Chapter Ten

"It doesn't matter," he said after a few tense seconds. "I can't go back."

I stood there and he stood right with me. We were soaked now with the mist of the waterfall slowly increasing into blasts of water.

"So you're serious about all of this aren't you?" Sasuke asked.

I looked at him, wanting desperately to take his loyalty serious. "Yes."

"If we do this, we do it alone. No tagalongs. No Naruto. No Kakashi."

"What?" I was fearful now. My teammates – my family – was all that I had left. After being separated for so long, it was hard to be in different rooms now that they were with me again. It was hard to be separated from them now even if I was only a few feet away.

He placed a hand on my shoulder in an action that he probably meant to be consoling. "I know that they mean something to you," he started slowly. "But putting them into harm's way will only get them hurt. You know that Madara has his eye on Naruto. And you also know that because Kakashi has Sharingan he is immune to becoming infected. But that only means they will kill him on sight."

"But -"

His black eyes assessed me for a minute. He made a face, calculating and impassive simultaneously, and spoke once more. "Haven't you lost enough already?"

That really threw me for a loop. "And we both know who I have to thank for that."

"Me," he agreed. "And you can hate me all you want. None of that matters to me. But if you think for one second that I am going to let the cure slip away so easily then you really are pathetic."

I raised my eyebrows. "So what are you going to do, then?"

"We'll go to Konoha."

I tried to say something but he held up a hand to interject. "It's on the way to Lightning Country. And we can't just go see Amaterasu."

I huffed. "And why not?"

"Because we have to pay her brothers a visit first. When I went there, a year ago, Madara had already gone to them in secret. You have to offer something to each of them in order to see the next. Susanoo and Tsukuyomi are her brothers. Madara explained this to me before I left him. You give Susanoo your body. You give Tsukuyomi your mind. And you give Amaterasu your heart."

"But why can't we just skip to see Amaterasu now?" I didn't have time to set forth on some sort of pilgrimage.

"Because those are the rules."

"They are pretty dumb then," I muttered.

"Whatever," he sighed. "But we have to go to Konoha anyways. That's where Susanoo and Tsukuyomi are sealed."

The sky was still dim with the last speckles of night when all four of us departed. Naruto and Sasuke had fallen back behind Kakashi and I, their heads almost pushed together in deep conversation.

With no one else to keep me company, Kakashi caught up with me in one easy stride. I turned to him and smiled. I could tell that he was smiling as well because the tips of his mask turned up a bit and his eyes crinkled good-naturedly. "Kakashi," I acknowledged.

"No sensei?" He joked.

"Nah," I laughed. "That's only for special occasions."

He laughed softly though I could tell there was an edge to it. He moved closer while casually turning to me to say, "How is he?"

By "he", he meant Sasuke. "Fine," I replied.

Kakashi gave me a sideways glance with his eyes. "I sense some hostility Sakura."

I rolled my eyes. "It's well warranted."

He nodded. "I know you think you hate him - "

"Oh no," I cut him off. "I've accepted the fact that he's a psychotic, belligerent, traitor to humanity."

"Now Sakura - "

"Don't," I warned my ex-sensei icily. "…go and make excuses for him. We all know he was your favorite most darling student and that's got to make you a bit biased. No? But I will not let any feelings I had for him get in the way."

"So you don't care for him at all?" Kakashi asked me. I sensed some skepticism in his tone. And that offended me.

"No…I won't say I don't. He saved my life and I'm grateful. So he has my gratitude. But not my forgiveness." Was I a bad person for letting my hurt consume my opinion of Sasuke? Kakashi nodded to himself and proceeded to pat my arm with fondness. I smiled and sped up a little to avoid anymore conversations about Sasuke.

We had a two days journey ahead of us if we didn't stop to rest someplace. But of course we would all get tired and hungry. A couple of hours had passed when we were finally reaching the end of Tea Country.

I heard Naruto cheer behind me. "Finally, it's a clear homestretch from here!"

