Author's Notes: Ack!Sorry it's been so long. School is finally out, so hopefully I'll be able to write more. (Hopefully.)

Title Reference for Chapter Eleven: "The Second Star to the Right" from Peter Pan

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Title: Laying Claim

Rating: T (or PG-13)

Summary: (SasuSaku) An ancient law in Konoha permits people from prominent clans to buy people who aren't from clans at all. Unfortunately, Sakura just refused to believe it until her mentor confirmed that, yes, she was now owned by Uchiha Sasuke.

Pairings: SasuSaku

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but the plot is mine!

Chapter 11: The Second Star to the Right

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It hurt, having your wig torn off of you like that.

Though all things considered, that was the least of the pink haired girl's worries at the moment. The man staring down at her with a shocked and slightly enraged expression had the power to make more than her scalp hurt. Majo and the guards stood silently behind her, though she did not dare break eye contact with the crime lord to see their expressions.

Her first thought was naturally a very reasonable, "My cover is blown." And she was quite happy that she wasn't breaking into hysterics of the thrashing she'd get when, if she couldn't find her way out of this mess on her own, Sasuke had to come save her. He was going to be pissed as he demanded the explanation from her. She'd have to tell him what her mission is, because eventually she'd have to tell him per Tsunade's orders, and then he'd go all avenger-y on her…complete with threats and possibly a curse-seal reactivation.

This train of thoughts led her to her second reasoning, which happened to be a very long, very obscene string of curses.

Her inner self was about ready to fight back and catch them all by surprise. The only effect she had on the calm outer Sakura was a narrowing of emerald irises. The simple motion snapped Cain back into reality—she saw him jerk as if he just woke from a daydream. He was the first to break eye contact to look at his guards. He jerked his head to the right, in a "remove her from my sight" kind of motion.

The first hand descended, and Sakura grabbed it and flipped the owner over her shoulder. Inner Sakura was right this time. She wasn't going down without a fight.

A.K.A.: I've already screwed the mission up, how could it possibly get any worse?

She heard wordless shouts from behind and managed to get her reflexes in gear just in time to avoid a sword. She ducked to the ground, driving her foot into an arc that made guard number two fall flat on his back.

Majo was coming back with a vengeance. She charged at the medic, whipping out a kunai from places unknown. Sakura, being unarmed, could only dodge or else risk injury. Majo, scarily, sort of knew what she was doing. The man she had originally thrown over her shoulder, a brunette, came up behind her, only to be cut chest to hip by the witch. Sakura rolled off to the side and remembered the third guy.

He was just now getting up, having the breath knocked out of him, and picked up his sword once more. Unfortunately, she was surrounded by her three attackers. All of whom were rushing at her.

Don't think! Inner Sakura told her, reminding her of her training under Tsunade. Go by your instinct!

So she did. Sakura feinted left to avoid the sword, kicked the back of Majo's knees to make her fall, and after regaining her balance, punched the brunette into the far wall.

The only thing she really hadn't taken into consideration was Cain. He spun her around by her shoulders and delivered a punch to her gut that had her gasping for air. As she stood slightly doubled over, she had a good vantage point to see Majo drive a syringe into her calf, smirking like a cat who got the mouse.

The next thing Sakura knew, the world was spinning, darkening at the edges and fading towards the center. Her legs gave way underneath her as the substance took effect, and she plummeted towards the ground.

And not one of them had the decency to catch her. The cads.

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Whatever they'd put in that syringe, Sakura vowed never to use it even on her worst enemies.

The feeling was horrible. Her mouth was dry, her skin clammy, that uneasy disorientation. All that coupled with one killer migraine and you had one miserable Haruno Sakura.

She had woken up to the lovely stench of decay and damp mold. Her wrists were shackled to the wall and her ankles were bound as well. No matter how hard she tried, there was no getting out of it. Either the substance they had shot up her calf had drained her energy or the cuffs were doing that all on their own.

She was, literally, a prisoner. With a dungeon and everything.

While the rest of the house appeared to be contemporary, modern in structure and style, Sakura was sitting in a room that looked to belong to a medieval torture chamber. She was in a cell with rusty metal barring the entrance. Cold stone made up the structures of walls, floors, and ceiling. The pink haired jounin craned her head to look for an Iron Maiden or perhaps a Rack, but she was disappointed.

