-Sakura's POV-

I suppose I should've considered us lucky that we'd been able to travel by vehicle at all, but it was hard to keep my thoughts positive as we trekked on foot for the second day in a row. It was almost nighttime and if we keep this pace when we wake up in the morning, we'll reach Hinata around mid-day.

Naruto's irritable personality from before had finally disappeared, allowing him to revert to his usual friendly self. It was unspoken, but all of us were relieved. I know I personally was worried he'd never be the same. Things had gotten bad for him over the past two months and there wasn't anything any of us could say or do to help. Only Hinata could cheer him up and she finally did.

When we were all captured during the final trial, I was surprised by how strong his loyalty to our Hyuuga friend was, but now that I'd had time to think about it I realized he was sort of like that during the last half of The Program as well. I think he may have forced himself to tone it down so he wouldn't make her uncomfortable.

Now, my worry was transferred over to my introverted friend whom we were on the way to rescue. Every morning after we first set out, he'd wake up a walking ball of anxiety because our separated friend was slowly starving to death.

That was until two days ago when he woke up with a big grin and tackled Kiba, who happened to be the closest to him at the time, into a tight hug as he informed us all that the Hyuuga girl had somehow broken out of her room and found food. After that, our mission turned into a retrieval one instead of a race against the clock.

Was she really okay, though? From how Naruto described it, she, too, had been in solitary confinement this whole time. Even I was affected by that, but she was already a timid and anxious person before all this. She proved time and time again during The Program that she was stronger than any of us thought, so I just had to convince myself that was the case this time around, too.

The only sounds were our footsteps on the pavement and the wind blowing as we traveled. Otogakure was just a few miles away now. Even if our maps didn't show that, the dreary clouds in the sky proved it. My elementary school once took a field trip to Oto because they have a giant children's museum and the weather was exactly like this the whole time. That's why it was often referred to as "The Land of Rain".

Oto was in a similar state to what Konoha was when we left it, which only concerned us all further. The explosions and abandoned towns were terrifying enough, but after our encounter with that strange orange-haired man none of us knew what to think.

Naruto told us that he read a book in school where aliens would take over human bodies via entry at the back of the neck and that Hinata told him Madara teaches a class about aliens and believes they're real which is why he did what he did. All of us were more surprised that he'd actually read a book than anything else.

After experiencing the odd M.A.T. technology, realizing Naruto could somehow communicate with Hinata, and witnessing the odd experiments Orochimaru had forced on us: Why wouldn't aliens be real? It was kind of exhausting, all the traumatic things happening to our group of misfits. Of course there'd be aliens added to the mix. Why wouldn't there be?

Rather than set up tents and risk being caught in freezing rain, we traveled a bit later into the night until we reached the outskirts of town and found an abandoned house. Since they were all empty anyway, we chose the biggest, fanciest one we could find.

Once indoors at the miniature mansion, we realized the electricity and water were somehow still working and took advantage of the opportunity to bathe while we had a chance.

Neji and Kankuro found the generator in the basement and confirmed it was what the house was running off of, but they couldn't figure out how much juice it had left in it so we agreed to swallow our pride and bathe in pairs in an attempt to ensure everyone gets a chance before the hot water ran out.

Naturally, Ino and I paired up. It wasn't really that awkward because we've been friends since we were toddlers and bathed together back then. We just had boobs now. Well…she had boobs.

"Damn, it feels like it's been forever since I've had a hot bath!"

She was right. Both The Program and the asylum only had standing showers. I pouted as I averted my eyes from her voluptuous curves and silently scrubbed my hair with the expensive shampoo we found in the cabinet.

My blond friend washed her hair as well, smiling to herself with her blue eyes closed, "Do you think Sai and I will ever live in a nice house like this?"

I looked over at her in disbelief, "Have you already decided you're gonna marry him, you lunatic?"

She glanced over at me and her grin widened as she shrugged, "Why not? He's hot, he thinks I'm hot, and we get along great."

My face warmed at her bold claims and I shook my head at her, "So are guys like, together or something?"

She cackled loudly, more akin to her personality before The Program, "I mean, we're not official or anything but we've fooled around a little. What's he gonna do? Cheat on me with Matsuri?"

I cocked my head and nodded. That was a fair point. At least for now, it's unlikely another girl would come along and steal his attention.

"By the way, on the topic of Matsuri, can you believe how brave that girl is? Cuddling…with Gaara!" Ino's voice was much softer because she didn't want anyone outside the bathroom to hear.

I grit my teeth momentarily. The redheaded boy was the person who scared me the most out of everyone here. That probably stemmed from the fact that he beat the living hell out of me the day my sister was killed and never apologized. That being said, as someone who's taken classes on mental health, it's obvious something traumatic happened to him in the past that made him act the way he does. I just don't know what it was or how to figure that out.

Instead of talking down on him, even though it would be understandable for me of all people to do so, I closed my eyes as I leaned back to rinse my hair of suds, "He's a human being, Ino, not some monster. I think she's a really good person for trying so hard to make sure he's cared for. He would've froze to death by now if she wasn't."

After being treated like a caged bird in that damned cell for two entire months, I've developed an odd sense of kinship with those who've been misunderstood like him.

My best friend frowned with a look of guilt, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry. I just can't help but hold a grudge after what he did to you."

