Part 3 – To the Country
True to his word, at five in the morning, Sasuke was awoken by his father knocking on the door, "Sasuke," he called from the other side of the door, "Come on! It's time to get up! You're gonna miss your train!"
"Coming, dad," Sasuke said as he sat upright, walked over to his closet, and pull out what he was going to wear that day.
A pair of jeans, a long sleeve black shirt, and his heavy dark blue winter jacket.
When he opened the door, his father was standing there wearing his dress uniform, he wasn't kidding about needing to talk to his Station Commander.
"Great choice for today," Fugaku said, "You have your things?"
"Right here," Sasuke said as he held up his travel bag.
"Come on then," Fugaku said, "Your mother's waiting."
"I'll follow you," Sasuke said as he followed his father down the stairs.
As Sasuke came down the stairs, he saw Mikoto standing by the door with a scarf that was the same color as his jacket.
"You decided to see me off with a late Christmas gift," Sasuke asked.
"I heard about the weather, and went out last night," Mikoto said as she handed Sasuke the scarf, "I also got you this," she held out his ticket, "You should be in the perfect position to see the sunrise."
"Thanks, mom," Sasuke said as he hugged his mother.
"Of course," Mikoto said, "Now go on, it's a cold day, and I don't want you to be late."
"Thanks," Sasuke said as he sat down to put on his snow boots.
"I'll go warm up the car," Fugaku said as he stepped into his shoes, and walked out to his car.
"You bring your homework with you," Mikoto asked.
"It's in my bag," Sasuke said, "I'll take care of it while I'm in Konoha."
"Good," Mikoto said as Sasuke finished tying his boots, and stood up to leave, "Enjoy yourself."
"I'll try," Sasuke said, "See you later."
"Love you," Mikoto said.
"Love you too, mom," Sasuke said as he wrapped the scarf Mikoto gave him around his neck and walked outside.
As he got into the car, and his dad began driving, he spoke up, "Now here's the deal," he said, "You do have homework, and just because you're on a trip doesn't mean you get a free pass."
"I understand, dad," Sasuke said.
"Good," Fugaku said, "What exactly do you have?"
"I have some math homework, some biology," Sasuke said before pulling out his final page, "And my cooking teacher wants me to come up with a new recipe for a new years dessert."
"What are the specifics," Fugaku asked.
"On the math, the biology, or the cooking," Sasuke asked.
"Guess," Fugaku said.
"A couple of pages out of the book for math," Sasuke said, "My biology teacher wants me to make a diagram of the heart and write a paper on their function."
"What about the specifics for cooking," Fugaku asked.
"Nothing special," Sasuke said, "He says, however, that I can't use any winter flavors."
"So no yuzu, no strawberries, no kiwi," Fugaku said.
"Yep," Sasuke said, "And I can't make a cake."
"So what are you going to do," Fugaku asked.
"I don't know right now," Sasuke said, "I'm hoping I'll come up with something while I'm in Konoha."
"I hope you do," Fugaku said as the two of them pulled up to the station, and grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, "Have fun up there."
"I will," Sasuke said, "You take care of the house while I'm up there."
Fugaku chuckled, "I will," he said, "Now get out, and get on that train."
The train Sasuke was getting on, luckily was heated because it was extremely cold that morning. The train wasn't full that morning and had to go through the center of the city before it could get into the countryside.
A few people going between stations in the city did slow the train down a little bit, but once they stepped off, the train was pretty much completely empty, and could finally pick up speed.
Going from the city to the country was like going between two worlds: the plowed streets and the snow-covered roofs of the city soon gave way to snow-covered fields and trees that seem to sparkle when the sun reflected off them.
True to the word of his parents, going around the mountain that bordered the valley Konoha was located in, Sasuke looked up, and saw the sun rising between the two mountains that bordered the other side of the valley.
The sun reflecting off the snow on the mountains created a dazzling light show of bright yellow lights that reflected like golden rays off of the mountains, Sasuke had never been, but he swore this sight would give Las Vegas a run for its money. For some reason, Sasuke saw that beautiful light shining off the side of the mountains, it made him feel happy about going back.
Below the mountains, Sasuke could see the valley which seemed to spring to life as the sun passed over it, the various small cottages that surrounded the town's walls, and the snow-covered trees that made up the main pathway that approached the four pathways.
The train station was outside of Konoha so that if there was a derailment, the town wasn't damaged by the multi-ton vehicle going through someone's house.
Stepping out of the train, the first thing that popped into Sasuke's head was, "Grandma wasn't lying," and boy she wasn't, it was freezing, and the snow was very, very thick on the ground.
Stepping down from the station platform, and walking towards the town, the other thing that hit Sasuke was just how clean it smelled, no horrid exhaust from cars, no smell of factories, and how quiet it was, there were no horns, no rushing traffic.
He could see the gates of the town off in the distance, and nothing else at that point mattered.
One thing he wasn't expecting to see was someone walking toward him, it was a girl, a few inches shorter than him, she wore snow boots, grey pants, and a red coat.
As they got closer, and he saw the bubble-gum pink hair, he instantly recognized who it was, and he could tell she knew who it was that was approaching her.
"Sasuke," Sakura asked as she suddenly charged toward him, and hugged him, "You're back!"
