To avoid tempting illness, she hurried home as quickly as she could, shivering as she went, her teeth chattering a little. She missed the warmth of Sasuke's shoulder as she had leaned on him, holding onto his arm—again she found herself speculating over his behavior. It was certainly a nice thing for him to do, and she appreciated the gesture, but his motives were unclear; knowing Sasuke, one would have to be worried for his health if he didn't have a motive behind his actions. She decided to ask him about it, later, knowing that he would probably have a simple and basic reason for his manner.
Sakura opened the door to her home and quickly stepped inside, the rain pelting so hard on the pavement that water droplets sprayed back up and soaked her feet. After shaking out her umbrella she quickly closed the door and hung it on a coat hook mounted on the wall, and kicked off her footwear. She sighed and a long shiver ran over her.
"Who's there?" came a voice from within the house; Sakura smiled as she recognized it to be her brother's.
"Guess," she announced back inside, stepping up out of the entryway and into the main hall.
A head peeked out from the kitchen at her and then burst out laughing. Sakura's brother, having a five-year difference between them, was in his early twenties, and was a Jounin of notable skill—he had recently been considering applying for a position in ANBU. A good head taller than Sakura, he held a strong resemblance to their father; however he had inherited a gene similar to his mother's pink hair, and as a result he supported a head of platinum-white locks, which always appeared tousled and messy. Dark, royal blue eyes, complete with a distinctive jawline and high cheekbones, reflected on his father's traits while a gentle smile and kind temperament indicated his mother's.
"What happened to you?" he asked laughing at her drenched and limp-looking state, "You're soaked!"
She made a face at him, "Shut up, Kanaye. Why is it that the first thing you always do when you see me is make fun of me?"
He walked over and tousled her pink hair, delivering a playful punch with his other hand, "Because you're my baby sister, and that's how it's supposed to be. You're not much better either, Sakura. The first thing you say to me after I've been away for two months is to shut up."
"That's because you're my older brother and that's how it's supposed to be," she mimicked, sticking her tongue out at him, then laughed despite herself, "Listen to us—we sound like a couple of Academy students."
He smiled good-naturedly in return, "How've you been, Sakura?"
"Let me go change my clothes and I'll come back and fill you in on what's been going on," Sakura said, rolling her eyes, walking towards the stairs, "Put some hot water on for me—I feel like having some hot chocolate."
It wasn't long until Sakura returned back downstairs in the kitchen, garbed in some clean—and more importantly—dry clothing. Her hair was still wet and if she had just finished attacking it with a brush, knowing that if she didn't do so, it would look dreadful when it finally dried off. Kanaye was leaning against the kitchen counter, leisurely eating a muffin that their mother, with her expert culinary skills, had baked, and when Sakura entered the kitchen, he gestured at the kettle sitting on the stovetop.
"Am I going crazy?" he asked her in a teasing tone as she crossed the kitchen, "I think I am currently having a hallucination, in which you are wearing something that isn't sleeveless."
It was true that she hadn't changed into another sleeveless dress, but was in fact wearing a red t-shirt with sleeves that reached mid-way down her upper arms, decorated by the simple white circle that was the emblem of the Haruno clan. Her evergreen hued shorts had been replaced with some loose black pants, and her toes were just peeking out from the rolled up pant-legs.
"You would have thought yourself more crazy if you had been here last week," she replied matter-of-factly, as she took the kettle off the burner, reaching for a clean mug, "I was wearing something other than red."
"So," Kanaye said after Sakura had finished pouring herself some hot water, "How's Naruto?"
"He's fine," Sakura replied, grabbing the tin of hot chocolate mix from off the counter, "Training hard as usual—except he's taking a break now, mostly so that he can see/hassle my patient."
Sakura's brother and Naruto had quickly founded a friendship after the first time they met, and much to Sakura's dismay, had both found a common interest in pestering the pink-haired kunoichi. It wasn't surprising that they got along well, both being outspoken and a tad mischievous. Both were somewhat over protective of her and Sakura supposed that as Naruto had matured (slightly) with time, he reminded her more and more of her brother. Needless to say, the both of them would go for ramen whenever Kanaye was in town and catch up on news.
"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow at her, "Who's your patient?"
Sakura noted with satisfaction that the conversation was going where she wanted to. "Do you remember Uchiha Sasuke?" she asked, sitting down at the table, stirring her hot chocolate with a spoon.
"Random question, but yes," her brother replied, his brow darkening with a frown, "He was the bastard who cause you to fall into depression for two years."
"Don't talk that way about him," Sakura replied, her own face creasing with a frown, "Anyways, he's my patient."