"Not so much…" I said. I had forgotten that the entire border that Fire Country shared with Tea Country was swimming with Infected. "The border is run by Infected."

"Yes," Kakashi agreed. "Their pushing their way towards Konoha. Slowly but surely."

"It's only a matter of time," Sasuke muttered.

"Before what?" Asked Naruto. His blue eyes darkened as understanding overtook his cheerfulness.

I answered instead of Sasuke. "War."

It was clear that we could not go around the border. Swimming across was not an option. Infected were stationed on search boats everywhere – waiting for a couple of resisting humans like us.

Naruto had just been branded with the reversed Uchiha fan – Madara's mark – by Sasuke so that we could have a safe passage into the town. We disguised ourselves, all dark-haired and pale skin. To everyone's surprise, even Sasuke's( though he did a good job at not showing it), Kakashi removed his mask.

Naruto and I waited with baited breath and I felt Sasuke inch closer to get a better look while trying to not look interested at all.

Our eyes were glued to his chin as he slid the mask off with ease. I was shocked. Kakashi was mildly handsome though I don't know why that surprised me.

"Kakashi…you're cute," I whispered, dumbfounded.

He smirked at me – with a nice pair of lips – and patted my head once again. "I'm sorry there's no gruesome birth defect on my chin or a pair of oversized lips. I know how much you guys were counting on that. Especially you Naruto, with all your 'Kakashi-sensei is ugly theories'"

I laughed and Naruto grinned sheepishly. Sasuke resumed walking, his interest lost.

Once inside the town – there was a pair of Infected dressed in black, white, and red, waiting for us. They nodded at us and when one of the men's eyes lingered too long on my form I narrowed mine at him and he glanced away, embarrassed. We flashed our wrists at them and then stepped inside.

It was a peaceful sort of looking place with trees and shrubs lining the boardwalk. The shops were all brightly painted with crimson and white flowers blooming from a crevice every now and then. We kept our heads down only raising them to ask for directions to the nearest inn.

"How far?" Sasuke asked. Even disguised, his voice was commanding and laced with traces of superiority.

The Infected we stopped to talk to, glanced us over with suspicious eyes. He was a middle-aged man with frown lines. He pointed in the direction toward the heart of town. "There's a boarding house just past the plaza. Ms. Mie owns the place. She'll rent you a couple rooms for the night."

Sasuke gave a tilt of his head in appreciation and we kept moving.

I was the first to enter into the boarding house. It was a lovely building all around and we walked into the direction that I presumed held the lobby and check in.

A woman greeted us with a bright smile. "Hello!" I was caught off guard by her prettiness.

Her lips seemed to be set in a permanent pout that intensified as she took one look at the three males behind me. Her eyes flitted around the group and then landed on me.

"My aren't you lovely," she breathed. Taken aback, because I had been thinking the same exact thing about her, I smiled.

"Thank you," I responded while shifting my weight to my left foot. "We'd like to rent…." I glanced behind me, waiting for some sort of conformation.

"Three rooms."Sasuke cut in.

The young lady and I both seemed to do the math in our heads. There were four of us and he'd only said three rooms. Finally, she glanced between Sasuke and I and a knowing look came into her eyes. "Well I'll try to get you guys in right way. I'm Mie by the way."

She waited as if we were going to give her our names and when we didn't, she teetered away nervously.

I was handed three keys and she directed us to an adjacent hallway and up three flights of stairs. "Sakura can room with me," Naruto piped up.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "No."

The blond haired man reeled on his bestfriend. "And why the hell not? She obviously isn't comfortable with you and there's no way in hell I'm letting her room with this old pervert." He jabbed his thumb behind him at Kakashi who merely raised his eye brows.

"Because I have to talk to her."

"Talk to her now," Naruto challenged.

"Yeah," Sasuke began sarcastically. "In a hallway filled with other people. Right."

