カツ | Sakura

My back stiffens as my hands grip the edge of the pier. "No," I tell Naruto softly. "You can't go. It's too dangerous."

"I have to," he replies gently.

"No, you don't." I swirl the water lightly with one toe. "You can't do anything anyway. The elders will arrest you on the spot, as soon as you enter the village and then hold a secret trial right there and slit your throat without anyone knowing."

He shakes his head at me. "I don't think the elders are behind this."

I close my eyes. A dead lump sinks in my chest as I watch Ino crumple to the forest floor behind my eyelids. "They were behind torturing Sasuke in Konoha, why not this?"

"I know they've done some pretty terrible things." Naruto sighs. "But I don't think they would have the ANBU kill Ino. It doesn't make sense. They'd just be creating division within the ranks. Their ideals, however corrupted, have always been centered on unifying the village."

"It doesn't matter anyway." Opening my eyes again, I stare blankly out at the open sea. "The people who killed her are after us. You go back there and you'll be walking right into their hands."

"I'll be careful. I'm just going to talk to Himura-sama. They need to know what's going on."

Pulling my feet up out of the water, I hug my knees miserably to my chest. The thought of him leaving sends a chill of panic down my spine. "You can't go," I state flatly. "You need to be here, where you're safe." I need you here.

"I'll be fine."

"But I won't," I choke out in a sob. "Y-you can't go. I can't…I can't handle…" Warm tears start to roll down my cheeks.

I feel his arm slide around me. Cupping the side of my head, he leans it in towards his. "It's not your fault," he whispers, pressing his forehead against mine. "It's never been your fault."

"It will always be my fault." I press my lips firmly together, trying not to start sobbing. "I never should have agreed to meet her. I should've had us pack up when they found us. I should have – "

"If either one of us is to blame it's me," he says. "I didn't know what to do. I keep running over and over it in my mind and there are so many things I know I could've done differently." Drawing back a little bit, Naruto meets my eyes squarely. "But really it's only one person's fault – the ANBU who killed her, and maybe his comrades who were in on it. You can't blame yourself for someone else's actions. You can only take responsibility for your own and you've done nothing wrong, Sakura. Ino would agree with me."

I turn my eyes back out to the sea. "I miss her so much. I knew I might never see her again when I left the village, but this is different."

"I know."

"I-I just can't stop thinking about her. And it's never the good memories it's always the bad one. She looked so scared, so desperate. Whenever I try to remember anything else about her the image just always comes back. It's like it's the only memory I have of her anymore." I feel my body start to tremble and pull my knees in tighter. "And Shikamaru. That look on his face. It was so awful. He looked almost like…" I can't say it. I can't.

"Like Sasuke," Naruto says grimly.

I turn to him, a little shocked that he would express my horrific thought out loud.

He shakes his head. "But he's not Sasuke, and he's not going to become Sasuke either. That's my other reason for going. I need to find Shikamaru."

The memory of Shikamaru's infuriated cry shudders through my bones. "No. No you can't. He might…He might…" Why are there so many things that I feel are too terrible to say out loud anymore. How did things get this bad?

"He won't kill me," Naruto says, again voicing my thoughts. "But I'm sure he's in a dark place right now." Placing his hand on mine, Naruto meets my gaze once again. "Don't you see? He needs us. He needs us to find him before he heads down that dark road. If I had been able to stop Sasuke all those years ago…" his eyes shift to look behind us to where I know Sasuke is sitting at the other end of the pier. "Well, the point is, that's not going to happen to Shikamaru. We're not going to let it."

Biting my lip, I turn back to the sea. Naruto's right. Shikamaru does need him. I'm being selfish. I know that. But does Naruto really think that we'll be okay here – me the wreck that I am right now, Sasuke the mess that he's always been?

"You're going because you think Sasuke's getting better," I say quietly. "That kid with the ball a few minutes ago. Sasuke didn't try to blow his head off. You think that he's changing, that you can trust him to stay with me."

"Yes, but no."

I look back at Naruto, confused.

"I do think Sasuke's changing," he says, "but I'm not leaving because I trust him. I may never trust him again." He places one hand on my arm. "I'm leaving because I trust you. I believe in you, Sakura. You just have to believe in yourself."

I blink at him for a moment, processing his words. He believes in me. After all the mistakes I've made, he still trusts me. "Thank you," I whisper.

