An Uchiha At Heart || SasuSaku

18. An Uchiha at Heart

The next month went by in bliss. Sasuke was smiling so often; the special smile he only reserved for Sakura. Sakura knew that smile well now, and she found her epitome of happiness in it, just as Sasuke found his happiness in being surrounded by someone who constantly reminded him of what it felt like to have a family. Their time together felt like a dream more often than not, and neither of them wanted it to end. Standing on a high mountain in the Akaisora no Yamayama, the Crimson Sky Mountains, Sakura and Sasuke took in the amazing scenery.

The serrated mountains glistened in the distance. Their powdered peaks soared, sparkling under the wings of the birds roaming the sunset sky. Sasuke stood behind Sakura and watched her admire the landscape. "It's so beautiful," she said. "Who would've thought that places like this existed?"

Behind her, Sasuke smiled, and thought about how the color of the sky reminded him of Sakura; her pink hair, her maroon dress...he thought about how the mountains in the distance only looked mighty and great because of the red sky that blanketed them from above...much like how Sasuke only occasionally accepted himself for who he is and what he's done in the past, because Sakura was now there by his side, giving the strength to move forward; to be mighty and great.

On their way back to civilization, Sakura thought about all the things she's seen, both the good and the bad, and how she couldn't wait to share the whole experience with her parents, Ino, Hinata, Temari...and even Naruto.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun," she started. "We've been traveling for quite a while now, haven't we?"

"Indeed."

"Do you think maybe....we should..."

"Do you want to go back to Konoha?"

"Yes. Well, I mean, no, it's not that I don't want to keep traveling with you, it's just—" It had just hit Sakura how that statement might have come off, and suddenly she was getting flustered, waving her palms sideways in a quick motion, trying to make sure she didn't offend Sasuke.

"This," she finally said after catching her breath. "Every second with you has been amazing," she whispered, looking away shyly as a tint of pink started creeping into her cheeks. "I guess I just want to check up on Naruto and the others." She felt a little silly saying this out loud, so she just watched her footsteps in the snow as she walked beside her partner.

Sasuke didn't say anything for a long moment, which made Sakura even more nervous. Thankfully, though, the sky brought about flakes of snow that quickly enthralled Sakura. "Kirei," she marveled. She would never get sick of watching snow fall.

As the pink kinoichi was looking up at the sky, she accidentally stepped on the back of her long, brown cloak. The cloth wrapped around her neck for a second. It nearly choked her, but ended up unfastening and falling off her shoulders. She then slipped on the damn thing and prepared herself to face plant in the snow—

Sasuke caught her, his arm quickly wrapping around her waist. Since he was short one arm, he had to pull her closer to help her stand up straight. Sakura's hands ended up on either side of Sasuke's chest as she mumbled a nervous "thank you".

She stared at the cloak on the snowy ground beside her, waiting for Sasuke's arm to release her...except it didn't. She slowly moved her head to face the firm man holding her. The cold she was just feeling on her exposed neck was already turning into heat.

Sasuke was looking straight at Sakura. His dark eyes somehow turned lighter-even his Rinnegan seemed softer-as her own emerald eyes reflected into his. Sakura could feel his chest starting to heave under her fingers, which only made her heart skip a thousand beats at a time.