Kakashi could only quietly watch as Sakura took a shaky breathe. Watching the first tear slowly slip down her cheek he slowly moves his hand to cup the side of her face and gently wipes it away with his thumb. "You are stronger than this. Don't let his petty words upset you." Seeing more tears make their way down her cheeks, Kakashi could feel part of his heart breaking for the Cherry Blossom. "Sakura, look at me." Using the hand cupping her face, he lifts her chin so she looks him in the eye. "Don't listen to him; he has a lot going on right now." Leaning in and pecking her lips, Kakashi pulls back just enough to whisper to her, "This is my fault. I should have stopped before we got this far."

"No. I shouldn't have encouraged you on a mission. Let's just get dressed and go."

Nodding in understanding, Kakashi helped pull Sakura off the bed. Picking up their respective tops, they quickly slipped them on and silently head towards the lobby.


There was an air of awkwardness surrounding the group as they travelled through the woods. After gathering in the lobby, a quick decision was made to travel to a safer location out of town where they could openly discuss any information gathered.

Sighing for what seems like the twelfth time, Kakashi shot an agitated look at Naruto. "I suggest you stop glaring at me if you want to learn that new justu we discussed before you left." Seeing the blonde's shoulders slump, Kakashi knew he had won a little reprieve from the murderous glares.

Looking ahead and noticing an approaching clearing, Kakashi was about to stop the group but he was interrupted by Sasuke, who it seems decided to speak for the first time since the hotel room incident. "Let's stop at the clearing up ahead. I have important information on a possible lead."

After his brief announcement, the group picks up their pace and jump down into the clearing. Kakashi, along with the rest of the shinobi, wait for Sasuke to start relaying the information he found.

"While Naruto and I were asking around town, we came across some villagers discussing a group of bandits that passed through yesterday. Apparently there was a child with them that fits Itachi's description. When we approached them to inquire about the group, we found out there was approximately five people; four men and a woman."

"Was there any other information you gathered from them?" Kakashi decided to go ahead and ask. When Sasuke shook his head in the negative, he continued, "Anyone else find out information pertinent to our search?" Coming to the conclusion all the information was out in the open, he turned towards Sasuke once more. "Is it safe to assume we are heading in the correct direction?"

Sasuke nodded his assent, and then added, "Because Itachi is so young they will not be able to move very fast. We might even be able to catch up to them by tonight."

Seeing her opportunity, Sakura called out to Sasuke. "Sasuke, before we leave I'd like a word with you…in private. Take a short walk with me." Not waiting to see if he would follow, Sakura turned and headed towards a break between two of the trees surrounding them.


Coming to a stop a little ways away from the clearing, Sakura finally turned around. "Look Sasuke, what happened back in the Inn…"

"I don't have time for this bullshit, Sakura. My child is out there in danger."

"Just shut up and listen to me for once, Sasuke! I apologize for our behavior, it was unprofessional of us to get involved while on a mission…especially when we are trying to help an old friend." Looking him in the eye and steeling her emotions, she continued. "While I know what we did was wrong, there was no reason for you to call me a whore. I don't care who you think you are that makes you think you can talk to me like that, but if you do it again I'll rip that stick out of your ass and insert a tree. The only difference is I will literally shove a tree up your ass and leave it there." She finished, angrily meeting his gaze. "I dare you to test me on this, Sasuke."

Maintaining eye contact, Sakura was surprised when Sasuke smirked. "You have changed Sakura."

"No one can stay the same. Every one changes over time. We live, learn and mature. I'm just not sure if you have matured. The only thing you seem to have done since the war is to hide from us and try to start a family of your own. We always waited for you to come back and be with us. Hell you could have even brought your wife with you! We could have given your family the protection they obviously needed so this type of thing would never have happened!" She finished heatedly. "Why? After all these years why are you still not willing to return to your home?"

Seeing the smirk had been wiped clear off his face, she was unsettled by the way he was looking at her. She wasn't quite sure how to define the look in his eyes. Regret? Pain? Longing?

"Sakura, you want to know why I can't return? Its simple, there's nothing left for me there. I used to believe you when you said you would always love me and I think some part of me wanted that."

Unsure where he was going with this, Sakura's eyes widened when he started taking steps to invade her personal space. Stuck like a deer in headlights, she could only stand there as Sasuke pushed some hair behind her ear and left his hand there. Sucking in a sharp breath, Sakura waited for him to continue.

"I always intended to return to Konoha after my brother was dead. I was going to…I was hoping you would be willing to start a family with me. During the war I realized many things though. For one, Konoha was corrupt and I didn't want to continue my lineage there, and secondly, you had changed. You didn't need me to protect you anymore."

Gasping as he ran his hand down and behind her neck, she didn't know how to respond to the feel of his breath on her lips. Closing her eyes she was trying to figure out how their conversation got here.

"Sakura," he whispered against her lips. "I know there is something going on with you and Kakashi; that was obvious back in the hotel room. However, when we get my son back, and we will, I want you to consider me as an option. I'll come back to Konoha and you and I can continue to restore my clan to its former glory."

