&dedicated to: ohwhatsherface for being the 100th reviewer! thank you very much for the review and for reading my little unworthy-of-you story. :D click on the author button, and then in my favorites to look at her profile!

Summary- In the natural scheme of things, the dead stay dead. But in the world of ninjas, nothing's for certain anymore. Sasu/Saku.

&major disclaimer applied here, folks. I'm still just a fan. :)

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R. E. F. U. G. E.
ohmylanta, she made it to ten.

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thank you for reading,
everybody.

March 16

Location- Waves

Sakura crouched behind the trunk of a tree, low against the forest floor. Damp moss stuck to her hands and knees. She pressed her forefinger into the dirt, fusing a trail of the earth with her chakra, and felt for the chakra marks of the others. Sasuke's she could faintly tell where he had been maybe twenty seconds ago, while the rest she could pinpoint them to various spots fifteen yards away. She felt uncomfortable not being able to sense someone. It's been years since she'd felt like that; a little… dizzy from the hazy sensations she picked up from Sasuke's movements.

Her ears picked up to the trademark hum of a senbon. Leaning her head back, the needle pierced into the bark right in front of her nose and hissed with poison. A dim chakra point ten yards away twitched when the senbon shot toward her and Sakura drew in a deep breath. She gripped onto a limb as quietly as she could, and rebounded off the trees in an arc toward the ninja's blind spot. Sasuke's chakra signature stirred to the left when she started moving and she frowned. When did he get so sensitive to chakra?

An arm bent out of the camouflage of the leaves and Sakura slipped her throwing hand into the pouch strapped to her thigh. Without her gloves, wood splintered into her hand when she flung herself toward the Sound ninja and threw a kunai into his jugular, a clean cut slicing into the skin of his neck. Blood splattered on her arms. Momentum pulled her forward and another ninja jumped overhead; light from the sun glinted against the shower of senbon.

Sakura rolled her eyes and skidded to a halt, facing the ninja with a curse on her mouth. "Haven't learned any new tricks?" The spikes left a slimy trail of dark purple liquid burrowing into the ground.

The ninja fell back in a defensive stance, nine feet across from her. A white mask covered his face and more senbon lay in between his knuckles. He didn't hesitate to dash to her right, his arm curling backwards to aim at a vital. Sakura fought the sigh in her throat: men were usually stronger ninjas, but so predictable.

He leaned closer to the right and she dropped to her hands and kicked his shins. The Sound ninja sucked in a breath as the bone cracked. He crumpled to the floor with his body weighing down his legs. Glancing around the clearing, Sakura flipped the man onto his side, pulled out a kunai, and swiftly split his neck open. Blood seeped down his clothes and she ran her hands over his chest searching for the pockets under his cloak. After a minute, Sakura leaned back on her heels. None of the Sound ninja carried any antidotes for the poison they all seemed so readily stocked with. Who was mass-producing such a rare poison? And why weren't they making the negation for it?

Suigetsu called her name through the trees and she hauled herself up. She loped into the tops of the trees and followed the sound.

"Took you a while." Karin sat with her legs crossed, perched on top of a tree limb. White wraps around her arm covered the smell of dried blood.

Glancing at Suigetsu and Juugo, Sakura raised her eyebrow. "Sasuke?"

Suigetsu ducked his head, motioning behind her. "Right there."

Sakura's eye twitched. She glimpsed over her shoulder and sure enough, there he was. How did they get used to it? If she could hardly sense him, could they? If Naruto could sneak up on her all the time, Sakura wondered if she would hang around him that much.

"Come on, we can't stop for another few hours." Sasuke, standing at his full height, glanced behind him and jumped higher into the trees. Juugo was the first to move, his huge body curiously moving as fast as the rest of them. Suigetsu and Karin followed and Sakura stood still for a half of a second. Did she really want to do this? Would Sasuke look for her if she just didn't come? Grunting, Sakura rolled her eyes and stared at the direction they left in. That was a yes, and when he found her, she was pretty certain she would really not like it then. And what kind of match would it be if they ever fought? Shaking her head, Sakura gathered chakra into her legs and made up the seconds she stalled.

Wind hit her face hard and she struggled not to blink against the rush of the cool air. Pumping more chakra into her feet, she made up the distance and fell into place behind Juugo, Karin behind her. Traveling with them made her feel one of those embarrassing moments of sentimental memories. If she wasn't looking at everyone, it almost felt like old times.

Minus Sasuke. But that made it worse. Things were so close to normal, just mixed up. She caught Sasuke's eye as he briefly tilted his head behind him.

