Holy shit it's been over two fucking years since I updated this one, I'm so sorry. I'm just terrible.
Well at this point you probably have to reread the whole story again to have any idea what's going on, I just did and couldn't leave it without being updated any longer.
I also cringed at the author notes I'd written like I probably will about this one in 2 years.
Enjoy the Chapter!
. . .
They continued going at the same speed for the next few hours before Sasuke finally slowed to a stop in a clearing and pulled a snack out of his bag.
He sat down against the base of a tree and waited for the rest of them to catch up to him. Sakura arrived before the others and sat down against a tree that was as far away from him as possible but still in his line of sight.
She pulled out an energy bar of her own and chewed on it slowly pondering as to what she should do. She desperately wanted to just smash the ground into pieces and make a run for it in the chaos.
She was also smart enough to know that was a bad idea.
She sighed and stuffed the empty wrapper back into her backpack. She would have to wait until someone came to help her. As embarrassing as it was she couldn't get out of this one by herself.
She stayed seated until Sasuke walked up to her and stood in front of her, she looked up at him confused.
He smirked down at her and she found herself inching away from him not trusting him one bit after the earlier incident. She squealed when she was suddenly pulled to her feet and stumbled straight into his hard chest.
"We're going," he said down to her, smirk still in place. She glared up at him, face pink from the close proximity.
"That was unnecessary," she stammered, pushing herself away from him.
He turned and jumped back in a tree, leaning casually against the tree trunk until a now reasonably calm Sakura landed gracefully on the branch next to him.
Suigetsu and Juugo had also finished and followed behind them as the two sped off. She could almost imagine she was travelling with team 7 again, instead of Suigetsu it was Naruto and instead of Juugo, Kakashi.
She sighed longingly for a reality that she knew would never exist.
Her ears pricked at a swish sound and she turned to see a kunai flying right for her face. Having been off guard she only managed to barely dodge the Projectile, leaving a thin bleeding line across her cheek.
Her hand went straight to her cheek to feel the damage.
A "Hah! Take that bitch!" erupted from a tree just below. Sasuke had already enabled his Sharingan and upon seeing who it was growled with annoyance.
Sakura knew who it was and was even more irritated that the bitch attacked her. She hadn't done anything to her!
Another kunai flew at her but this time was easily deflected by a blow from Kusanagi.
"Sasuke-kun! Did you miss me?" she squealed in a fangirly manner that made her cringe hard reminding her of the childhood crush she'd had on him.
"See you got your healer back you don't need me anymore," Sakura cut in with a smile as fake as Karin's love for him.
Sasuke clucked his tongue at Sakura and turned back to look at her with an almost cruel smirk in place.
"It's all about quality, Sakura," he replied she could hear the indignant shriek erupt from behind him.
"I'm way higher quality than that whore," Karin spluttered in anger.
Sakura having felt her cheek was still bleeding decided to allow the healing glow of chakra to form in the palm of her hand.
A split second later her cheek was smooth and she wiped away the excess blood leaving her face as creamy and clear as before it happened.
Karin half gawked at her before huffing and flipping her tomato red hair over her shoulder.
"The way I heal is better," she stated matter-of-factly, pulling down her collar to reveal Sasuke's bite marks.
Sakura blushed in both anger at her healing being insulted and embarrassment at the thought of Sasuke biting her all over. She glared at the girl. She wanted to punch her pretty face into pieces but she resisted.
Instead she turned away from her and jumped ahead to Suigetsu and Juugo who were watching the spectacle with amusement.
Sakura still couldn't help feeling sorry for Karin having such an obsession with Sasuke.
"I told you I didn't want to see you again," he said in a dull tone. The girl blushed and her face turned into a hopeful expression.
"I thought maybe you changed your mind…" she trailed off blood running cold at the deadly look he was giving her.
"Oh! That Kyuubi and his girlfriend were looking for you!" she suddenly shrieked.
"Well more looking for her than you," she finished pointing at Sakura.
Her face suddenly brightened, Naruto was looking for her!
Sasuke suddenly changed expressions, anger making itself evident on his handsome features.
"You told him about her being with me?" he growled Kusanagi now pointed in her direction.
She swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry.
"I had no choice, he took me captive!" she finally replied fear evident in her voice.
"But I managed to escape," she said triumphantly.
Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction. Naruto was strong and there's no way this dumb bitch would have escaped without him wanting her to.
Shit they had to go right now.
Karin's betrayal of him was the last straw and he plunged Kusanagi straight through her chest. She gargled on her own blood and when he pulled Kusanagi from her chest she went plummeting to the ground.
Sakura screamed, her eyes wide before covering her mouth with her hands.
