The team Hebi, now with Sakura alongside, was moving through the forest, sun slowly moving down to western horrizont.
Suigetsu threw a look at Sakura, who was flying by Sasuke's side and smiled shrewdely.
"That's one hell of a beauty you got there, Sasuke-kun. I say, your taste is good" Sasuke threw him an angry look, but before he could say anything, Karin's fist collided with Suigetsu's face, which, as usually, turned into water immediatelly.
"One more word, water boy, and you'll evaporate into thin air" she hissed to him. Sakura watched the scene with a look, which obviously said: what an idiots. Sasuke noticed her expression and said:
"Don't mention it. They're always like that. You'll get used to it" Sakura scoffed.
"Sure I will. I managed to get used to Naruto after all" Sasuke's lips again formed a little smile.
"That's a good thinking"
Suigetsu managed to escape Karin's fists and closed to Sakura and winked to her.
"You must be really something if Sasuke-kun accepted you to the Hebi. What is it you can do, beauty?" Karin again chaced after Suigetsu and punched him into face.
"You call this little brat a beauty?!" she shouted. This time, Sakura got annoyed and angry. She kicked off the branch harder and flew right into a tree.
"What the-" Suigetsu's mouth fell open.
"Don't worry" Sasuke said with ease "she's more than meets the eye" with those words, Sakura's fist collided with the tree trunk and it immediatelly turned into smithereens. Next second Sakura appeared behind Karin's back and rammed her feet into it, forcing her down to the ground. The girls fell and if Sakura haven't retreated her chakra-full feet, Karin would be dead meat already. The red-haired kunoichi hit the ground, making a huge hole there. She spat out blood as she hardly lifted herself from the ground. Sakura was now standing in front of her, fists rammed into her hips. Karin looked up, breathing rapidly.
"Wha-what are you?" she breathed out.
"The one, who won't allow you to call me brat. From now on, watch your back when I am around. Got that, four-eyes?" she teased her, looking to the broken glasses Karin lost when she collided with the ground.
Sasuke, Juugo and Suigetsu were watching the scene from above. Juugo smiled, looking down to Sakura.
"Now that girl really is something, isn't she?"
"Tell me about it" Suigetsu agreed "and she kicked Karin's good-for-nothing ass so smoothly. Man, I envy you Sasuke-kun. I think I like her already" the Uchiha only smiled slightly to the pink-haired young woman, who turned around and found his eyes. Well, Sakura, you surely aren't the same anymore. Juugo's right. You really are something. You've always been.
"I don't think that's all of what she can do" Sasuke said, still smiling slightly "she was thaught by one of the Sannin after all"
"No kidding?" Suigetsu again looked to Sakura with amazement.
"That makes her even dangerous to us too" Juugo said, looking to Suigetsu with a bit of irony.
"It sure does" Sasuke agreed "Hey, Sakura! Patch up Karin and let's go. We need to get out of this forest by nightfall" the pink-haired girl nodded and kneeled down to Karin. She used her medical ninjutsu to restore her body to normal and after few minutes the Hebi was miving on again.
-x-
Naruto was returning from darkness slowly, soft sounds of leaves moving and fire sparkling slowly coming to his ears. Then, a sudden wave of memories of Sakura leaving with Sasuke and them both merging into darkness suddenly woke him up and he sat up with a jump.
"Sakura-chan!" he shouted.
"Calm down, Naruto" a familiar voice met his ear and a strong hand pushed him back to lying possition "lie down and rest. You've been beaten up pretty hard, you know" Naruto turned his head to the speaker and saw Kakashi, lit up by the light of fire. The surroundings were already darker then he remembered: the night was coming.
"It wasn't just a nightmare, was it?" the boy asked, secretly hoping for it to be only a dream.
"Unfortunatelly, no" Kakashi said, his voice a little sad "I sent Team Kurenai back to Konoha to report about the event and to receive new orders. Although I suppose they will stay the same: hunt down the Akatsuki"
Naruto looked to his former sensei and wondered what he was really thinking about Sakura leaving like that. Naruto himself felt even emptier and lonelier right now then he was before. Sakura-chan. You said this is the only way, but before you said we'd do this together. Then why? I don't understand. I think…I might've made a mistake. I might've never really understood what you were feeling to Sasuke…I might've been wrong all these years.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said suddenly.
"Hm?"
"Why? I try to understand her, but I can't. Why did she do this?" Kakashi fell into silence for a while, thinking carefully of an answer.
"These things, between people like Sasuke and Sakura are not really easy to explain. To put it simply, Sakura left, because she loves Sasuke more than anything in this world. She's even willing to sacrifice friendship between you and her to save him from darkness. That's, I suppose, how it is"
"She did say that this is the only way to bring Sasuke back" Naruto said, sitting up slowly: the pain from Sakura's punch was still sensible in his belly "she said she couldn't go alongside with me anymore" Kakashi nodded.