Had he even spoken in the past few hours? No, she didn't think so. She could probably count the number of words he'd said to her. Sakura grumbled and closed her eyes. They'd keep up with this for three more hours at least. Grey melted into greener scenes and she focused on building chakra reserves the whole way.

Who could they want to revive?

She bit down on her lip and blood swelled under her teeth. Only a handful of people could still be alive in the Akatsuki, one being Itachi who was, as far as Sasuke knew, very much alive. ANBU never found Pein's body, even though he was supposed to have been blown to bits when Naruto fought him. Snorting, Sakura figured she might as well count him alive; that rumor didn't fly with Tsunade when she first heard it.

Then Kisame. Maybe the one girl. But the rest were supposed to be dead.

Lines knitted on her forehead. Were they looking for a way to resurrect someone? It was ridiculous in the first place, and not something the Akatsuki would ever have considered before. When she had mentioned it to Tsunade and the Council as a basis for funding a study in chakra behavior, the proposal wasn't ever supporting the jutsu. The odds that taking someone else's chakra to use was so unexplored that there was no way to say if it would work. Or that the person would live after trying. Chakra has such destructive properties it'd be suicide to try it.

Then again, it all depends how desperate someone might be.

What if she were able to talk to Tsunade about it? No, Sakura pursed her lips together and frowned. She wouldn't be able to get into the village without having to kill the guards. Which was a definite no.

What about sending summons; could that work? Tsunade would listen. Because if Akatsuki was up and running all of the sudden, the first place to be attacked would be Sand or Leaf.

Plus, Sound ninjas were lurking around. How were there so many of them? And if someone was organizing Sound again, why are they parading around with their headbands and shouting it to the world? Or maybe being inconspicuous had gone out of style.

Maybe she could try sending another messenger bird when they arrived at a village. Maybe. Somehow she doubted Sasuke would give her much of a chance. Maybe he knew. Then again, if Itachi was in the area, he would be preoccupied. Or mad as hell if she screwed things up for him.

Glancing up at Sasuke's back, Sakura wrinkled her eyebrows. Nobody ever let anything be easy nowadays.

Melting snow crunched under her feet as Ino stepped into the even cooler halls of the Hokage Tower. The wood gleamed its normal rich sandy color and guards stood every so often at different turns in the building.

"Hey, is Tsunade here?" she asked one of the guards two halls down from her office. She got a nod and continued up the stairs circling around to the center dome. Muttering to herself, Ino flicked her blonde hair out of the way and marched up to the double doors, giving two polite knocks.

Tsunade's voice echoed from behind the thick wood. "Come in, Ino."

The door shut lightly as Ino rounded the edge and she walked in front of Tsunade with an exaggerated bow. "My, I felt so important when I got personally summoned on my specially given off-day, Lady Tsunade. What ever can I do for you?" She threw in a wink, but really. On her very rare off-day?

Tsunade folded her hands, lacing her fingers together to hide a smile. "Yes, well, I'm sorry about that. I just need you to tell Naruto when he comes back from his mission with Shikamaru to report here as soon as he can, alright?"

"Sure," Ino paused, tucking a thick lock behind her ear, "but if you don't mind my asking, is something wrong?"

Tsunade's eyes lazily closed shut, and she murmured a sound out of the back of her throat. She chuckled and peered back at Ino, honey olive eyes strangely calculating. "No, actually. Just a very delicate situation that I have to take care of."

Ino raised her eyebrows expectantly. "A delicate situation that you need… Naruto for?"

"I'm not sure if it's going to develop into anything. I just need him to pick up something from a border guard that's being delivered from Sand. I've been told what Gaara thinks it is, but…"

Tsunade fell silent and Ino hesitated over her words. "Of course, I don't mind." She wanted to ask what it was; the look on Tsunade's face was secretive at the very least. What could it be? "I guess that they should be back soon. I'll make sure to tell him, Lady Tsunade."

"Yes, thank you."

"So we're really going all the way to Rain."

Suigetsu turned around and grinned at Sakura. He fell behind Juugo a step so he wouldn't have to yell. "Looks like it. Are you not a big traveler?" She tried not to roll her eyes; it was a nice thought to move back, but with no one else talking, the point of having a private conversation was slightly moot under the circumstances.

"No, the distance doesn't bother me. It just takes a while: first a boat, then Sound, Waterfall, and Grass just to get there, all of which including stray ninjas, canyons, and hidden villages. Excuse my lack of excitement."

