Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters

Rated M, just in case. This is a Sasuke/Hinata fic, though Sakura does play a main role.

Chapters do get longer over time as I'm trying to get the hang of this.

Reviews influence faster updates and are always appreciated. This chapter is dedicated to those who reviewed right away. I'm terrible at showing gratitude, so my thanks are in this chapter.


Chapter 2

To be Worthy

(o)(O) Suna 2:49pm(O)(o)

Sand seemed to melt under Hinata's feet, the breeze littered with the same substance that entered her nose and mouth to the point that she could taste its putrid essence of bloodshed; the grainy texture serving as a reality shot. The sun was still high, relentlessly pounding on her haggard back and the wind howled at all sides. Her breaths were coming out in quick pants and her sandals repeatedly filled themselves with Suna's essence before emptying then repeating the tiring cycle.

Still, she continued to run, throwing the large scroll clutched in a vice under her nimble fingers into the safety of the strap attached to the inside of her light sweater; the same color as the sand for possible camouflage.

And when she had gotten used to the rhythm her constant pants and plodding had done, a shot rang into the air; a warning to her.

Despite baser instinct – the fight or flight inquiry – she turned around and if it had been years ago, she would have continued to run until the sand had buried her into its cold belly.

"Good to see you have sense woman" the lone man who had followed her had nothing special. He had short, cropped hair the color of the sand with a green vest – bullet proof, most likely - and black pants that trailed to his sandals. He smirked, "Look, just hand over the scroll and instead of the death sentence, you'll get life imprisonment."

The raven-haired female chocked and backed up, falling flat on the floor in earnest, "Please just let me go" she whimpered, unconsciously looking around for any more agents of Suna.

It was wind and sand for miles.

"I can't" the spy growled in return, "I don't know how you did it, but you infiltrated a sacred temple here though it was surrounded by guards and managed to escape without causing alarm except for me, and I just so happened to see you" he reached into his pocket for his weapon, "and you're asking me to let you go?" he cocked it; ready and loaded, "You're as pathetic as you look, so, you must be either really strong, which I doubt, or you must have had help, and I don't see anyone coming to save you for miles. So you can come with me peacefully and I won't have to drag your body to the Kazekage."

He pointed the gun at her head.

"N-no"

He shot her left shoulder and quickly pointed back to her head.

Hinata shrieked and hit the sand floor, rolling herself into a fetal position and held back her sobs. The crimson liquid leaked into the ground and the sand seemed suddenly restless and entered a frenzy, causing the wind to pick up in a feral response.

The male walked up next to her cautiously, the anxious predator against the wounded prey. "Look, I don't want to kill you, so just turn yourself in." He leaned in and noticed her slow breathing, followed by a soft squelching sound. Her right hand came into view, the bullet clenched in her hand and she finally let out a wracked sob. It shook her whole body. Then the bullet harmlessly rolled itself into the sand, blood drizzling off it from the biting wind.

"Wha-" he started.

"I'm sorry" and Hinata's foot kicked out towards his chest and sent the spy reeling back in shock more than actual pain. His gun went flying and tossed around in the wind before plummeting into the depths of the warm Suna floor.

The opal-eyed female took her stance, a foot away from him, as if the position was well-learnt, "Byakugan." She adjusted her weight to the balls of her feet, and tried to ignore the pain, though the blood kept oozing out.

"Wait, how do you kn-"

"Eight trigrams, thirty-two palms"

A sequence of attacks began and suddenly, everything went dark.

"I'm sorry, but I've only just made you immobile with slight nerve damage. You'll be fine." The small female looked around frantically, "I have to go." With that, Hinata turned to run, this time, unhindered and a constant companion with the wind.

(o)(O) Konoha 3:00pm(O)(o)

"Password"

The voice on the other end of the thick steel was a robotic monotone – reminding Sakura immediately of the chillingly brass tone that belonged to Sasuke, though thinking of his name further caused nervousness and agitation – and she found herself at a loss. There was a small white box attached to the left of the door – probably Sai's work, as he had said that he was the mechanist – which held a small talk screen. It glowed a gentle blue and the pinkette found herself looking at it. She didn't know the password –surprise, surprise - as she had left in such a haste the night before – fleetingly on the subject of 'Hinata' who seemed to be a 'ghost' as Sai had grudgingly, though heavily implied - and the pinkette wasn't the least bit keen on what it could have been; the password, that is.

She stood her ground for a minute, a step away from her new occupation – though, more specifically, a slab of concrete and possible other security measures away from her new occupation; the one she had studied five years for. At the previous night, she had exited from another door and getting out had not required a password and – oh heavens – she needed it right now to get in.

Her mind scrambled for phrases, any phrases that Sai had used so earnestly the day before, as she had spent a large sum of time in his care before the other two had arrived. There was 'turtle' – but that would have not made sense because, though it was her code name, it would have not been the password that her teammates would have tossed around so easily nor given to her as an alias. Raven, fox or sloth were out of the question as they were the alias's of the rest; once again, not a wise choice, especially if they were used so often and could again be used to open an underground base.