I shook my head, massaging some conditioner into my long hair now, "As far as I'm concerned, that's ancient history."

She sighed, "Fine. If you forgive him, then I will too."

My lips turned up into a grateful smile and her face warmed slightly as she splashed some water at me, "Don't look at me like that when we're naked, you creep!" A laugh shook my shoulders and I splashed her back.

After bathing, we raided the kitchen and realized they had a gas stove, meaning it was possible to cook an honest to goodness meal without using any precious electricity. Usually, a gas stove would use electricity to ignite, but if you have matches you don't technically need it.

After thawing the meat in the freezer and verifying it wasn't spoiled, Ino and I went to work. Neither of us could say we're any better or worse at cooking than the next person, but a home cooked meal was a home cooked meal and that was something none of us have had in months, minus maybe Shikamaru.

Whoever owned this house was pretty well off because their freezer was chock full of high end steaks and frozen vegetables. Kiba eventually wandered into the kitchen as we were chopping some peppers and a wolfish grin spread across his face as he spoke in a teasing voice, "Are you guys cooking for us? You'd make such good moms."

My face warmed with annoyance, "Don't be a weirdo."

He laughed before motioning to the meat laid out on the counter, "Can I help? My dad owns a restaurant so I promise not to be useless." Ino and I glanced at one another before shrugging and he casually joined us.

There was so much to work with that we ended up preparing a feast. We made pasta, steaks, stir-fry, and a few other dishes that were possible to prepare on the stove-top. It's not like the owners were going to come back before all those ingredients went bad anyway, so we didn't feel that guilty about using them. After setting the large dining table, we called everyone downstairs. A couple others had come down to inspect the smells wafting up from the kitchen, but we'd turned them away so the room wouldn't get overcrowded.

Finally, just before midnight, we sat down for a super late dinner like some kind of rag-tag family. It felt almost normal to eat and laugh with everyone, like we weren't in a stranger's home in the middle of an abandoned city.

Would this have ever happened if The Program hadn't existed though? Most of these people have squeezed their way into my heart so firmly that I'd be heartbroken to never see them again. Would I have met Hinata, Naruto, or even Sasuke out in the world at some point? The thought was bittersweet.

Even if we didn't need to, everyone split into small groups to share beds after dinner. There were enough sofas and lounge chairs in the large home for everyone to sleep alone and the furnace was still keeping the place warm so it wasn't like we needed to use one another's body heat like usual either.

Regardless, I was stuck in bed with Ino and the Uchiha brothers.

My best friend and her boyfriend, if you could consider him that since they haven't actually put a label on it, were cuddled up all cute in the center of the bed, making me want to be sick at their unfiltered affection. That left me on Ino's other side and Sasuke beside his brother. The bed was big enough that it wasn't actually all that cramped for the four of us to be sharing.

I lay on my back and zoned out with my eyes on the ceiling. The silky robe I was borrowing while my clothes hung to dry felt so nice against my freshly washed skin, but for some reason all of it made me restless.

This type of "normal" stuff likely won't happen again, for me at least. Even if this alien-invasion, or whatever it is, ends and society rebuilds, things have happened that I simply wouldn't be able to ignore.

I killed a man.

I thoughtlessly attacked Hidan the moment I was released from my cell even though he was there to free me.

The amount of violence my body had unconsciously started reverting to scared me. None of this was who I am. Fighting and using weapons has never been something I wanted to get involved in. In fact, I've always avoided those types of things.

The image of that soldier's dead body on the ground and his blood on my hands suddenly came to mind. My heartbeat quickened and my body was rushing out of the room and towards the bathroom down the hall before I could even realize I was about to be sick. I didn't even bother turning the lights on and emptied my stomach of the food I'd eaten at dinner, flushing the toilet when I was finished.

My hands shook as I pushed my hair out of my face so I could rinse my mouth out in the sink. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and hardly recognized myself. My eyes were dark with bags underneath and my lips were set in what looked like a permanent grimace. My hair was overgrown, falling all the way down to the middle of my back.

With tears in my eyes, I searched the cabinet until I found what I was looking for: a pair of scissors. I stared down at the sharp hair-clippers for a moment as I mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do. After taking a deep breath, I put my fingers in the handles and pointed the scissors toward me.

Just as I moved my hand and snipped a thick strand of my hair, a strong hand grasped my wrist and yanked the tool away. They clattered loudly onto the bathroom counter as I lost my grip.

My eyes widened when I turned to see Sasuke glaring angrily down at me. His grip on my wrists was tight and I couldn't tear free of it. "What the hell are you doing?"

I jumped slightly in surprise. Being spoken to by him directly was incredibly rare. Nervous tears welled back up in my eyes and I shakily looked between him and the scissors, "Cutting my hair. It's too long."

The anger in his glare lessoned slightly as his gaze danced down to the strands of hair that'd fallen to the floor at my feet before releasing me and taking a step back. Looking back at the scissors, I realized what he thought I was about to do and felt extremely stupid. The Uchiha boy gave me one more annoyed look before leaving the room without another word.

Embarrassed, I picked the scissors back up and finished what I'd started. When I was done, my long hair was chopped to shoulder length and it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The reflection in the mirror didn't completely reflect who I was, but it was much closer than before.