especially the talk arrangement, and left as soon as they could, the blonde woman still smirking in their wake.

The silence that followed after they left Tsunade's office was just a little bit too long.

Both went to speak first, accidentally talking over each other.

"Thank you for pursing this so fervently-!"

"It'll be nice to eat your cooking again-!"

"Oh, sorry, you first! What would you like?"

"No, please, go ahead! It was no trouble! All of your food is wonderful!"

Shikamaru came around the corner with some papers in hand, looking up from the sheets to see the duo talking quickly to each other, laughing anxiously. He slowed in curiosity, and they noticed him quickly.

Sasuke took Ami by the wrist and dragged her away out of sight towards a window, looking through it back towards his house with activated Rinnegan.

They jumped again, and this time Ami didn't cry out, though she did still stagger a bit when they landed back on his balcony. Leaning briefly against his chest, she couldn't help but notice how nice he felt, and the gentle scent of wood smoke and spice that lingered on his body.

"Sorry, I forgot to warn you again." he murmured, steadying her with a firm hand on her back.

The Konno straightened, "It's fine." she said, looking up at him, fighting a rising heat in her face at their proximity, the deep smoothness of his voice and the kindness of his words.

...Dear god he was attractive.


Sasuke lead her back inside, still holding her by the wrist, and after a moment's hesitation, he gave her a tight hug, burying his face into her neck. "...Thank you so much. This never would have happened without you."

Despite her earlier efforts, Ami felt her cheeks warm considerably and wrapped her arms around him, hoping that the embrace would last at least long enough for her to smother her flushing.

She felt some relief when she realised that he didn't seem to be in any hurry to show his face either, but her heart sank when she felt the slight tremble in his shoulders, and the tears sliding down his cheeks.

"...I'm sorry." Sasuke muttered, seeming ashamed.

"Don't be." Ami soothed, rubbing his back, "It's a lot to take in. I'm amazed that you kept it together as long as you did."

Sasuke sighed, hugging her tighter still.


They rocked back and forth for several minutes, the dancer massaging his back in smooth, slow circles as he let out the tears of relief he had been holding in at the government building. He caught himself stroking the back of her head, her long hair loose, sliding easily between his fingers. He stopped. Ami said nothing, but found herself missing the touch.

"...How did you know what the daylight hours would be like this time of year?" Sasuke asked in a cracking voice, trying to pretend that he wasn't reaching for a distraction.

"Oh, I did training out there with Sora-sensei a few times before." Ami admitted, "We took a boat to teach me open sea battling, and then ended up in the poles to study ice later on. I've had missions that far north before as well, though it's my first time visiting a seed vault."

"...I remember the country of iron, and that time we helped that actress up north, but I've never been as far as the poles." he said, releasing the Konno and rubbing damp, reddened eyes.

"What was the name of that place again...?" the brunette mused.

"The Land of the Snow." the Uchiha said at once. "You forgot?"

"No, I remembered." she smiled, "I also remember you and Naruto sliding uncontrollably down a hill when Naruto slipped and you fell down after him when you tried to help."

Sasuke snorted, covering his mouth in embarrassment. "I did so many cool things on that mission, and that's what you remember?" he teased.

"No, I remember how cool you were too." she replied, winking playfully.

The pair grinned as nostalgia from their Genin days flooded back to them.

"I still remember the face you made when you realised that your canteen's water had frozen." he snickered.

Ami smacked her forehead, cringing. "Oh my god..."

"You were so offended by physics, but you restrained from complaining, because you were mortified that you hadn't thought of it sooner."

"None of you thought of it either!"

"I did, I just assumed that you had some kind of Chakra thing that would keep it liquid for you, or something..." his sniggering continued, "...but you didn't."

"I'll never live that down." she muttered, hiding her face in her hands.

"You tried to use the water pouch like a freaking morning-star instead." he snorted, "But then the strap broke!"

Ami covered her mouth as she started to laugh at her own expense. It really had been quite a string of events.

"You tried bringing a thermos of boiling water around with you in the hope of keeping it from freezing, but you couldn't put your Chakra into it through the thermos' side becase it was too thick, and you couldn't touch boiling water directly, so you tried pouring it out... but it was so cold that it froze into powder in mid-air."

"Thwarted by physics once again." she muttered, smirking as she shook her head.

"After that, you tried putting your Chakra into cold water it, then boiling that water on the stove, and then pouring that hot water into the flask."

Ami had curled her lip in disgust. "And then the pricks had Chakra-absorbing armour, so even after all that it was useless."

"You burned one person's face before your water was rendered useless, and you were so mad that that was all you could manage."

Ami was shaking her head, biting her lip to avoid laughing while she smiled. "I was so upset." she admitted.

"Upset? You were furious." He was laughing now, running a hand through his hair as his eyes began to water again, this time with glee. "You were still so reliant on water Ninjutsu back then. When you realised that your water wasn't-wasn't doing anything-" he was finding it difficult to speak from so much laughing, "-You-you took the pieces of my b-broken windmill shurike-en- and started packing them into snowballs!"

