Keep Dreaming

Very Late Valentine's Side Story

"Where are we going now?!" I asked, tired.

"Somewhere," he waved me off. I groaned but followed him, reluctant to give in so easily. I did a little job to catch up and bumped into his back. I made a little 'argh' sound and stepped back, my cheeks pink. He turned around and frowned at me slightly. "We need to leap across trees."

I nodded, ready to propel myself to the nearest tree. Then realized the nearest tree was many feet down. "That's... Kind of a big drop..."

He nodded, "that's why you need to jump on my back, I can make the jump."

I nodded, looking at the view from the back of the Third Hokage's head. There was a small lake that would lead up to the Valley of The End here the First Hokage Hashirama battled Madara Uchiha. I jumped on Sasuke's back, wrapping my arms around him tightly and nodding for him to jump. He stood back, getting a running start and going to fly off the mountain.

He slipped.

We fell a little bit to the right, heading straight for the lake. I yelled and slipped into a diving formation, slipping into the cold water with ease. I resurfaced with a headful of blue hair in my face. Sasuke had surfaced and was a couple of feet away. I stole a glance at him, not being able to keep myself from laughing. His hair was a mess.

We started swimming back to the shore or the river. The water was cold for February. Once we got to the shore I found myself feeling similar to a Popsicle. He sat next to me and sighed, looking just as cold as me. "Well I messed up."

I laughed, "it's okay," I told him. He shook his head and stood up, offering his hand out to me. I took it and pulled myself up.

"We have an hour to kill," he said awkwardly.

An hour? I thought to myself but decided to let it stay there in my mind. We walked around for awhile, talking about our Jutsus. The sun had started its downward trek to the other side of the earth and the faint outline of the moon had risen now. Sasuke was now leading me back towards the entrance to the village. It was still a long walk to my home, through the market and past the little shops and down streets of homes.

I was tired from all the walking today and I new I'd sleep good tonight. "Are you tired?" Sasuke asked, his hands in his pockets. I nodded and, as if on cue, yawned. He chuckled gently and made no further attempt at conversation and all too soon we reached my home. It struck me funny at first how he walked up the steps and simply opened the door, as if it were his own home.

Then I heard the battle cry-like yells of "surprise!" and jumped back in confusion. I looked inside my house as the lights came on. All of my friends were there with balloons shaped like hearts and pink streamers around the living room. There were little scented candles that left the room smelling sweet and appealing. I felt my nose burn and tears spring to my eyes and I was filled with thankfulness. Sasuke was beside me, looking uncomfortable with the crowd of people. Then a thought came to mind. "Sasuke," I turned to him, smiling, "was your job to distract me?"

He nodded sheepishly and urged to me to go in, as it was getting chilly. I noticed the other team of ninja that were chunin and that were older than the rookie nine. "Neji, Lee, and Tenten," I greeted them with a smile. They returned the smile and asked me about my training. I told them I was doing good and preparing for the exams to become a chunin.

Neji almighty, as Sasuke liked to call him, rolled him eyes and I expected him to preach about fate. But he said nothing and they walked off, saying something about mingling. I was then bombarded by Ino and Sakura. They asked how Sasuke was, if we were getting along and if he was being nice. I think they acted like they cared but in reality wanted to know all of this and then pick at my answers to see if we were a thing. They weren't really concerned for me but I answered them all truthfully anyway. After they were done interrogating, I found myself facing Shikamaru.

I couldn't help but turn a little pink at how attractive he was, and how he was taking to me for once. "Konan," he let my name roll off his tongue, as if trying it out.

I tried to keep my cool, "Shikamaru Nara, what brings you here?"

He shrugged. "They told me to come," he answered casually.

"Oh," I couldn't help the disappointment seeping into my voice. He hadn't come on his free will. But then I wondered who had planned all of this. Shikamaru muttered something about meeting Tenten and I then found myself alone. Everyone was in pairs talking or in small groups of three or four. I sighed and sat on my couch. This was when I noticed not everyone was in pairs or groups, and this was when I thought I knew who had planned all of this. I felt someone at the other end of the couch and saw Nagato lying there asleep.

I wondered how he could sleep so easily with all the noise, but shoved the thought away as I curled up on the other end and drifted off to sleep. Today was a good valentines day.

I woke up the next morning on my couch. Everyone had left and the house was clean, thankfully. But I did notice a few notes on my table and sat up to read them, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

Konan,

You have a very nice house. Hope we can work together one day! -Team Guy

Sorry for sleeping. See you soon. -Nagato

Sorry we ate all your ice cream. -Ino and Sakura and Choji

I had a fun day even if it was ordered. Sorry for getting you wet though.. -Uchiha Sasuke

And I was perfectly happy that my ice cream for depressing singles was gone.