"In a way, she is right. Sasuke might not know it, but all the time he spent with Sakura in the Team Seven, he attached to her more than he could've ever imagined. After all, she always had an extraordinary power over him, especially when it came to supressing his dark side. I'd be surprised if Sasuke didn't convince himself that one of the reasons he's leaving Konoha is to protect Sakura from possible danger from Akatsuki" Naruto listened to Kakashi, watching how fires are sparkling. And then, for a slight second, he thought he saw the faces of Sasuke and Sakura…they looked like the old days: smiling with ease.
"I used to think that everything's possible if you want it bad enough" the boy said sadly "but now I'm not so sure about it anymore"
"But you still believe in those words, right?" Kakashi asked and Naruto's face immediatelly changed into relieved one.
"Sure I do. Believe it" If that's your plan, Sakura-chan, then it's perfect. All I have to do is believe in you and clear as many enemies from your way as possible. I know you can do it. Believe it! You can bring Sasuke back!
-x-
The Hebi stopped just when the first stars began to appear in the night sky. They were now sitting around a fire at the edge of the forest, which gone into wide field and lake with it. Suigetsu done a pause in drinking his water and looked at Sasuke.
"So, what's the plan? I thought we were going to remove some Akatsuki thrash from the picture" Sasuke lifted his eyes to him.
"You and the rest will. I have something precice I'm going to do"
"Like what?"
"Like killing Uchiha Itachi" this name made everyone stiff a little. Sakura, who was sitting steadily and looking to prancing flames, lifted her eyes to Sasuke. The guy could read the word "worry" all over them.
"You know where he is?" she asked.
"Yeah. We're meeting in Uchiha's hideout. Things will end there eventually" everybody looked at him with respect and amazement. But Sakura was still worries. She remembered fighting Itachi some time before and although it turned out to be a mere replication, he was hard to defeat for four of them. Then again, she didn't exactly see what powers Sasuke has developed now. The kunoichi turned her eyes back to the fire. If Sasuke defeated Orochimaru, that means he's gotten way stronger than before. Maybe even stronger than the time we met the first time. I can only hope that this is enough. Still, he'll be leaving again and who knows if he'll come back.
"Alright, everyone, get some sleep" Sasuke ordered, standing up "I'll keep an eye out" and he jumped up, heading into dark fields. Sakura watched him with a corner of an eye, fighting off the urge to follow.
"Sakura-san" Juugo called "have a little faith in Sasuke-kun. He's good at fighting. Sometimes he gets even scary, you know" Sakura smiled slightly to him.
"I know he is. It's just not his first emcounter with Itachi. The last one wasn't even close to success"
"What's Itachi like anyway?" Suigetsu aked, again sirping water.
"Could you at least stop drinking water for a minute?!" Karin shouted on him.
"Let him do it" Sakura cut her off "his body recomposes with water. He needs to keep H2O level pretty high to be able to do it. You should stop making him use recomposion too often as well. That could end as a disaster for all of us in battle" Karin blinked at Sakura for few times and lowered her eyes to the fire.
"Whatever" she said. Suigetsu looked at Sakura with a strange look. That was unexpected. She already figured out how my elemental recomposion works, although she saw it only once. That's some analyzing abilities. Add enormous power and medical ninjutsu, too. Now I see why Sasuke-kun attached her to the Hebi. We need someone like her. Also, she adds some stability, bringing Karin down from heights. Sakura-san sure keeps surprising me.
"Anyway" Sakura continued "Itachi is…well…dangerous. His genjutsu is unbelievably strong. Even when a person wants to release other from Itachi's trap, it's extremely dificult to do. Besides, he never looses his temper, no matter what. Although that's to be expected from the Uchiha. I know my share of them" Sakura again looked to the place where Sasuke disappeared in the darkness.
"Well, Sasuke-kun isn't too shaby at genjutsu himself" Juugo said, looking to the fire "he's able to supress my unchained urge to kill when it comes out merely with using his eye genjutsu abilities"
"Yeah, and he can recompose his body in snakes from wherever he wants. Not to mention all those cool tricks with fire and lightening. I think odds are to his favore" Suigetsu sirped some water and smiled to Sakura with a straw in his sharp teeth "what do you think?"
"If you put it that way, I'll believe you" Sakura smiled to him. These guys are not too bad. Although I still sense some urge to kill, but…looks like Sasuke still has a good taste in friends…or comrades.
"Alright, guys, time to get some sleep" Suigetsu said, taking his sleeping bag "orders are orders"
"Yeah" Juugo agreed and by wrapping himself into sleeping bag, he immediatelly fell asleep.
"How can he do that?" Karin asked with non-believing face.