Ami clapped a hand over her face in embarrassment as she recalled her past actions. "Oh my god, I did."

Sasuke continued to laugh, and Ami was following suit behind her hand, a flush on her face.

"I'd half-forgotten how readily-aggressive you were back then!"

"Me too..." the Konno admitted with a snigger, prouder of her Genin self's savagery than she probably should have been.

"You were really strong even-when we were kids. S-so you kept jumping around with Chakra... and chucking these balls. When you ran out of metal, you started packing ice-but the-the best part was-" He had to pause and take a few breaths before continuing. "You were so go-ood at it! It did hardly any damage, but you kept hitting them! They were so pissed off with you!" Sasuke all but dissolved at the memory, tears leaking from his face and his mouth open in a silent howl of laughter, gripping his knees.

"Well, I had to do something!" she cried, eyes dampening as she giggled uncontrollably.

Ami was laughing as well, having dropped into a chair and handed him a tissue, dabbing at her own eyes. He groped for it, snorting in his mirth, and they both all but collapsed at the noise.

After a minute or so, the duo had mostly gathered themselves.

Then Sasuke said quietly and seriously; "I nearly died because I was laughing too hard to blow a fireball when you landed one directly in the woman's mouth."

And they were set off again.


Downstairs, Karin and Suigetsu were arguing about whether to turn the television volume up to drown them out, or down to listen in.


The pair talked and laughed a while longer.

Before they realised, it had become evening, and the atmosphere had changed slightly.

'Late-night sentimentality'? Was that what it was called?

Either way, Sasuke found his eyes being drawn more and more to the Konno, and that steady feeling of inner excitement and anxiety only grew stronger in its murmurings.

In this, he was not alone.

Subconsciously, he had found himself reaching for her hand when she extended it, the girl having been gesturing lightly as she spoke. He retracted the action and disguised it as a stretch, though he had felt just a moment too slow in doing so. He couldn't tell whether or not Ami had noticed, but silently prayed that she hadn't.

The girl had thought she saw a slight hesitation in his motion, but disregarded it as her own possibly (she insisted) wishful thinking.

The sun passed the line of the horizon, and Ami said her goodbyes and left soon after, taking off into the sky from the balcony, headed back to her own home.


Feeling lonely in her absence, Sasuke made his way downstairs.

The anxiety was taking over, and the reality of the emotional stress that the upcoming mission would no doubt bring was beginning to smother him.

With Juugo currently in hospital undergoing treatment to cure savage spells, only Karin and Suigetsu were there to greet him, legs sprawled across each other and the television volume strangely low.


"What's eating you?" Suigetsu asked, cocking a brow.

Sasuke glowered at him. "Nothing." he spat.

Suigetsu and Karin made brief eye contact with one another, silent communication passing between the duo.

"I'm game." the bespectacled girl quipped.

Suigetsu wasted no time. "It's a mission." he guessed, eyes locked on Sasuke.

Karin nodded a bit. "There's more to it." she whispered certainly.

Sasuke stared at the boy. "No. It's not." Were they seriously interrogating him?

"The government."

Karin shook her head, Sasuke didn't move.

The Hozuki kept trying. "It's nightmares. Flashbacks. Insomnia. Your arm hurts. Constipation. Konno Ami."

"Bingo." Karin interrupted, sensing a jolt in the Uchiha's Chakra at the mention of the ice-user.

"You're attracted to Ami."

"Bingo." Karin said again.

Suigetsu spared the time for a delighted "Ooh~!" before returning to the drilling, happy to be getting warmer in this game of hot-cold.

Sasuke could only gape at the duo, unable to move for shock. He was far too tired to deal with this right now.

"She likes you."

Karin shook her head. "He doesn't think so."

"So you like her, but don't know if she likes you." the shark-toothed boy mused, "But you want her to like you."

"I don't!"

"A lie." Karin muttered.

"So there's a mission involved in this... You're going on a mission with Ami, who you like, but we aren't sure likes you back, and you're worried about the inevitable sexual tension." Suigetsu looked at his girlfriend while voicing his theory aloud to Sasuke, "You weren't this way previously, so either something changed between you two, or this mission involves you, her and either very few or no other teammates."

"Second one." Karin smirked.

Sasuke was pissed. What ever happened to them fearing him? He had barely even said anything but they saw straight through him like a window. Between divining, Chakra sensing and nosy bastards all around, he was getting pretty tired of people guessing his feelings. Did privacy even exist anymore? He had been trying to glare them down, but he should have just left quickly and salvaged what he could. God knows what a Sharingan's score was, but hindsight is definitely 20/20.

"You might as well just give us the rest, we can probably help you." Suigetsu smirked.

"I don't need your help. There's nothing to help with."

"Okay. Enjoy the sexual tension you have no way of coping with, then."

Suigetsu and Karin turned back to the television, the Hozuki winding his legs under his girlfriend and pulling her on top of himself. The girl leaned into him silently, tracing patterns on his chest.