It seemed like days, though it was probably just hours, when a creaky door opened at the top of a deteriorating stone staircase. Heavy steps descended the stairs slowly…confidently. The dim lighting seemed to flicker in protest of this new person's intrusion. Sakura's head snapped up wearily, as she searched for a face in the darkness.

A tongue clicked before a voice said, "Haruno Sakura." There was a distinctly metal clink and a screech of metal as the cell door opened. The person walked inside and all but slammed the door behind him. "I took you for the type of person with more sense than this."

Cain.

He snorted before slightly kicking her outstretched legs. "And to think I almost…" Sakura watched his silhouette shake his head in the dark. "But that doesn't matter now." He sidled to her side and pulled on the heart pendant attached to her necklace. Gazing at it for a moment, he then threw it down in disgust. Cain dragged over the chair that sat in the corner of the room—a sad, rusty looking affair. He brought it before her and straddled the chair.

"You really thought you could best me?"

Stubbornly, Sakura stayed quiet.

"Though I guess it can't be helped. Konoha just has to stick their noses into everyone's business. Trying to tear down my growing empire. I have nearly every major crime organization within my circle. Did you know that it all began with one snitched beer? All of this for one stupid pick pocketing years ago." He looked nostalgic.

"I don't need your life's story."

Amusement danced loudly in his eyes. "You, little missy, are in no position to be making demands." He let out a quiet laugh. "But isn't this what you came here for? Information? It's too bad your costume wasn't a bit better. I was actually starting to like you."

Sakura changed the subject, remembering the mission. "What information were you getting from Konoha?"

Cain looked at her for a beat, and then quietly began to laugh. Soon, quietly turned to uproariously, with his head thrown back. It took the crime lord a few minutes to quiet down, but even then he chuckled when he saw her death glare.

"Are you telling me that you don't even know the reason he bought you?"

Sakura's breath caught in her throat, and it felt like something large was lodged there. He knew? Did everyone know except for her?

"Oh this is rich! You poor naive girl, I can't believe he never told you!" He left his chair and walked over to her frozen body. Cain took her chin in his hand, and held a rock solid grip even though she struggled. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "And I'll bet he doesn't even know you've been delivered right into my hands."

Sakura inhaled and was about to ask (demand) that he tell her what was going on, but the door at the top of the concrete steps opened with a loud bang and a figure was silhouetted.

"Sir! We have a situation!"

"I'll be right up!" Cain called back. He ran a finger down her jawbone, and slapped her roughly when Sakura shied away. "A shame what we have to do to shut that pretty mouth of yours." He got up to leave and as he opened the cell door Sakura thought she heard him whisper, "You should have been mine."

But then again with the drugs in her system, he could have said anything and she'd have believed it.

It seemed like forever, sitting in that dank prison. Sakura's head swam and she felt her muscles lack their normal strength. Was this what they had felt like when she was twelve? How did she ever get anything done? Ah, but those were the days. When everything was black and white with a fine line in between. Sasuke would always be aloof and indifferent, though he secretly somewhat cared about his teammates. Naruto would always act like an idiot and fought with his male teammate while showing his undying affections for her, but he showed an unflinching loyalty and perseverance even when the stakes got rough. Kakashi…would always be a pervert. But in Sakura's eyes, the strong and observant masked ninja hung the moon—even if it was only for the characters in his orange book.

Caught up in her musings, she didn't notice the figure step into her cell until he was standing rather obviously in front of her. She jolted. He leaned down and unlocked her handcuffs, and then proceeded to untie her feet. About to thank him for rescuing her, Sakura opened her mouth, but froze when she recognized the attire worn by soldiers on Seaweed Island. She wasn't out of hot water yet.

The figure hauled her roughly to her feet by her upper arm. Sakura made a protest in the back of her throat but the man paid no heed. Instead, he dragged her out of her cell and deeper into the dungeon, where it became darker and more creepy. Bones stared at her with the hollows of their eyes, chained to the wall. Sakura shivered, even in her weary state, at the stench of death that was predominant in the area. And it was growing stronger.

Apparently, the man found what he was looking for. Sakura noticed it as well, when his booted footsteps went from clickclickclick to thumpthump. Stopping, he bent down—twisting his charge's arm in a rather awkward position as he did so—and lifted the latch to a trap door. The sound of quietly flowing water was heard far beneath them.

