AN: Okay guys, reading back it feels like the story is going too slow so after their initial arrival things will speed up after. Thank you for keeping up with me this far! I started my new job, but I will try to keep at least 2-3 updates a week. Thank you for understanding! Don't forget to favorite and follow along to not miss any updates.
-GoldenGatesGirl
I do NOT own Naruto, the series, or the characters.
This story contains mature content.
SAKURA'S POV
We arrived in the early morning hours Friday around 3 AM after making good time. We were dropped off via bus to walk the remaining distance to The Village Hidden in the Mountains. I climbed off the bus observing my surroundings the best I could with what light that was provided by the moon. There was rocky terrain and white capped mountains all around us. No wonder the bus couldn't continue any further, I thought, looking up at the steep icy peaks. A shiver racked through me as a strong gust of wind swept through the valley, we were all standing in. The bus pulled away and Shikamaru covered the team leads to discuss if we should make camp for the night or continue on. We all agreed we would set up a small area for a few hours until daybreak so we could see the terrain better. We informed the rest of our teammates of our decision, and all set out to find a more secluded spot with some ample coverage from the thick snow and wind. I spotted a rather large cave nestled at the bottom of the mountain and checked it out and Sasuke followed close behind me. There was plenty of room for all of us as the cave veered to the left opening to a larger cavern that would block the outdoor elements perfectly. I turned around to face him and he nodded, answering my unasked question. Before I could make my way out of the cave Sasuke glanced at me nervously as if his eyes were asking their own question. I knew what he was wanting, and I leaned forward placing my lips to his before I felt a slight smile tug at his lips, and he pulled away a second later much to my disappointment. After exchanging a longing knowing look, we then wandered back outside to inform the rest of the group. I found Naruto and Hinata first.
Naruto was sitting at the base of the tree looking up and Hinata was perched higher up in the tree with her Byakugan activated as she searched around keeping a watch for any signs of trouble. As she spotted us, she hopped down landing lightly on her feet by Naruto. "We found a cave about half a mile East. It should work for all of us until morning." Sasuke said pointing in the direction of the hidden cave. "Hell yeah, good job Sakura-Chan! Let's signal everyone so they can meet up." Naruto said in excitement before yawning loudly. Even though we all had 'rested' somewhat on the ride over we were all beyond exhausted and just overall ready to get some real sleep. In a real bed. Everyone made their way into the cave little by little after we gave the signal until we all had finally settled in. Sasuke used his signature Uchiha jutsu to start us a nice warm campfire. We all huddled around trying to get some warmth as everyone began talking excitedly about where this journey would take us all. We took turns exchanging stories about our different encounters we had while traveling in the past. As Temari was telling her account of her most recent travels I couldn't help but feel my eyes grow heavier and they started to droop. A moment later I felt Sasuke shift his weight closer towards me until his shoulder slightly rested against mine. I glanced up as he peered down, and our eyes met for a brief moment, and I could tell he was allowing me to use his body to support mine and to make myself more comfortable. I glanced around making sure no one was paying attention. I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable by our closeness in front of everyone so openly. I heard an annoyed huff come out of his mouth.
My eyes shot quickly back towards him as he positioned himself even closer to me, fully pressing his good shoulder into mine. A blush tinted my cheeks instantly and I finally rested my head on his broad shoulder letting my hair fall somewhat over my face covering my blush. I tried listening to everyone's stories for as long as I could manage while glancing around noticing a few more people starting to doze off already silently losing their own battle of staying awake. Leaning further into Sasuke's shoulder my eyes finally fell shut as the sound of quiet laughter and stories continued. I felt his warmth seep into my cold form and heat me to my core. I wonder if I will ever stop feeling like this around him. The last thing I remember before going fully under was Sasuke's sweet scent and the lull of his even breaths as he listened to the voices of the few still awake shinobi. I woke to a slight shake of my shoulder, and I cracked my eyes open slightly and caught the sight of Sasuke's only visible onyx eye looking back at me. I slowly grew more aware of my surroundings as I heard him call my name. "Sakura, it's time to wake up." He murmured quietly next to me. So quietly in fact that I doubt anyone around us could hear it. I leaned into him for a moment longer not wanting to move away from his body heat. I breathed his scent in once more, savoring it before leaning back and stretching. I felt his warmth move away from me to my dismay and I watched as he stood up stretching out his stiff limbs as a result of staying still all night before reaching his sole hand gently down to assist me up. I took it graciously with a small smile while stretching out as well. I looked around and A few people were starting to wake up and regain their senses after hearing people stir about. I looked towards the entrance of the cave and saw faint visible light starting to form outside. I sighed, still feeling exhausted and glanced back over to where Sasuke stood studying a scroll Kakashi had left with us.