There was a moment of quiet. Sasuke didn't leave. The pair on the couch didn't acknowledge him any further.

They knew everything important by this stage anyway. He might as well have some help.

He cracked.

"We're going overseas on our next mission. It's just the two of us. We'll be flying North together for five hours straight and I'll likely be sharing the same air capsule as her, so we'll be in close proximity the entire time. Tomorrow night, leaving at 5am."

Suigetsu's shit-eating grin bared damn near every tooth in his head.

Karin muted the television and turned back with her boyfriend, biting her lip to avoid grinning.

"Oh my god, then the tension will be ridiculous." Suigetsu muttered, astonished, still smiling widely.

"And that's just getting there." Karin added. "Will you be flying back as well?"

"Alone together the whole mission long?"

Sasuke grimaced. "Yeah... To both questions. And I already offered to cook our lunches."

Karin sucked a breath in through her teeth, raising an eyebrow at Suigetsu.

"...Aww... he's just like a schoolgirl with her senpai~" the shark-toothed boy teased.

"What do I do?" the raven grit out, as though asking were physically painful.

The Hozuki allowed himself a moment of smugness before starting to speak. "Bring some music. Otherwise you guys will end up in awkward silence or talking about god knows what. Probably the 'pretty stars' or something similarly sappy."

"Music?" he questioned. It seemed dubious.

"Nothing romantic." Karin clarified.

"No saxophone, whatever you do. She'll be pregnant before you guys land."

The Uchiha shot him a look, but the days of Taka's members being intimidated by his glares were long dead and gone. Suigetsu's only response was an open-mouthed grin and a double-peace sign.

"Tomorrow night has a new moon..." Karin mused.

"So they'll have the darkness of night to fuel their lust, with only the stars to judge them." Suigetsu noted.

Karin snorted while Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I have a portable music player I can load you." the Uzumaki offered. "It's small, light, has great volume, doesn't need radio signals and runs on long-lasting batteries. If you charge it to full, it can last almost seven hours. Recharge it before each trip. Will you have access to electricity?"

"Yeah, we must. I don't see how else the vault could be lit inside."

"You can borrow it." her eyes narrowed dangerously at him, "If you break it or lose it, though, you're buying me a new one. In the latest model."

Sasuke nodded solemnly. He nearly admitted how grateful he was, but his street cred. had disintegrated enough for now.

Suigetsu rubbed his cheek against the sensor's own face. "You need to rest up, so we'll make you a playlist. No sexy stuff. Promise~"

"You make the playlist, I'm not doing it." Karin replied.

"Okay, I'll make you the playlist." Suigetsu corrected.

"Nothing embarrassing." the Uchiha ordered.

"Nothing embarrassing." the Hozuki confirmed. "Go sleep."

"...And I can trust you on this?"

"...You'll trust me to defend your life and follow instructions on missions but not to put a song playlist together?"

"...This is an important playlist." he deadpanned.

"Sleep." Suigetsu repeated firmly, "I'll have it ready for you before you need to leave. I'll charge it and show you how to use it, too."

Sasuke took a deep breath and nodded stiffly. "...Thank you. Both of you." he said seriously. He allowed himself to sigh slightly in relief before heading up the stairs. He had to admit, he felt slightly better now, and with the anxiety winding down, he was beginning to notice how tired he truly was.


The following evening, Suigetsu was half-asleep at the kitchen table, making the final changes to the playlist for the fully-charged music player.

Karin pecked him on the top of his head as she passed by. He tugged on her sleeve, wordlessly asking her to pause in her passing and pay attention to him.

"Nearly finished?" she asked, leaning down to look at his work.

"I have a playlist with fourteen hours of music on here." he said. "There's meme songs, bad country music, two hours of whale noises, wind chimes, and an hour of ocean waves-"

"Ocean waves?" Karin repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, y'know, ambience stuff."

"Suigetsu, they're flying over the ocean."

"But, can they hear through the capsule? Because I don't think that they can. I think I remember her mentioning that in regards to protecting her ears from the sonic boom."

"...I think you're right. Okay, the waves stay. What else is there?"

"I've got some loud, bouncy, but not romantic stuff. The kind of stuff you'd find in shonen anime openings. Ami likes music and dance, so I figured that I need some decent stuff, or she'll refuse the player or change it herself. Movie soundtracks, other neutral kind of stuff."

"Huh. You did a really good job. You thought this through a lot..." She pouted a bit, muttering; "It's almost too good a job. They'll dance around each other forever at this rate."

"Well, I also threw in a load of emotional and romantic piano pieces, a song about a pair of lesbians that actually fits them really well, a bunch of hot, fast dance music, and a little bit of saxophone. Because I really want them to get together."

"...He'll be pissed."

"Not if he's too busy being kissed instead." the shark-toothed boy grinned sleepily, trying to keep his eyes open.

"True. Ami's pep talk was the main reason I got that player, so if it works to get them together, I'd say karma's come around." She kissed his cheek. "Go to bed. I'll show him how to use it."

