Summary: Sasuke returns after almost three years to Konoha. He is determined to kill Naruto to prove he can kill his own brother to himself. Orochimaru is after him. Konoha is after him. But on the day he comes to Konoha, he encounters a different Sakura…and is distracted from his plan. A Sasusaku Story (with other couples)

(Anything in italics is a thought or flashback)

Rainy Days Never Stay

Chapter 10

He looked at her face. She must have been tired…from carrying him all the way to…wherever they were. Sasuke didn't know what time it was, and frankly, couldn't care about it. It was peaceful. Birds were chirping in the trees above, and some small animals scurried up the trees. He hadn't seen so much of nature and the outdoors in a long time. Orochimaru had never let him out of his sight after training…or out of his own room.

Now, Sasuke was tired of sleeping in his room; he was tired of those dreams. He was currently at peace, and fully awake, unlike Sakura, who had fallen fast asleep the moment her head had touched the bark of the large oak. As much as he wanted to go and find his brother, he didn't want to wake Sakura up. She had done a lot for him already, more than she knew.

He leaned over, his face close to hers. The wind began to blow gently, causing the sunlight to dance through the leaves of the oak tree. Why was it that, he felt so peaceful around her? It was only recently that he had felt this way. Without even knowing it, his emotions were coming back. Sasuke moved his hand close to her face, and gently stroked her cheek and some of her hair.

For some reason, the curse mark always ceased hurting when Sasuke was with Sakura. Not only now—but also when both of them were younger. There would be times when it would hurt so much, then she would say her words of worrying, and the pain would stop. He had never noticed it, back then. It was only now…

Sakura made a small sound. The sound people make when they begin to wake up. He moved back silently and quickly, slightly embarrassed. She opened her eyes—the way she did every morning—and focused on Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun…" Her voice so low, it was nearly a whisper. He wondered if she felt anything in her sleep. "You're alright." He smirked, his old sign of saying, "Of course I am." She smiled. That was a good sign.

"Dammit!" Naruto pounded his fist into the wall of the inn. "They got away…again!" "Well…" Temari began to say. Sai looked over from Naruto, then to Temari's team. He wondered what they would do next. "Look Naruto," Shikamaru said, a broom in his hands. "We'll clean up the village, and you go on ahead."

They had caused a big mess. The destruction that the giant slug made had to be blamed on someone, and so, it was blamed on the Konoha ninja. "You can't clean all of this up with a broom," Temari teased. "Whatever." That was the normal lazy response. Temari turned toward Sai and Naruto. "Shikamaru's right. We're supposed to be behind you anyway so…" Naruto took his fist out of the wall and walked towards the door. He stopped. "Let's go, Sai." There was a hint of impatience in his voice.

Steam surrounded Sakura. She took a few steps into the water, to check the temperature. It was just right—lukewarm. She stepped in, letting the water completely engulf her whole body, from her two feet up to her neck. She removed the towel that she had wrapped around herself. It floated to the surface of the water. "What a great spot I found," Sakura said to herself, as she sighed and moved to the deeper parts of the spring.

The waterfall and its waters came crashing down as she moved closer to it and farther from the shallow waters. She looked up to see the sun's position. It was approximately noon. She didn't even have to worry about the time. Sasuke had said to her that they would be leaving at sunset. That meant, that they would be moving while the Konoha ninja were resting and sleeping. It was a smart plan.

It also meant that Sakura could stay in the springs for as long as she wanted. It gave her more time to think, that was for sure. After about an hour or so, Sakura stepped back on the forest ground, and dried herself up with a separate towel. She dressed up and sat on the ground, reading the book that she had stolen from the library.

Why hadn't she seen any books like this in Tsunade's library? She flipped through the pages and skimmed the words; not knowing, that Tsunade had kept all books regarding curse marks and further research from Sakura. Tsunade wanted to protect Sakura, even if it meant hiding her from the truth. Sakura reminded Tsunade of herself, after all.

Sasuke appeared from behind the trees where Sakura was standing and tossed a piece of bread to her. It was lunchtime, and he didn't know any other way to give her food. In Orochimaru's hideout, Kabuto would toss a piece of bread over to Sasuke, as he was doing now. However, Sasuke couldn't help but think that it would make Sakura feel as though she was in a prison.

Sakura caught the bread without turning around, she had sensed him already, and bit it. "Thanks." It was all she bothered to say. She was interested in what she was reading. Sasuke just stood there, not knowing what to do. After Sakura had left to go to the spring, he had just sat there, staring blankly at the nature around him. In other words, he was bored out of his mind. He decided to engage in conversation, to help pass the time.