I hit them both on the head and pulled Sasuke by his shirt. "I'll room with Kakashi then. But in the meantime I can talk to Sasuke alone in my room. Alright? You're both little children."

Naruto looked between us heatedly and stomped into the room across the hall from us. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders at me as if to say, 'No idea what his problem is'. He followed after Naruto and closed the door behind him.

"Finally," Sasuke sighed as he unlocked the door to my temporary room. He waited for me to enter first and then shut and locked the door behind us.

The room was plain except for a window with curtains and a bed that could hold three people. I sat on it and waited for him to talk. Instead, he was pacing around the area, making hand seals as he went.

"I'm putting up a barrier. Just so that no one can hear or sense what's being said or going on."

"Why?" I was on edge now, the stress pooling in my gut. I thought I'd at least have one night of somewhat normalicy. I mean, I was already on edge being in another village full of Infected.

"What I have to say is private," he said simply. At last, he finished his pacing around the room and came to lean against the wall opposite me, his hands shoved nonchalantly into his pockets. We had let our genjutsu that changed our appearance go because it was tiring to Sasuke to mask our chakra for so long. My natural features had returned and for that I was grateful. I noticed that Sasuke's hair had grown out from its particularly close cropped cut. It now hung over his eyes in black disarray.

His face was impassive when he said, "Why did you tell me that my brother is alive?"

I thought for a moment. "I wanted you to trust me," I said truthfully.

He raised an eyebrow. "Even though I could have left you? I could have taken the cure right to Madara and Itachi."

"But you didn't."

"I could have," he whispered.

"Will you?" I whispered back.

"No," he answered slowly. "But you're right for never trusting me. I always thought I was doing the right thing. Every person I killed or lied to. It was just to get to Itachi…."

"And Itachi was innocent," I finished for him. A small piece of my heart hurt for him.

He nodded, probably unable to say anymore on the subject. Sasuke's eyes were dark and defensive. They flashed menacingly at me though I knew his anger was not truly aimed at me. It was aimed at himself and at his own haunting transgressions.

Surprised at my own actions, I patted the section of the mattress next to me. He looked at the spot on the mattress and then at my hand which had touched the spot. I smiled tentatively.

Slowly, and with great hesitance, he gracefully arched from the wall and sat next to me. "What?" He asked, I said nothing, I think he gave up trying to figure out what was happening. I didn't even know what was happening. I just knew that I didn't want him to go just yet. And so he sat with me.

I awoke, though not in my previous sitting up position. A glance at the window told me that it was still dark outside but morning was near. Sheets were covering my body and I peeled them off with great care. I looked to my left to see that Kakashi was lying on the floor beside the bed. I probably awoke Kakashi because he rustled. "Sasuke tucked you in and then barked at me to get in here," Kakashi drawled from the floor. Even with sleep in his voice – he still found a way to seem pleasantly amused.

I ignored him and stumbled my way into the bathroom. My clothes were sitting on the counter next to the toilet and I sighed gratefully. Maybe Kakashi had placed them there. I shoved a toothbrush in my mouth and washed my face simultaneously. The shower was just behind me which was lit by several candles. I'd forgotten that we were in an old fashioned boarding house that prided itself on its natural simplicity. I smelled one of the candles fondly and then stepped into the shower. I let the water run as hot as I could handle and then stood there under its heat.

A cloud of steam worked its way around me and I sighed. When I had finished washing my body and rinsing my hair with conditioner because there was no shampoo, I let my head fall against the glass of the shower door.

My forehead left a patch of clear glass when I lifted it from the door. For some reason I decided to take my hand and wipe it across the surface of the door to clear the steam some more. The glass was reflective so I saw my face reflected clearly back at me. It was weird. I'd never considered myself pretty before and when people called me "beautiful" or "lovely", I'd simply thank them and be on my way without giving their comment a second thought. But there was something pleasing about my face now. Maybe I'd finally matured enough. I was twenty after all.

