Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I hope you received plenty of gifts from your Valentine. If not, here's a gift from me! I've got a romantic chapter for you all, along with a short, somewhat angsty one, just like the movie after this. Enjoy!
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The following day, the group continued to search the skies for any trace of Tonari or her puppets. Everyone rode on their hawks alone, except for Naruto and Sasuke, who sat together.
Everyone slowed down when they spotted an old, rusty city ahead. The ruins were a light, dusty beige, and the green vegetation around the houses provided a subtle accent. Hinata activated her Byakugan to look for any signs of living civilization.
"It seems abandoned," her soft, feminine voice pointed out.
"This town was built centuries ago," Shikmaru explained. "Let's split up and take a closer look!" He commanded.
Everyone landed their hawks in different areas. The ink in Naruto and Sasuke's hawk scattered everyone as they landed.
"These rocks must be too sharp for the ink, nah Sasuke?" Naruto concluded, looking to Sasuke for reassurance.
"As sharp as your hair was before you cut it!" he giggled. "I still can't believe you allowed someone to defile you so much as to cut your hair like that!" he continued teasing.
Naruto clicked his tongue in offense. "Whatever, teme. I've never seen a couple where both partners have beautiful hair. You can be the angel between the two of us, y'know," he said, crossing his arms, smirking, and nodding his head continuously.
"That's not true, loser. Way back when, I had this cousin with beautiful hair, and her boyfriend also had-" Sasuke paused momentarily, his cheeks turning a soft pink. "What do you mean by that, idiot?!"
Naruto flushed. "Uh, it was a joke!" He let out a forced, loud, obnoxious laugh while bending down to slap his knee for extra effect. "We're here dawdling while the others probably already got so much done! Let's get a move on already!" Naruto said nervously, quickening his pace as he jumped from the roof of the abandoned building they were standing on to the next.
"I didn't even know he knew what the word dawdling meant," Sasuke thought as he walked toward Naruto. "Stupid loser," he continued in his mind, completely lost in contemplation. "Distracting me with such romantic nonsense," he leaped from the building he was on to the next. "I wonder what he saw in that genjutsu dream-" He was jolted out of his thoughts when he collided with Naruto's solid back. "Tss," he muttered, rubbing his head.
"Oh, Sasuke, are you alright?" Naruto asked, reaching out his hand.
Sasuke quickly squabbled backward. "Yeah, I'm fine, loser! Just keep going—we have no time to waste on petty things like this. We have to complete this mission. People are in danger here, especially a handful of innocent villagers." Sasuke said as he continued down a staircase. They were in a hallway with two rectangular buildings on either side.
"Here, I'll go left, and you go right," Sasuke ordered firmly, pointing at the slightly smaller building for Naruto to enter. He stormed into his building, random noises escaping his mouth as he grunted and gritted his teeth in frustration. He hardly noticed his surroundings as he moved—lost in his flustered thoughts.
Both buildings featured unusual carvings on the walls resembling the shape and size of windows. Oddly, they fell short, preventing sunlight from entering except through the opening, which was missing a solid wooden door. Even more strangely, all these buildings were dusty with cuts in the wall. Naruto noticed a rusty kunai and picked it up to inspect it.
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"Was there a war here or something?" He wondered out loud.
"Gah!" Sasuke's masculine voice let out in horror. Naruto quickly rushed over to Sasuke's building, running down the old, dark stairs to see what the commotion was, scared that Tonari was back. He burst out in laughter when he saw Saske pulling spider webs out of his hair.
"It's just a stupid spider web," He reassured.
"You're usually so focused and notice the tiniest stuff, but you run right into a spider web? You're almost like a relatable demigod," Naruto unknowingly complimented, reaching out to pull the spider webs from Sasuke's dark hair.
Sasuke's face glowed red again. He let his hands rest on his sand-brown poncho while Naruto tended to his hair. A shaky breath of pleasurable, peaceful comfort escaped Sasuke's lips as Naruto's knuckles softly brushed against his face while moving through his hair. Naruto felt himself melting at the beautiful sound Sasuke made.