"Thanks, babe..." Suigetsu yawned.


Sasuke shifted the backpack he wore, the player in one hand and the food he had packed in the other, a dark purple coat laying over his arm.

Ami waved to him from the gate, wearing a small backpack of supplies. She had already donned a coat (navy blue and hooded), still unzipped over her mission clothes, so Sasuke went to do the same on his way to her. Ami trotted forward to take the player and lunchboxes from him to make it easier, and he thanked her.

The Konno looked the piece of technology curiously while Sasuke put on his coat. "A radio?" she asked. "I'm not sure that we'll get a signal the whole way, plus I'm moving so quickly, we'll be losing it constantly."

"Actually, it's a music player." he clarified, "It doesn't use discs, it just stores the "files" inside. Karin loaned it to me. The batteries should last the whole flight over. And we can recharge it for the trip home."

Her eyes lit up. She had also been anxious about how best to fill the silence and so had compiled a long list of neutral discussion topics. A music player was a much better option, so this was a big relief.

"That was really nice of Karin. I'll bet it was expensive..." she mused. "We'd better take good care of it."

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Okay." she said, "Let me talk you through the process of long-distance flights with me."

The boy took back the player and food from her.

"The capsule is soundproofed, and insulated. It's pretty impervious, with certain obvious exceptions, but I think we're fairly safe from fire out in the middle of the ocean and the Arctic. There's no air exchange between it and the outside, so every ten minutes or so, I open it to replace the air inside so that we have fresh oxygen. I only charge the air that makes up the shell and what supports us inside, not all of the contents, so these 'refills' don't drain my Chakra. They do reset the temperature though, so it'll be cold. If it was just me, I could regulate that better, but it's tougher with two people, so I'll do it the safer, but less comfortable way. We're heading to the North Pole and we'll be high up to boot. Plus it's a clear night in February. Hence why we're wearing our coats even now. The cold will aid my concentration, anyway. Use your coat's face mask. I'll warn you before I open it so that you don't get shocked. You'll be flying at my side, so you should hold my hand during these refills, too. Just in case. It'll keep us from getting separated. There's plenty of things that I could do to improvise, but it's probably better if we play it safe and just don't mess around. Got all that?"

Sasuke nodded. He was a Jounin. He could manage hand-holding.

Ami nodded, pleased. "Great. I hold the air around my own eyes still, but it's harder to control it so intricately around your face, so I'm going to give you these goggles to wear so that your eyes don't get dry." She handed him a set of clear flight goggles.

He eyed them a moment, then slipped them on obediently, feeling a little silly. Ami moved to check that they were properly adjusted, and he bent down a little to facilitate her.

"I know that you made us lunch, but I brought some protein bars along just in case. It's a long, cold, and for me, a mentally-taxing journey. We both have food for the journey, so we can eat when we're hungry. Don't overdo it, though. It's a long flight with no bathroom breaks. I'm good, but if you need to go, I'll wait here."

He made a face. "You don't need to say that. It's common sense."

"You're not my first passenger, and common sense could stand to be more common." she replied with a shrug. "I'm just covering everything for my own peace of mind."

He nodded in understanding, trying not to picture Ami holding someone by the arms while the faceless individual shit out of the sky.

Her statement left many questions unanswered. Questions that weren't for tonight.

"Let's see... what else? You'll get the feeling for how supported and restricted/unrestricted you are first-hand. And if you need to fart, just say so."

"Ami."

"No judging here. Again, I'm just covering my bases. I don't want to be stuck in a fart capsule. Gassy passengers get their own capsules."

"Ami." he was pleading for her to stop.

"Look, we're mature teenagers, and ninja. We've seen things. I think that we can handle the word 'fart'."

"Ami, I won't need to fart, I swear it. Please, stop."

"Thank goodness, because this trip will be five hours long, and widening my own capsule is a lot easier than making two capsules, concentration-wise." She turned from Sasuke to look North. "We won't travel faster than the sound barrier. Solo, this journey would be fine, but supersonic speed is still too difficult for me to maintain for hours on end with a passenger. I'd rather be careful and arrive a little later than be careless and let you get hurt. We'll travel just a bit below it, instead. That's why I've allowed for extra travel time."

"Plus it keeps us from waking up the whole village with the bang." the raven added.

Ami grinned, and he felt his stomach flip at the twinkle in her eyes. "Yeah, that too. If you take off your bag, I can carry it behind us. I'm already doing that with my own bag, so it's no trouble. The lunches too, if you don't mind."

He held out the boxes, and Ami placed both them and her backpack into a "bubble" of air, his own light rucksack being added soon after.

She aimed a finger at Karin's appliance. "Do you know how to work that?"

Sasuke grunted affirmation. "I'll put it on shuffle."

Ami watched curiously as he slowly pressed a few buttons. An uplifting instrumental piece with a strong beat came blasting out at shocking volume. Both ninja jumped in surprise.
"Oh my god! Turn it down!" Ami half-panicked, half-giggled, hands flapping at her teammate, who fumbled speedily to adjust the control he had accidentally nudged to high at some point.

