Chapter 50

"Hai…" she responded uncertainly, quickening her pace, "Careful, the path is quite rough, don't trip."

"Hn," was the only noise he made in response, hiding any damage to his pride that he might have felt.

The rain was coming down really hard when they arrived at the bench, and both of them slumped down on the wood, their clothes rather damp. At least neither of them were soaked, Sakura noted as a bright flash of lightning shone in the distance, and a few seconds later, a low rumble of thunder rolled by.

"I guess now all that's left is to wait," Sakura said, reclining back onto the bench, a sigh in her voice, "You're not too cold, are you?"

"No," came Sasuke's blunt reply.

"That's good," Sakura smiled, shivering slightly herself. The cool air had felt nice before, and the dampness in the air had been refreshing, but now that she was wet, the air felt frigid and cold. Sasuke had dropped her arm when they sat down, so she hugged herself tightly, rubbing her bare arms to keep warm.

"You should have worn something warmer," Sasuke told her, and Sakura blinked slightly at his perceptiveness. Was he stating a fact, or did he know she was feeling cold?

"I brought an umbrella, but it's up in your room," Sakura replied, pinching her upper arms to bring the blood to them, "I didn't think it would start to rain while we were out here."

Without a word, Sasuke offered his arm to her, causing Sakura to look at him in confusion. When she did not grab onto it immediately, he gave a little emphasizing nudge with his elbow, and allowed her to take hold of it tentatively. Wrapping both of her arms around his, she hugged herself closer to him, letting the heat from his side cause her shivering to ebb. Silence plagued her as she was completely taken by surprise—the Sasuke that she knew would have never done such a thing…she hoped that she wasn't being too clingy.

"Be better prepared next time," he told her in a voice that strongly suggested that this was a one-time-only thing.

"Hai…" she said quietly, an unwilling blush creeping on her cheeks. She was glad that Sasuke was going to be released from the hospital tomorrow—then he would not longer be her patient, and things like this could not be held against her in any legal way. He was considered to be her patient as long as he was in hospital, and she knew that as soon as Ino found out, there would be some very strong disagreements over Sakura moving into the Uchiha manor.

"My, don't you two look cute—all cozy and close together like that," came a mischievous sounding voice.

Sakura immediately loosened her grasp on Sasuke's arm and looked around wildly for the source of the voice. Sasuke looked unperturbed, the back of his neck not the least bit red—apparently false accusations were nothing to be embarrassed about for him, Sakura noted with envy.

There was a laugh, and Sakura thought it must have been because of her own reaction to the earlier said statement. She spotted a form crouched in a nearby tree, peering down at them through the leaves, and Sakura thought she recognized the woman. What was her name…? Mitarashi Anko, that was it.

The form leapt down from the bough upon which she was perched and landed neatly under the roof of the small shelter, a playful grin on her young face, "Haruno Sakura? …I thought so. I recognize you now—you were the one who passed the chuunin exam with flying colours a couple years back. Remarkable performance."

Sakura found herself blushing, feeling honored, "Why thank you…Mitarashi Anko, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Anko smiled, then with a teasing note in her voice, added, "I've been looking for the both of you all over! What are you both doing out here in the rain? Everyone else has gone back inside."

"We were kinda caught off guard," Sakura smiled sheepishly, "We didn't want to get soaked on the way back to the hospital."

"Well you two are pretty wet anyways," Anko noted with amusement, "Anyways, I've been sent here by the Hokage-sama to tell you that you have the afternoon off."

"What?" Sakura asked with confusion, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke frown.

"Tsunade-sama said that I was to talk with Sasuke for the rest of the afternoon. When we're finished I'll have someone send for you," she replied lightly and cheerfully, "So you have the afternoon off. Ta!"

The dark-haired ninja gave a little wave to Sakura, telling her to leave in such a cheerful manner that it was hard to call rude, and in such an abrupt manner that there was no margin for arguing. Dumbfounded and a little uncertain, Sakura slowly rose to her feet, her arm pulling away from Sasuke's, however Sasuke grabbed onto her hand preventing her from leaving.

"Sasuke?" she found herself saying uncertainly, looking back down at him.

"Don't stay out in the rain."

"Okay," she said as his hand dropped away from hers, wondering dimly why he even cared, "I'll be back later this afternoon."

"Have fun!" Anko said called cheerily after her, as she sprinted off through the rain, trying to stay as dry as she possibly could.

She managed to get inside the hospital without becoming entirely soaked, and she knew that she should go home and get a change of clothes—not to mention a coat and a change of clothes for Sasuke. Having thought of a number of things that she could do with the time off, she wasted no time in quickly grabbing her umbrella from Sasuke's room, picking up a cell phone from Maeko, and heading out into the rain again.

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