one_long_mission

She stiffened at the idea that she was that easy to read, tilting her head to listen more carefully to the intonation of his voice.

"You would do right not to trust the Hyuuga," she confirmed, fingers of both hands digging into her pants leg over her thigh. "I am their extra. The one who was forced upon them." There was no masking the bitterness, but she just took a breath, shook her head, and forced herself to dismiss it.

"They will speak amongst themselves if they know I am here."

"If they know." of course, he could hide nothing from their eyes, but... "If they underestimate the Uchiha, they'll get burned." his voice was full of disgust. The Hyuuga and Uchiha never were friends.
...before these two, that is. "Let them speak among themselves, as long as I don't hear their slandering." he owed her a life debt, after all.

"I see." She nodded once and exhaled, lapsing into silence. Now more than ever, she wished she could see his face. Her specialty was reading expressions and body language to tie into the voice and other mannerisms, not to do without her sight.

"In that case, we shall see what develops."

As the rice cooked, he headed over, taking care to make noise at every step until he sat and placed a glass of water against her fingertips. "...if you're thirsty.."

The door opened, and as more noises occurred he revealed he had sent a clone shop for various things since he was not about to leave her side.

"Ah..." She nodded her thanks and lifted the glass to her lips, smelling to find that it was water before taking a sip.

The water reminded her that it had been three, perhaps four days since she had bathed. Swallowing hard, she reflexively stared elsewhere and asked, "May I use your shower...? I do not mind rewearing my clothing."

That promptly reminded Sasuke he was in a similar situation, perhaps even more unfavorable since he also ran a full day with her on his back. Not that shinobi were not used to bear the smell of sweat, they would rather not if they did not have to.

"I will lead you there. If you want, it may be a bit roomy but I have some bathrobes you can borrow."

"That... would be appreciated, thank you." She took another long drink from the provided glass before standing, hating that she had to wait for him to take her hand and lead her there. "I promise not to take very long."

He sent his clone get the garment and leave it in the bathroom before sending it away, wincing lightly as he did so. He led her as close to the shower as he could, guiding her to the knobs and walking her towards were everything was so she could make notes as needed. "I'll be nearby. Don't hesitate if you need anything. I... promise I won't look." she would have to leave the door unlocked after all. "I've set the water to a medium temperature. You can change it if you need."

"Ah..." She couldn't hide the way she flushed at that, stiffening further. Curious that she would trust him not to lead her to harm, but the idea that he might see her nude was something that flustered her far more than perhaps it should have.

"Thank you," she murmured finally, pausing near the door. "Though I believe I can find my way back to the kitchen unaided, if you wish to return to what you were doing..."

He noticed the flush and cocked his head, blinking. Somehow, he did not seem to have thought of this same eventuality.

"All right. I'll just be over there still in hearing range. The food will most likely be done by then too."
And so, he closed the door and headed back, leaving her to her own devices as per her wish. He knew she could manage, although he did wish to extend help from politeness.

"Thank you." She could feel her damn cheeks burning and took a breath, trying to calm it. Ridiculous.

She was quick as promised, removing the bandages before entering the shower, though she did keep her eyes closed. It wouldn't do anyone any good if she strained them unnecessarily while they were still recovering, after all. She was quick, as promised, staying in only long enough to rinse off the grime and sweat, shampoo her hair and make sure that she was at least somewhat presentable.

After wringing her hair out, she retied the bandages and slipped into the bathrobe, tying it as tightly as she though she could. No matter how much she adjusted it, however, the folds wouldn't completely stay shut over her chest, leaving much of the skin above her breasts exposed.

Thus when she reentered the kitchen, she was holding it shut with one hand, using her other to guide her along the walls. "Sasuke? I am finished."

Strange, how attractive his shampoo's scent was on her. He had never even noticed.
What the hell were these thoughts?

"I'm finished here too. These are pretty plain, but if you like I can fill them with something next time." he let his voice guide her, seated at the table although he still watched her progress. "I prepared you a room too." in fact he only had one room, but he figured he could use the couch a few days.

She used the sound of his voice as a guide, one hand outstretched to ensure she wouldn't walk into anything. She hated this too, the smaller steps she had to take to ensure she wouldn't walk into anything before her fingers brushed it. It took a few moments, but she was eventually able to find her way to her seat before, fingers trailing along the table before finding the rice balls.