They were going to kill her. This man was sent to quiet her. He'd throw her in this river and she'd drown. Ohgoshohgoshohgoshoh—

A heavy hand descended on her back and Sakura was thrust in the hole. She fell with a short cry before landing on solid ground beneath her, her leg twisting and snapping underneath her.

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Sasuke cussed.

The four men had come into this stupid compound expecting to find a few guards. What they found was an army, plus civilians who heard the commotion and decided to join the cause.

It had turned out he was right. Sakura was here. One of the techniques he could use because of his possession over her was that he could peer into her mind. He could never stay for long though. Her violent subconscious kicked him out whenever he delved too deep. Besides that fact, he could only do it when they were in relative proximity of each other, seven and a half miles was the max.

After an uneventful morning, he and Naruto were eating lunch. Naruto excused himself to go to the bathroom, and that was when he made his move. He closed his eyes and slipped into deep meditation, going inside Sakura's mind. He was surprised at the relative ease, it had been awhile since he'd done this. He saw a large room with a desk at the far end. She walked towards the other end, aware of others at her back. Sasuke felt a rush of anxiety and fear, but not fear that she'd be hurt, fear for something else…

It was then he backed out, she probably didn't even know he'd been there in the first place. The first priority was finding out where that room was.

He snatched Naruto—who yelped at the suddenness—and explained the situation bouncing off rooftops looking for the other two members of their group. Shikamaru and Neji were eating as well, which is why they frowned when the situation was explained to them. The four of them settled in a hotel room to discuss plans.

"The most logical place to look is here," Shikamaru said as he pointed to a map. "The area has only been moderately surveyed"—they winced at the mistake—"so we don't have a good idea of what we're up against. The bad news is that the man-in-charge is surrounded by guards. The good news is that they're mostly missing-nin, and probably not very good ones at that." He popped a cigarette in his mouth. "It appears that we don't have the tactical knowledge to make a stealth invasion, so we're going to have to show up and take what comes."

The four began to suit up, putting on full ANBU gear and collecting their weapons. To make sure that they were not seen before they had reached their destination, they pulled black cloaks on and put the hoods up.

"Right," Stated Shikamaru from behind his mask. "Neji, I want you by the main gates. I want position updates of the guards every twenty seconds."

"So basically," Naruto remarked. "We're stealthy until we get past the wall, and then it's smashy-smashy."

"Precisely." Their tactician said curtly, though you could here the smirk in his voice.

"Cool."

Thad had been nearly an hour ago.

It had been pandemonium since then, with people rushing into the front gates like they were fighting for the last shred of meat in a starving town. The numbers were nearly overwhelming. Thankfully, most of them were not warriors, so they were easy to either knock out or kill.

Sasuke dragged his katana along the neck of his latest victim—a missing-nin from Waterfall. The man made a bubbling sound before he fell limply to the ground. But the dark haired Uchiha couldn't stop for a moment to revel in the kill. Kill one, move on and kill another. The repetition was a little boring.

"Uchiha! Go find Haruno!" Neji yelled. "She's a few floors beneath us!"

Now, Sasuke did revel. When his clan's rival had yelled his surname, most of the enemy nin stilled at the sound. He was infamous.

But no time for that now. His charge was in danger, her frantic heartbeat pounded in his ears.

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"Get up." The guard demanded her. All Sakura could do was cough as she pushed chakra down her leg, trying to dull the pain. It wasn't enough though. Blinding flashes of white danced in front of her eyes. "Get up!" This statement was punctuated by a sharp kick to her ribs. The pink haired woman sucked in a breath and fell to her side. The guard muttered something derogatory about women before hauling her bodily to her feet by her upper arm. When he discovered that she couldn't walk, he thought nothing of it. He simply dragged her along the concrete ground.

Meanwhile, Sakura was concentrating on catching her breath. She tried not to think about what he could do to her in this weak and vulnerable state. Cross that bridge when we come to it, she thought.

The area smelled rancid. It was almost too much to fight down her pain and her gag reflex at the same time. The concrete pulled at the maid's dress she still wore, tearing it at her back and, embarrassingly, her butt. She already felt her back bleeding from the rough treatment, but thankfully her rear was still in tact.

Suddenly, she was dropped to the ground, her head knocking back hard on the concrete. She blinked before looking up at the guard, who was looking all around them.

"This'll do," he said.

Sakura opened her mouth, but her voice had left her some minutes ago. The drug in her system was making her no more frightening than a kitten. She cursed in her head.

