The forest east of the Land of Rivers is colder than you’d expected. Night falls early, curling low through the trees in thick mist and damp shadows. The mission hadn’t been dangerous — a scouting detail near the border, two days out, two back — but Kakashi had still sent you with Sasuke. Just the two of you. Maybe he was giving you time. Or maybe he was testing what he already suspected.

The tent is small.

It rustles as you pull the flap closed behind you, your breath clouding faintly in the chill. Sasuke’s already inside, seated cross-legged near the back wall, his cloak half-draped over his lap. He glances up once, then back down at the map unrolled in front of him.

You settle onto your sleeping mat beside him, close enough that your knees nearly brush. He doesn’t shift away. If anything, he angles slightly toward you.

“Still cold?” he murmurs after a beat.

“A little.”

Sasuke doesn’t answer — just reaches out, wordless, and tugs part of his cloak over your lap. The fabric is rough, smells like smoke and cedar and steel, like him. You go quiet, looking down at where the edge of the cloak touches yours.

You speak first. “You know, we’ve slept on missions like this before.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

Sasuke doesn’t answer.

You lean back slightly, watching him in the dim moonlight filtering through the canvas. His profile is sharp in the silver — jaw tense, lashes shadowed under his eyes, lips parted just slightly in thought. Time folds quietly after that. The fire outside has long gone to embers. The map is long forgotten. Eventually, you lie down, and eventually Sasuke follows. The tent is small, and there’s only one blanket thick enough for the mountain night.

You roll onto your side. Sasuke does too. You fall quiet and listen to the forest outside, seals protecting you and making sure a pebble can't pass the perimeter you've set up without you knowing.

"Still cold?" Sasuke mutters, his eyes shut, a sweep of dark inky lashes over his cheeks, voice low and steady as always. You hum quietly, just to see what he'll do.

You don’t touch at first. But then his toes bump yours, and neither of you flinch. You don’t look at each other when his hand finds yours beneath the blanket, or when you feel his pinky curl around yours.

“…You’re warm,” you whisper.

Sasuke's voice is low, near your ear now. “Stay close," he mutters quietly.

You do. In the still silence of the tent, you can hear the soft rhythm of Sasuke breathing slow. But you stay awake a little longer, fingers still hooked in his, watching the silhouette of his lashes against his cheek as you settle against him, his arm, the one he still has sliding around your waist and curling you into his body.