Hello readers! I am back with the sequel that was in such high demand! Of course, how could I really leave My Darkness like that; it would be so cruel. I'm sorry it took such a long time to get it on here, but I just really wanted to make sure things were poifect.

ATTENTION: TO THOSE READERS WHO ARE JUST JOINING US NOW - THIS IS A SEQUEL TO MY DARKNESS. PLEASE READ THAT FIRST. PLEASE. AND WHILE YOU'RE THERE YOU MIGHT AS WELL REVIEW! :)

-EM

"Contrary to what the cynics say distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold.
It's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love.
It's for those knowing love when they see it, even if they don't see it nearly enough."

-Anonymous

Against the Sun: Chapter I

The Weight of Silence

xx

Time is constant. It never changes. There will always be sixty seconds in a minute. There will always be sixty minutes in an hour. And there will always be twenty-four hours in a day. Time was not fluctuating. It moved at the same, constant pace at every moment in life.

That was the biggest load of crap that Sakura had ever heard.

Time without Sasuke was agonizing, that was when she resented the idea that it was constant. Her days seemed longer, time went slower just to spite her, and she spent every long minute thinking about him.

It had been almost two months since Madara first attacked. Two months since Orochimaru was killed and two months since Sasuke left to chase after the only other living Uchiha and to Sakura it felt like a lifetime.

How often since then had she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him? If she hadn't let him go without a fight. If they'd been able to kill Madara. If she had done so many things that hadn't happened. She wanted to know what life would be like with Sasuke in Konoha. With Sasuke with her in Konoha. It was impossible not to imagine that other future, that rejected future.

But, her life was finally beginning to make sense again, although she couldn't say she was enjoying it. Her mind was clear, and her heart was not constantly as heavy. It only hurt when she thought about him and she knew that in time, she'd survive it. She had done it before and would again. Eventually the heart repairs... it was the waiting for that to happen that was the hardest.

It had become a habit for her not to close her window at night. She was waiting for him to keep his promise, waiting for him to come back to her and slip through the window like he always did.

He was the one that left her behind, claiming that he was doing it to protect her. But she wouldn't let him go and she still so badly wanted to chase after him, her own promise aside. Eventually, after the first sting of him leaving again had faded, she'd made peace with the fact that she couldn't follow him.. That it was some stupid, prideful thing that he had to do on his own and she needed to understand that. Or try to.

The only remaining thing that was bothering her was knowing the good thing Sasuke had done and not being able to tell anyone. Yeah, Naruto and Sai knew, but what was she going to say to them? Sasuke had asked them to keep it secret, and so far no one had slipped up... until Sakura couldn't bear it any longer.

The knowledge that Sasuke was a hero to her, but a monster to everyone else in the world was killing her.

Tsunade hadn't sent anyone out to find him yet, and for that she was grateful. But it wasn't because she knew what Sasuke had done. It was because she was still trying to rebuild the destruction that had been inflicted on Konoha. It was a long and tedious job, but slowly, it was being restored. She sent a few shinobi to help aid Kirigakure and Kumogakure with rebuilding their smaller villages, but those were the only people that had been given a mission outside of Konoha since the battle.

She was bracing herself for another attack, Sakura assumed.

She was still having trouble trying to wrap her head around why Sasuke didn't want the Hokage to know. The Hokage of all people. She could help him, make sure that he had the resources he needed. But Sasuke was too stubborn to accept help; he had to do everything on his own.

Almost two weeks after Sasuke had left, Naruto told her about Itachi. About his sacrifices for peace. Not that he wanted to, but Sakura had heard Madara and Orochimaru taunting him about Itachi during their battle, and she'd been confused. She didn't understand why they were saying that Konoha had destroyed Sasuke's family, and so she made him fess up.

She'd cried, surprisingly. As someone who hated crying, she cried when she heard about what Itachi had done. But, it made her understand Sasuke a little bit better. She knew why he'd wanted to destroy Konoha, not that she was condoning his actions, but she understood them.

That's all she could really do.

She didn't want Sasuke to live out the same life as Itachi, though. She didn't want him to be a criminal, not when it could be helped. Even if he didn't want the help, Sakura knew he needed it.

So she told the Hokage everything.

She told her about his first intentions when returning to the village. She told her about the battles with Orochimaru and Madara, she told her that without Sasuke's help, she would be dead. Sasuke had protected her so many times and she knew that without him on their side, the outcome would have been very different.

When everything was out on the table, Sakura felt a wave of relief. The weight of the silence had been too much to carry any longer. It had been eating away at her, bubbling inside until it felt like she was about to spill it all to some stranger.

But she'd told the Hokage, and now her mentor was just staring at her with sad eyes.

Sad eyes, which really surprised her, considering she hadn't mentioned anything about her personal relationship with Sasuke.

