Morning came in harsher than Sasuke had seen in years. The sun was completely blacked out by the storm clouds that had pooled across the sky as they had slept. Rain looking to dump at any minute and while the tent would keep them from getting wet, it also meant that they would need to find more prevalent shelter in a cave so that they could start a fire to be warm. He shook Sakura who was still sleeping soundly to wake her.

"Sakura. Get up and let's go. It's going to rain soon and I want to be much further away before it dumps." Sasuke said as he got up himself and started to pack away things.

Sakura got up and helped him pack, albeit a much slower pace than him as she was still injured and could not keep up at her normal pace. Soon after they were off and jumping through the trees at a breakneck pace. One that Sakura in no way was able to keep up with. Every time he got ahead of her more than 40 paces she felt like she was on fire and would speed up as best she could. After several hours of this, the rain began pouring so hard it was almost impossible to see more than just her hand in front of her face. Several hours later, Sakura's legs give out and she falls the next 40 feet to the ground. Upon hitting the ground, a resounding snap is heard as her leg breaks in half and her scream resonates through the forest. Causing Sasuke to turn back and notice she was gone.

"Sakura? Where the hell are you?" Sasuke said as he dropped down branch by branch. "What the hell have you done now? "

"I fell and broke my leg. I can't travel anymore in this condition." Sakura holds her voice down to prevent pissing the Uchiha off.

"Let me see it." He says as he kneels down and begins to check on her wounds. Grabbing hold of her leg he checks it over and it is indeed broken. "Heal yourself up now."

"Chakra? Still, don't have any right now." Sakura sassed him as she felt her chakra begin to flood her veins and heal her injuries on its own, then all too soon, it was gone. "Thanks. Shall we continue?"

"No, I see a cave over there that we can take over for the night until the rain stops. Let's just hope we can get a fire started with the wood I sealed away last night." He said as he helped her up and walked with her to the cave.

"Fine. We need to get warm and dry anyways otherwise we are going to get hypothermia. Start with your clothes." Sakura said as she went into medic mode, forgetting that she was ordering Sasuke to do something.

"Excuse me?" He said darkly.

"I said that we should get out of the wet clothes. What's so difficult to under…. Oh god. I'm sorry. I just went into medic mode and forgot that I was giving an order." She stammered out as she watched him step towards her in the dark of the cave. " It won't happen again. Honest."

"Should I take you at your word, or should I teach you a lesson in who runs this relationship?" Sasuke mocked her.

"Whichever you decide on… I have no real choice in the matter." She said as she backed into the wall and felt her clothes plastered to her backside.

"For today I will let it slide. Do not do it again. Understand?" He said as he turned away from her and began to undress and lay his clothes out next to the fire they had made.

Hearing her breath of relief and a zipper, he decides to begin making dinner while watching her undress. Her clothes are plastered to her body from the might of the rain and he can see every curve she has, every muscle that has been built while he was away, everything that has changed about her. Stopping he watches as she removes everything but her chest bindings and a black lacy undergarment that he had picked out on a whim one day while planning all of this.

"Sakura. Come here."

She looks over her shoulder and pads over to him. Placing her clothes nearby his and close to the fire she looks into his eyes. He's still sitting on the ground, having finished prepping the food, it was now cooking. Sitting in his signature pose with one leg up and the other down he looks at her. Fire playing off his eyes as he stares into her very soul.

"Sit. Here." He orders as he points at his lap.

"No." was her simple response.

Before the word was even finished forming from her mouth the burning began in her arm. So intense that it was all she could do was not fall in the fire. Falling to her knees in front of him she began to crawl in order to comply with his orders. Reaching the relative safety of his lap, it stopped.

"I told you, you should not defy my orders. It'll hurt worse with each infraction. Please stop making this so damn difficult on me. If you would just listen to me, everything would go so much easier for you, and you might even start to enjoy it. We need to share body heat until the cave heats up. I've placed a barrier to prevent the heat from escaping from it for now. Only one blanket made it unscathed from the rain. We'll have to share." Sasuke said as he wrapped it around them both and they settled in for the night. Eating the chicken cooked by him and then going to sleep. The storm raging outside paid them no mind as it tried to single handily take on the world.