Once the music was at an appropriate level of decibels, the Uchiha boy slipped the attached fabric cord around his wrist.

Ami sniggered at the previous screw up while Sasuke's face coloured in embarrassment.

"Well, so much for not waking people up, but that's good flight music." Any irritation he could have felt towards her evaporated when he saw her hand extend. "Ready when you are."

He took it with the limb not holding the player. With a sudden feeling of weightlessness as Ami's air cradled his form, they left the ground by a few feet. Ami drew her zipper as high as it went, he did the same, and then they were off.


The Konno increased their velocity steadily, rather than in the instantaneous fashion that she would use when flying solo.

The speed was amazing. The height was amazing.

Ami climbed steadily higher, soaring in the air, but arms by her side like a diving falcon's wings.

She brought them upwards into the sky until the distant lights of the village were mere pinpricks, and huge trees shrunk to resemble of moss fragments. The river looked like a ribbon. The stars were obvious in the void expanse above them. The night was clear, and Sasuke had been worried that he would be too warm from wearing his coat already, but as soon as the capsule was opened for the first time, he shivered, feeling glad that he had listened to the Konno.


The player lilted as the orchestral song came to an end, and then the sound of a slow fiddle and a somehow miserable banjo filled their ears.

A mournful western singer came drawling out from the speaker.

"Oh~ my wife left me,

and my dog left me,

and I'd leave me if I could-"

Ami made a face. "Can you change it?" she asked.

Sasuke nodded, fumbling with the item.

A different song by the same musician came on. While this one was much more cheerful and bouncy, it was equally bad.

"And all of my cows are free of bovine tuberculosis,

And the mad cow days have come and go~ne!

And only some people care if you're gay~,

Life ain't perfect, but goes on~!"

"Karin has... unusual taste." the Konno murmured.

"I'll change it." Sasuke said, taking the hint at once, looking through the songs, being sure to avoid choosing that artist a third time. His thumb slipped and a dance song with strong bass, piano and guitar came on.

"Oh~ that's good~" Ami grinned approvingly.

...Was it just him... or had that tone of hers just now been slightly suggestive? 'NO. NO SASUKE, DO NOT GO DOWN THAT TRAIL OF THOUGHT.' he mentally screamed at himself, 'PICTURE KAKASHI IN LINGERIE. GAI IN THE NUDE. ROTTEN GRAPES. THE CAT EATING A DEAD LIZARD. THE GIANT, DISGUSTING HAIRBALL JUUGO LEFT IN THE SHOWER AFTER WASHING A RACCOON DOG.' Oops, too good a job, he retched aloud at the last one.

Ami slowed at once, looking over to her side at him with concern. "Are you okay? Do you feel airsick?"

"No, I ate a bug." he lied quickly. "It's fine."

Ami didn't buy it, but people tell small lies all the time. His stomach seemed fine. He was a little nervous, but that was it. She let it go, and picked up the pace once more.


The time passed easily enough. As easily as it could in close-quarters with a crush.

Both teens would drift in and out of chatting, the music providing some much-appreciated distraction and silence-filling.

Ami found this particular passenger particularly distracting. While something as well-practised as flight in a straight line would suffer no ill effects, she still felt much more preoccupied than she should have.


"Okay, I'm going to do an air exchange now." she said clearly, reaching for Sasuke's hand.

Despite the chill in the air, Sasuke's palm felt sweaty, and he nearly wanted to wipe it before hand-holding even with both of them wearing gloves. He took it swiftly.

"Ready?"Ami asked.

He nodded, keeping his mouth shut and backside clenched, prepared for a vertical drop in space and an accompanying lurch in his gut.

Instead, he felt an invisible shield rise in front of his face, and the air grow still around his head rather than whipping his hair slightly as it had previously been doing, as if he were in a bubble. His limbs were locked in place with a similar stagnancy, and they continued to move forward. When she shield in front of his face dropped, though, it was noticeably colder in the capsule.

"You alright?" Ami asked.

"Yeah... was that it?" he queried.

"Yeah. You can let go now."

He did so quickly, realising too late that he had misconstrued her words as a warning rather than a simple statement. "...I kind of thought that we would... plummet, I guess?"

"That would work too, but not at this high an altitude. First I stabilise the pressure that our bodies are under, then I open two panels to flush the air in the capsule through, then gather and compress extra air in a separate compartment (not the one our stuff is in). After that I close these panels, readjust the pressure and release our bodies again, in that order. It seemed more comfortable. Plus we have luggage we don't want to jostle."

"Ah, I see. And that's okay for you, concentration-wise?"

"Yeah, no problem."

The player continued to provide some kind of orchestral soundtrack.


As expected, the horizon showed no sign of sunlight approaching, still an inky black full of scattered specks. Ami felt at the compass in her hand, and began searching for the small flashlight in her pocket, just to double-check it. It was waterproof, so she couldn't check the interior with divining.