"What Sasuke discovered about his brother had broken him, everything he based his life on was false, a lie. He was lost in darkness, he felt as if he had no purpose, and he didn't know what or who to believe and so followed the first man that got to him." Tsunade let a soft smile grace her features as she looked at her apprentice. "You allowed Sasuke to see the light, Sakura. You saved him."

Sakura chewed on her lip, feeling tears sting her nose. She may have saved him, but now he was gone. Chasing after the most powerful man alive today. He was risking his life, and he'd made her promise that she wouldn't follow after him.

Because she would have.

She knew with the entirety of her heart that she would have followed after him, just to know that he was safe. Just to know that if he got hurt she could heal him, save him.

Tsunade had moved around the desk and wrapped her arms around Sakura's form. She couldn't help but think that there were some truth to the rumors going around the village. That there had been something between Sasuke and Sakura. It would make sense that Sakura had saved him that way. That she had shown him love and made him realize that the power of hatred and revenge could be overcome. It's what she was expecting, after all. It was the very reason that she had put Sakura through so much of Sasuke in the beginning, even when she couldn't stand him. Things had turned around, and she was grateful that Konoha didn't have Sasuke as an enemy.

"You made the right choice in telling me, Sakura." Tsunade whispered, smoothing down Sakura's hair and smiling.

Sakura merely nodded, feeling the rush of pain all over again after just recounting everything that had happened. Even if Tsunade didn't know the details, Sakura was recalling them in her mind as she told the story.

Another week passed by, and Tsunade was out of the village meeting the other Kages and discussing things Sakura could only assume were related to defending their villages against Madara.

When Tsunade returned, she explained the result. They wanted to amass their armies together and face Madara. The attack on Konoha; the attack on all of the villages had been seen as an act of war, and something needed to be done. Apparently, while the focus had been on Madara, Sasuke's name had been brought to the table numerous times as an ally of Madara's. Someone they would need to dispose of.

Tsunade said that while she tried to deflect the blame mostly to the elder Uchiha, there was nothing she could do to show that Sasuke was completely innocent. There was no evidence other than Sakura's word, which wasn't much to the Kages. And, unless Sasuke was ready for everyone to know of his heroics, there wasn't anything else Tsunade could do.

But when she realized that they were going to be leaving the village, she started to feel panicked. How was Sasuke supposed to find her? She wouldn't be in her home, she would be out traveling with the army. Even if they set up a camp, how was Sasuke supposed to know that they left?

What if he returned only to find her home empty? What if he thought she'd given up waiting for him?

She would never stop waiting for him, but she wasn't sure if he knew that.

So the idea of going along with the army scared her at first. It wasn't because they were going to be in a war, it wasn't even because she could die out there, it was because Sasuke would have no idea where the hell she was.

She really had no choice in the matter. She was an esteemed medic in Konoha, and Tsunade was bringing along some new healers that would need to be trained. Since Tsunade would be busy with meetings and politics and, well, the giant war that was just starting to brew, she left the job to Sakura and Shizune.

But, on top of that, Sakura was assigned on a team with Naruto to scout on occasion, just to make sure that they weren't walking into a trap or sitting in a position to be ambushed. She really didn't mind, some adrenaline would be good for her.

And being around Naruto was always healthy as well. He understood what she was going through when no one else possibly could. Even though Sai was there, he didn't really have a hold on people's emotions yet despite his attempts to make her feel better. He even painted her a picture filled with bright, cheerful colors to try and make her smile.

She did smile, but it wasn't long until she remembered why Sai had needed to paint the picture in the first place.

Because her heart was still missing him, would probably never stop missing him until he was safe and alive in front of her.

"Is this right?"

Sakura blinked, leaving her thoughts and returning to reality. She ran her hand over the patient's chest and nodded. "That's perfect."

The medic in training grinned and stood triumphantly in front of the practice dummy.

Sakura remembered how proud she'd felt when Tsunade was training her and she actually did something right. They needed praise when they did things right, and a little scolding when they didn't. A balance.

"We'll try mending an artery tomorrow."

She didn't really think about what she was healing when she was doing it. At least she didn't when someone she loved was in danger. When she was healing Sasuke she was just trying to stop the bleeding and make sure that everything was functional. It was an instinct to just.. know which ones were the most important. It was odd trying to focus the importance and convey it to the healers she was teaching.

Naruto was waiting in her tent when she returned, sprawled on the chair in front of her 'desk'. A rickety table loaded with papers. It wasn't ideal, but she would take what she could get.

"Any news?" She asked, taking off her gloves and flopping down on her bed.

He shook his head. "Nothing since the lead near Iwa."

She sighed and ran a hand over her face. Naruto wasn't so much against Sasuke going after Madara as he was that he decided to do it alone. He wanted to be there to help; to make sure that the job got done. He'd spent the entire week begging Tsunade to spare a few trackers and help him hunt the guy down.

But if Sasuke didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be.

