The five boys trekked through the biting wind until they reached the "Frozen Crane." As they entered the lobby, the clerk—still looking a bit dazed and pale—silently handed Sasuke the master key without a single word.
Sasuke led them up the winding stairs and pushed open the heavy oak doors to the GRAND PAVILION. As the doors swung wide, Naruto actually dropped the box of meat, thankfully, Neji's reflexes saved it just in time.
The room was sparkling. The polished cedar floors reflected the moonlight like a dark lake. The ceiling was vaulted with intricate carvings of iron cranes, and the massive floor-to-ceiling window offered a view of the entire snow-capped mountain range.
"Whoa..." Naruto breathed, his blue eyes wide. "Sasuke, you said we were hiding, not moving into a palace! Is there a hot tub in here? Can I do a snow cannonball?"
"Shut up and get inside," Sasuke muttered.
Once the door was bolted and the heavy velvet curtains were pulled shut, cutting off the outside world, the tension in the room finally snapped.
Neji let out a long, weary breath and slowly opened his eyes. He deactivated his 'blind persona' his pale Byakugan-eye receding as he looked around the luxury suite.
Neji turned to Sasuke, his expression suspicious. "Sasuke. This room costs more than a Chunin's annual salary. Even with Naruto's frog, we couldn't afford this. How did you manage it?"
Sasuke leaned against the wall, the shadows of the room playing over his face. "I didn't pay a single Ryo. I told him he was giving it to us for free. He agreed."
Naruto's jaw hit the floor. "He... he just agreed? Because you asked nicely? Since when are you nice?! I asked for extra pork in my ramen and forget the pork he did not gave me ramen only!"
Lee stepped forward, his face still pale from the memory. "It was not 'niceness,' Naruto-kun! It was terrifying! I looked at Sasuke-kun to see his bargaining face, and for a moment, his eyes... they were a deep, bloody crimson! The two tomoe were spinning like the wheels of fate itself!"
Naruto froze, his hand halfway into a meat bun.
"The Sharingan? You used the Sharingan just to get a hotel room for free? Sasuke! That's... that's totally cheating! And also... kind of awesome! Why didn't you use it at Ichiraku back home?!"
Lee began frantically practicing a 'fierce stare' in the corner mirror.
"If I can mimic the intensity, perhaps I can unlock the 'Green Beast Discount'! My eyes do not turn red, but perhaps if I burst a blood vessel from effort, I can get 10% off my bandages!"
Neji stared at Sasuke with a mix of respect and annoyance.
"Using a Genjutsu on a civilian for a bed. It's effective, but risky. If the effect wears off and he remembers, the commoners along with the Samurais will be on us within an hour."
Mini-Sasuke sat on the floor, completely unfazed. He reached into the box, grabbed a beef skewer, and started eating.
"He was slow at giving the room" the boy said simply. "My Older Self just made the process fast."
Sasuke just looked at them, his eyes dark and unimpressed.
"The merchant was greedy. I simply corrected his priorities. Now, eat your meat before the girls get here. Knowing Ino, she'll try to charge us a 'delivery fee' just for looking at the food."
The warmth of the meat buns was just starting to seep into their bones when Sasuke realized the silence from the girls' side was becoming a tactical liability.
"They should have been here by now," Sasuke said, his voice cutting through Naruto's chewing.
"If they got lost or caught, they're carrying the only clothes we have that don't look like ninja rags."
"Maybe they got stuck in the bath!" Naruto suggested, his mouth full of beef. "I heard girls stay in there until they turn into raisins!"
"Enough," Neji said, standing up and dusting off his trousers.
"We split up. If we don't find them in twenty minutes, we regroup here. And Naruto—try to look like a local, not a hungry stray."
Naruto decided the best way to find the girls was to use his :nose for trouble.' He trudged through the snow with Mini-Sasuke trailing behind him like a silent shadow.
"Okay, Mini-Teme," Naruto whispered, crouching behind a frozen crate.