"Hey, Sakura," he said as he, almost cautiously put his arm around her.
"What's wrong," Sakura asked as she pulled back.
"It's nothing," Sasuke said as he observed her, she had grown more beautiful.
"Could you not stare at me like that," Sakura asked, a slight blush coming over her cheeks, "It's embarrassing."
"Sorry, I can't help it," Sasuke said.
"Well, come on, your grandmother's waiting," Sakura said as she gestured for Sasuke to follow.
"Why am I not surprised she sent you," Sasuke asked.
"You shouldn't be," Sakura said as the two of them walked down the path to Konoha.
They didn't say anything as they walked down the path to the town, but as they passed through the gates to the town, Sasuke noticed the way the town had changed, it was slowly becoming a small city.
Most of the wooden buildings he grew up walking by were transitioning to concrete and brick, and there was a small amount of neon starting to appear on the sides of the building.
"Are you surprised by how much it's changed," Sakura asked.
"Yea," Sasuke said, "But it's still beautiful, and a whole lot better than back in Osaka."
"Better," Sakura asked.
"It smells and sounds a whole lot better for one thing," Sasuke said.
"What do you mean," Sakura asked.
"It's a city," Sasuke said, "You have more cars which means more pollution, you have factories that don't smell very nice, and you have a lot more people who tend to get angry when you bump into them."
They could see Sasuke's grandmother's house just down the street, "Well, we're about to be in one place where no one will be angry if you bump into them," Sakura said.
When they walked up, Sasuke reached up to ring the doorbell, but when he saw there wasn't one, he raised his hand toward the door to knock, remembering his grandmother didn't like doorbells.
As he rapped on the door twice, a sweet voice from the other side said, "Come in."
He slid the door open, and there in the doorway waiting for him was his grandmother, Kamibu Uchiha, "Well, well, if it isn't my little Sasuke," she said as she walked over to the edge of the entryway.
"Hi, grandma," Sasuke said as he walked up to hug her.
"Welcome back," she said as they pulled away, she then looked up at Sakura, "Sakura, dear, thanks so much for bringing Sasuke back for me."
"You know it was my pleasure, Grandma Uchiha," Sakura said.
"If you want," Kamibu said, "I could make us some hot chocolate."
"I'd like that," Sakura said as she entered behind Sasuke, and slid the door shut behind her.
As she removed her coat and scarf, Sasuke could see that puberty had been very kind to her, she wasn't a supermodel by any means, but she could have easily filled in for a J-pop idol (don't know if that's the correct way to use that term, so sorry if that comes off as a little stupid).
"Sasuke," Kamibu said, "It's rude to stare."
"Don't worry, Grandma Uchiha," Sakura said, "He can't help it."
"Don't tease me, please," Sasuke said.
"Don't blame her," Kamibu said, "She can't help it."
Sasuke and Sakura followed Kamibu into the living room where Sasuke was surprised to see that his grandmother hadn't gotten rid of the short-legged green cloth couch she had the last time he was there, but one of the things he noticed she got was a very unusual centerpiece on her table which he had never seen before. The centerpiece seemed to be a glass sculpture of the town's symbol that was flipped upside down with the flowers sticking out of the beak that would usually be on the lower-left side of the symbol.
"Please, sit down," Kamibu said.
"It's good to see you, Sasuke," Sakura said as she sat across the table from him.
"And you as well," Sasuke said, "I have to say it was a surprise to see you."
"Really," Sakura asked, "You thought someone else would come to get you from the station?"
"I assumed she would either send you or our favorite knucklehead," Sasuke said.
"Naruto," Sakura asked.
"Yes," Sasuke said, "How is he doing by the way?"
"He's doing good," Sakura said, "He started working at the mayor's office."
"Mayor's office," Sasuke asked, "He hasn't given up on his dream hasn't he?"
"To become the next mayor of the town," Sakura asked, "Never. His father was his biggest inspiration."
"Whose mayor now," Sasuke asked, "I haven't kept up with politics in this town."
"You remember Tsunade," Sakura asked.
"Doctor Tsunade," Sasuke asked, "The lady that used to come to the school to give us lectures about our medical health?"
"Well as it turns out, she was the president of Konoha's hospital," Sakura said, "She ran against a local lawyer, and won by a landslide victory."
"Really," Sasuke asked.
"Yea," Sakura said, "After Naruto's father endorsed her, her poling numbers shot up, and that's what ultimately boosted her to victory."
"What about Hinata," Sasuke asked.
"She's doing pretty well," Sakura said, "She's set to end the school year at the top of our class."
"Really," Sasuke asked, "I always assumed you'd end up the head of the class."
"Not this year," Sakura said, "She somehow came out of nowhere, and somehow passed me by two whole points."
"Well, you have time to pass her back up," Sasuke said, "I wouldn't give up hope."
"I haven't," Sakura said, "What about you? How close are you to being head of your class over in Osaka?"
"Very," Sasuke said, "Still trailing Itachi."
I honestly don't know where else to go with this, so I'm gonna end it here, and for those of you that watched the video that this fanfic is based on, I know there's no kitten, or any almost mouth-to-mouth, but we'll get to the latter, your patience will be rewarded…