Sasuke sat beside her, somewhat stiffly. "What are you reading?" he asked, with no emotion whatsoever in his voice. Sakura closed the book up. "A novel," she lied. "It's really interesting." The sound of the waterfall was crashing in the distance. "So, uh…" Sasuke managed to stammer. "I missed you," Sakura said, her eyes on the ground. Sasuke looked at her, with the questioning look on his face.

"I mean…" she leaned back a bit. "Well you know, I just…" I should hate you with all my heart now, Sakura thought to herself. But now… It was weird, the two had never really said a word to each other. They only fought those who stood in their way. "Why did you have to go?" She sounded like her old self again. Sasuke stood up, surprising her slightly. Sakura looked up at him.

Conversation is pointless, Sasuke thought as he walked back to where their things were. He only brought her with him because of the stupid curse mark. Sakura was still a burden, as she was before. He didn't care about her at all—no stupid curse marks or emotions were going to change that. That was what he wanted to think. There was a battle between him and his emotions. Who would win?

Sakura smiled as she watched Sasuke leave. I shouldn't remind him of the past anymore. She stood up as well. I think…I want to bring Sasuke back…just like everyone else is doing. She thought of Naruto, with that dorky smile on his face, and Sai, with his fake smile. With this new goal in mind, she walked over to where Sasuke was.

Sunset came quickly, the colors of the sky resembling a painter's mixed palette. Orange, red, yellow, purple, and shades of pink mixed together, the sun in the west. Sasuke and Sakura began to run on the trees. Sasuke was in the lead, and Sakura was behind him. They were moving quickly through the Land of Fire. Sasuke still didn't know exactly where they were headed, though.

They both didn't know…that they were being watched. The figure above them moved from tree to tree, as they were doing, but only faster. "Uchiha Sasuke," he said to himself. "That's Itachi's little brother…My, hasn't he grown," he commented. He disappeared. Sasuke noticed something, and stopped moving, immediately holding his left arm out to signal Sakura to stop. She stopped and slowed down as she reached Sasuke.

Sharingan! Sasuke used the Kekkei Genkai to find the enemy. He searched for movement and listened for footsteps. There! He sensed it and, swung his sword at something. The sound of metal from two swords clashing was heard. Sakura stepped back a little, stunned by how fast Sasuke had done what he did. It wasn't the only thing she was surprised at. The person in front of Sasuke wore a dark coat with red cloud-like patterns on it. She knew instantly that it was an Akatsuki member.

"You," Sasuke said, his sword still out. "I've seen you before…" He remembered. This man was with Itachi when they had attempted to murder Naruto. Sasuke had rushed over to save him, but had basically been useless. "Hoshigaki Kisame." His features were striking—his skin was slightly bluish and he looked somewhat like a shark. "Hoshigaki Kisame…" Sakura repeated. "You're one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, aren't you?" "I was," Kisame answered.

"What a surprise it is to see you here," Kisame said, his attention turned to Sasuke. "Where is Itachi?" Sasuke asked. Those eyes…, Kisame thought to himself, as he quickly looked away from them. He knew not to look into the eyes of an Uchiha with the Sharingan. It caused a Genjutsu spell to occur. Sasuke smiled his curled smile. "The plans of the Akatsuki are to use the power of the Jinchuriki, or the tailed beasts, to take over this whole world. I was told to go after that friend of yours, the Kyuubi, Uzumaki Naruto." Both Sasuke and Sakura twitched at the name.

"Yes but, why are you telling us all of this?" Sakura asked. "Well, aren't you smart…Haruno Sakura." Her eyes widened. H-He knows my name! "Yes, we know all about you three. Uzumaki Naruto, the pupil of Jiraiya and the Kyuubi; Haruno Sakura, the pupil of Tsunade and the one with the keen intellect; and there's Uchiha Sasuke, student of Orochimaru and Itachi's brother." Kisame smiled. "We've done our research, haven't we?"

"You were all part of Squad 7, along with the copy-ninja Hatake Kakashi, and must be eliminated at once." He disappeared again. "W-Where'd he go?!" yelled Sakura. She was nearly scared to death. "Calm down," Sasuke said. Kisame appeared, behind Sakura. "Sakura!" Sasuke yelled. Sakura turned around as Kisame swung his sword. She moved her neck back, it being only a few inches away from the blade.

However, this caused her to become out of balance. Kisame kicked her down and held the blade to her neck. Sasuke began to run, then stopped. "In response to your question before," Kisame said. "I'll tell you where your brother is, if you let me kill this girl." Sakura's eyes widened again. Of course he'd choose revenge over her—he always had. It was the reason she was with him. In the end, she was just a burden.

"Tell me where he is," Sasuke demanded. She was surprised that he didn't just say to kill her. Little did she know that he needed her. His strength and abilities would seem to fade whenever she wasn't there or when she was in trouble. Half of the reason was because, she had sealed the curse mark. Sasuke stared down at her. She looked up at him. Surprisingly, there was no sign of tears in her eyes. She only looked at him, as she did before when he was at her doorstep.