The guard grabbed her hair roughly and tugged her over to the water's edge. As her nose was suspended from it, she discovered that this was the source of the foul smell. He had brought her to a sewer—

Without warning, her head was plunged beneath the surface.

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Sasuke felt her. He felt her more strongly than ever. Her subconscious made itself known in his mind, screaming like the very soul was being torn out of her.

Sasuke! She yelled. Quick!

He had reached the dungeon and found the cells empty. He was stuck for the moment, taking a moment to try and figure out where she was being taken. And then this happened.

She was dying.

Sasuke!

He ran down the corridor, going deeper into the prison. His feet guided him. He could hardly concentrate for the yelling in his head. Not only that, his mind was conjuring up memories—his? hers?—from their genin days.

Good morning Sasuke-kun! As she greeted him on their bridge.

Sasuke-kun! As she ran to him to save him from the cursed seal.

And then there were memories he knew were hers. Things he had never seen before.

The nagging pain at her skull. The last resort.

'Hey guess what!'

"It's pointless, that won't work on me." The sound nin said from behind her.

'I just found out…'

A smirk. "I never said it was for you."

How easily those strands were cut.

' Sasuke likes girls with long hair!'

Sasuke looked down into the open manhole. Their bond drew him. He jumped.

"I'll get you!! Even if you blow off my arms and legs, if I take in your poison and it paralyzes me, I'll get you, I swear it!!"

An image of a moonlit, teary young girl with pink hair entered his mind next.

"On that day, you taught me that solitude is painful!"

He pumped more chakra in his legs to go faster. His heart clenched in worry. Worry that he went the wrong way. Worry that the bond would suddenly die and he'd lose her. Forever.

"I have family, and I have friends but if you're gone..."

Sasuke. The voice was becoming weaker.

There! He saw two figures. The bond felt like a fluttering bird between them.

He punched the guard harshly and roughly pulled his teammate out of the water. She didn't take a big gulp of air like one was supposed to do when held underwater for an indeterminable amount of time.

"Sakura?" He asked.

"…to me…"

The guard rebounded, and the Uchiha barely had anytime to react before he was gutted by the man's broadsword. He dove left, avoiding the next attack. The only good thing about a broadsword was that they were heavy, which meant it took longer to recover after an attack.

Soon, he saw an opening and lunged at the man's heart. His katana rebounded off of the solid material. The guard began to chuckle.

"Foolish boy. No weapon forged can pierce this—" He cut off abruptly. For as he was talking, the man in front of him sent a Chidori down his blade and cut through armor and bone like soft butter. He fell to the ground. Dead.

Not stopping to think, Sasuke dropped to his knees beside the medic. "Sakura! Come on, breathe!" He pushed on her chest to work the water from her lungs, but she did nothing. A wave of panic coursed through him. "Sakura! Breathe!" He tried to find her in his mind, but she had disappeared. He pushed again.

When she did not respond, he pushed his mask aside, opened her mouth, took a deep breath, and began to breathe into her. He winced as the foul liquid met his tongue. But he kept breathing.

Nothing.

"…It will be the same as being alone."

He was too late.

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The three remaining boys had either killed or scared the rest of the opposition away. Most had gone running to the front door once they realized their numbers had significantly dwindled.

Naruto finished off the last one and looked over to his other two teammates, talking in hushed tones about the next plan of action. He walked up to them.

"…probably go find Uchiha and see if he needs our assistance." Neji voiced from behind his mask.

"Good idea. I'll stay and look after him." Shikamaru jerked his thumb over to the bound and gagged crime lord.

"I'll go with Neji. Even though Sasuke won't need our help." He snorted. "He may not look it, but he's crazy possessive over Sakura-chan, with or without that whole "buying" thing they've got going. He won't let anything happen to her."

Neji sighed. "Let's hope you're right, Naruto. But in any case, we should hurry."

Naruto nodded, cast a nod at Shikamaru before jogging to catch up with Neji. He was next to the Hyuuga prodigy when he stopped in his tracks.

"Naruto? What is it?"

Naruto gulped, feeling like a lead weight had been dropped in his stomach. "I just had this really bad feeling." He set a serious gaze on the white-eyed boy. "Let's go. Quickly."

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It was black.

Not nighttime black, with a soft light from the moon or stars. Just…black. A void without color. It went in every direction, even above and beneath her. It felt like a lifeless space. Sensory deprivation. She could barely even hear her recovering voice.