They both groaned aloud at the sudden brightness of the tool, Sasuke squeezing his eyes shut completely while Ami squinted, trying to let hers adjust.

"...Right on course." she concluded, both of them sighing in relief when she was able to turn the torch off again.

Sasuke opened his eyes, but Ami's were adjusting again.

"...Whoa..." he murmured.

Ami turned to look at him, despite not being able to see his face even after her vision returned, just a dark silhouette against the steadily undulating, dark grey waves below them. "What is it?" He was open-mouthed and wide eyed.

"The sky is incredible..." he murmured.

In the village, street lights drowned them out with light pollution. While it hadn't been his first time in a remote area on a clear night, looking upwards in the dead of the night, the open ocean left nothing unexposed, and they were so high up. It felt different.

"...I've seen this loads of times on long flights, but yeah... I never get sick of it." she agreed.

There was a long silence.

"...Can you navigate with the stars?" he asked suddenly.

Ami was caught off guard. "Oh, um... I'm slow and rusty, but yeah. Sora-sensei taught me, during the open-ocean training period. The compass is faster and easier, but I don't strictly need it."

"So you know the constellations too?"

"Most of them. Makes it easier to navigate when you know where they are in relation to one another."

Sasuke nodded in comprehension.

"Plus... I was on a boat for months. You learn things." he could hear the shrug in her voice, "I learned so many new knots from the sailors... Also knitting! It's popular with them! I can make a scarf, and a hat, but that's it. I never learned how to use more than one colour of wool, either."

"...Orochimaru never taught me crafts." the raven pretended to sulk.

Ami dared to laugh, then covered her mouth immediately. Sasuke's wry smirk had her giggling again soon.

"I know the Big Dipper, and I can find Orion's belt, but that's about it." the Uchiha admitted.

"So in your head, Orion's still trying to get dressed?" Ami snickered.

Sasuke exhaled through his nose, laughing silently. "Oh my god, Ami."

The brunette felt that she was enjoying her name on his lips a little too much. She melted one of her bangles and held out several drops in front of Sasuke's face, all arranged and proportionate to match the constellation. "Here, this is Orion." she said.

Sasuke squinted.

There was silence.

"...You're not even pointing anywhere, give me a hint?"

"I just passed you a diagram?" she asked, confused at what the problem could be.

Sasuke was completely bewildered. "I never took anything? Did you just drop it somewhere? Besides, it's pitch black, how do you expect me to read anything?"

It hit her. "Oh my god, I'm an idiot. You don't have divining of course you can't see water drops in the dark."

The Uchiha let out a loud 'pfft!' as he realised what had happened.

"Sasuke, I'm so sorry." she was scarlet under her coat's mask, laughing at her own stupidity while reforming her bracelet.

"I start learning to dance and you want me to pick up everything you can do overnight!" he teased.

"I can't believe that I just did that."

"I won't let you forget it, either."

"Oh my god."

"I'm not flying us back, so don't ask."

Ami laughed until tears ran down her face, shoving his shoulder lightly, and he laughed at her laughing.

Eventually, the duo calmed.


Whale songs crooned from the music player.

For several minutes, the two flew together in silence.

It was nice to be together in comfortable quiet. It seemed to have been so long since they had managed it last. Neither mentioned it, afraid to break the spell.

Ami moved her gaze between the stars overhead and the horizon before them. She checked the compass in her hand again, making sure that they were on course.

Sasuke noticed her eyes directed downwards about the same time that he had realised that they were slowing down. They were slowing down a lot.

"Are we stopping? What's wrong?"

By now, they were at a standstill. Ami's eyes were like dinner plates. "Whales." she whispered, pointing down below.

Sasuke followed her finger and inhaled sharply in amazement. There were indeed whales below them. A massive group of giants, moving slowly but surely through the ocean waters.

"Turn off the player." Ami whispered.

Sasuke did so at once. "Did it attract them?"

"No, this capsule blocks sound." she murmured.

Ami brought the capsule lower to the surface of the water. "I'm going to open the wind capsule and swap to a water capsule, okay?" she said softly, taking the boy's hand.

Trusting the girl, Sasuke nodded in agreement.

The duo alighted on the inky surface of the waves and slipped noiselessly below, thirty metres away from the massive ocean mammals.

The teenagers gaped.

The light of the full moon illuminated the scene before them. Whales glided through the water like something out of a dream. Every one a creature of massive proportion. It was awe-inspiring.

The teens were so entranced that they followed the gentle giants silently for almost a minute before Sasuke begrudgingly nudged the girl and reminded her that they had a mission.

Ami conceded and thanked him, before transitioning back to wind-dancing and slipping back above the surface. She climbed into the sky and took Sasuke's hand. By this point he knew what the gesture indicated was about to happen, having experienced it many times already on this trip. The air exchange occurred quickly as always.

During their pause, they had drifted to the tail end of the whale migration, and the long line of dark shadows and keening, undulating beasts moved in front of them.

"I never thought that I'd see whales up close." the Uchiha admitted.

"It was a nice surprise." Ami murmured. "I'm glad that the moon was bright enough for us to see them."