The next day greeted them with a very sunny morning that shone through the cave and onto the couple, waking them as it shone on them. The fire had long gone out and the cave had grown cold overnight as the heat stopped being produced.

"Sakura. Let's go. I want to get moving. Pack everything up and see if the clothes are dry." Sasuke grumbled as he rolled over away from her.

"Lazy asshole. I'll wake you when I'm done." She snipped as she got up, instantly missing the little warmth his body provided her under the blanket.

Packing up everything took very little time, problematic was the fact that her clothes were not yet fully dry and with the temperature it was outside, having even slightly damp clothes would create a problem. Unable though to not follow his orders she got dressed because while her clothes were not yet dry fully, his were. After finishing that task she went about brushing her hair, which had not been done in several days due to their travel, and her own laziness. IT took several minutes to get all of the twigs and leaves out from her scalp and to braid her hair so that she could better travel with it. It was getting just a little long for her taste. She usually kept it right above the small of her back and it was for some reason already in just a few short weeks hanging down to just atop her butt. So braiding it made it much easier to deal with.

"Sasuke. Everything is packed up. Your clothes are dry as well so we can leave as soon as you are dressed." She said as she shook him awake and he stood up and threw the blanket at her with a smirk.

"Well done. Nothing seems even remotely out of place. I want to reward you. What do you want?" Sasuke said as he surveyed the cave.

"A hot shower would be nice. Think that would be manageable?" Sakura squeaked out as his gaze fell on her.

"Yeah. Sounds good to me too. However, not right now. I have a place in mind but it will take us two days to reach it. I'm sure you can wait that long, yes?" Sasuke appeased.

"Yeah. It's fine with me. Ready to go?" She asked as she turned around so he could finish dressing.

"Yeah. Let's go. Oh and take this." He said as he handed her a pill.

"What is this?" She asked as she took it from him, it was unidentifiable to her.

"It makes your hair grow longer. I like your hair and wanted it longer." He simply said as he set off and she followed after taking the pill.

"So that's why my hair has grown at an exponential rate. You've been giving me pills. Prolly crushed it up in my food."

"Bingo. Let's get moving." Sasuke smirked as she looked at him flabbergasted.

The day's journey was uneventful for the most part, aside from Sakura getting colder and colder as they traveled. Her wet clothes not helping keep her warm at such high speeds. She could feel the hypothermia setting in as they finally jumped down from the trees and walked into a small cottage. It had the most basic amenities, there was nothing fancy about it and it was covered in dust from years of disuse.

"Wow. It's really dusty. Where are we?" Sakura asked.

"When I first came to Orochimaru he gave me this cottage as a present so that if I needed a break I could take one in peace. I know it isn't much but there is a bed and it's sheltered. Help me clean up and light a fire. We will be staying here for the night. In the morning we leave to head to your warm shower." Sasuke said as he began to rummage through bottles.

After several hours of cleaning and a fire had been going, the cottage was clean and warm. Sakura, however, was now dirty and still was cold. The room began to spin, colors and shapes blending together as she fell from where she stood. A loud think was the reply as she hit the ground and passed out.

"Sakura? Everything okay?" Sasuke shouted from the bedroom.

When no reply was heard he walked out to find her in a pool of her own blood, coming from a cut on her forehead. Shouting he scrambled to her, picking her up off the ground and laying her on the dining room table. He noticed how cold her hands felt when the rest of her body was burning warmer than the fire he was standing next to. Sakura was sick and now she was bleeding. He took the time she was passed out to stitch up the wound on her head and then stripped her of his clothing, which he noted was damp. Picking her up again in his arms, he walked to the bedroom and laid her on the bed and covered her with all the blankets that were clean and dry.

Through the night he spent his time making cool compresses for her forehead and repeatedly making sure that she was warm despite her own radiating heat. It would be three days before she even opened her eyes again.