"Look for pink hair or a loud blonde yelling about her skin. That's the target."
They spent ten minutes stalking a group of elderly women in heavy furs, convinced that Sakura was 'undercover.'
Naruto even tried to use 'Oiroke no Jutsu' and whispered to lure them out, but all he got was a confused Mini-Sasuke staring at him like he was insane.
"They aren't here," Mini-Sasuke said flatly, pointing at a group of Samurai. "And those men are looking at your orange jacket. We should run."
"Gah! Fine! Retreat!" Naruto scrambled away, slipping on a patch of ice and taking out a stack of empty wooden
buckets with a loud CLATTER.
On the other hand Neji maintained his 'blind' persona, keeping his eyes shut and leaning on Lee's shoulder. Lee, however, was taking the search to a level of extreme athleticism.
"FEAR NOT, NEJI! MY EYES ARE LIKE TELESCOPES OF YOUTH!" Lee shouted, standing on his tiptoes and spinning in circles.
"Lee, stop spinning, you're making me dizzy and my eyes aren't even open," Neji shouted.
Lee ignored him. He began jumping onto rooftops—carefully avoiding the Samurai patrols—and peering into the windows of every laundry shop and tea house.
"I SEE A BLONDE! NO wait, that is a very tall man in a yellow hat. I SEE PINK! No... that is a sign for pickled radishes."
At one point, Lee tried to perform a 'youthful' bird call to see if Tenten would whistle back. Instead, he attracted a flock of very angry mountain crows that began diving at Neji's head.
"I am going to kill them," Neji muttered, swatting away a crow with a precise, blind jab. "I am going to kill everyone in this city."
Last but not the least Sasuke moved alone. He didn't jump on roofs or yell. He walked the perimeter of the bathhouses, his eyes scanning the crowds with precise focus.
He walked past the "Premium Gold" bathhouse three times. He actually saw a glimpse of blonde hair through a foggy window upstairs, but he dismissed it.
'No, he thought, Sakura wouldn't be that reckless with the budget. She's probably in a dark alley somewhere counting the change.'
He had no idea that at that very moment, Sakura had a low budget bath but Ino was literally being served a fruit platter on a silver tray using Naruto's money.
He walked through the thick white fog. The air was very cold. He looked around the quiet streets for any sign of the girls.
Near a large stone pillar, he saw a girl. She was wearing a long purple tunic and a heavy coat. She also had thick black glasses on her face.
He did not know it was Hinata at first. She looked different in her new clothes. But then, the girl turned her head toward him.
"S-Sasuke-kun...?" she whispered.
Sasuke felt his heart jump. He knew that soft voice. "Hinata...?" he said quietly.
Sasuke moved very fast. Before she could move, he reached out and pinned her to the wall with his arm. He wanted to keep her hidden in the shadows.
Because he moved so fast, her black glasses fell off and landed in the snow. Hinata was so shocked that she did not close her eyes. She stared up at him with her pale lavender eyes.
They were wide and full of surprise.
Sasuke was very close to her. He could smell the lavender from her bath. He looked at her, but he was still acting like a serious leader.
"What are you doing here?" Sasuke said being annoyed. His voice was low and sharp.
"You were supposed to stay with the other girls! Do you know how dangerous it is to walk alone in this city? If the Samurai see you, our mission is over!"
Sasuke kept scolding her, but then he stopped. He noticed that Hinata's face was turning a very dark red. She was breathing fast, and she was looking right into his eyes.
Suddenly, Sasuke realized what he was doing. He saw how close he was to her. He saw his own arm holding her against the wall.
Sasuke's face began to blush too. He felt very embarrassed. He quickly pulled his hand away and stepped back. He looked away so she could not see his red face.
"Just... just don't wander off again," he muttered. He sounded annoyed, but his voice was shaking a little.
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SNEAK PEAK LINES 💬
" It's safe, and more importantly, it's private."
"That sounds... very nice.. "
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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