The pale morning light crept slowly across the wooden floor, revealing how the group had shifted during the long, freezing night.
The room was silent, save for the soft sound of snow sliding off the roof outside.
Near the entrance, the line of
futons were there beginning with Neji who laid with his arms crossed, his brow furrowed as if he were still guarding the perimeter in his dreams.
Tenten was curled up comfortably nearby, followed by Karin and Ino, their blankets tangled together for warmth.
Further in, the atmosphere changed.
Naruto lay on his back, his breathing finally steady after the breakdown on the balcony.
Right beside him was Sakura. She hadn't gone back to her original spot; instead, she had dragged her futon across the floor to be right next to him to calm him down.
It was a soft, protective bond—a promise that they would face the terrors of the past together.
Beyond them, in the most secluded part of the pavilion, was the corner that seemed to hold its own gravity.
Hinata was tucked peacefully into the corner, her expression soft and calm in the morning glow.
Right beneath her feet, Mini-Sasuke had shifted downwards in his sleep.
And then there was Sasuke.
He had completely abandoned his original place. He lay on the very edge of their space, his body acting as a physical shield between the room and the two of them.
He was positioned so close to Hinata that the edge of his blanket overlapped hers, creating a private circle of safety.
The sun climbed higher, hitting the gold and blue of the blankets, signaling that the first day in this strange, old world had truly begun.
The sunlight landed directly across Sasuke's face, forcing his eyes to flicker open.
For a few seconds, he stared blankly at the dark grain of the roof, his mind still heavy with the fog of sleep. But as his senses returned, he felt a warmth radiating from his side that shouldn't have been there.
He shifted slightly and realized with a jolt that he wasn't alone in his space.
During the night, his 'boundary' had completely collapsed. Mini-Sasuke, driven by a child's instinct for warmth and safety, had kicked his futon aside and crawled downward.
Instead of staying between the two adults, the boy had curled into a small ball at the very foot of the futons, his tiny feet tucked near Hinata's ankles and his head resting against Sasuke's shins.
Sasuke froze, his breath hitching in his throat.
Without the boy acting as a wall between them, Sasuke found himself lying mere inches away from Hinata.
He could see the soft rise and fall of her shoulders, the way a stray lock of her dark hair had drifted over onto the edge of his own pillow. The scent of her—something light, like lavender and pressed wildflowers—hit him all at once.
A fierce, burning heat rushed to his face.
'How... how did I get this close?' He remembered moving his futon to share his futon with Mini Sasuke who was shivering with cold, but in the silence of the dawn, without Mini Sasuke beside him, his position looked far more intentionally.
He looked down at his younger self, who was snoring softly at their feet, blissfully unaware that he had abandoned his post. Sasuke felt a wave of sheer embarrassment wash over him.
If anyone else woke up now—especially the loud-mouthed Naruto or a judgmental Neji—he would never hear the end of it.
He tried to pull back slowly, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
He grit his teeth, his black eyes darting around the room to see if anyone else had witnessed his lapse in composure.
He looked at Hinata's sleeping face. She looked so peaceful, so unaware of the chaos she was causing in his chest.
'If she wakes up now and sees me this close... she'll think I did this on purpose. She'll think I'm some kind of...' He grit his teeth, the embarrassment burning through his usual cold mask.
He felt exposed, caught in a moment of pure, unintentional intimacy.
Then, the weight of the night hit him. He looked toward the opening of the partition and remembered the faint sound of footsteps from hours ago.
He remembered a sharp gasp. A stifled sob.
'Sakura,' he realized, his eyes darkening.
He hadn't been the only one awake.
Sakura had come two times to check on them in the middle of the night.
'The first time she came with Ino and the second time... Dont remember it. But i know she came. '
If Sakura would have seen them then to her, it wouldn't have looked like a mistake of the cold. It would have looked like a choice.
As he sat up, he noticed something strange. Sakura was no longer in her original spot. She was now lying right next to Naruto, their futons pushed together.
'When did she move?' Sasuke wondered, his eyes narrowing. He saw the dried tear tracks on her pale face and the way she was clutching the edge of her futon.
'She came in here while I was asleep... she saw us.' A small part of him felt a flicker of guilt, but he pushed it away.
'Whatever,' he thought, his expression turning cold and indifferent again. 'It doesn't matter what she thinks.'
He stood up, his joints popping in the cold morning air. He looked around the room, counting the others. Neji, Tenten, Ino, Karin... they were all there. But one spot was empty.
Lee was missing.
Sasuke's gaze moved toward the balcony. The wooden door was slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of freezing air. Curious, he stepped over the sleeping bodies and walked out onto the deck.
