Close to heart.. far from arms...| Sasusaku

2. Land of flowers- Part I

The incident in the land of waves brought substantial changes to Sasuke's life. Not only did the raven awaken his family's bloodline trait — the Sharingan — as he jumped before Naruto to shield him from Haku, the ice-style user's attacks, almost reaching the brink of death, he also noticed the abrupt surge driving within the dead-last of the academy, Uzumaki Naruto, who had no signs of the battle injuries whatsoever. Though, the mission was a success, as Haku was killed by Kakashi's stab when he suddenly appeared to shield Zabuza from the attack, and Zabuza himself died of the battle injuries with Kakashi and Gato's men, as far as Sasuke knew.

Except for the Sharingan — for which he was really glad — two things heaved on Sasuke's mind. How and why his body suddenly moved to protect Naruto from the attack, and the immense satisfaction he felt after seeing him safe, was a mystery. For a moment there, he forgot everything about his revenge, his ultimate goal and only cared about his comrades even revealing his true goal to Naruto; and the feeling in his heart when he woke up to find Sakura weeping over him, and that he was glad he could see her again, as if he was reunited with his family, weighed on his mind. He didn't understand any of the feelings that recently developed inside him. Why did he want to save Naruto, and why was he happy to see Sakura crying for him? Although the feelings did create a warm sensation inside him, they irritated him as well. He was walking the path away from revenge and hatred and abandoning the responsibility he overtook when his clan was murdered. Feelings of friendship for Naruto and his overprotective nature for Sakura were not really the things he wished for, or they lied dormant deep within him.

He walked with his hands inside the pocket of his loose white shorts with his body tilting towards the back, eyes unwavering from the village gate which made him look like he was checking them out with genuine interest, when he was actually lost in his thoughts. He was the first one to reach today, as he got up earlier than planned and headed out for some extra training. The raven leaned against the gates of the village, closing his eyes in thought, face twitching as if he were frowning. The commotion in his mind about the newly developed feelings distracted him and he didn't want to mess up another mission, however lame it may be. His goal of defeating Itachi was his supreme duty; friendship and the rest could be fulfilled after that. He was sure that after achieving his goal, he would come back to his comrades — friends — and build a family, restore his clan. The restoration of his clan was a matter he would have to take care of when he would become an adult. Whenever he tried to picture this future of his, a heart-warming image came into his mind, like his previous family. He could picture them, Kakashi and Naruto as his friends. As for his wife, the only image that came to his mind was of a pinkette he barely paid attention to in the present.

He used to brush off the thought when it reached that point, not wanting to picture the rest of it and get distracted.

From the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the aforementioned pinkette and the blonde bickering with each other, and the sight made his cheeks flush. He turned away and hid his face until his heart calmed down, again accommodating his face with the brooding expression.

Three hours went by waiting for Kakashi, and though basking in the winter sun wasn't much unpleasant, it was still a waste of time he could have devoted to training. As usual, Sakura was the first to notice the slightest change in Sasuke's behaviour, which she suspected to be something more than Kakashi not showing up.

"Sasuke, is something wrong?"

The raven glanced at her and saw her standing beside Naruto, who squinted his eyes at him, his whiskers jerking as he made a face.

How the hell did he even get them?

"Yeah," Naruto began, as if reaching a conclusion to a detailed observation, "you have a little bedhead too. Hey hey, you were up to something dirty all night, right? You closet pervert." He snickered at his own dirty mockery, causing Sasuke's face to form an even deeper scowl.