Suigetsu lifted up his eyebrows. "You know your way around, huh?"

Sakura tried to cover up her grimace. This was not a desired topic. If you could call it luck, she'd been lucky Sasuke hadn't asked her much of anything. But counting on Sasuke's silence isn't luck, it's proven fact. "I've just been there before. And who's to say if we'll get there in time? We might as well go all the way to Sea or Earth if we're going to be traveling a continent."

He shrugged his shoulders, a feat for someone balancing a large sword on their back. "Small inconveniences. Doesn't bother Sasuke a bit. Ain't that right, Sasuke?!" He yelled the end, finishing it with an obnoxious laugh. Sakura thought she could feel a glare in their direction.

The trees thinned out abruptly and there they were. The Great Naruto Bridge: the only escape off this island. The harbor and its workers bustled along, busy with luggage and crates and nets. Saltwater was a pleasant change of air, Sakura thought, taking in a great big whiff of the tangy smell.

Peering to the side, she murmured to Juugo. "How is it?"

His eyes slid over his shoulder shyly; he stared at her curiously and dully nodded his head, muttering a "It's fine…thank you," in reference to his arm. The last part was cut off as Sasuke motioned them down to the loading area.

This was something Sakura had always wondered about. How do missing ninjas get around with their faces all over the bingo book? She didn't have much trouble traveling, since as far as anyone else knew, she was dead. But you'd think a missing ninja would get reported every time he turned around. But maybe since there were so many missing ninjas out there, that's why none of the workers even spared them a second glance. She supposed it'd be bad for business if the workers turned everyone in.

Civilians, on the other hand, are a different matter entirely.

The creaky old wood floors scraped and groaned as they made their way to their room. The ship rocked gently, pulling to the sides with the waves, leaving a turning feeling in Sakura's stomach. And she had been in many boats that sank. Like a dead fish. And this one was old. Eye twitching, she thought the boat wasn't inspiring a lot of confidence. Plus, all the civilians boarding on the ship were shooting cautious, worried glances their way every time they thought no one was looking.

Sakura sighed. If civilians thought ninjas were so tough, why did they think that ninjas couldn't tell when someone was staring?

A workman rounded the corner with three thick crates piled on top of each other in his arms and nearly dropped it all when he almost ran into Sasuke. He let out a surprised yelp, nervously glanced at the sword resting on Sasuke's hip, and scampered off, forgetting an apology completely.

"What good impressions you all make. Are you always so warmly welcomed everywhere you go?" Sakura dryly noted, leaning against the wall as Sasuke pushed the door open, its hinges squeaking. Karin must've glared at her for the tenth time today before she disappeared into the doorway.

Sakura let a grunt slip out of her mouth while she stepped toward the door. An old woman shuffling down the hall muttering to herself, two kids running the next hall down… Thoughtfully, she wondered if having so many people around would come in handy for her.

She stepped into the room and shut the door behind her softly. Throwing her bag into the corner, she sat cross-legged on one of the bottom bunks. The room had one circular window and a single bunk bed. A door was across from her and Sakura figured Sasuke had gotten two or three rooms. Suigetsu's voice echoed through the doorframe, and Karin swung open that door, coming back from the next room and calling over her shoulder, "How long will it take to get Fire's border?"

"Three days. We're docking just short of Lightning Country," Sasuke replied, voice flat and bored. Sakura raised an eyebrow. He speaks. A whole nine words. The door left a slit open and she could see Sasuke's black shirt and the back of his head looking out of the window, right hand set on his sword. The horizon was a dusty shade of red, the sun close to setting.

Suigetsu came lumbering back into the room with a grin on his face. "Who's bunking with whom!?"

Sakura let out an uncomfortable groan. Anyone but Karin. She'd wake up with Karin moaning Sasuke's name.

"Sakura stays with me."

Sakura oddly couldn't manage a thought, much less manage being surprised.

Suigetsu sounded a disgruntled moan. He turned around. "Way to take the sane person, Sasuke. I vote for the empty room!"

"And leave me with Juugo? I don't think so."

"Please, Karin. You know how to take care of him and I'm definitely not staying with you."

"What's that supposed to mean, jackass! I don't want to stay with you, either!"

"Duh, stupid, you just want to stay with Sasuke so you can try to rape him during the night."

Karin's face flared up red and she took in a sharp, shaking breath. Sakura grimaced and clenched her eyes shut -they were going to start fighting again- before Sasuke's voice interrupted.