"As much as I'd love to play with your hair forever, we- we really should, y'know, continue looking around. We can't let the others do all of the, uhm, the work," Naruto suggested, trying to sound as confident as possible as he withdrew his hands from Sasuke's soft, dark locks. Sasuke could make his fold anywhere, anytime, in any situation.
Sasuke nodded, a soft sigh of approval escaping his lips as he did. He exited the building, with Naruto trailing closely behind. They ascended mysterious steps, passing ruins, vegetation, and scattered rocks. This place resembled a Roman village, and with Sasuke here, he thought it felt at least ten times more beautiful. Naruto fell deeper and deeper in love with Sasuke with every moment they shared.
"Even his behind is beautiful," Naruto smirked, looking ahead at Sasuke on the staircase.
"Did you say something?" Sasuke asked, peaking behind him.
"Oh, nothing," Naruto said, resting his hands above his head.
"Why are you smirking like that...?" Sasuke asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing, Sasuke-chan~" Naruto sang for the sake of banter.
Sasuke rolled his eyes in response, looking ahead.
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Naruto was panting and grasping his knees when he and Sasuke finally reached the top of the stairs.
"Jeez, how many stairs do these ancient alien ninjas need?" he complained between pants.
"You're out of stamina quick," Sasuke giggled.
"Yeah, we've been walking around for so long- OH MY YES!" He screamed when he saw a water fountain, startling Sasuke.
"Hmm, it looks like some sort of little spring is coming out of this rock," Sasuke said as Naruto dipped his entire head into the water.
Naruto shook the water out of his hair when he lifted his head. "Nice a refreshing!" He said with a chuckle.
He cupped his hands, dipped them in the water, and scooped some out. "Here, give it a try, Sasuke!"
Sasuke hesitated before leaning down to drink from Naruto's hands. His eyes widened as he gulped down all the water. "Wow, you're right! Maybe it's just a placebo-like effect, but this water tastes even more refreshing than usual."
"A ples-e-what?" Naruto questioned in confusion, closing his eyes and raising his eyebrows.
Sasuke rolled his eyes with a smile, finding Naruto's confusion endearing. "It's like when we believe something will make us feel better, our brain tricks us into feeling better even if it's not doing anything special," Sasuke explained as simply as he could. "I guess the water thing isn't exactly like that, though, right?"
Naruto nodded his head, the same confused expression on his face.
Sasuke giggled, taking off Naruto's headband. "Aw, it's all wet!" He laughed. He twisted the cloth of the headband to let the water out before pulling out his own from his bag. "There, now they're the same!" He gave the headband back to Naruto.
"You brought your headband with you?" Naruto asked as he placed his own back on his forehead.
"My headband? Yeah, I bring this everywhere." Sasuke said matter of factly, despite the smile of adoration on his face. "You carried it around with you everywhere you went, so I thought I would too," he explained, holding it to his heart. "Anyway!" he put the headband back in his bag. "We should keep going!"
Naruto nodded in agreement, his eyes sparkling. Sasuke was so different from his teen and even child self but somehow similar, which made his heart swell.
"Oh, by the way, Sasuke," Naruto started, trying to sound nonchalant. "Did you fix the scarf I gave you yet? You've had pretty bad luck with that thing, huh?"
"I've been trying," Sasuke replied. "I had to learn how from a book I borrowed from the library before we went on this mission, and I didn't bring it with me, but I have a pretty good memory. It'd be much easier if the scarf hadn't been torn all through by that rock, but I think I can fix it. It's not like I'm making it from scratch." He explained.
"You're so cool, Sasuke," Naruto complemented in awe.
Sasuke felt his cheeks heat up a little. "If we were kids, you wouldn't say that even at kunai-point," he said with a laugh.
"Good thing I'm not a dumb little kid anymore!" Naruto joked.
"I don't know~ You kinda' still are!" Sasuke bantered back.
"Nah, whatever Sasuke! I'm so grown now, believe it!" Naruto said, waving his hands around.
The two boys burst out laughing, continuing down a stone path. Even if they wouldn't admit it, they enjoyed being alone together.