He just… stabbed her... just murdered her in cold blood. She couldn't believe her eyes that Sasuke could take a life so easily and without remorse.
When his angry eyes full of bloodlust landed on her it took everything in her power not to run for the hills.
As much as she wanted to he had control over her chakra and she knew he'd be even angrier if she did.
She shuddered under his gaze and gasped when she felt the reign on her chakra tighten again cutting her off from it.
A split second later he had thrown her over his shoulder and was bounding into the distance.
She shrieked indignantly and flailed about wanting him to put her down already.
She instantly stilled when the arm that was holding around the back of her thighs tightened to a painful squeeze.
Sensing her giving in, his grip loosened ever so slightly and he continued bounding ahead at breakneck speed.
She didn't like this position at all but she didn't dare make a sound, survival instincts kicking in from witnessing the murder just previously.
She noticed they had entirely changed direction.
Hopelessness claimed her at the speed they were travelling. She had hoped Naruto would find her but somehow she doubted it. Sasuke had been able to evade him for six years despite various attempts at tracking him. While Naruto was hot on their trail, if there was one thing Sasuke was excellent at it was evading those searching for him.
'Leave it to me to find him when I didn't want to,' she thought sarcastically.
They travelled for hours in this way not once encountering Naruto. They arrived at another of Orochimaru's old bases, the entrance very well hidden. Inside was the same maze of tunnels that she could not navigate through to save her life. Sasuke however had no problem doing so.
She was finally placed on the ground and much to her embarrassment she stumbled forward and almost collapsed. She steadied herself against the wall as the blood moved to the rest of her body. She had been upside down for way too long.
When the dizziness subsided she glared daggers at Suigetsu who had been laughing at her expense the entire time.
She hated them, she just wanted to go home already. Sasuke had done everything in his power to keep her with them and she didn't understand. Why exert such effort doing so when he probably had plenty of other healers just lining up to take Karin's place?
'Oh right… Karin is dead,' thinking back to it made her stomach twist in disgust. How could he have changed so much to the point he could murder his own teammate in cold blood?
It made her feel even less safe than she already did being around her volatile ex teammate.
She followed after him, falling behind until both Suigetsu and Juugo turned off down separate corridors.
It was late evening, not that she could really tell inside the dimly lit corridor. She was glad Sasuke had returned that horrid snake to a summoning scroll, the thought of what happened the last time she was in a corridor like this made her shiver.
She walked into his back, being so unaware of her surroundings she hadn't even noticed him stop.
He didn't turn to ĺook at her however, and opened a door on the left of the winding corridor they were following.
The room had only one bed, big enough for two but honestly she'd rather sleep on the floor at this point.
The room was a lot like the last room they'd stayed in. Only one bed and a bathroom attached to the room.
She sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. She wondered how these bases stayed so pristine years after Orochimaru's death but let the thought slip away as she didn't really want to know.
Her face went red as he started stripping down right in front of her again and she rolled over so her face was against a pillow, blocking her view of him.
"Can't you get changed in the bathroom? Geez…" she muttered into the pillow, this man had no decency, honestly.
Just because she'd seen male bodies before didn't mean she wanted to see his she tried to justify to herself in her head.
A part of her wanted to watch though and she firmly stuffed said part of her to the back of her mind.
When the bathroom door closed she let out a sigh of relief, turning around to take in the now empty room.
She was still in the shirt he'd given her to wear. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows so she could use her hands without hindrance.
She thought about Naruto and possibly Hinata coming to find her. Karin had said "his girlfriend" and she was certain he didn't have one. But if anyone wanted that role it was Hinata.
She giggled, they would be such a cute couple if Naruto would stop being an idiot and actually see what's right in front of him.
She had a feeling Tsunade hadn't actually sent Naruto though. It was very typical of him to go running off into danger without a proper team sorted out first.
The door opened and out came Sasuke wearing nothing more than a towel way too small for him that literally only covered his groin area.
Her face went a whole new shade of red and she almost gave herself whiplash flipping her whole body the other way.
"Fucking hell Sasuke!" she spluttered in disbelief. Had going over to the dark side removed any semblance of shame or decency?
She squeaked as her shoulder was grabbed and she was pulled onto her back to look up at him. He was now in sleeping pants, still shirtless but better than what he had been wearing she supposed.
"So innocent," he said with a taunting smirk and it took everything in her not to punch the arrogant bastard in the face.
She scoffed and stood up from the bed, nudging past him and into the bathroom. She rolled her eyes with disbelief when she saw that there were two perfectly decent sized towels right next to the shower but he had chosen to use that pathetic excuse for a towel.
He was definitely trying to mess with her.