"Password" was the more immediate and louder tone the robotic voice dispelled once again, startling the female out of her reverie and Sakura realized that she was still standing there, dumfounded.

Maybe it was 'zoo'? The base's code name; and it still didn't make sense.

"Zoo" she blurted out because she didn't know anything else.

"Negative. Initializing security measures."

Sakura took a step back in slight worry at what that would mean – a lockdown of the base perhaps – and then she worried that it would have been some sort of weapon of mass destruction that would appear to attempt to rid the threat. Knowing that her team was indeed a special case when it came to standings in the ANBU, it was completely alright to be nervous of the consequence – and all she had wanted was the password – and for a second, outside of her racing heart beat – she wished that she had asked for the password from Sai from the day before. It was a stupid error on her part and she was living the regret at the moment, it seemed.

There was something akin to a slight whirring sound before a computer popped out of the door she had been trying to gain access to. It's sleek black front suggested that it was new and the surrounding crystal clear frame hinted that it was well kempt. A keyboard automatically unfolded itself from the back and the computer edged itself towards her as if it were a peace offering.

Cautiously – or more like a skidding new born doe – she approached the screen. The gentle whirring mingled with her thudding beat.

Upon close inspection, Sai's face popped up. Large black eyes met hers through the suddenly alight screen and Sakura immediately noticed the rest of the team in the background. The room was brightly lit; the glare casting soft glows on the features of the men. Sasuke was far in the back, doing something akin to writing a report while Naruto was to his left, dozing against the table, a rolling chair keeping him propped up. The light sounds of snoring; scratching of pen on paper and the constant whirring of the building could be heard.

Sai looked almost apologetic, but his brows were tightly furrowed and his mouth formed into an equally uncomfortable smile – which seemed to the pinkette as a grimace. "Sorry there Sakura" he turned to look behind him for a second, "I was testing the system with a new password prompt. But things weren't going smoothly." He pointed to himself, "Mechanist mind here you see, not tech pro."

"It's alright" Sakura replied slowly, placing a hand over the other unconsciously in a vice.

"Hold on a second and I'll get you in"

She noticed his pale fingers disappear from the vantage point followed by steady clicks and the sounds of a keyboard before he smiled – that fake smile again, "Come on in."

The steel doors – at least a few meters of slab – that had once seemed so menacing parted for her with a light groan, displaying a short corridor leading to another door on the inside. That door did not look heavily guarded at all and most likely lead into the zoo – code name for 'base' she fondly remembered – thanking her addled brain for such a simple recovery. Yes, she was getting used to things.

The pinkette returned his gesture, though a little bit hesitantly, and walked in, back straight and body tense.

The dim glow of the room was the first thing she noticed, followed by the blinking lights attached to several devices that littered the room messily the computers, the large weapons locker in the far left corner that took up the whole wall and finally, she saw the hidden room door. The base seemed less interesting at that moment and she realized it was probably because the initial shock of her new work environment had passed fleetingly.

"Hey Turtle" Sai was the first to speak, "Did you sleep well?"

She returned the pleasantries easily, "Yes, the new flat Lady Tsunade placed me in is nice" she cocked her head to the side, "I was afraid that it would be heavily guarded for team member protection. I was just glad to only see a few" Sakura wasn't stupid. She knew that the moment she had set foot into the base, there would be some sort of security measure put out on her to ensure she did not put out the location of the base or even contemplate the idea of going rogue. In addition, the base was in a remote location outside of Konoha, protected by Lady Tsunade herself. To try to enter if not a part of the special team – number seven – was like signing a death warrant. Now, all Sakura acknowledged that she would be losing was a bit of her privacy.

Said male nodded and gestured to a chair beside him.

The female took the seat comfortably, easing in with whatever grace she possessed and looked over her teammate – dressed in all black again as usual. The other two were also garbed in the same color.

Unfortunately, and almost reluctantly, emerald orbs flickered behind her and she noticed that Sasuke had not looked at her once.

After a moment of silence, Sakura looked back to the mechanist, "So, you said you'd have something for me to do today?" her light inquiry startled Naruto to an upright position. He looked around dazedly before he moved closer to Sasuke and fell back to sleep. The raven-head seemed unfazed with this and continued to work in his calm, collected manner, pen scratching on paper; unhindered.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do have something for you to do." Sai reached under the glass desk and immediately, the pinkette noticed the heavy files littered at his feet. He smiled at her look – the smile that she was beginning to grow used to – and stated comfortably, "These need to be ordered in such a way that makes sense. I don't know exactly how these files are related, but I'm sure that with your quick mind, you'll figure something out, turtle."

She nodded in turn and took the bunch from him, swiveling to her right to make more room for herself and a brief sense of calm and familiarity enveloped her as she opened the first set from the pale peach folder.