"Yeah, I can't think of anything that would top tha-" Sasuke started, jaw dropping at a ripple of green passing across the skyline.

Ami gaped beside him.

They turned to each other at the same time, silently confirming that they had both seen the display, then turning their eyes back towards the sky, which apparently, was barely getting started on its light show.

They followed the whales at a slow pace, bands, curtains, waves and rays all a mix of yellows, greens, blues, pinks and purples bouncing and weaving across the sky like the ribbons of a gymnast. No matter how much they saw, it never became less hypnotic. Man-made firework displays simply could not compare to the show mother nature produced.

Astonishing aurora above and majestic humpback whales swimming in the reflections below, all beneath a new moon in the middle of the ocean at night.

So much of this scene was iconic in the minds of the teenagers who had seen so much horror, but so little beauty in the world. It felt as though the universe was somehow trying to make it up to them all at once.

Ami's flight slowed even further, to the point where they were travelling just ten kilometres an hour, matching the whales.

They kept that pace until the light show eventually lessened in activity and petered out altogether.

They arrived to the North Pole an hour late.

They had no regrets.


The duo had found the seed vault easily enough, high, high up in the mountains, but clearly marked with a red beacon. They had been told about a heating system that would remove any ice from the door once a particular switch was turned, but running late, Ami just melted it off instead. Working together, they pulled open the stiff, heavy metal door, and quickly shut it behind themselves. The vault's interior was below freezing as well (to aid sample preservation), but at least they weren't suffering wind-chill anymore. They had no sooner entered than Sasuke noticed an empty socket. He immediately switched off and plugged the player in to charge, checking for the blinking green light that confirmed the device was receiving power before straightening to follow the Konno further in.

They kept their coats on, but zipped them down enough to expose their faces. Sasuke removed his goggles, and rubbed his eyes, feeling the slight mark left by their hours of pressing against his face.

She had already pulled out the list of sample codes that they were to bring back, reading it up and down. She stepped forward, picking up three small, sealed glass tubes, and looked down at the satchel on her hip. Sasuke moved to her and lifted the flap at once, allowing her to place the samples inside. The brunette thanked him, ticking off one of the lists' boxes.

They continued like that until they had collected all of the required samples, then checked the time. While they didn't regret watching the natural spectacle that they had, they were still very late. They had about half an hour to eat before the dark would make the fly back exceedingly difficult. Ami would be passing through a few time zones and a large amount of latitude, but leaving when they had planned would give them at least twilight for the whole of the return journey, which would make navigation both easier and safer.


Sasuke had made food that they didn't need to reheat. They hadn't realised how hungry they were until the boxes were opened in front of them.

He'd put so much love and care into these lunches. Ami could feel it in every square inch and bite. Balanced, beautiful, filling and delicious. He'd even added one of her favourite things; grilled chicken.


"I brought extra for you, since you're doing most of the work here." Sasuke said, pushing the blue three-tiered box towards her as he took his own red two-tiered one. "Honestly, I feel like a bit of a dead weight. Not sure why Tsunade sent me with you. I'm literally slowing you down."

The dancer swallowed a mouthful of chicken. "I disagree entirely." Ami said at once, "I'd rather have a longer, funner mission with you then a faster, boring one solo."

The Uchiha smiled.

"You are a wonderful man who is keeping me company, feeding me, and making me smile and laugh on what would otherwise be a cold, dark, lonely and boring mission." She pointed at the charging music player. "You even brought entertainment. Even the whales and aurora wouldn't have been as enjoyable without you."

Sasuke felt his heart swell at the way she looked at him. Eating the food he had cooked, sitting at a small table in a dimly-lit polar vault that hadn't been touched in years, the only two people around for God only knew how much distance, and neither of them any less happy for it.

They finished their food, and Ami felt so full and satisfied that she honestly just wanted to sleep.

"That was wonderful~" she sighed. "Thank you, Sasuke~"

"You're welcome," he grunted, trying not to smile, "but you know that you can't actually sleep right now, right?"

Ami laid her head down on the table in response.

"...Are you sure that you don't want to fly us back?" she teased.

"Ha, ha." he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes and smirking.

A moment of silence.

"...Ami?"

Theatrically loud and obnoxious snoring answered him.

Both teens burst out laughing immediately.

"I know~" Ami whined, sitting back up and rubbing sleepy tears from her eyes. "Your food is just too good~ and we were flying for hours... I've done more complicated and longer journeys, it's just been a while, y'know?"

Sasuke nodded appreciatively. "I understand. You're doing great, though."

Ami yawned cutely.

He fought back a blush.

"...Will you talk to me on the way home to keep me awake?" she asked, blinking at him.

Sasuke gathered the lunchboxes, then placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"It would be my pleasure."


They packed up, zipped up, double-checked that they had the seeds, player and everything else that they had brought, then headed out, leaving everything as they had found it and carefully closing the door behind themselves.