Feeling his lips gently touch hers jump started her body. Without even meaning to she shoved Sasuke several feet away from herself. Lightly touching her lips, she looked at him and said, "Sasuke, any feelings I had for you are gone. I thought a part of me would always love you, but I now realize I loved the idea of you. I don't think I ever really knew you. I'm sorry Sasuke, but I am not going to lie down and become a birthing machine for you. I love being a kunoichi and I will not give that up." Not waiting for him, she turned and headed back towards the clearing. Tilting her head to the side, she softly said, "Kakashi would never expect anything from me other than for me to be myself." Looking forward again, she left to join the others, knowing he was following her.

Pausing right before she entered the clearing again, she addressed Sasuke one more time. "That kiss never happened. I love Kakashi and I won't destroy what we could have because you had a possessive whim." Having said that, they both silently entered the clearing to rejoin the others.


Seeing the two walk back into the clearing Kakashi gave Sakura a questioning look, but knew whatever was said she could handle herself. Now that they had returned, he took that as his cue and took charge of the group again. "Neji, you take the front with me. Sakura, you in the middle. Sasuke take right, Naruto take left. Shino, use your bugs to bring up the back. Let's move out!"

Taking to the trees, the ninja became a blur as they disappeared into the foliage. It was only a matter of time until either they catch the bandits with Sasuke's child or they find out they've been running towards some kind of trap.


"Tsunade-hime, what exactly are you implying? That you sent Naruto to find missing-nin Uchiha Sasuke and force his return to Konoha? I find this hard to believe you sanctioned a mission and allowed him to discontinue communication with the village."

Looking at the Elders, Tsunade gritted her teeth. "As I was saying, Naruto is on a sanctioned mission from me to track down the whereabouts of one Uchiha Sasuke and report back when he is found. I did not specify how often he should communicate his location to me. I realize now that was a mistake and it has been rectified. If you have any further complaints I ask you submit them in writing for me to peruse at a later time. Now, if you will excuse me…I have a village to run." Not bothering to see how they responded to her dismissal of them, Tsunade turned and swept out of the room.


Flying through the trees the silence was broken by Neji. "They are five kilometers ahead of us. They seem to be bunking down for the night, but…"

"What is it, Neji?" Sakura asked after his hesitation. "Are there more of them than we were expecting?"

"No…" Allowing the confusion to show on his face, he glanced at Sasuke before continuing. "Sasuke, did they take anything else from your house? I can see Itachi over the shoulder of one of the men, but the woman with them seems to be holding something, too. I can't quite make out what it is."

"There was nothing else missing that I noticed, however I will make sure to personally check after I have Itachi safely in my arms."

Noticing the way Sasuke was grinding his teeth in anger, Sakura intervened before he unleashed his temper on them. "Kakashi, how should we go about getting Itachi-kun back?"

Seeing the man shoot her a glance over his shoulder, she waited patiently for his response. "We will wait for them to fall asleep. Shino's bugs will be extremely helpful in taking out the lookout and then we can grab little Itachi and let Sasuke deal out their punishment. I think it's only fair we allow you to do that Sasuke, but know we will be glad to help if you want it."

Not missing a beat, Sasuke agreed. "This is something I want to do on my own. I will make them suffer for taking my child from me."


Closing the door behind her, Tsunade let out a breath. "Ok Shikamaru, you can come out of those shadows now. By the way…brilliant idea to play it off as part of his mission. Now, how are we supposed to come up with the paperwork to back my claim?"

Seeing the smirk on his face, Tsunade couldn't help the scowl that crossed her features. "Hokage-sama, I wrote that mission up myself. Don't you remember me assisting you for that week as payment for helping Sakura hide your sake?"

Understanding where the Nara genius was going with this, she let out a snort. "Let me guess, you went and hunted it down yourself to make sure that we had evidence to show the Elders when they come back in the morning?" Allowing herself to fully laugh, she had to ask. "When did you have time to write this so called mission? You came up with the idea five minutes before I met with the Elders and I was only with them for possibly ten minutes!"

Watching the Nara heir bow to her, she was surprised when he responded. "Why Hokage-sama, maybe you have forgotten how close I am with your protégé and how many times I have been forced to assist her in writing up the mission reports. I simply used my previous knowledge of how the missions are supposed to be written to document my idea. This way we can cover our tracks and make everyone happy. All the paperwork is missing is your signature, which I assume you can do right now."

Pulling the scroll out of his hand, Tsunade smiled as she unrolled the parchment and added her official signature as Hokage. Still chuckling slightly, she put the scroll in a desk drawer and pulls out a bottle of sake, along with two cups. "Sit down and join me. This is the least I can do since you just saved one of my best shinobi's ass…and mine, too."

Hearing Shikamaru laugh, she was pleasantly surprised when he sat down and joined her. Clinking their cups together, they celebrated pulling one over on the Elders of their village. "Here's to them never finding out the truth."


The Konoha shinobi had finally caught up to the group of bandits. As they sat in the bushes observing the camp site, they were surprised by the conversation they were overhearing.

"Kazuki, what are we going to do? You know he is going to catch up to us soon! There's no way we can successfully avoid him in time to reach the hideout!"

"Don't worry, Tomomi," the one named Kazuki grumbled. "We have more leverage than we originally thought we were going to have."

"Boy will the Uchiha be in for a surprise when he finds out what else we have!" laughed another member of the party. "I bet he never suspects we…"

A loud baby's cry erupted through the clearing causing groans to erupt from the people sitting around the fire and shock to run through the shinobi surrounding them.


A/N: I was feeling motivated, hence the new chapter already :)