She hopped into the shower and halfway through showering she cursed. She had forgotten to bring her own shampoo and body wash in with her. Around her were an array of very Sasuke smelling soaps and shampoos. She mentally prepared herself for the teasing she was going to get as she lathered her hair up with the stuff.
When she came out she felt entirely like a wannabe Sasuke. She was wearing his shirt and smelled entirely of him. Had she been six years younger this would probably have been her wet dream but at this point in time it just made her feel embarrassed.
She changed her mind and pulled on the dreaded crop top that was in the bag she brought in with her. She needed to wear that other shirt for travelling and she didn't want to sleep in it.
She was hoping he would just let wearing that shirt pass without saying anything but she just knew that wouldn't be the case when the first thing he did when she came out of the bathroom wearing it was rake his eyes over her.
"Oh, wearing that again? Did the shirt I give you cover too much?" he teased with a somehow erotic smirk.
"Sh-Shut up! I just didn't want to sleep in it, that's all," She said, embarrassment making itself evident by the colour of her cheeks.
She walked past him and crawled all the way to the other side of the bed which was against the wall much to her dismay.
She tried to ignore his presence after that but he seemed to be incapable of not touching her and five minutes after ignoring what he was saying to her, being right on the edge of sleep she was flipped over.
Confused sleepy eyes came in contact with dangerous crimson. Had he gotten that mad at her that his eyes had changed? Shit!
"Don't ignore me," he growled, eyes seemingly glinting in the firelight.
She swallowed hard and attempted to speak but a change in expression made her hesitate. This close he could smell her and she went red when she realised.
"I forgot my shampoo."
Anger forgotten he smirked and his eyes went back to the top of the tattoo that was visible on the cleavage she was showing from that angle.
She huffed indignantly and swore she'd find a way to medically remove it as soon as she had her chakra unsealed.
She went to flip over again but he grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"I was saying that I won't be giving your chakra back to travel, with that idiot following us it's too risky," he said, the smirk not leaving his face.
Her temper flared and her other fist went flying towards his face before she could help herself. He easily caught it and pinned both of her wrists behind her.
Upon realising what she had done she gulped and struggled futilely to free her wrists from his grip. She looked up at him, he was so close to her face now and his smirk had faded making him look a lot angrier.
Fuck he's definitely going to kill me now! She thought beginning to panic again.
His free hand snaked around her neck making her panic momentarily before resting at the back of her neck.
A moment later his lips were crushing down on hers, the hand behind her neck further deepening the kiss and making it impossible for her to pull away.
Her eyes were wide open in surprise at the assault and she gasped when he nipped her lower lip, taking the opportunity to enter and explore the sweetness of her mouth.
Eventually her eyes closed and she gave in, not having any energy left to resist such a skilful attack on her senses.
When he ended the kiss her lips were swollen and she panted for air, face completely flushed. He drank in the sight, his hands still holding her in place.
"Let... Go…" She panted moments later, wriggling once more in his grip. For once he obliged without a cruel remark but the arrogant smirk didn't leave his face. Sakura finally flipped herself the other way once more and normalised her breathing, trying to make sense of what he'd just done to her.
He however thought about how he had much more in store for her than just healing him but he wasn't ready to reveal those plans to her just yet.
. . .
"Fuck!" The blonde swore again, slamming his fist into a tree near to where the red head lay dead on the ground.
Dribbles of blood had dried around her mouth and her eyes stayed wide open in a permanently shocked expression.
He had been so close and that bastard had disappeared so fast without a trace he hadn't even been able to get the direction they were travelling in.
Hinata held her tongue, scared of the enraged mood Naruto was in. While Naruto had good control over the Kyuubi his canines had elongated into fangs without him noticing.
She placed a small soft hand over his shoulder and nearly jumped when he turned his snarling face to look at her. He instantly sobered upon seeing her frightened expression and gave her a sheepish grin. Well as sheepish as it could look with large fangs closer resembling a wolf than a sheep.
She calmed down upon seeing his typical mannerism and continued with what she wanted to tell him.
"Naruto-kun w-we should go back now a-and tell the Hokage what we've f-found out."
He growled not liking the idea one bit and wanting to get Sakura back from Sasuke as fast as possible. He relented however as Hinata had a point, she'd be able to assemble a much better team if she knew what they were up against.
He shuddered when he realised that Tsunade-sama was going to kill him this time after leaving like that when she told him not to.
"Yeah you're right, let's head back," He finally responded.
They both travelled back in the direction of Konoha dreading the wrath they'd be on the receiving end of when they got back to the village.
. . .
Thanks for reading the chapter and apologies for taking this long to update.
Please review and let me know what you think, it really helps me get the inspiration to write more :)
Until next time.