KONOHA

“He is perfect,” came the thought, unbidden, in the Sannin’s mind. The boy sat on a tree bough, legs crossed at the ankles as they dangled freely in the air beneath him. Relaxed. Silken black hair rippled with a mild gust of air travelling through the forest canopy. The immaculately cared-for mane briefly concealed the left side of his face before receding, exposing his half-lidded onyx gaze once more.

“...You want me?” the Uchiha asked, raising one sculpted brow inquisitively. “I want to assume you meant that in an entirely non-sexual way, but your tone leads me to believe otherwise.”

“Ha!” he even has a sense of humour, much unlike that daemonic brother of his. Orochimaru liked him even more now. He smiled in a purposefully misleading manner, but the boy’s gaze belied nothing. Cold and emotionless, with all the compassion of a veritable force of nature.

“I take you have no interest in this humble castle of mine,” he said gesturing towards the little hut behind him.

Orochimaru smiled. “What makes you think that, Sasuke-kun?”

“None have you made any attempts to neutralise my teammates, or at least hold them hostage, yet. You don’t seem fools; had the hut been your target, I doubt you would have left them unmolested.”

“...You don’t seem like you want to win either,” the snake sannin replied. “Leaving weak links defenceless like that is an easy way to get eliminated you know.”

The boy shook his head. “Had you gone for them you would be dead already,” he declared with all the intensity of one commenting about the weather.

Orochimaru’s smile widened.

“Beating about the bush like this gets tiring,” Sasuke continued, brushing a strand of hair behind his right ear. “You want something, speak; if I deem it worth my time we might as well come to an agreement quickly. If not, I would rather dispose of you lot before you prove yourself a nuisance.”

“He is so perfect.”

“Very well then, but courtesy demands a proper introduction, does it not?” Orochimaru replied reaching for the skin mask on his face. Slowly, he ripped the disguise off, his fingers digging furrows through the mask. Sasuke watched, his left brow quirked in an expression of blatant curiosity. The snake sannin tossed aside the disguise, letting it fall to the forest floor as he shook his equally lustrous mane loose.

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The Uchiha murmured something under his breath, recognition flickering in his gaze as he reached into the pouch by his waist. He pulled out a bingo book the next moment, flipping through it with practised ease.

“Orochimaru,” he drawled, expressionless. “Hmm… I wonder what an S-rank missing-nin from Konohagakure wants from little old me.”

The Sannin giggled with a hissing lilt.

“Perfect.”

***

Sakura bit her lip as she heard a pair of footsteps thud on the forest floor outside. Her heartbeat spiked. She reached for a kunai in her pouch, holding it in a reverse grip as she placed herself between the still-unconscious Naruto and the entrance.

“It’s me Sakura,” came Sasuke’s voice from outside the shelter. Subconsciously she relaxed upon hearing his voice. The next moment, however, her heartbeat spiked again, her face flushing red as her mind fully registered that her beloved had returned. “Come outside,’ he called, his tone silken as it always was.

“I-I am coming,” she replied, her bones seemingly going soft as she rose to her feet. She crawled out of the shelter and something whizzed past the side of her face, striking the fallen tree trunk behind her with a dull thud. Her head whipped around towards the object and her eyes widened as she realised it was a kunai.

Attached to the hilt was an explosive tag, one end already lit and primed to go off.

Her heart dropped and her face grew pale in terror. At that moment, she saw her entire life flash before her eyes. A soft hand came to rest on her shoulder, freeing her of the Genjutsu.

“So careless,” whispered that sweet countertenor voice of his. Sakura swivelled on the sole of her feet, glancing upward to meet the taller boy’s stern gaze. Sasuke reached for her chin. She shivered as she felt his thumb caress the side of her cheek. The finger came away bloody and only then did she notice she suffered a cut on the side of her face.

He hurt me, she realised. He must be very angry with me.

“Heal it,” Sasuke ordered. She shivered, a fuzziness budding in her chest as she brought her palm to her cheek. Her fingers glowed a light green as she traced it over the cut, closing it.

Sasuke’s expressionless gaze remained fixed on her as he pulled at the skin. “You are still wasting too much chakra,” he said. “You are not practising enough.”

“...I am sorry,” Sakura whispered. She caught herself before she could subconsciously lean into his palm. It was so soft. To her displeasure, the hand came away.

“Naruto is still asleep?” he asked conversationally. He probably already knew the answer and just was trying to make small talk. That was just how things were; he always knew things even when there was no possible explanation for why he knew those things. She didn’t mind though. Just another thing to love about him.

“Yes,” Sakura replied. “T-the castle?”

“It’s secure.”

“...What do we do now?”

“We wait.” Saying that Sasuke retreated into their shelter. Her eyes tracked him as he left, unblinking. Sakura was not sure, but he seemed to be in a good mood. One never could tell with him.

Hopefully, he was. He might let her cuddle with him again if he was.

That would make today just perfect.