"Sakura!"

She turned in every different direction to find where the voice came from. He, she could tell it was masculine, was nowhere to be found. A faceless voice she couldn't even place.

"Am I…dead?" She asked herself, but as expected, no one answered.

So she floated. Time seemed to stretch forever in a few seconds. It was limitless here.

"Sakura!"

Her head popped up. There it was again. How odd. Surely wherever she was, he was not here with her. It made no sense that she should hear him. Sakura bit her bottom lip in thought. When she brought it back into her mouth, there was a nasty surprise waiting for her.

"Ugh! That's terrible!" She spit a few times trying to get the taste out of her mouth. "It tastes like a sewer…"

And then it all came back to her.

Mission.

Don't tell the boys.

Sasuke.

Sasuke! The voice!

Sakura looked everywhere again, trying to find him. Everything looked the same…she didn't even know if she was upside down right now.

"Sasuke!" She called. "Where are you?!"

"Sakura! Breathe!" He yelled. She felt a pressure on her chest, but nothing was there.

"Sakura." A little softer this time. Like he was giving up. "Open your eyes."

Sakura closed her eyes and imagined his face. Details beginning to form a blurry image to perfection. Every line. Every crease. Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke.

I want to live!

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He hung his head in defeat. She was dead. There was nothing he could do for her now. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. How would he even begin to tell Naruto? Or Kakashi? She was dead and it was because of his little hesitation.

One more time. A little voice in the back of his head ghosted. Try again.

"She's dead!" He yelled painfully into the air.

One more time. The little voice said again, like he hadn't just given up on her. Try again.

Sasuke sighed angrily and looked down to the peaceful face of the girl in front of him. He gently grabbed her chin and pulled open her mouth. He leaned down, and breathed into her again.

Sakura's body jerked.

The Uchiha pulled away just in time to see her eyes pop open. Her lungs spasmed in an effort to cough up the water she'd inhaled. Relief washed through him, even as he helped her turn on her side to assist her efforts.

She was alive.

She took long, shaky breaths in and short breaths out, trying to regulate her breathing again.

"Sa…suke…"

"Shh. I'm right here." He grabbed her hand to anchor her. She smiled a little before she began to cough up more water, as well as some stomach fluid. He wished he could give her some clean water to rid the taste but one: he didn't have any and two: it was more important that she calm down before he should give her anything. Tears fell down her cheeks, but only barely. As if she was holding them back to keep him from seeing her cry. Silly girl. But it was now he finally took notice of the leg that was twisted in the odd angle. He turned a murderous glare to the fallen body of the guard. It was a good thing he was already dead, or else he now would have been mutilated.

Five minutes later, she was still breathing irregularly, though she wasn't trembling anymore. Her eyes were closed as if it were to much trouble to keep them open.

But she never let go of his hand.

Tentatively, he wrapped her in his cloak, covering the wounds on her back and her ripped dress, which revealed more of her than he wanted anyone else to see. Sasuke picked her up and her head lolled against his chest in fatigue. He walked back, careful not to jostle her. It seemed she was asleep now. He reached and brushed off a lock of hair from her face.

He walked back to the open manhole and stared at the ladder he hadn't bothered using. It would be awkward trying to climb up with a girl in his arms, and he didn't want to risk just jumping with the two of them through the tiny little hole.

Well, awkwardness looked to be the lesser of two evils.

He painfully slowly climbed up. Doing it with one hand hurt her, he knew, because he didn't have too much support on her.

He was three quarters of the way to the top when two masked faces appeared. He knew them instantly.

"Naruto, take her." And it must have been life-or-death serious because he called Naruto by his actual name. Naruto laid flat on his stomach to get leverage while Neji held him in place by his feet. "Careful, her leg is broken."

Naruto nodded in recognition before gently taking his female teammate. He brought her up through the small hole, watching her head, and from there she was passed to Neji so that Naruto could stand up. By the time Neji had a firm grip on her, however, Sasuke was already through the hole, and he took her back again.

The three joined Shikamaru, who was staring down the crime lord through his mask. The crime lord—Cain, they learned he was called—looked a little wide-eyed at the presence of the breathing pink haired nin. Sasuke, noticing where his gaze was, removed Sakura from his sight. This man had already disgusted him enough for one lifetime.

They snuck back into their hotel rooms via the windows. It would arouse too much commotion if they just waltzed through the front door—they had already tried that, terrible disaster. Sasuke went to his own room and the other three stayed in another, giving them their privacy.