I glanced at my eyes and they seemed different. The green colored iris was not as pale anymore. No, it was far darker. And then, as if by accident, I saw the black pinwheels there. They spun in faint ghost like circles just as a patch of firelight from one of the candles hit my area of sight.

A raw panic overtook me and I opened my mouth to let out an unbearable cry of terror.

There was a crash at the door and then the shower door was flung open so fast that I almost screamed again. I had no time to react because I was in complete shock. I couldn't even tell if I was crying or not because the shower was still beating down upon my bare back and face.

Two arms – not mine – grabbed at me but when I jerked and pushed in a frenzy, whoever it was had no choice but to step inside the shower with me. "Sakura? Sakura? Sakura?" The voice asked louder and louder with each call of my name.

"Kakashi?" I asked, my voice broken. "I'm one of them…."

He was shaking me back and forth and then I heard two other bodies enter the bathroom and there was a commotion of sound. Behind Kakashi's body was Naruto and Sasuke.

They took one look at my naked and wet body engrossed in Kakashi's shirtless frame and they both paused enough that I could make out their equally horrified expressions. "No," Kakashi answered them seriously. "I came in to see what was wrong when I heard her cry."

Kakashi, sensing my frailness and apprehension, pushed me behind him in order to conserve my modesty. I was alert enough to hear Sasuke shove Naruto out of the room and talk to Kakakshi. Before I knew what was happening next Sasuke was removing his shirt and pulling it over my head. He lifted me from Kakashi who was unwilling at first and into his arms.

They exchanged glances with each other and with one last distressed look at me, Kakashi left the room.

Sasuke cut the shower off and then picked me up and placed me on the counter that held the sink. "What happened?" He asked, lowly. I noticed that his voice was not harsh and cold like it usually was. Instead, it was soft and quiet…maybe even tender.

"My eyes," I coughed out, my throat still unable to return to normal. He pulled my face forward and then tilted it upwards into the candlelight. He must have seen the Sharingan – like pinwheels because he was tugging the collar of the shirt he had given me up.

"Your bite mark is pulsing," he whispered.

Horror was still heavy in my stomach. I felt like I might throw up at any given moment. "What does that mean?"

With all the reluctance in the world, he said, "I didn't get all of the chakra."

When I started to sob he pulled my face into his chest. His hands smoothed over my wet back, the shirt clingingly to my skin. "I can try to get the rest out, Sakura. After the transformation, the Infected has five days of adjusting." At the word "Infected" I whimpered. "But, since it had no time to spread all the way, the last traces are still at the surface."

I pulled back from his chest. "Get it out," I commanded, suddenly alert. The adrenaline must have been kicking in. "Or I'll rip it out myself."

I motioned at ripping the skin around my neck and he shoved my wrist down violently. "Don't be stupid. I'll do it. It's not something you can just rip out. Trust me, millions have tried before you."

"Then do it," I whispered. "I don't want to be one of them…."

"I know," he whispered as he ducked his head into the curve of my throat. I felt his lips brush the skin there and it seared. "This will hurt," he promised against my skin.

I said nothing as he bit right into my flesh. It tingled at first and then burst into a myriad of mounting pain. He stepped between my legs and grabbed at my shoulders as he sunk his teeth deeper. I resisted the urge to cry out because I had experienced this pain before just not to the same exact degree.

When he pulled back, I felt the last trace of it leave my body. I sighed gratefully. His face appeared before mine and I stiffened. He looked positively dangerous. His eyes were spinning in a vortex of spangled stars and his mouth was covered and dripping with blood.

"You will be weak for awhile."

I nodded. I tried to stand but stumbled. He reached out to wrap and arm around my waist and steer me to the door of the bedroom. I shook my head. "Shower."

He nodded. "Alright." He helped me in there and turned the water back on for me. My arms ached and felt like jelly. "I lost a lot of blood, didn't I?"

He nodded, the water from the shower soaking his shirtless form. My eyes, weak and tired even though I had just awoken less than an hour ago, took in the muscles of his chest and how they seemed to ripple of their own accord.