His dark raven hair was slightly tousled, slightly messier than it normally sat. His eye that was visible had a hint of purple starting to form, proving to me further how little sleep he had actually been getting since we embarked on our mission. His mouth was drawn tight as his face looked serious while it studied the document in his hand. He sensed my eyes on him and his eyes shot over to me before he rolled up the scroll, putting it away and walking towards me once more. "Good morning, Sasuke-Kun" I said to him, my voice thick with sleep. He lightly brushed my hair away from my eyes in a fast movement before pulling his hand away. "Good morning." He murmured back with a small smirk. Everyone had awoken by this point and were ready to get going. Kiba put out the fire as the rest of us gathered our belongings and headed in the direction of the village. We all bounded through the trees effortlessly and avoided the snow-covered ground. The trees weren't much better but there was only a thin layer on most of them compared to the thick blanket that covered the earth below us. The sun was just rising above the horizon as we finally came into view of the gates of the place we were stationed to meet at. You could hear sighs of relief erupt from a few as we drew closer. Shikamaru pushed ahead to the front to meet up with the six men who stood close to what looked to be the entrance. We slowed our pace and walked the rest of the way to them. They eyed us cautiously before asking what our business was. "We are the leaf shinobi sent from The Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire. We were sent by our Hokage Lord Kakashi to assist in the establishment of your village." Shikamaru explained handing the scroll Kakashi had given to him to confirm his statement. The man standing towards the front reached up to grab the scroll before opening and examining its contents. After studying it for a few more moments he gave a nod to the other men, and they lowered their guard finally.
The men glanced around examining us and asking for our names. We rattled them off one by one. When it got to me, I spoke firmly but friendly. "Dr. Haruno Sakura." I said bowing my head to them. The guy who looked to be in charge smiled back after studying me carefully. "So, you are the amazing Kunoichi who is said to have surpassed the great Tsunade? No offense but someone as dainty as you it is hard to believe. But I can see the fire burning bright in your beautiful eyes and with that I know it must really be you. Not to mention the tales I have heard of the beautiful pink haired medic from the leaf. I think it's safe to say that it is most certainly you. It's very nice to meet you Ms. Haruno." He smirked with an arched eyebrow before taking a more animated face and turning to everyone. I felt Sasuke's presence tense at mine and the man's brief conversation. Not good. "It is so nice to meet all of you. My name is Yuri. I am the head of the Samurai ranks here in the Village Hidden in the Mountains. I am so thankful for all of you making the long journey to our humble village to assist in the bettering of it. I will be the one who will teach the select few of you our teachings here as Samurai and in exchange I am excited to learn your ways of being a Shinobi. I'm sure you all have had a very long and tiring journey, so I won't go into as many details at this moment. For now, I would like you guys to rest. We can pick up tomorrow morning. I will show you guys the way to your housing for the time you are here. Follow me" He finished gesturing for all of us to follow behind. I walked closely to Sasuke as I could still feel his noticeable irritation at Yuri's earlier comment towards me.
I couldn't blame him though, if someone had been so bold towards Sasuke-Kun I probably would have snapped. Looks like I thought too soon as I rolled my eyes in annoyance as the girls walked past all but drooled while checking him out. He didn't even glance at them in the slightest. I smiled to myself and felt his hand inch closer to mine. It had nervously brushed mine a few times already. I glanced down at it and backed up at him. He was still glaring off ahead and walking tensely by my side. I had taken into account that several other of our group members held hands tightly as they carried along the path Yuri had directed us towards. I took a deep breath finally making a decision while still looking ahead and gently grasped onto Sasuke's hand. He stiffened slightly before he started to relax and lightly wound his fingers in with mine. After a short moment his grasp grew firmer and more confident. Even with his motion I still couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or not with my choice of action. Maybe he just didn't want to hurt my feelings... I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. His shoulders were released from the tension they carried a few moments ago and his glare had mostly disappeared to what I could see, leaving him with a still ever-present guarded expression. I guess I could settle for that. I hummed to myself looking forward again, trying to examine the village. We passed a few scattered small buildings that looked newly built.