Sakura had promised not to follow him or track him down, but Naruto had made no such deals. He was her best friend, and he was doing the best he could to find him for her. It was just taking longer than either of them had hoped.

All she wanted to know was if he was safe or not. She wanted to know that he hadn't found Madara already, that there was no chance of injury, that he was still alive.

"Sasuke's too stubborn to die, Sakura, you know that." Naruto said, trying to comfort her. She didn't like to show that she was upset, but he didn't need visual confirmation to know how she was feeling. He wanted Sasuke to be okay as well, but there was nothing more they could do. The brief tracking missions were all they could dole out at that time, and they were going to have to make do. Maybe if they were lucky, Sasuke would find them.

"I hope you're right." She whispered, not wanting to imagine a life without him. Not after everything that'd happened. Not after everything they'd been through... everything that she'd been through. She just wanted something to go right in her life. She wanted to be happy. She deserved that, didn't she?

Life in camp was busy when she was not sleeping, which helped in distracting her.

When she wasn't in the medical tent training people, she was running around the perimeter with Naruto. When she wasn't scouting, she was with Tsunade, Shikaku and Shikamaru, standing in for Shizune as Tsunade's assistant and watching as they surveyed the maps, trying to find a pattern. There was little to no down time and she wasn't getting the sleep she needed to be.

But the moments right before she was able to fall asleep, when her mind should have been going over everything that happened that day, all she could think about was Sasuke.

All she could think about were the things she didn't know about him; all the things she never had time to learn. She didn't know if his feet were ticklish or if he had any birthmarks. She didn't know what nightmares he had as a child. She didn't know what stars were his favorites, or what shapes he saw in the clouds. She didn't know what he was truly afraid of or what memories he held the closest. And there was no time anymore... there would never be enough time for them. She felt like she wasted him while he was with her. Didn't ask enough questions. Didn't think it would matter.

And now her mind was exploding with regret for all she'd missed.

Every morning, fresh off of dreaming of him and not wanting to wake up, Sakura found herself getting ready in an almost dream-like state. She felt sluggish, she felt useless, and she wanted to crawl back into bed and finish off her dream. She would feel this way until she started to teach the medics. Then, and only then would she snap out of it and realize that she had something better to do than sulk around.

"Sakura!" She turned, and there was Ino, standing outside of the medical tent, Shikamaru right beside her. Sakura hadn't even realized she had been passing by the tent instead of going in it. How distracted had she been lately?

She raised a hand in greeting, lips curving into a half-hearted smile. Ino called her over, so she changed course and headed over there.

Upon seeing her friend's tired face, Ino furrowed her brows in concern. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sakura said automatically. So many people had been asking her that lately it just became her automated response. "Things have been so busy around here I feel like I haven't seen you. How are you?"

Ino narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Shikamaru, I'll meet you in there." He shrugged, muttered something Sakura couldn't hear and disappeared into the tent. "Don't even try that on me," she snapped. "You think I can't tell when something's wrong?" Then her gaze softened. "Talk to me, Sakura. I'm worried about you."

Sakura pressed her lips together, trying not to let the weight of the last few weeks crush her. But then she looked up and Saw Ino watching her, all concern and absolute faith and she felt herself crumble.

"No," she said, voice breaking. "No, I'm not okay."

But she couldn't tell Ino why. She trusted Ino with her life, but she wasn't sure if she could trust her with the secret Sasuke wanted her to keep. She had a very big mouth, and Sakura just wasn't positive that she wouldn't tell someone else.

Ino didn't ask why, though. She just took Sakura into her arms and patted her back and stroked her hair, trying to calm her down.

After a while, Sakura was able to breathe again. All she told Ino was that there was someone she loved, and that someone was away; could be away for a while. Ino had always given her the best advice, and that time was no different. She told her that the distance would make her love this person more and that when this person returned, everything would be worth it.

Sakura was actually able to smile that day. Ino took a huge weight off of her shoulders and she didn't even know it.

But it didn't help in the long run, not really. She found herself putting on the fake smile to her friends, like she should have been doing in the first place instead of pouting around, but once she was alone and in solitude, she would sink right back into that hole that Sasuke left.

All she needed was some kind of reassurance. She needed to know that he was still alive... that all of this waiting for him wasn't for nothing... that he was able to come back to her.

She needed to know.

She needed him.

AH VOILA!
I do apologize for the wait for this chapter, and then for the chapter's shortness, but there will be more to come. Soon, I hope, though I'm not making any promises!

I won't post a ready-to-go review for you guys, because I hope by now you realize HOW MUCH I LOVE REVIEWS AND HOW MUCH I WANT TO KNOW YOUR OPINIONS.

:D

And if that wasn't clear then I don't know what else to say :)

Thanks to all of you who stuck through My Darkness and are now getting ready for the adventure that Against the Sun is sure to bring.

LOVE YOU ALL.

-EM