A/N: I am so sorry it has taken this long to write. There has been a lot going on, and I grew weary, but none-the-less, I am here writing. I want to thank all of my continual readers. Even if I don't have many, the ones I do have matter to me so much. Thank you for waiting on me consistently, whether patient or impatiently, you have stuck by me. Enjoy this chapter.


Sakura couldn't believe the amount of attention she wasn't getting. 'Getting dressed like this and still getting no attention?! What the hell?!' Inner Sakura yelled in frustration. Sakura just rolled her eyes. Hinata and Ino always did better at these things, it seemed. Not to say Sakura wasn't curvy, she knew she was, she also knew many women that would kill to have a body like hers... But, damn it all if she wouldn't kill to look like Ino-pig and Hinata. 'They're both beautiful, and I'm just... well... me.'

Sakura sighed. Her time was almost up, she would have to meet Sasuke back up with no information.

"'Scuse me, Miss. May I buy you a drink?"

Bingo. Looks like someone didn't mind pink hair after all.

Sakura turned around and batted her fake eye-lashes, making sure to study the man's face. He was a shorter man, but taller than her. He had light-brown hair and tan skin sort of like Naruto's.

"I'd like that," Sakura responded, faking a flirty smile.

He sat down in a stool next to her at the bar, ordering them both glasses of sake, turning toward her.

"My name is Gurosu Uwaki. What about you, beautiful lady?" Uwaki asked as the bartender placed the drinks in front of them.

"My name is Heiya," she lied, carefully watching her drink to be sure he wouldn't spike it before she pretended to down the whole thing.

"Don't mean to be rude, Miss, but you're very beautiful," he said as he slowly looked her up and down, taking especially long on her legs. It took everything within Sakura not to kill this man on the spot. Naruto owed her big time...

But instead of kicking and screaming like she wanted to, Sakura settled on a giggle and a twirl of her hair.

"You from here, Miss?" he inquired.

"No. I'm just traveling through. My uncle sent me to find a place about three miles outside of here, I'm just staying the night in the village." Sakura responded, careful to watch the man's body language when she mentioned the hideout. "I was hoping to find someone who knew the name of the person who lives there, I never could remember what it was," she said with a pouty face.

Uwaki suddenly sat frozen, his body trembling, eyes focused on his drink. "I don't know what kinda business your uncle does, Miss, but..." Uwaki looked to Sakura then, fear clouding his eyes. "...but whatever it is ain't safe. It's real dangerous."


Sasuke slowly stepped inside the library of the hotel just as another man (or woman, he couldn't tell with the cloak covering their head) was stepping out. He was surprised to find that the hotel even had a library. This wasn't a common thing, but he was thankful for it.

Sasuke started to search quickly then, knowing that there was no time to waste. He didn't know of anything he could do without Sakura's information, but he could at least try. There was no way he would do nothing while Sakura risked her life for Naruto.

There was an older man sitting in a desk at the front of the library, nose deep into a book that Sasuke had seen his mother reading many times. "Do you have any books on shinobi and shinobi clans? Perhaps rogue ninja as well?"

The old man shifted his glasses and pointed to the very back of the library as he smiled. "Right there in the back. Any and every book about ninja are in this library."

Sasuke walked toward the book-shelf, noticing the cobwebs and dust covering the books. He never expected them to be of any use here of course, the only people who would be using them would be ninja, and even then, this town wasn't passed through by them often.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered into his radio. "Do we have any information yet?"

After a couple moments of silence, Sasuke began to look for books while he waited. He knew he wouldn't necessarily find anything to help him know who lived there in the hideout, but he figured he could look up fighting techniques and things that would possibly help him.

Sasuke ran a finger along the spine of a book entitled Basic Shinobi Battle Tactics and took it off of the shelf and sat at a table. As he say down, he noticed there were fingerprints on the cover like someone had recently read the book. Maybe the man that passed him was also a shinobi.

"I'm on my way back now," he heard through his radio. "Be in the room in ten minutes."

Sasuke knew he didn't have to respond for Sakura to know he heard her, instead he opted for reading as much of the book as he could before he was to return to the room. Eventually becoming annoyed with the author for his unintelligible tips, Sasuke got up, placing the book where he'd taken it from, when a crumpled up note fell from the pages. After picking up the paper, Sasuke read:

If you're looking for something lost

and don't know where it's found

you've looked all over earth

try looking underground.

What could this even mean? He had no idea, but he had no time to figure it out. He grabbed the note and the book before slamming some money on the counter and running out of the door. Sasuke spent at least fifteen minutes running around the hotel to find the man, and even asked the flirty clerk if she'd seen him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Sasuke stopped in a hallway to catch his breath and think. Whoever this person was clearly knew who Sasuke was. Not only that, they knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. This must be tracker ninja. But who could they be working for, and why did they have Naruto? That was what he needed to know. They obviously wanted to be found.

He knew Sakura would be pissed when he walked into the room, but he didn't care. He needed to show her the note left by their "little friend" to see if she could depict it.


Sakura was pacing the room when Sasuke walked in and closed the door.

"Sasuke, where have you been?! We don't have ti—"

"Read this." Sasuke shoved the paper in Sakura's hand and sat on the bed with the book, opening and shaking it to see if anything would fall out, but nothing did.

He looked to Sakura then, who held the paper in both hands and at him with wide-eyes. "Sasuke... I—"

"There was a man who walked out just before I walked in. I think he wrote that," Sasuke started.