After about 10 minutes of walking through the quaint village we arrived at a dormitory-like building. It looked just as newly built as the rest with the faint smell of fresh lumber. Once we walked in the entrance of the building there was a foyer with an office located towards the left hallway. Yuri excused himself and a few minutes later returned with 3 sets of keys. Yuri then explained to us that each unit could house up to 5 people. Our group consisted of 14 so one room would only have four people instead of five like the other two. Yuri also informed us that extra sets of keys would be made and to make do with the ones we had so far. He let us know that at noon tomorrow we were to meet at the village square (their equivalent to the hokage tower I suppose) to discuss our individual assignments. Yuri then bade us a farewell before allowing us to discuss our living arrangements, glancing back at me with a hinting smile that did not go unnoticed by Sasuke. We decided to stick each original team to a unit with a few changes due to complaints. The arrangements would go as follows; Unit 1: Neji, TenTen, Rock Lee, Kiba, and Shino. Unit 2: Sai, Ino, Temari, Shikamaru, and Chouji. Unit 3: Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, and me. Everyone seemed content about the decided arrangements and Shikamaru handed each leader their unit key. We all dispersed and went to find and settle into our new home for the next 10 months.
Unit 1 was on the first floor located past the front foyer. We said our goodbyes as the first group broke off and we rounded up the stairs. On the second floor was unit 2 and Ino and Temari informed Hinata and I that they, along with TenTen, wanted to hang out later once we had unpacked and rested for a while. We both agreed happily, and we went our separate ways. Upon reaching the 3rd floor we were greeted by the white door of our housing unit. I placed the key in the lock and turned it open smoothly. We all piled in and looked around taking in our house. When you walked through the front door it opened to a small area and we all slipped our shoes off placing them neatly along the wall. We would need to get a rack eventually. I took a mental note of this, as we all set off to explore our new home. After walking past the front entrance, the room opened up to a pretty big living room fully furnished with white soft carpets and a large couch against the back wall and french doors opening to an outdoor balcony/patio area. I don't think I will be spending much time out there anytime soon, until it warms up. There were 2 additional loveseats on opposite sides of the room. A massive TV over a black fireplace and blank picture frames stacked on the mantle. I thought it was a bit strange that everything seemed so nice and well put together when we were supposed to be here on a mission helping them improve their community. By the looks of everything so far, they looked as though they were just as up to date as our village. I shrugged the thought off, pushing it to the back of my head to think over later and continued to look around.
When you went through the archway to the right of the main entrance you were in the dining area. There was a thick brown wooden table with 6 chairs seated around it. To the left past the dining area there was the kitchen. It had a beautiful white marble countertop and matching island in the middle with white wooden cabinets and a black double door fridge/freezer. This kitchen was absolutely stunning. I walked back towards the living room. It had a long wide hallway just past it that had 4 doors 2 along each side of the white walls spaced far apart. There were dark hardwood floors down the hall, in the kitchen, in the rooms, and in the dining room. The first door on the left was a good-sized bedroom with a window along the far wall. There were 2 full sized beds on either side of the room along with black dressers and matching bedside tables. The first door on the right side of the hall opened to a roomy bathroom with a white vanity/sink and a toilet. The second door on the left of the hall was an even bigger room with a king-sized bed in the middle of the back wall with a similar bed frame, dresser, and bedside tables to the previous room. A TV hung across from the bed mounted onto the wall. There was also a walk-in closet with sliding doors to the left and another door which opened to the right that brought you into another bathroom. This bathroom had a spa-like tub, double vanity, and shower. Man, what I would give to have one of these back at home. Everyone was in awe of the extreme amount of room and the extravagance in our new house. Except for me as it only seemed to stir up more concern about my previous thoughts that I had shoved aside earlier regarding our mission's authenticity.
