Chapter 11
Why was it so hard to sleep? Shanan knew she had to be up early tomorrow. She was being assigned to her team and meeting her new Sensei. Naruto was passed out like always. But Sasuke had promised to stay awake until she fell asleep.
"I promise we'll be ok. And it'll probably be awhile before you go on longer missions anyway," he tried to reassure her as he laid with one arm behind his head. His other hand was holding onto Shanan's.
Shanan was laying on the bed on her stomach with her head resting on one hand while her other hand held Sasuke's. "I've just never been away from you guys," she said with a slight quiver in her voice. She was really trying not to cry about it.
Sasuke wasn't used to Shanan being afraid of anything. She usually tried to be strong for them, but he was happy they could switch roles for once and that he got to be the brave one this time. "Once you're on your team you'll get closer to whoever you're with." The words stung as they left his lips. But he knew Konoha's kunoichi were outnumbered two to one. So she would no doubt be the only girl on her team.
"I'll try," she said as she yawned. She was tired, but she decided to give up on sleep. "Can I come sit by you?" she asked him.
He nodded as he sat up and moved to sit by his pillow.
Shanan slid off the bed and sat next to him. They sat in silence. But just sitting by him made her feel better. They were still holding hands and after a while, Shanan put her head on his shoulder. She debated in her head about whether or not she should first, but decided that she wanted to.
Sasuke felt a rush of heat move through his whole body. But he suddenly felt really important and grown up. And when she fell asleep almost immediately, he felt content and more in love than he had ever thought possible.
When Shanan woke up in the morning, she was still leaning on Sasuke and his arm was around her. She was surprised she'd fallen asleep and wondered when he had covered them up. She turned her eyes up to look at his face without moving so as not to wake him. He really was handsome. Here lately, she had to stop herself from feeling flustered around him. Sort of how she was feeling right now. His feelings towards her had always been obvious, but she couldn't make hers obvious too. They couldn't be... a couple. They were too young.
Sasuke opened his eyes and saw that Shanan was just a few inches away from his face. He thought that maybe she had started blushing before turning away immediately, but he wasn't sure. If he'd been able to use his Sharingan he would have seen it.
She sat up fast to hide the heat in her cheeks. She had to get ready anyway. Today was the big day. "Thank you for letting me sit with you, sorry I fell asleep on you," she said, although she knew it wasn't actually a problem.
Sasuke gave a shy half smile. "You're welcome, Shanan. Anytime," he added for good measure.
Naruto sat up suddenly and mumbled a few incoherent words loudly. He looked right at Sasuke, pointed and laid back down. Which sent Shanan and Sasuke into a laughing fit. He did things like that often. He was a really heavy sleeper.
Shanan felt so much better about the day after getting some rest. She had often wondered why she worried so much when everything always seemed to turn out ok. She finished getting ready and left for her last day at the Ninja Academy.