"Actually, there's no time for that." The low, almost sultry tone made Sakura jump, "We're going out Sakura." Sasuke stood, uncharacteristically careful enough to inch slowly away from Naruto to insure the blonde male didn't go and hit his head against the floor in his sleep. He inclined his head, gesturing to the door, "C'mon"

Her response was slightly strained as she copied his movements rigidly, "A-alright"

Sai only shrugged, turning away from them, and began to tinker with his touch screen "Well, the work will be here for you when you come back Turtle, so look forward to it"

They hurried outside –well, Sasuke did and Sakura rushed to stay in step with him – and the base closed behind them. The remote location came into view, the green leaves of the nearby trees glowed from the afternoon sun, healthy, despite the slightly hot weather. Birds were basking in the light breeze that worked its way through the branches as nests remained firm.

Sakura enjoyed these simple pleasures, but apparently her raven-eyed partner was already ahead of her by a few feet. He tossed a look of annoyance behind his back – completely icy and heartless – and motioned for her to move faster, "C'mon" he repeated.

"Where are we going?" was the first thing she blurted out, a little excited, but worried. An ANBU spy like him wouldn't just go anywhere or everywhere without a reason.

"Dress shopping" was his curt answer and for a second, Sakura was startled – the kind of befuddlement that knocked people literally off their feet – and she made a move to ask why. Butterflies began to bubble up in her stomach in a different sort of nervousness – one she couldn't begin to understand.

"We're going on a mission and are posing as a married couple"

The butterflies exploded.

(o)(O) 7:00pm (O)(o)

"Is this alright?" was the curt question Sakura asked – for the third time – as she glanced curiously at the ring comfortably placed on her finger, "It looks expensive" and she looked to the environment that surrounded her. Light blue drapery hung on the windows, which were large enough to encase the whole view of the setting sun. The grand hall they were currently in was surrounded with equally flourished people wearing elegant dresses and suits while sipping champagne. Sakura herself was adorned in a red dress that Sasuke had deemed nice on her – catching the pinkette off guard at the comment – but losing her good grace when he added that blood would easily blend into it if they were to get into a fight with enemies. The raven-head himself had chosen an eloquent black suit – matching his usual black on black attire.

"This whole place is expensive," he retorted, turning to look at her with a smile – a rare smile that left her unguarded once more. She didn't have to know Sasuke for a long time to realize that smiles from him were not a common occurrence. He flashed his matching silver ring at her, grabbing a hold on her fingers, and inquired, "Let's mingle with the rest of the guests, shall we, love?"

A blush stained her face almost immediately as a few turned their head to them and giggled, "Ah, young love. What a cute pair. Honey, we should go on another honeymoon" and "Dear, how about we take a night off for romancing" and "Aren't they adorable? It's great to be young" followed by, "a toast to love, yes?"

Sakura ducked under Sasuke's arms, playing the part of a blushing bride – and playing it rather well – in the party they were set to infiltrate.

"We're there to not cause a scene, but to lay low and mingle with the other party members" Sasuke had strapped a gun to the inside of his shirt, "We don't know who else is possibly an enemy, so just be careful with what you say." He had hid a knife at the sole of his shoe, "Under no circumstances are you to give any information on your involvement to the ANBU. You are strictly an asset to this mission. Do you understand this Sakura?"

The pinkette had cringed at that and had straightened her dress a little, "Sorry, I'm just a little nervous"

Sasuke had sighed, "I'll protect you, so just sell the situation and make it believable"

"O-ok" and for a second, Sakura had only heard the first part of the sentence.

They headed to the dance floor, which in fact, was the middle of the ballroom, marked by a rather large ornate rug that accented the rich environment. Sasuke's hand was tightly linked with hers and Sakura noticed that he had muscles hidden well under the suit – no, it wasn't the time to think like that – and she quickly shot her large emerald orbs to his eyes for some sort of queue that she wasn't feeling anything strange for the man.

He was looking languidly around the room, watching with that sort of grace that stunned her completely – once again - and he slowly wheeled her into a waltz when a slow song started. For a moment, his eyes had clashed with hers and she realized that they were deep and endless – all that mushy stuff that usually would have made her rethink the amount of champagne she had drunk. She followed his lead easily, almost naturally. During the better half of it, she leaned her head against his neck as time flew. He smelled like cologne and pine and something utterly masculine.

Then, he stopped suddenly and held her back a few feet. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

It had been ringing.

He led her to a corner and took the call with grace.

"I see" and his eyes narrowed against the phone, "You better not be lying Sai" and there was a pause before he gave a brisk nod, "I'm coming" He snapped the phone shut. It mingled with the sounds of champagne and laughter. "New plan, we're going home"

Sakura fought to defend some essence of the magical evening, but told herself it was for the greater good of the people who undoubtedly were dancing around rogue spies, "But what about the enemy?"

He frowned; "I don't care about them, we're going" and he made a move for the door.

Then, something feral and competitive snapped in Sakura; something utterly unlike her that she would later blame on the drinks served at the party. She found herself running up behind him and stating icily, "It's about Hinata isn't it?"

He didn't even pause, "Yes"

And just like that, her first mission was over.


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