The morning frost was thick on the railing. There stood Lee, dressed in his bright green jumpsuit, his breath coming out in thick white clouds as he punched the air.
He looked like he had been awake for hours. Sasuke, by contrast, was still wrapped in his dark yukata, his hair messy from sleep.
"You're loud.." Sasuke said, his voice a low, morning rasp.
Lee stopped mid-kick and spun around, a massive grin on his face. "Sasuke-kun! You are awake! I am just finishing my first two thousand morning punches! The air of Tetsu no Kuni is perfect for building the spirit of youth!"
"It's five in the morning, Lee. Keep it down," Sasuke muttered, leaning against the doorframe.
"Nonsense! The sun is up, and so should our blood be!" Lee whispered loudly, his eyes wide and energetic.
"I saw you sleeping so soundly in that corner, Sasuke! It is good to see you are taking your role as a guardian so seriously! You were very close to your charges!"
Sasuke's face twitched, the blush threatening to return. "I was guarding the perimeter. Don't look too closely at things that don't concern you."
"Your dedication is admirable!" Lee shouted, forgetting to lower his voice. "We must all work hard today! I will do another three thousand squats to celebrate our first morning in this time!"
"Lee, shut up—"
But it was too late. Inside the pavilion, a sharp, annoyed groan cut through the air.
"Can't a man sleep for five minutes without hearing about the 'power of youth'?"
Neji sat up slowly, his long hair a mess and his eyes narrowed in irritation. He glared toward the balcony, his patience already gone before the sun was even fully up.
The calm of the morning didn't just break; it shattered into a million pieces.
As Lee's booming voice echoed through the rafters, Tenten suddenly bolted upright like she'd been hit by a lightning bolt. Her hair was a wild, bird-nest mess, and her eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep.
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" she screamed, her voice hitting a pitch that made the dust fall from the ceiling.
"If I hear the word 'Youth' one more time, I am going to start summoning giant spiked balls and I won't care who I hit! I just want to sleep!"
Neji, who had been sitting up calmly, actually flinched. He looked genuinely terrified of the unexpected Tenten's shouts.
"Tenten, calm down! the scrolls away! It was all Lee! Why are you screaming at all of us?"
The screaming woke Ino, who sat up with a snarl, her blonde hair tangled around her face like a golden spiderweb.
"Who is it?! Who is dying?! Because if they aren't actually dying, I'm going to kill them myself!"
Ino stomped up from her warm futon and was ready to tear someone's head off, but as she looked towards the balcony, she saw the back of a head—dark, spiky hair that looked like a very grumpy sea urchin.
She blinked, her anger vanishing as she processed Sasuke's morning hair. It was sticking out in every direction, worse than usual because of the way he'd been sleeping in that corner.
"PFFT— HAHAHA!"
Ino burst out, clutching her stomach.
"Sasuke-kun? Is that you?! You look like you got into a fight with a Raiton jutsu and lost! What happened to the 'cool' look? You look like a wet cat!"
Sasuke, still in his dark yukata, stiffened and didn't even turn around. "Shut up, Ino. It's the humidity."
"It's hilarious!" Ino wheezed, wiping a tear from her eye. She turned back toward the room to share the joke.
"Hey, Tenten, you have to see—"
But as she turned, her eyes landed on Neji.
Because Neji had slept on his back, his long, waist-length hair had fanned out across his shoulders and face in a flat, pale sheet.
In the dim, shadowy light of the room, and with his pale eyes and white yukata, he didn't look like a ninja. He looked like a vengeful mountain ghost from a horror story.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ino shrieked, her laughter turning into a blood-curdling scream. She jumped three feet into the air.
"GHOST! THERE'S A LONG-HAIRED GHOST IN THE ROOM! HELP!"
"It is me, idiot! Cease your yelling!" Neji shouted, trying to brush the hair out of his face, but it only made him look more like a spirit emerging from a well.
"GET BACK, SPIRIT!" Tenten yelled, grabbing a pillow and hurls it at Neji's face.
"BEGONE!"
Sasuke stood on the balcony, listening to the chaos of screams, flying pillows, and Lee's confused shouting of
"YES! EMOTION! THIS IS THE VIGOR OF THE MORNING!" He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cold wood of the railing.
'I want to go to the future,' he thought bitterly. 'At least there, people were quiet.'
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📊 BATTLE REPORT: 57-IRON 📊
LOSER: HYUGA NEJI ☯️ 👻
SNEAK PEAK LINES 💬
"Don't look in the mirror, you'll scare yourself!"
"I'm locking you in the restroom."
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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