Sasuke gripped his sword tighter, transferring his Chidori into it. "Are you saying that you choose this girl?" Kisame asked, moving the blade away from her neck by about an inch. "No," Sasuke said. He was concentrating all of his chakra on his sword. "I'm saying that you'll be begging for your life and telling me where Itachi is." Kisame clenched his teeth. Sakura noticed that the sword was far enough away, and bit Kisame's hand. "Ah—why you!"

Sakura scrambled to the ground. Sasuke began to charge toward Kisame. Look at all of this chakra…it's incredible—I can actually see it. He smirked. Still, It's nothing I can't handle. Kisame held his sword in front of him horizontally."You think a little sword is going to stop me?" Kisame's sword began to glow. "Chidori Nagashi!" Sasuke yelled. Sakura tried to keep her eyes open, although the light was too bright.

Half of a sword fell to the ground near Sakura. She opened her eyes, and was surprised at what she saw. Sasuke's sword had gotten cut in half by the force of the other. "I'm a swordsman," Kisame said. "You can't beat me at that." A figure appeared behind Kisame. Obviously an Akatsuki member, he had the same outfit as Kisame. "Stop playing around, Kisame," he said. He didn't look anything like Kisame, he had bright blonde hair, some of it covering his right eye. "I'll kill the girl," he said, licking his lips. "Do you remember me?" his voice had come from behind Sakura. She twitched. "I fought the Kyuubi for a while."

She turned around to give a forceful punch to the face, but he punched her in the stomach quicker than she could attack. She fell over, blood jetting out of her mouth. "Sakura!" Sasuke yelled. Kisame held his sword close to Sasuke's neck. "No, fight with me." Sasuke sneered—he had no choice. Both jumped back. "She can handle herself against Deidara," Kisame yelled to Sasuke.

Deidara walked over to Sakura and looked down at her. "I was expecting more of a fight," he said. Sakura began to stand up. "You…you manipulate clay, don't you?" Deidara looked over at her. "So, you know? Did the Kyuubi boy tell you?" he asked, intrigued by her intellect. "No, I could tell." Deidara moved back a bit. Sakura looked up, her eyes fierce. "You're a clay clone." He smiled. "One hit is all it takes to have you disappear. However, you're pretty fast."

Sakura appeared from behind the clone. "I'm the real Sakura," she said as she punched the clone with her tremendous strength. It fell to the ground and turned back into clay. Sakura's own clone disappeared as well. She panted for breath. She didn't show it much during the short battle, but when the clone had punched her, it took a lot of her chakra to prevent it from being a fatal blow. The raining with Tsunade was helpful after all.

Meanwhile, the battle between Kisame and Sasuke was going on. Sasuke was at a disadvantage because he didn't have a sword. He couldn't even try hand-to-hand combat because of Kisame's sword and the long-range distance it covered. He could always summon a snake and run away now that Sakura was safe and done with her battle. However, Sasuke needed the whereabouts of his brother. It was the only thing he lived for.

Dodging and blocking alone had taken a lot of his strength. Then, there was the fact that he concentrated too much of his chakra on the Chidori. It was intended to be a fatal blow. The use of more ninjutsu was not an option. How would he win? The curse mark began to sting again. Now of all times, thought Sasuke. He wondered why it was hurting. Sakura was fine… He didn't know that it was trying to tell him something--valuable information. He winced for a second, leaving himself open. One strike was all it would take.

Sakura looked over from where she was and began to run. Not thinking, she stepped in the way of the sword and Sasuke. She faced him, and the sword stabbed through her gut. Sasuke looked up, surprised and stunned at what just happened. Kisame was surprised too. He removed the sword from where it was, causing Sakura to fall on Sasuke. He caught her, causing her blood to touch the surface of his hands.

She tried healing herself…but she couldn't because she had wasted too much of her chakra. "Sasuke-kun…I…" Her vision and consciousness began to fade. Soon, her whole world was darkness.

I…

To be continued…Tragic, I know. Let's have it soak in a bit.

This is the longest of all of the chapters. It's an extra one or two pages long. Lately, the hits have gotten lower, so I decided to do something different (a little bit of everything) . Tell me if you like it this way.

I can't say much about the next chapter…I don't want to spoil you. All I will say is, SAKURA IS NOT DEAD. But what happens when Sasuke thinks she is? Lots of romance.

Oh yes, and a note: I did not make up any of these characters or anything. I did my research for the Akatsuki members. So, they actually exist…in the manga, anyway.

Please review!!! I really, really, really like reviews! They show me you care and actually read my story! (Lately, I haven't gotten many reviews…)

Shizuka-Ai calm::love