"Sasu—"

"I tried to find him but he's suddenly nowhere in the hotel,"

"Sa—"

"We need to find him and see what he meant, and where—"

"Sasuke, damn it! Sit down and listen to me!" Sakura yelled as she grabbed his arm, he tensed then, standing still, feeling the electricity of her skin on his. Only then did he notice he had been pacing. Sasuke looked at Sakura then, and when she let go he could still feel where her hand had touched him like it was some form of after shock. He was facing her now, only inches away from her fearful eyes. He remembered this same feeling overwhelming him the first time his curse mark consumed him, her arms wrapped around him as he went crazy, just to save her. And even though the mark was consuming his body in pain, he felt her electric touch for days.

"Listen... I talked to a man who knows about the hideout, and..." Sakura sighed and closed her eyes as Sasuke gave her a questioning look.

"I was hoping to find someone who knew the name of the person who lives there, I never could remember what it was."

"I don't know what kinda business your uncle does, Miss, but... but whatever it is ain't safe. It's real dangerous."

She opened her eyes then and looked Sasuke in the face. Sakura was terrified to tell him, every bone in her body screamed from terror as her stomach churned, but she wasn't the little girl who gave into these things anymore. She was a strong shinobi, and a shinobi never lets their feelings interfere with their mission. Although, she was staring into the eyes of the most dangerous man she knew, knowing he could easily kill her if she let him. Not to mention he was also the man she just so happened to be in love—err, used to be in love with. Damn. How could she tell him this?

She cleared her throat. "Sasuke, whoever has Naruto is..."

"Sakura. Spit it out already." Sasuke impatiently grunted at her.

"They're in Itachi's old hideout."

Every bone in Sasuke's body froze. He stood still for a moment, thoughts of his older brother racing through his mind. His brother who had once admired more than anyone, that same precious life that he took.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy, the air was thick. It remained silent like this for awhile, both shinobi standing, looking at the ground. Sakura knew Sasuke needed a minute to recompose, because no matter what anyone said of him, nobody can just murder their own family and be okay. It had to hurt. But Sasuke didn't like pity, she knew, so she sat there patiently waiting for him to speak next, or for the right time for her to speak, so she could give him the momentary space he needed.

After a few more moments, it was Sasuke who finally spoke up. Not much to her surprise, he was angry. Very, very angry. "What does this have to do with the letter?"

"Maybe Itachi is trying to tell you something," Sakura suggested.

"Itachi is dead, you fool," Sasuke spoke hotly as he started pacing the room.

"But if someone is using a jutsu, he could have been brought back!" Sakura exclaimed, ignoring Sasuke's insults like she always had. He stood with his back to her, face halfway turned in her direction as a sign he was listening. She continued, "I mean, it makes sense. Think about it..." She fumbled her hands around in the blanket until she found the small paper.

"'If you're looking for something lost and don't know where it's found,' This could be about Naruto, but I don't think so. I think the person is speaking of themselves because of this next line: 'You've looked all over earth,'. They obviously know that we're aware of Naruto's whereabouts, but we still have yet to find out who has him. Unless, 'try looking underground,' is Itachi saying that it's him. Underground symbolizing his death," Sakura explained aloud, piecing apart the puzzle for him. "It's Itachi telling us he has Naruto, Sasuke..."

This was why he wanted Sakura to read the note; he knew she could do this. Sasuke had never met anyone who could look at something like that and know exactly what it meant five minutes later. And yet, he was not at all satisfied with her answer.

"None of this would have happened if you would have just stayed away from me..." He breathed.

Sakura's eyes widened with shock, her eyebrows bending with confusion. "Na—nani?"

"You heard me. If you would mind your own damn business, I wouldn't be here right now."

"So you're saying it's my fault Itachi has Naruto?!"

"STOP SAYING HIS NAME!" Sasuke yelled as he turned around and yanked Sakura by the arm, squeezing the life out of it. "I wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit if you had left me alone," he bit out at her as they both stared angrily into each other's eyes. "I'm leaving."

Sasuke turned to walk out when Sakura grabbed him by the back of the shirt. "You can be pissed at me all you want. I don't care if you never talk to me again after this, but this isn't about me, it's about Naruto. Maybe Itachi saved him or he's saving you, I don't know," Sakura began pointedly. "All I know is that you can't walk away now. Your problems will never get solved if all you ever do is walk away. The Sasuke I know, whether I know him well or not, would never walk away from Naruto when he needed him most."

They stood there silently for a few moments, Sasuke having to remind himself not to kill Sakura, he was a better person now...or at least he was trying to be.

But, damn, did this woman make it hard.

"Fine. But we're leaving NOW. Hurry up. I'm not waiting on you," Sasuke said as Sakura ran to the bathroom to change, Sasuke getting their packs together. He was usually one for orginazation, but right now he didn't care. It seemed as though Sakura didn't either as she shoved a number of items into her own bag and zipped it shut. Sasuke looked at Sakura, making sure she had put on her cloak as to not be recognized and opened the door.

"Well, long time no see, Sasuke."

'Damn it!'

"Kakashi."


A/N: That's it for chapter nine. I hope I still have some readers out there. I'm incredibly sorry for the wait. Life got kind of crazy and depressing and I just haven't had time. Thank you for reading. Please review... It would make my day!