Escape [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 40: His Answer

We ceased the jocular activity when we ran out of ideas to further embarrass each other's characters. After a quick moment of smiling warmly at the engraved drawing (I was the only one smiling at it while Sasuke just simply stared at it), we headed back to the village using the same way we used to reach here. This time, Sasuke carried me in his arms throughout the entire journey until we arrived at the village.

***

The next thing I knew, the two of us were seated on a stone bench and took a load off our feet. This bench was situated in a large pathway that leads to the center of the village. Another thing that I noticed about this route was that it was visibly unoccupied. No one was seen here. This discovery led us to rest here for a while, intending to recover some of our energies before we could proceed to the crowded town.

Plus, no one would find us here. I did not want my teammates and my other Konoha friends see us spending time together and spread the news that we are dating. I bet Sasuke did not want that to happen, too. It will annoy him a lot, especially when he already has two annoying teammates by his side.

The ravenette had taken the seat on my right side, giving me more view of his bandaged left arm.

"Does it still hurt?" I queried out of the blue, breaking the thick yet comfortable silence that had transpired since we sat down on the bench.

"Huh?" Sasuke threw a confused look at my direction.

I sent a glance at his left arm, signifying that I was talking about that particular body part. I clarified, "I realize that you start to bandage your left arm ever since the final exam started. You never bandaged your arm before. So I assume that your new technique Chidori is the one that caused that, am I right?"

The Uchiha raised his arm up to the front of his face and scrutinized the bandaged limb for a little while before he elucidated, "That's correct. To perform Chidori, one must first gather lightning to their hand. The lightning chakra can damage one's hand, peeling the skin and causing it to smolder slightly, but it's not really debilitating, so it will be fine."

I arched an eyebrow at him, giving him the 'are-you-serious' look and said, "It will be fine? Geez, you always take something like this so lightly. You should take stuff like this more seriously from now on. What if that technique gets out of control? It could severely damage your entire arm and you won't be able to use-"

"I can still use my left arm, so stop worrying about me already," he cut me off, moving his fingers and his left arm as though trying to convince me that he was all but injured.

I heaved out a sigh, finding no more reason for me to rant about his reckless behavior. I then cast my gaze to his bandaged limb. His arm looks so strong and firm. The white bandage may have managed to fully cover his skin, but it still failed to hide the bulging muscle he has attained throughout his vigorous training. Unlike his arm, mine looks so tiny and fragile. I wonder...

I blurted out, "Can I touch your arm?"

A bemused expression emerged on his face as soon as he heard that, but then it vanished as quickly as it appeared. He said, "I'm not going to send a Chidori at you, so go ahead."

I rolled my eyes, "Pfft. If you do launch your Chidori at me, I will shoot an arrow to your eye."

He extended his left arm out to me, offering me the chance to touch it. The back of his hand was laid on the clear spot in between us. I moved my right hand closer to his arm; a small part of my sanity in the back of my head was asking me if it's alright for me to do this.

However, that hesitating thought flew away from my head upon feeling the rough texture of the bandage that veiled his entire arm. I began concentrating on the feel of his strong arm. My fingers pressed softly against the thin layer of the bandage, trying to feel the concealed skin beneath it. While doing that, I could easily feel the hard muscle through the bandage. Just as I thought... his arm really is stronger and firmer than mine...