She paused at the mention of the room though, swallowing hard before taking a bite and forcing herself to chew. "About that... I had... a thought, if I may."

"Yes?" he was open to suggestions, although he could not see much of anything wrong with his first idea. "What might that be?" he inquired, biting into his own riceball.

He could guide her everywhere, but he knew as much as she disliked guiding herself, it was possibly better than relying on someone else.

She inhaled to gather herself before stating bluntly, "Your nightmares. Perhaps... if you were not to sleep alone, they would not be so severe. You seemed to sleep better when you were beside me, correct?"

Her cheeks were a deep red that might rival a tomato, and she only huffed, trying to ignore her own embarrassment at the improper suggestion. If it worked, that was all that was important. She was already doing something her family wouldn't approve of simply by being here, what was one more thing?

His blush rivaled hers. As much as he loved tomatoes, he certainly imitated one well. "M-my.... ah.." he could not disapprove that this may work, because, really, he had never tried.

Seeing how they had woken the last few mornings too, maybe this... was just as well? "If... you don't mind."

She might not have been able to see his face, she could discern much from the tone of his voice. That at least made it somewhat more bearable, and in spite of her flush, she tried to keep her own voice as collected as she could.

"Good. It may be beneficial."

She left out the part where unless they reached some kind of arrangement, this would only be a stopgap measure, not something permanent. If it even worked...

And then her flush deepened again as she permitted herself to think how nice it had felt beside him in the morning.

Since they had shared a bedroll, the issue of him having only one bed was no issue at all. It still made him feel strange, because the other times had happened after the actual nightmares.

He claimed a deep breath. "I... should go take a shower.." it might wake him too, since he was starting to feel the effects of the pill fading.

She nodded, returning her attention to the rice ball. It was rather good, for a simple meal. "My clothes are folded against the wall, so they should not be in your way," she mentioned, just in case he wondered what she had done with them.

"I shall... wait here for you." Rather than wander the house without his permission or accompaniment.

It was not all that long. After gathering a sleeping robe and heading to the bathroom, the shower was on for five minutes or so. He did feel refreshed, but also somewhat extra sluggish too. Too comfortable within that robe.

He soon rejoined her again. "Did you want any tea? I forgot to ask.." he did sound apologetic.

Even if he hadn't been gone long, she had finished what she could of the rice and shifted, leaning her head against the wall. She rather almost looked as if she might doze off there until she heard his return, immediately sitting upright again.

"No, thank you. Water was fine."

He let a few seconds pass, breathing deeply. They probably were as tired as the other was. "Do you... want me to lead you to the room? If you want, you can get there yourself. It's next to the bathroom."

"...Please. I am sorry for the imposition." She still felt exhausted from the lack of Chakra, and didn't feel up to continuing to stay awake. Pushing herself to her feet, she moved toward the sound of his voice, belatedly remembering to hold the front of the robe shut.

He claimed a hand then, and led her to his room. The sheets had been changed for clean ones, and he'd even taken out another blanket so it wouldn't have his scent clinging to it. He supposed it all defeated the point if he ended up sleeping right next to her.

he made certain his own robe as secure and slipped under the blanket, letting go of her hand after.
There was a murmur of good night, some light tension... but he was so tired that sleep did not spend long before claiming him.

He did seem as if he would be invaded by nightmares once more, but as he shifted and met with skin, it eased away and, for the first time in a long while, sleep was peaceful and undisturbed...

Though she had been the one to suggest it, she had thought it would be harder and more awkward to intentionally sleep beside him like this. Instead, after her cheek hit the pillow and Sasuke crawled in beside her, it was more comfortable than she could have imagined. The warmth of having someone so close...

She had never been prone to nightmares, but something like this eased the loneliness more than she cared to admit.

The moment he shifted and touched her hand, it jolted her awake from the unfamiliarity of it, but once she resolved the feeling into Sasuke, she was able to drift off again, curling closer to that warmth until only the span of her hand separated her nose from his chest. And when she woke, she allowed herself to stay there, listening to him breath, imagining she could hear the beat of his heart.

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