"You can't do this by yourself," he observed. He turned to leave. "I'll go get Kakashi or the dobe to come help you."

I brushed his shoulder with my hand. "You can help me," I murmured.

He glanced me over and I tried to see what he was seeing. Pink hair plastered down my back and over my face. A thin shirt soaked and clingingly nastily to my body with fading red trails of blood. No wonder he wanted to leave.

"I shouldn't," he said after a moment his voice reluctant and anxious. I pulled him in and he stared at me seriously. I think he made up his mind because he closed the door and grabbed a washcloth with a bar of soap.

Slowly, he pulled the shirt up and over my head and then smoothed my hair out behind me. I was unwilling to fall against him because my legs hurt but he let me anyways. He washed me with a tenderness that I hadn't known he possessed. I looked at him for the first time since he had agreed to help me shower the blood off, and his eyes were still defensive….but not cold.

When I was particularly close to him, he pulled back suddenly. Before I could ask, he had switched the water from hot to a more cool setting which was on the verge of becoming cold.

"I prefer colder showers," he muttered glancing away. I didn't understand. He almost sounded as if he were lying…

"Are you clean enough yet?" He asked, his tone impassive.

"Yeah," I whispered. I was a little confused. Where had all his gentleness gone?

"Good," he said and then helped me out the shower.

He dried me off but this time I could tell that he was trying to stay as impartial and distanced as he could even though I was standing there exposed and nude. There was an iciness about him and I had the sense to be hurt.

"Sasuke?"

He glanced at me, his eyes far away.

"Forget it," I said when I saw the look on his face. And his face – the one that I had just let see the most bare part of me – was now stony and frozen.

He wrapped an arm around my mid section and pulled me into the next room. Kakashi and Naruto were pacing and when they looked at me they both exhaled in relief.

"It's gone?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied.

"Good," Kakashi commented from his position next to my golden-haired bestfriend. His eyes lingered on my form, which Sasuke had covered with another shirt, and his eyes became gentle. "Are you alright Sakura?"

"Yes," I said though I couldn't help but glance at Sasuke.

Kakashi and Naruto both noticed this and tensed.

Naruto eyed us. "Why were you in there for so long?" He asked suspiciously.

"I helped her take a shower," Sasuke said calmly. He seemed to want to anger Naruto for some reason, his voice challenging.

"You helped her take a shower!?" He cried. I could see where this was going.

"Naruto don't…"

"Shut up Sakura," Naruto snapped at me. I quieted because I was simply stunned.

Kakashi gave Naruto a stern look. "Now Naruto-"

But Naruto growled at him too. "No! I bet helping Sakura was so taxing for you. Wasn't it? I bet seeing her naked and vulnerable was just so tiring for you. Maybe even a little exciting?" He finished bitingly with a sneer.

"Maybe," Sasuke agreed with an edge to his voice.

I gasped and Naruto was shaking from head to toe.

"What's the matter Naruto…are you jealous?" Sasuke asked. I knew for sure now that they were both itching for a fight. I couldn't believe what was happening.

"Hardly," Naruto bit out. "There may have been a time when I would have been but I'm in love with someone else now. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you play around with her emotions like she's some sort of whore."

Sasuke scoffed. "I helped her take a shower."

"Yeah?" Naruto asked. "Well it might have meant something more to her. And everyone knows that you're too stupid to actually care for anyone besides yourself. Like your ass is made out of roses and gold."

"Naruto stop!" I yelled. "That meant nothing to me!"

I felt Sasuke's eyes on me and when I looked at him he glanced away. "Just where is all this coming from anyways?"

Naruto was fuming. "I'll tell you what it's coming from. I've seen you for the first time in a year and I can still see that when you look at him…you…you look at him like you're in love or something!"

"I'm not," I insisted.

He chose to ignore that. "And then he looks at you and I see nothing in his eyes."

I flinched inwardly because of his harshness. "So what?"

