Haruto, Satsuki growled, was not the only one distracted by earlier events to fall asleep. She couldn't sleep either. She sighed softly, almost inaudibly, glancing up at the ceiling, weathered with age; the paint was peeling off. This place was old and smelly, different from the Uchiha Compound but it was nevertheless, more pleasant.
The heartbeats and soft breathing, and even snores, around her told her that she wasn't alone and that tonight, no nightmares would dare to knock on her door. For the first time ever since the Massacre, she allowed herself to completely relax; back then, she'd never been allowed to take part in sleepovers that Sakura and Ino—and sometimes, Hinata or some other female classmate—organized even though she sorely wanted to, heck, she couldn't even go to parties.
Her family said it was unlike an Uchiha to take part in those nonsensical events; it was what set them apart, what made them higher than the rest. She sometimes doubted what they said but missing out on parties wasn't so bad when he was still there; he would always allow her to sleep with him, or play with him whenever she missed out on a party, he knew she was upset that she hadn't been able to go.
So all in all, her childhood before the Massacre was okay. Before the Massacre, her mind reminded her sullenly. She scowled, turning in the bed, rustling the bed-sheets but the snores coming from the Inuzuka and Akimichi smothered the sound. She wasn't annoyed, she was used to people snoring; Shisui-nii snored too, whenever he crashed at their home (because he burned his house down in a failed attempt at cooking; his terrible cooking skills must've been inherited from their shared ancestor), and though her dad denied it to save his dignity, she knew he snored too.
Snoring, why on earth was she thinking about what people's sleeping habits?
She knew the answer the moment her fingertips touched her lips. She scowled, she was thinking about other things—regardless of how ridiculous and mundane it was—to get her find of the totally accidental kiss. Yeah, right, her mind taunted, always enjoying playing tricks on her making her doubt herself. You didn't even push him away when he tried that.
She was just shocked, that's all. It was the sole reason why she didn't react so soon. Satsuki sighed, knowing that she couldn't possibly fool herself any longer. She propped herself on her elbows, staring at the satin curtain that separated the boys from the girls. For the lack of anything better to do, she studied the bunk specially prepared for the Konoha genins. She'd seen it in the daylight but in the darkness, it didn't look as old or ugly anymore, just mysterious and dark.
All together, there were six bunk beds, plain yellowed-with-age sheets and wooden furniture. A simple room. But Kabuto and his team were not here. Her fists clenched when she remembered the silver-haired traitor, they'd already informed Iruka-sensei but the man had told them to wait for it. She wondered what they were going to do.
Rustling sounds, and Satsuki could see the silhouette of one of the boys swinging his legs off the bunk and landing on the ground soundlessly. The spiky hair and lack of a dog told her it was Haruto; she stiffened when he made his way to the girls's side and parted the curtain. He lifted his hand in a wave, grinning slightly at her. Satsuki stiffened even more, scowling and glancing down when she saw Haruto's vine plant latched onto her wrist, writing something.
Wanna spar?
Pursing her lips, she nodded and slid off her bed as silent as he was, grabbing her pouch of weapons and strapping it to her thigh. Unlike the other girls, she didn't change into her sleeping clothes, the reason was simply because she didn't bring any extra clothes; though the girls offered, she declined. She was very much comfortable in her turtleneck blue shirt (her clan symbol emblazoned on her back) and white skirt (of course she wore underpants down there!).
Come on, Haruto gesture wildly, excited as he tiptoed out the door and left it ajar for her to follow. Satsuki closed it as silently as possible, it would be trouble if anyone of them wake up now and started asking questions she had no answer for (like: what she felt for Haruto? What is their relationship?).
The tower was surrounded by the Forest of Death, they could train in there but then they could just train in the clearing behind the tower.
"Forest," said Haruto simply when she looked questioningly at him. She gave a non-committal, content with his choice; she could also use the chance to get to know the Mokuton abilities better.
Crossing her arms, she followed behind him but he slowed down enough so that the distance between them was closed. Then, abruptly, his hand slipped into hers and tugged her forward till she was walking side-by-side with him. Her cheeks heated up a little and there were butterflies fluttering about in her stomach; she squashed it down ruthlessly. She wondered if this was considered a—"This is like a date, isn't it?" Haruto winked at her, taking the words right out of her mouth. Her bangs were covering her face and the darkness shrouding them managed to shield the wry smile on her lips.
"A spar, don't flatter yourself," she corrected with no venom in her voice, sneering ever so slightly, finding the irrational urge to smile again but she pushed it back. She was finally going crazy, after all these years, she supposed, it certainly had nothing to do with the boy who was far too close beside her.
They walked in silence, their feet crunching the grasses and branches, but it staved away the eerie silence of the—and helped them ignore the screams coming from the Forest of Death where the genins were still trying to pass the Second phase.
"Hey, Satchan—" Said girl twitched at how the other shortened her name, like they were the best of friends or something; in some way, she supposed the answer was yes, after all, he was her only friend and the only one she could tolerate without wanting to throttle— "what happened earlier, er, the cause of Hinata-chan's unconsciousness, you're not mad right?"
What's there to be mad about when it feels good? Naturally, she did not voice her thoughts; she settled for grunting ("Hn.") and remaining silent though she did twitch a little when Haruto referred to the Hyuuga with such a close suffix.
Haruto tilted his head to the side in thought, still looking at her and though he couldn't see her, he thought she was in a pleasant mood; it was enough to lift his spirits—not that he was depressed or anything. "Did you like it?" he asked in a completely innocent tone, genuinely curious.
Satsuki twitched, dissecting the question word by word and scrutinizing the tone and his face for any clues as to what he was thinking. Only now did she realized how hard it was to read Haruto's expression when he didn't want anyone to know what he was thinking; usually, he put up a goofy and friendly front, but what was he really thinking even as he played the role of a fool, the light-hearted one to lift the others's spirits? Wow, now only did she know that he might not be as shallow as she'd thought. Evidently, she still had a lot to learn about him.
He was still looking at her with wide and earnest eyes. "Hn," she settled for saying in the end.
Haruto stomps his foot on the ground in frustration. "That's not an answer!" he protested but before he could continue on his tirade, he stopped, his ears prickling just as Satsuki jumped backwards, dodging the kunais that would've impaled her had she not move. The redhead turned, scowling, who dared interrupt their conversation? This was an important milestone in their relationship and he'd kick the ass of the person who interrupted.
He narrowed his eyes at the slanted lines on the ninja's headband. "Ninjas from the Rain."
"We killed some of them, well, our friends did," Haruto corrected himself in the middle, recalling that some of them had fought the Rain nins but there were two teams. This must be the other team left from Rain. He stepped forward but Satsuki stopped him, her Sharingan spinning though it was still developing with only two tomoes in the pupil.
"There's a genjutsu surrounding the area," she said calmly by way of explanation. "We've passed by that caterpillar twice now."
Haruto grinned wildly, cracking his knuckles. "Wonderful, time to bash some heads in."
Satsuki snorted softly but she agreed, these ninjas would prove to be a great distraction. The raven stiffened when a whole army of them jumped from the bushes, wearing the same uniforms and masks. She scowled, her Sharingan already pinpointing the real body; she snatched her partner's arm away from where he was bashing the head of the clone in.
"Don't waste your time on them!" she snapped, pointing at the leader. "Get them!"
"Oh, and no chakra from you, 'kay?" Satsuki shot Haruto a furious glare for his last statement, punching him before she shoved him roughly away and leaped into the branches, intent on seeking out the others.
"All right, bastard," Haruto kept grinning as he commanded the trees into sweeping the army of clones out of his way. "Let's play."