He sighed, "Come on." He led her by the arm, "They might have planted a bomb in my house so we can't go back there. It'll probably explode sometime tonight."

As they walked, the only noise that broke the silence was the numbing sound of leaves crunching under their feet. The rain had lightened up even more, but their clothes were already soaked through.

After what seemed like a mile walk, they eventually reached a cabin of sorts. The moonlight was weak so Sakura couldn't see. Sasuke turned the knob on the door, which wasn't locked. Sakura followed.

He reached over to the upper right and removed something from its hook. A few squeaking hinge noises later, he told Sakura to stand back.

He lit the candle with a jutsu and hung the lantern back on its hook.

Sakura looked around at the surroundings. It was a modest place to say the least. There was wooden table that looked like it was on its last legs, some straw on the ground, and a fireplace, which Sasuke proceeded to light as well.

She stood uncomfortably idle as he knelt down to the floor and pulled up a latch. In a hole in the ground were a few blankets and pillows that he tossed out.

"You can change out of those wet clothes if you want." He only glanced at her as he said those words, throwing her one of the many blankets. Then he looked away and busied himself setting up their sleeping area.

Sakura caught it. She noticed a few things now. Sasuke wasn't wearing much- just a long sleeved shirt and some sweats with a holster for kunai. He probably slept with his weapons and getting ready to go to sleep when the attack began. She, on the other hand, was still ridiculously overdressed in the ANBU uniform.

She hugged the blankets he had thrown her way. They felt thick and soft. She could imagine them being warm.

Sakura blushed slightly as she began removing her peripheral ANBU armor and setting it on the rickety table. When she got to the actual clothing portion, she hesitated.

She looked at Sasuke, who had his back turned to her the entire time, still fussing with the bedding.

She was about to open her mouth to say something, but he beat her to it, "Go ahead, I'm not going to look."

Sakura swallowed and removed the rest of her soaked clothing. Then she hurriedly tied the blanket tightly under her arms.

"Okay..." she said softly, tucking her hair around her ear nervously. She sat on the edge of the bench of the table, carefully making sure the blanket covered her legs.

Sasuke started removing his clothes, too, with his back turned to her. He was quick, tossing the garments to the side.

He's definitely not as shy as I am... Sakura noted. She caught herself staring and then turned her head away hurriedly.

He left his boxers on and threw a blanket over his shoulders. He finished setting up the blankets and pillows next to the fire.

Sasuke sat on his mat with his knees up and hands supporting his body behind his back, and studied Sakura on the bench for a moment.

"You going to sleep? It's late, and you have a big day tomorrow."

Sakura drew a blank. "What am I doing tomorrow?"

"Going home."

Home.

"Uh, okay." Sakura stood up carefully, again making sure nothing that was covering her accidentally opened or slipped. She shuffled slowly to the empty space next to Sasuke's, which was closer to the fire.

He started snuggling into the covers. He moved onto his side, his face facing Sakura's mat and the fire, and closed his eyes before she sat down.

Sakura, with one hand over her chest and one on her lower stomach, knelt down and tried to nudge herself into the covers as best she could.

She turned herself to face Sasuke, really studying him for the first time. There were features she recognized- the shape of the eyes, the way his hair fell, and his stern mouth. But his cheeks were thinner now, his jaw more pronounced. His voice was a deeper, but not by much. It still had that crazy ring to it. It was a voice that sat on border of sanity- and drove her to the border of sanity as well.

She found herself wanting to trace the lines on his face.

"Sasuke-kun!!! It's not an illusion this time, is it?" An image of young Sasuke's body penetrated by Haku's flying needles overtook her mind. She remembered the pain of the loss. It had felt like her stomach had been ripped out and thrown against the ground.

Sakura shook the memory out of her head. No, this wasn't that Sasuke. This Sasuke, she reminded herself, was the S-class criminal. A man who could murder and pillage without a conscience. Suddenly Sakura felt she ought to be more careful.

What am I doing with him?

Sakura turned on her back and stared at the ceiling. She tried to summon more fear about her current situation, but couldn't. Truth was, if he had wanted to kill her, he would have done so already.

After all these years, she still trusted him.

"Sasuke," she said, "are you sleeping?"

His eyes remained closed, "What is it?"

Pause.

"If you want to reminisce about old times, I'm not playing that game."

She turned on her side again to face him.

"I..." It was easier to say when his eyes couldn't see her.

"I missed you." Sakura looked away.