"Gift of nature" Suigetsu sighed "I envy him sometimes" he turned to Sakura, who was already lying wrapped into her own sleeping bag and shot her a smile "good night, Sakura-san"
"Night" she smiled back to him. Wonder why he's so kind to me. Oh well, that's way better than that Karin slut. Juugo is not so bad too. Interesting bunch, I'll give them that. Her eyes unwillingly turned to the direction Sasuke went to.
-x-
When every member of team Hebi fell asleep, Sakura silently got up and quickly headed to the direction of the lake: that was where Sasuke went before. Moon wasn't haning in the sky, so it was dificult to see the way, which is only lit up by slight light of stars. Sakura stopped when she saw the surface of the lake, where all of the sky was reflected and looked around, hoping to see a lonely figure somewhere in the dark. Something rushed behind her and Sakura reacted immediatelly, taking the person behind her back by throat. She gasped when she realized it was the one she was looking for.
"Sasuke-kun!" she gasped, retreating her hand "I'm sorry, I didn't think it was you" the shinobi smiled slightly.
"You've gotten pretty dangerous to lurk around for" he said. Sakura chuckled a little bit.
"Same about you. Or at least that's what your comrades were telling me for past half an hour"
"Releable source of information, huh?" he said, walking past her and looking to the mirror-like lake's surface.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Sakura asked, standing beside him.
"Nothing. Don't mention it" a silence fell between them. Sakura watched the reflections of the stars, wondering around her own memories of old days in Konoha with Sasuke and Naruto. And here I am, standing here with him again. I only would like Naruto to be by our side as well. Then there'd be nothing missing in this world.
"When are you going?" Sakura asked suddenly.
"Soon. At dawn I think. No need to delay it more than there's needed" the kunoichi looked up at his face, which was facing stars above and didn't express any emotions at all. Still, it didn't look at all like Itachi's: Sasuke still had certain softness to it, where Itachi already had nothing but cold desire to kill written all over it.
"Sakura" he said, waking up the girl from her thoughts "don't worry. I told you before to stop concerning yourself of what I do" Sakura was moved into a smile with these words.
"You're still so naïve about this, you know"
"And you're still so annoingly persistent. Nothing changes"
"The funny thing is that this is how I get by in life" Sakura smiled a little wider "that's how I managed to get into Hebi. Because I annoyed you enough" the kunoichi felt that Sasuke barely held back laughter. Finally, at least some gost of the past. Just need a little push and everything will be fine.
"I suppose I was just too annoying for you to forget me. Still, I wonder why, because you seem to have someone to annoy you around besides me" Now Sasuke laughed. Silently, but for real. For the first time in two and half years he actually laughed.
"You're right, I do have someone certain" he said, emphasising the last word. Sakura smiled to him. Finally, at least for the moment, he's back to his old self.
"I suppose I was just too annoying for you to forget me. Still, I wonder why, because you seem to have someone to annoy you around besides me" Now Sasuke laughed. Silently, but for real. For the first time in two and half years he actually laughed.
"You're right, I do have someone certain" he said, emphasizing the last word. Sakura smiled to him. Finally, at least for the moment, he's back to his old self.
"Why is that now you have the ability to make me smile too?" Sasuke asked in a rhetorical way.
"I don't know" Sakura shrugged shoulders "who cares anyway. As long as I can see you like that, everything is fine" Sasuke smiled to her, looking directly at her jade eyes.
"What happened to us anyway?" Sakura asked "did we change that much and we barely recognize each other?"
"This that's what happened actually" Sasuke said, his face now turning to a little concerned and…sad "most of things changed"
"Most, but not all" Sakura turned her head back to the lake "I hope"
"Hope dies last, that's what they say"
"Yeah" silence fell between them again. The couple stood immobile for quite some time, not speaking, not looking at each other, just standing there, feeling each other's presence.
The eastern horizon was already turning grey when Sasuke first spoke after long silence:
"It's time for me to go" he said.
"Yeah" Sakura's eyes were strange. The Uchiha never saw them so full of fear before "just be careful, alright?"
"Yeah. Take care of others. Your medical ability is a gift for all of us" Sakura only nodded, gulping a ball, stuck in her throat.
Sasuke turned around to walk away, but he stopped. Stopped for a good reason. He suddenly felt someone's arms wrap around his chest and someone's warm body attach to his back. He turned his head and saw green eyes crying with two little crystal tears.
"Promise me you'll come back" she whispered "promise me and keep this promise" Sasuke took her hand and pressed it harder to himself. He knew perfectly well that things will go to the point where he might not be able to keep this promise. Still…
"I promise" he said. Sakura blindly folded her fingers with Sasuke's and gripped it tighter. The shinobi turned around and brushed tears from the girl's face. And only when he walked away further did he let go off her hand…