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Sakura saw her brother's eyebrows raise so high that they disappeared behind his messy, silvery-white bangs, "What?!"
"You heard me," Sakura replied, a smile on her face "He was found and brought back to the village. I've been assigned to take care of him—"
"You mean you volunteered," Kanaye interrupted.
Sakura ignored his comment, "—and rehabilitate him. He's been blinded and is still in hospital recovering, but assuming everything goes as planned, he should be going home tomorrow. Which brings me to why I need your help tomorrow."
"Help? You're thoughts are too loosely connected to follow, Sakura."
"Be quiet, I'm about to explain," she glowered at him before taking an experimental sip from her hot chocolate, "I am going to be his caretaker; even though he is going to be released from hospital, the treatment isn't over. I'm going to be by his side at all times, so we'll have to live together."
"What? He's moving in here?" Kanaye's eyebrows disappeared again.
"No…" Sakura said patiently, correcting him, "I'm moving in with him, and I'll need your help tomorrow moving my things to his place."
After a moment's pause Kanaye stuffed the rest of the muffin into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Isn't this guy a criminal? I thought I saw his name in the latest bingo book," he asked with this mouth full.
"There's a good chance that he's going to get a pardon," Sakura told him distractedly, the hot chocolate was evidently still too hot as she found herself nursing a burnt tongue.
"How long will you be living with him?" her brother inquired after a moment.
"Until he feels he can get by on his own," Sakura told him, "Don't freak out like mom did when she found out."
He snickered slightly, "I'm not going to freak out, but I can't say I approve. You still like this guy, right? …I dunno, Sakura."
"Tsunade-sama trusts me with this," she replied defiantly, glaring at her brother from over the rim of her mug, "And regardless of how I feel, nothing inappropriate is going to happen. This is the second time that I've been reminded of the improperness of the situation."
"Sorry," Kanaye shrugged in apology, crossing his arms lazily, "Tell me about Sasuke—what's he like?"
"I can tell you're still suspicious," Sakura stated haughtily, "So I'll put your mind at ease: Sasuke is a cold, prideful, and stubborn person who refuses help from anyone. He never allows anyone to get near to him if he can help it and has never particularly showed any signs that he's considered me more than a teammate and a friend—he says that I'm annoying. He protects people by not befriending them, to protect them from his brother who murdered the whole Uchiha clan nine years ago. His sole ambition is to kill said brother and restore his clan to its former glory."
Kanaye was frozen with a laughable look on his dumbfounded face, "And you like this guy because…?"
Sakura laughed and smiled, "Because I know he's a good person at heart."
Kanaye merely tilted his head somewhat as he shrugged, clearly not understanding his sister at all. After a moment he looked over at her with a troubled look on his face, "I have issues with the 'restore his clan' part. He'll need help with that bit."
"Kanaye, I'm only seventeen—Sasuke is only sixteen," she sighed, then subsequently glared at her brother, "Sure teenagers do stupid things, but he is the most level-headed, mature, and rational person I have ever known. And you know me—I'm not that kind of person."
"Okay, okay," Kayane put his hands up in surrender, "I believe you. I just got home and I don't want you mad at me. So what do you want me to do to help?"
"I'd hug you right now if I felt like getting up," Sakura smiled, "I'm going to pack my things this evening, I just need help toting them—his house is a little bit far from here. I'm going to see if I can get Naruto to help, so you can catch up with him tomorr—blargh!"
Sakura acked loudly as the hospital cell phone vibrated in her pocket, against her hipbone. A very strange sensation indeed, especially because it was always unexpected, and tickled terribly. Pulling out the phone she cracked it open, putting the receiver to her ear.
"Moshi moshi," she said absently while glaring at her brother who was laughing at her reaction.
"Sakura," came the voice of Maeko the receptionist from the hospital, "Uchiha Sasuke has come back with Anko."
"Oh, thank you for letting me know," Sakura replied into the mouthpiece, "Tell him that I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Alright, I'll let him know," Maeko replied cheerfully, "See you soon."
"Bye," Sakura replied before hanging up. She looked over at Kanaye and slipped the phone back in her pocket, "I have to go now. Afternoon rehab."
"What? Already? You just got here," Kayane said frowning indignantly, "When are you going to come home?"
"Later this evening—eightish," Sakura replied before downing the rest of her hot chocolate.
"I'll walk you to the hospital," Kanaye told her, straightening up and running to grab their coats.
"Fine," Sakura grinned.
She and her brother had always been close, and he liked to spend time with her, saying he missed her when he was on missions. Sakura had told him that he probably just got bored on his missions because there was nobody to make fun of.
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