Sakura absent-mindedly wondered where they were going. They had been travelling for over four hours now, with no signs of slowing. Sasuke was in the lead, several paces ahead of her, zigzagging through the trees, first to the left, and then to the right, always in a westward direction. The territory they were going through was unfamiliar to her but thought they might be somewhere near the border of the Hot Springs and what used to be the Sound.
Suddenly, Sasuke slowed down and walked out of the tree line. Sakura was by his side a second later as they headed into one of the villages that had been evacuated prior to the start of the war. Sasuke didn't bother to look at her (or elaborate) when he simply said, "Supplies."
Sakura creased her brow in irritation. The first words he had spoken to her since they began, and that was it? She forced herself to shrug it off and follow Sasuke to the market area of the town, splitting up from there and looking for any non-perishable items left.
Townspeople, thieves, and looters had just about wiped the place clean, making Sakura question Sasuke's choice for a minute or two before she resigning herself to the fact that no matter where they went at this point, supplies would be just as hard to find because of the war.
She frowned at the tiny pile of two cans, a box, and three packages she had collected after nearly fifteen minutes of careful searching. Just as she was about to walk out of the little shop where she had found the box, a faint glimmer of reflected light caught her eye. She looked over to see a loose floorboard and something shiny underneath.
Setting down her previous finds, she pried the wood up to find three unopened cups of instant ramen and a small can of smoked oysters. Tossing the oysters in with the rest, Sakura examined the ramen now in her hands, a sad but reminiscent smile forming on her face, followed by a pool of tears in her eyes.
Not only did they remind her of a certain energetic blonde who was addicted to them, but it brought back the very last mission Team Seven had before Sasuke left…
Sakura violently shook off the nostalgic memory, adding the cups to the rest and picking up the corners of the cloth she was carrying them in, eager to leave.
The orange sun hung low in the sky, telling her that the sunset was near at hand, when she decided that it would make sense just to spend the night here. Then she wondered if that was what Sasuke had had in mind when he brought them here. Did he know about the village beforehand?
Walking back towards where they had split up, Sakura finally let herself think over the nagging doubts that she had been studiously trying to dismiss or ignore. Sasuke had somewhere in mind to go, that much was obvious, whether Madara's deal had anything to do with it. They certainly weren't headed to any of the fighting, and all Madara's bases she knew of were south or east of their current position.
What was Sasuke after? Surely after everything he had said and done so far, he was not really going to attack the alliance! Was he? Was that what he was really planning?
'No', she answered herself, shaking her head in the process. Sasuke was many things and had done many things, but he wouldn't, not anymore, not after what she had seen in him over the last two days.
'Although,'she started thinking, 'what do I really know about him? Have I ever really known that much about him, even as genin?"She frowned as the thought festered in her mind. The only reason she was here was because she was betting everything on Sasuke being the Sasuke she wanted him to be…
Would she be forced into a situation where she would have to choose between attacking a comrade or Sasuke? The thought made her sick.
She fought back, knowing that those thoughts would get her nowhere other than far away from Sasuke, and NOTHING was taking him from her now that she had him back!
'I want to run away. Running awaywould be infinitely better than him attacking the alliance or Konoha,' she shivered for a moment as the thought crossed her mind, and suddenly, the sound of them running away from everything was so appealing…
As much as she didn't want to start spinning her inner thirteen-year-old fantasies, Sakura betrayed herself by glimpsing herself and Sasuke like she used to: rainbows, blushing, little kisses, fancy kimonos and dancing, long walks while holding hands, or owning their own private island where no one would think to look for them snuggling every day on the beach as the sun set…
Sakura sighed heavily, the burden of her actions choosing this reprieve of happy thoughts to weigh in on her. She had assaulted a commanding officer, abandoned her comrades, disobeyed direct orders, conspired with the enemy (well, missing-nin anyway), and was currently aiding said missing-nin. She could almost feel Tsunade's eyes on her right now: angry, disappointed…
The eyes of her master were soon joined by Kakashi, Shizune, Sai, the rest of the 'Konoha Twelve' with their mentors, her civilian friends, her parents, every shinobi and villager of Konoha and the whole Alliance for that matter. The guilt began to press her down as she thought of each one, resulting in her distraction from her surroundings and eventual collision with something solid.
She barely registered Sasuke's presence while she rubbed her smarting forehead and glared fiercely at the offending light post. She sullenly trudged up to him and offered up her findings. She stared at her toes as she contemplated every possible thing Sasuke could be thinking of her, embarrassed to the point her ears turned red. It was a nice thing she realized, to have pink hair when you're trying to hide your red ears; it offered better camouflage.
"Pay attention; you'd be dead right now if that was an enemy. All he would have to do was hold out his weapon for you to walk into," Sasuke said in a monotone.
Sakura's nose twitched as she fought a sudden rush of indignant anger; how dare he say that! As if she would walk into an enemy's weapon. She would have sensed the enemy's chakra and beaten him before…
Sakura jerked her head up in surprise to catch the last traces of humor in his eyes and the upturned lips slide back into neutral.
Sasuke cracked a joke! Albeit in a slightly condescending way (not to mention it wasn't very good) but the Sasuke Uchiha cracked a joke!
"The world must be ending," she choked out, smiling dazedly, still in shock. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and looked away, apparently having reached his quota of humorous social interaction for his lifetime.
"Let's go," he said all business again, taking off at relaxed but measured pace.
Sakura stared after him for a minute before jogging to catch up. She started to think that any more of these little surprises would probably result in her untimely death. One's heart could only take so much in such a short amount of time.
They were halfway to the other side of town when Sasuke half-turned back toward her and wavered slightly as he seemed to debate some great decision. Then slowly, cautiously, almost nervously, Sasuke's right hand extended slowly towards her left and tentatively took the smaller appendage into his own larger one. Just as shyly, but without the usual shock, Sakura slowly weaved their fingers together and walked nearly an arms distance apart, close but not too close.
She squashed down the overwhelming (almost fan girlish) squeal that built-up in her throat and did her best to tone down the ear-splitting smile. When she worked up enough courage to look over at Sasuke's face, she found he had his eyes closed and his lips quirked into a microscopic smile.
Her heart pounded in her chest at the sight. It was worth it, everything was worth this moment, no matter the consequences. All her little doubts had been melted away, this was her Sasuke, and she trusted him.
He led them to a quaint inn, strategically within proximity of the woods and had a clear view of the entire surrounding village. They ate in a comfortable silence, and watched the sun set, each lost in their own pleasant thoughts.