The remaining Uchiha set her down gently on one of the two beds, unwrapping his cloak from her form. He grabbed one of the water bottles from his pack, unscrewed it, and set it on the nightstand for the time being. He sat down next to her.

"Sakura." He gently nudged her shoulder.

She made a groaning sound.

"Sakura, wake up."

Her eyes barely opened.

"I have some water, if you feel like you can handle it."

Even behind her half-lidded expression, Sakura seemed eager. "Help me sit up." She sat up only enough, and only got in a few large gulps, before collapsing back onto the bed.

It was at this moment Sasuke decided he would never let her out of his sight again. Ever.

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Uneventfully, they had returned to Konoha. Whatever was in Sakura's system had been mostly flushed out, and she was back to her old self again. Though Sasuke wasn't. He refused to let her use her low reserves of chakra to heal her leg, instead following her instructions how to set it and bind it properly. Naruto had come in a few times to see how she was. The first time he gave her a bear hug so big that Sasuke had to bodily throw him off. She had laughed as the two bickered.

Her boys.

They had taken an earlier boat than expected back to the mainland. Sakura was forced to piggyback the Uchiha because of her still throbbing leg. Naruto had made a comment on the matter and Neji had smirked and snorted. Needless to day she had smacked them both jarringly upside the head. She had almost slapped Sasuke for his own smirk but he had threatened to drop her, even though she knew he wouldn't dare. She huffed.

Shikamaru was the only one smart enough to keep his mouth shut. He must have learned that skill from experience with Ino.

Once they'd reached the hospital in Konoha, after grueling hours of boredom on the dark haired teen's back, Sasuke stayed by her side until Tsunade arrived. Sasuke looked at her murderously; after all, Sakura's mission had already been explained to him. He had given the pink haired woman Hell about that too.

Tsunade shooed him out of the room. Or rather, tried to. He wouldn't budge an inch. In the end, it took screaming threats of taking away every title he'd ever had, D-Class missions until he wound up in the psychiatric ward, and a removal of a certain piece of his anatomy that would be extremely helpful to the restoration of his clan. He grudgingly walked out to the waiting room.

And the moment the door was closed Sakura had thrown up her arms and shouted, "Men!"

Tsunade had laughed.

Now, nearly a week and a half after her near death experience, she walked down to the kitchen of the Uchiha household. Tsunade had done a fine job of healing her leg, and she had to prove almost daily to Sasuke she wasn't going to keel over and die.

Sakura found him at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper probably for lack of anything better to do. It was late afternoon, six-ish, and the dying light still illuminated most of the kitchen.

"Hey." She said, leaning against the doorframe.

He looked up, putting the paper down. "Hey." He frowned suddenly. "How's your leg?"

"Oh it's fine." Sakura said lightly. "It's still a little tender, but it's fine."

"That's good."

There was a moment of pause. Sakura swallowed in preparation for her next question. "Sasuke, why did you buy me?" It had been nagging on her ever since Cain's comment, but it was only now that she got up the courage to ask.

If an Uchiha had the physical capability to pull of a deer-in-the-headlights look, that's how he would have looked at that moment. Instead, he gave off a calm appearance after a momentary stillness, while his insides were just plain frozen. A feeling of dread went through him. "Sakura…" Though he said her name in such a tone of voice that signified a "we'll talk about it later" kind of deal.

"Sasuke," Sakura growled. "I have a right to know." When his eyes didn't move from her face, she lowered her head, suddenly feeling very self-conscious when he looked at her like that.

Meanwhile, Sasuke very quietly sighed. She was right. It was time to tell her.

Silently, he rose from the table and padded over to her. Sakura's head snapped up only when she saw his feet.

"Sasuke?"

Instead of responding, he turned her around and put his hands around her waist. He guided her through the living room and up the stairs. He went down the hall a short ways and guided them both into his room.

The door shut quietly behind him.

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Author's Notes: Before any of you have the chance to tell me: yes, I do know that I'm evil. I mean how could I possibly leave a cliffhanger right there?! Well you see, it's quite easy. I just stop writing! Mwahaha! So we've got an action-packed chapter that, with the way I'm updating, you'll have another two months to stew over! Hopefully not though! Eek! As always, reviews are appreciated, and I'm going to try my absolute hardest to update sooner! Scouts honor!