Our Reflection in Each Other's Eyes.

Chapter 16: Relocation

Sasuke-Kun and I walked out of the ruined village in sync. He held the picture of me as a child in hand. He turned it and realized there was writing. He chuckled at it before turning to me.

"How old were you when you wrote this?"

"The day I wrote it I turned 5."

"A day after my Father's birthday."

It was my turn to look at him. I gave him a warm smile and cuddled into his side.

"The best people have a birthday in August, you know?"

"Oh ha ha." He joked.

We walked a small distance ahead when we heard rustling behind us. I put my guard up immediately. 

"We have a strong ninja 10 feet to our right. They don't seem to plan on attacking."

"They're observing then, but for what purpose?"

"The most probable case is to collect intel on you."

"Or our hideout's location." He stated in realization.

"Do I attack?"

He nodded in answer. I did a set of handsigns before shouting

"Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A strong wave of fire emitted from my mouth and went straight in the person's location. Suddenly I felt their chakra completely vanish, before my jutsu reached their location.

"They're gone..it seems they used some teleportation jutsu, but that's odd because I would've felt a fluctuation in their chakra."

Sasuke-Kun remained in deep thought as he ushered me forward.

"Don't you think it's risky to head back?" I asked.

"Let's find a cave of some sort then. It looks like a snow storm is on the way."

We hurriedly sought shelter, but came upon an abandoned home several miles up where we had come from.

"This place is isolated. This'll be our home after Orochimaru is dead."

"If we can get in first." I commented.

We discovered the window was slightly ajar. Sasuke-Kun opened it more, but realized it only went a certain measurement up.

"You'll have to squeeze in." He informed me.

With a sigh I obliged and placed myself in a diving position over the windowsill. My chest wouldn't allow me in.

"Can you lift it a tad bit more? My boobs don't fit."

"Sorry babe. That's all it goes." He replied with a chuckle.

I managed to miraculously fit my entire being through the window that ended up scraping some of my body. I landed on the floor with a rough thud. To my satisfaction my palms collided with broken glass.

"Fuck!" I growled in pain.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Sasuke-Kun asked worriedly.

"I landed on glass." I informed as I trudged toward the door.

I opened the door that had a ton of locks and Sasuke-Kun immediately placed his hands on my shoulders to get a good look at me. The moon's glow provided enough light to glimmer in the dark liquid that streamed from the cuts. Sasuke-Kun lifted me and placed me on a nearby counter before rummaging for who knows what.

"As I thought. No power." He commented after flipping the light switches.

He opened a drawer and found matches. He lit one and that helped him locate a few candles around the room. He went over to them and began to light them.

The room had a corner window about waist level from the ground. In front of the window was a small bench where you could observe the outside from. To the right of the window was a set of tall bookshelves with a desk in between them. The living room was, to my surprise, bigger than I thought.

It also contained antique black sofas that looked more like benches with a pair of cushioned chairs the same color. The set up of the living room was enough to prove that it's previous owner was wealthy and most likely lived a long time ago.

Sasuke-Kun finished turning on the candles in the living room and the kitchen. He rummaged through a few drawers and found what he needed.

"These bandages are new, now I just need alcohol."

"How about that Sake?"

He turned in the direction I was facing and was surprised to see tons of Sake bottles stacked up in drawers specifically made to hold alcohol. He picked up a bottle and opened it to place some over my cuts.

I grunted in pain, but he kept on going. Soon I was all bandaged up and I reached my arms out to him like a child. He embraced me and lifted me off the counter.

"Thank you." I said as I placed a kiss on his cheek.

He simply nodded and placed a kiss on my forehead. Outdoors, the wind could be heard howling as the snow flakes hit hard against the windowsill. The room's temperature itself was cold enough to show us our breath.

"Let's look around. What if the owner is still here?" I said.

"In the conditions of this home? I doubt."

"Their corpse could be lying around here for all we know."

Sasuke-Kun's face paled at the thought and obliged to help me explore. He grabbed the matches to light any candles we found on the way. I lifted a candle and it's plate from the counter I previously sat in and led the way with it.

"Here let me." Sasuke-Kun offered, taking the lead.

Together we moved up the stairs and lit several candles along the way. The climbing of the stairs seemed endless in both suspense and actual measurement.

The top of the stairs had a small table with a lamp and a candle in front of it. To the left of the table was a door. Sasuke-Kun entered the door and we were met with a bathroom. Across the small hall, to the right of the table, was a room that was left ajar. Sasuke-Kun pushed it open and it opened with a screech. That room was a bedroom that was furnished with antique items.

"I feel like we're traveling back in time. Everything here is so old. How has it survived the past war?" I commented.

Sasuke-Kun remained silent as he observed the room.

"It seems the owner did live a long time ago. How this house still stands is a mystery." He commented as he pointed at a black and white picture of a man.

"What if he was a writer that went insane and isolated himself only to later commit suicide in the woods back there." I said frightening myself.

I shivered at the thought and Sasuke-Kun chuckled.

"Quit scaring yourself. What if he lived a wonderful life and wrote great books as a pass time and died of old age alongside family or friends."

"I like that one better."

We entered the next room to find an enormous library with seats and lamps in almost every corner.

"The picture back there said Akinobu Sato." I pointed out. "These books say the same thing." I said while pointing at a section on a shelf.

"Maybe we did get the author part right." Commented Sasuke-Kun.

Sasuke-Kun began to light candles that were further from the books while I looked through the first shelf.

"We're going to need to purchase something to enclose the candles because, from what I can see it seems you plan on spending most of your time here."

"It would be nice to, but we have to return to Orochimaru-Sama."

"I can tell him we plan on staying in another location where you'll be training me."

"I don't know."

"He trusts you greatly. I'm sure that he'll believe your word over anyone else's. If you feel better write a letter to him and I'll deliver it."

"It's fine. Just go with your original plan."