Ami encapsulated them both and fiddled with the player. A gentle, somewhat romantic piano piece sang out from it. She smiled at him, and Sasuke couldn't even try to feel annoyed with the situation of there being this kind of music on the player.

They entered the sky to the gentle melody, and Ami spoke up, shaking him from his thoughts.

"I'm glad that it was a dark moon tonight." she said softly, "Had it been bright out, we wouldn't have gotten half as good a light show."

He agreed, and began to speak about all kinds of things to the girl, keeping her alert and making sure to remind her to check their direction and checking it himself too.

There was more light now than earlier, he could see navy in the sky, indicative of a sunrise being just below the horizon. They weren't flying toward it, but Ami assured him that she had sunglasses in her bag nonetheless, and that his goggles were made to respond to light changes.

They talked about everything and nothing, never running out of conversation topics.

Ami's air changes still occurred without a hitch at regular intervals, Sasuke reminding her nonetheless. These sudden cold blasts worked well in serving to wake both of them up.


Just a few more hours, and then they would be home.


Sasuke knew that he was factually the yin to Naruto's yang. The moon to Naruto's sun.

It drifted into his mind that if Naruto was the sun, then Sakura was probably a flower. He provided her light and in return, she bloomed for the world.

What would that make Ami to him?

He glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eye.

She looked relaxed and content. She flew as easily as a bird, completely at home in the air.

Would she be the sky?

His gaze drifted downwards as they passed a large piece of ice floating in the waters below.

Would she be the sea?

...Would she be both?

If he was the moon, what could he do for her?

The moon hung in the sky, sometimes more present than others. It waxed and it waned, but day or night, it was usually there, more hidden at some times that others. It pulled and pushed the tides of the ocean, but while some latitudes had huge changes in sea level, at the equator there was barely a few metres of difference.

Even the sun set at night while flowers slept, though, so that was okay, wasn't it? Just because the two were connected, didn't mean that they had to be blazing together all the time.

Nobody cared for a new moon, but just two weeks later, the same ball, full and bright, would be praised as its most wonderful. The same body, just at a different time.

People would watch the sun set, but sleep while it was away, rising and venturing out once more upon its morning return.

The very reason that they had set out at such an obscure time was due to the sun's temporal pattern in this part of the world.

Ebb and flow was a part of life.

And if he was truly the moon of the sea and sky beside him, he knew that she would wait for him.

And he knew that they would dance.


When they got home, they greeted the guards at the gates.

They went to the Hokage's office, dropped off the seeds, and Sasuke agreed to fill in the report so Ami wouldn't have to. Afterwards, he offered to walk her home, but Ami refused, saying she would simply fly there. He suggested that he teleport her instead, and the girl opened her mouth to protest, reconsidered and ultimately agreed.

He felt tired himself, so Ami must have been exhausted.

The Uchiha checked with the landlady as to where would be a safe place to land, then jumped them to the base of the stairs, so that Ami could alternate between flitting about and walking from there.

They hugged before parting ways, and thanked each other for both the company and a job well-done.


When he walked back into the house, he found Karin and Suigetsu cuddling on the couch (their favourite place in the house, it seemed), and thanked them again for the player, returning it.

"How did it go?" the Hozuki asked.

"It was... it was nice." His voice cracked and his face blushed. 'Good job, Sasuke.' he thought irritably.

The couples' eyes bugged.

"What happened?" Karin demanded.

"...Nothing, really." he clarified, "I just..."

The pair waited expectantly, subconsciously leaning towards him.

"...I... I like her a lot." he admitted.

"Did you talk about stars?" Karin asked.

"Yeah... we did." Sasuke answered.

"...Did it feel romantic?" Suigetsu dared.

"...Honestly...?" His cheeks were hot. "Yeah... yeah, it did."

"What was playing?" he pressed.

"Huh?"

"At the most romantic part, what was playing?!" Karin pushed.

The couple was beyond nosy, but Sasuke found that he didn't really mind. It was actually kind of nice to talk about this with them.

"Oh, uh... I guess that it was... whale noises..."

There were three full seconds of silence.

Suigetsu promptly lost it.


As you can probably tell, this fanfiction will be drawing to a close soon. There will be just two more chapters released. The final one, and the epilogue.

I will be working on my thesis over the next few months, and because I will be releasing both chapter 50 and the epilogue (chapter 51) at the same time, it may take longer than usual to finish. I promise you though, they will both be epic, and well worth the wait. :)

I will be doing my very best to make this the greatest, most satisfying ending that I know how.

I've received lots of helpful feedback and suggestions over the last few months, and I cannot thank everyone enough for all of the support that I have been given.

If you have any ideas or comments, please be sure to let me know, as this will be your last chance to do so. Please also remember that if you review anonymously, I have no way of replying to you, so if you ask a question or make a suggestion on anon, please don't be annoyed when I don't reply. I physically can't. THERE IS NO BUTTON TO REPLY WITH, GUYS.

Please let me know what you enjoyed or didn't enjoy about this chapter so that I know what you'd like more or less of in the next one.

I look forward to all of your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Rachael