The last room on the right opened to an identical room to the last one except this one had a massive window that overlooked the small city. The view was breathtaking. I gazed out the window for a moment getting lost in thought as I watched the snowflakes fall slowly to the ground and add to the already massive blanket that clung to the earth. It looked so peaceful, so calm. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Naruto's loudmouth. "Okay, I call dibs on the other room! I can NOT deal with that window when I am trying to sleep in." He laughed pointing at the window I had been staring at. Sasuke rolled his eyes before muttering something along the lines of lazy ass dobe. "I'm going to go unpack before I rest up for a bit. Hinata, are you coming with me?" Naruto asked as he started out the door glancing back over his shoulder to see if she was following. Hinata nodded her head yes with a blush creeping up on her face at the mention of their shared room as she followed him out nervously. I chuckled to myself thinking about how shy that girl still was around Naruto, even after all this time. I stopped when I realized the similarity with someone else that I knew. I turned to face Sasuke and noticed he too was enchanted by the view outside of the window as I had been moments ago. I smiled taking in my breathtaking view of him. He noticed after turning to return my gaze and his mouth twitched at the corners like he was fighting back a smile. "We should take Naruto's advice and unpack as well." I suggested not wanting to get sidetracked at the sight of him just yet and setting down my bags as I dug around fishing out the scrolls that had been sealing up my belongings. He nodded and began to do the same before he paused quickly, smirking to himself.
He grabbed his bag and began to walk to the door to leave. I stopped what I was doing and stared at him confused. "What are you doing, Sasuke-Kun? I thought we were unpacking?" I questioned the confusion written across my face. "I am." He smiled down at me. Wait, I thought we were going to room together... I didn't see why not. I felt my heart fall into my stomach and sadness etched into every one of my features as the disappointment washed over me like a great big wave. He walked towards me quickly, noticing the change in my face with his eyes softening. "I am staying here with you Sakura. I was just going to set up the extra room as a study for all of us. I am not leaving you. I promise." Sasuke said in a low honest tone, reaching for my hand and bringing it slowly to brush his lips over the back of it. I felt my sadness dissipate quickly at his words and the smile returned to my face once again realizing my mistake in judgment. I really need to quit overthinking things so quickly. Sasuke turned once more after I nodded that I understood and exited the room. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts before I started unsealing my belongings and putting it away accordingly. I filed my clothes away in the dresser leaving space for Sasuke and placed the others remaining articles of clothing into the massive walk-in closet. I brought my toiletries to the bathroom setting it up nicely and then added my personal touches such as books, picture frames, and alarm clock. By the time I had finished it looked like a more extravagant version of my room back home. I smiled at the slight sense of normalcy. I leaned back against the wall taking in my work as Sasuke walked in and glanced around before settling his gaze on me.
I walked over and sat down on the bed as he began his slight unpacking under my watchful gaze. His unpacking took far less time than mine and consisted of a much smaller amount of clothing and his toiletries before signaling he was done. I placed my dirty clothes into the hamper and Sasuke hesitated before putting his in with mine. I chuckled and began to lift the hamper with a yawn as I tried to take the basket to where I remembered seeing a washer and dryer. Sasuke stopped me, placing a hand over the hamper and forcing me to set it down as I eyed him confused. "Let's rest now. I am tired and we can wash up our clothes later." He commanded. I was extremely tired too and by the snores I heard coming from across the hall it seemed like Naruto had already thought of the idea before either of us had. I nodded and breathed okay as I hesitantly eyed him before stripping out of my clothes smirking at him as I pulled my newly gifted t-shirt on. I climbed into the giant bed and under the covers before curling into the middle of the bed. Sasuke did the same after stripping to his boxers. Before walking to the bed, he turned out the light with the window still illuminating the room slightly. I didn't mind it as Naruto stated that he had earlier. Sasuke then climbed under the covers as well and pulled me tightly to his chest. I welcomed the familiar warmth of his skin against mine and sighed contently into his grasp. My eyelids fluttered closed, and I heard his deep slow breathing in my ear informing me of how exhausted he must have been as well since he was already fast asleep. I ran my fingers along his firm toned chest thinking of our relationship. It had grown so much in such little time. I didn't mind it in the slightest, and I hope Sasuke didn't either. I soothed my own doubt with the reminder that he was never a man to do anything that he didn't want to do. I continued stroking his chest as I watched the peaceful view of the snow falling out our new bedroom window a little longer before my long-awaited sleep finally welcomed me.