"So, did he tell you what I told him to do?" He asked, gold hair falling into his vision.

"Yeah, Sasuke said that you told him to 'Save and protect me'."

Naruto smiled ruefully. "Yeah but that's not all. I told him to also love you," he finished. "Not to take advantage of you."

"I never have you dumbass," Sasuke said. He seemed to be tired of arguing now. His voice was colder, if possible, and edgier.

Kakashi was pushing Naruto from the room now. Naruto threw one last contemptuous look at Sasuke and allowed himself to be pushed over the threshold. Sasuke slammed the door behind them and turned to look at me with heat.

"Are you alright?" He asked after a moment.

"I'm fine," I lied.

He rolled his eyes and then helped me to the bed. "No you're not. So quit lying. You forget that I can see how your chakra moves when you lie."

I ignored him completely and let my head sag against the headboard. "What do you thinks wrong with Naruto?"

Sasuke gave a derisive laugh to himself. "He knows that you and I are going to Lightening Country alone after we see Susanoo and Tsukuyomi. He's been on the fence about it ever since. I knew it was only a matter of time before he exploded."

"And that's why he went off like that?"

"He doesn't trust me with you. And maybe he's right. I can hardly trust myself these days…"

"Don't," I said fiercely. "You're doing fine. Considering everything that's happened."

"Don't make excuses for me," he said though he was considerably calmer now.

I closed my eyes as I leaned back against the headboard.

"You were right for telling him that what we did meant nothing," he said after a second of silence. And to my surprise his voice was rueful.

I was allowed to rest for two days. Naruto and Sasuke barely spoke to eachother. I mediated during my forty-eight hour resting period so that my chakra flowed back in. I was stronger so I took my showers by myself.

On the eve of the third day – the day that we were departing – I felt my strength return to near its full capacity. Sasuke slapped down enough bills on Ms. Mie's checkout counter that she turned purple. I could tell that she was glad that we were leaving, probably because of all the yelling that had been going on. We were lucky that no one had heard the specifics of our arguments.

Our journey to Konoha took less than two days. We all entered through the main gates right away.

To my genuine surprise, the village had expanded even farther to hold even more refugees. The hospital was bigger and there were far more apartments than I remembered there being. But alas, there was really only the refugees from Suna who had come to live with us. Everyone had either died or given in to Madara.

So the "New Konoha" wasn't really that much more crowded.

The four of us were escorted by Genma and Anko, who hugged us all. When Genma's hand reached a little too low, Kakashi smacked it away from my bottom. Sasuke said something to Genma in a very calm and low voice which made the brunette nin turn pink with either embarrassment or fear.

We were taken in secret to the Hokage's office for 'security measures'. As soon as I entered through those familiar double doors, I was ambushed by Shizune. "Oh Sakura!" She blubbered into my shoulder.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" A voice boomed half drunkenly from behind Shizune. I was engrossed again but this time with a grip of death. "Hello Shishou!"

"SAKURA!" Tsunade exclaimed, her lovely face slightly pink from being tipsy.

Naruto snorted."WHY ARE YOU YELLING?" He screamed in an effort to mock her.

She half turned away from me, and narrowed her eyes at Naruto. "Still a smartass I see," she replied. And then she let me go to hug him. When they released, she smacked him in the face. "Don't ever do that to me boy! Ever. When you were gone I almost died."

He rubbed his face gingerly but hugged her again nevertheless.

And then Tsunade turned to Sasuke. "And you must be Uchiha. Your face matches your voice. You make for a very beautiful man. Though judging by that annoying smirk on your face you must have an ugly attitude."

Naruto coughed something like "understatement". Tsunade smacked him in the head. "And you must also possess super-tolerance to deal with this one."

Sasuke's smirk deepened and Naruto frowned.

"Now," Tsunade said. "Down to business…have you successfully made the cure?"

To Be Continued

A/N: I'm alive! This has got to be my favorite chapter. Will update asap.

Surmise