"I don't care what you do. Sleep in the hallway, just shut up about it." His footsteps padded out of the room and Sakura heard the click of the door shutting.

"See what you did! Now he's mad!"

"What, me? Not my fault."

Karin made some other remark and Sakura slid off the bed, tip toeing into the next room with her bag. Juugo sat in the corner with his elbow propped up on his knee, looking up at the ceiling.

"Are they always like this?" Sakura whispered, a grin tugging her mouth upwards.

His eyelids lifted up and a quick sound shook his chest. He reminded Sakura of Sasuke when he was young. His arm had returned to normal size, but black markings still remained around his collarbone. She ducked under the wood post into the bottom bed. Curse mark? It didn't look the same. Was it an early variation of it? The poison obviously had altered its effects and prolonged its use. She heard Juugo getting up and Karin and Suigetsu still bickering in the other room; leaning back, she laid her wrist over her eyes and thought about kicking off her shoes.

Then she woke up in the dark, the bed creaking above her, still wearing shoes. Sasuke's foot, or what she assumed was Sasuke's foot, pulled over the top of the bed and the mattress sunk down on her head. Sakura blinked her eyes, adjusting them to the dark. "Sasuke?"

She got a grunt in return. Glancing out the window at the black sky, she wrinkled her forehead. "What time is it?" The sun was setting when she lay down.

An unremarkable sigh. "Eleven."

"Eleven? What could youpossibly have done for so long? There's nothing but the deck on this thing," Sakura replied, looking up at the bottom of the mattress skeptically.

"You've been on this same ship before?"

Hm. Sasuke was slightly quicker than she remembered. "Yeah. It travels both ways."

"Yeah. You took it from Rain."

Wryly, Sakura said, "I bet you feel smart."

"You knew the way well. And if you came here by this boat, then you must've have circled all the way around Konoha's borders."

The bed squeaked as she lay back down, the pillow lumpy and flat under her head. "Yeah."

She heard his foot slide up, could see his movements through the mattress. After so many years of not seeing him, the strangeness of talking to him wasn't as distinct as Sakura would've originally thought. She could hear the air entering and exiting his mouth, the soft sound of his breathing as he paused what he was about to say. Her mouth quirked up, "What?" Stalling wasn't something he was familiar with. Last she could remember, anyway.

"Why were you so close to Konoha if you're a missing ninja? You're practically at its border."

Sasuke's voice was deeper than she remembered, too. Sleepily, she closed her eyes, "It doesn't matter too badly. As long as I stay out of Fire, I should be fine. No one's looking for me. Legally, I'm dead. I actually don't know if you knew that."

"No, I didn't."

Wiping a hand across her forehead, Sakura turned her head to side, staring at the specks and patterns on the wall blankly. Sleep still made her thoughts hazy. "Yeah. Still have to be careful, though. I was put in the bingo book as a missing ninja before that."

He surprised her when she heard his voice again. "Where did you go since then?"

Sakura licked her lips and sighed. Thinking back, she had stopped at nearly every village on the north border of Fire. Some that she'd never even been to because of the distance. Just to go. It wasn't like she didn't have the time. "Mhm, Nagi and Taro Island. I was in Kumo for a while. Then went to Waves."

"Why?" his voice a low whisper.

"I don't know. It just seemed like I should visit." And that was true. Mostly.

"I don't think you could say it paid off."

"Most things don't pay off. But all the same, I found out a few things." The building. She'd seen it just yesterday. The cement blocks were almost crushed into powder. Sakura frowned. Not many things could do that. She could, though. …Did she? Is that possible?

"How does Rain fit in?"

She pulled her eyes back up to the where Sasuke's voice came from. Her heart beat steadily, echoing in her ears. But the more she thought about it, there wasn't particularly any reason not to tell him.

"Well, because I woke up in Rain."

Sakura pulled her arm behind her head, listening to his breathing, the silence as he thought about it. Why did he want to know? Did he think it had something to with the Sound ninjas or Itachi? "And you think you were in Waves before that."

Not a question. Only a statement. Some things never do change, Sakura thought. "Yeah."

Sasuke didn't say anything and as she was about to roll to her side, she heard a familiar "Aa," rumbling out of his chest. Some things really never do change.

a/n.
You know, I'm surprised I made it to chapter ten. Originally, I thought this would be a really short story. So I'm trying to figure out how many more chapters are left (it's not a whole lot), and I'm going to finish this before summer is over! Laziness is being set aside -because I actually almost put this on hiatus once. /:

[this was app. four thousand words.] a rrrreview, please?