He gives my arm a light squeeze.

Slowly loosening my grip on my knees, I drop one foot back into the water and begin to swish at it with my toes. Naruto has to go and I have to stay. We both have our duties to do. It's the only way we can save our friends and our village.

"Naruto, get your hand off me."

"Oh, right."

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch his hand fly back into his lap. A slow smile slides onto my face.

カツ

Sasuke looks tense as he slowly pushes himself up so that he's leaning back on his forearm. His gaze stays carefully trained on me but I can tell he's also keeping an eye on the kunai I just sent flying into the floor. He's wary of me. Good. He probably thinks I'm crazy and that I'm about to fly at him any second.

"Naruto went to Konoha," he repeats slowly, his eyes narrowing at me suspiciously.

I nod, crossing my legs as I brace my hands on the edge of the dresser.

"Alone?" he asks.

I shoot him a mocking smile. "Clearly." I can't let him know how scared I am without Naruto beside me. I have to appear completely in control, confident. I can't let him get the upper hand.

"What for?"

"To tell the elders that Ino…" I swallow hard, shifting my position on top of the dresser as I struggle to maintain my composure, "…tell them what happened."

"And will we follow?"

"Of course not! Why – ?" I break off mid sentence as Sasuke raises an eyebrow at me.

I forgot. I completely forgot. Sasuke doesn't remember what happened to him in Konoha. He doesn't know that we broke into prison and got him out, or that we deserted the village, although he's probably pieced that bit of it together. He still has no idea why though.

I meant to discuss this with Naruto, but that was before…everything happened. I've been so wrapped up in my own feelings lately that I forgot. What would Naruto want me to do? He wouldn't want me to lie. Should I just avoid the question all together?

Glancing at Sasuke's suspicious face, I know that that isn't going to happen. There's only one thing to do. Squaring my shoulders, I clear my throat as I lace my fingers around my top knee.

"No," I reply calmly. "We aren't going to follow Naruto." I'm going to be completely open and honest with him. It's the only way to start repairing the damage that's been done to Sasuke's psyche over the years.

Sasuke stares at me expectantly for a long moment, as if I'm going to continue. "Quit with the games," he growls finally. "Tell me what's going on."

"What's the last thing you remember before waking up in the forest with us?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Naruto and I charging at each other in the Valley of the End."

"Anything else?"

He glares at me in annoyance. "No."

I let out a long, slow breath. "Well you missed a few things, almost a week in fact."

Alarm flashes through his eyes momentarily before they return to their usual placid glare. "A week."

"Not quite but pretty close." I purse my lips. I'm already nervous being on my own and who knows how he'll react to this.

I believe in you, Sakura.

You may regret that decision, Naruto.

"While you and Naruto were fighting, a group of us were chasing you. I suspected Naruto had taken you to the Valley of the End – he has a great love for dramatics. Anyway, we arrived just as you two hit each other. You were both unconscious and in critical condition so we rushed you back to Konoha for emergency surgery. It was close but obviously you both made it."

I take a deep breath. That was the easy part. Now comes the hard stuff. I watch Sasuke closely, trying to gage his reactions as he pushes himself up to a sitting position. "A few days later, you disappeared from the hospital. No one knew where you were, only that some ANBU had barged in and taken you away. Finally we were able to find out that the elders were holding you in Ibiki-san's interrogation room."

I can tell he's searching his memory for the name. Trying to seem casual, I slowly reach back towards where my tantō is lying behind me on the dresser. If he puts two and two together, that Ibiki-san's interrogation room is used for torture, I'm not quite sure how he'll react.

"And…?" Sasuke prompts, making me jump a little.

"Well they were…questioning you. For information."

His eyebrows snap together in confusion. "About what?"

"Zetsu," I say softly, hoping that I don't sound too guilty.

He scoffs. "He's dead."

"I know."

"Well then?"

My fingers curl around the hilt of my blade. "The truth is that they were just using it as an excuse to torture you," I say quickly, trying to blurt it all out before he can process it too carefully. "Lee-san and I put a stop to it. Naruto was furious and that night we broke you out and here we are, running from Konoha."

Biting my lip, I keep a careful eye on his face as it goes very intentionally blank. He stares stoically ahead for a long moment. I grip and re-grip my tantō nervously.

"Why don't I remember?" he asks finally.

"You were heavily sedated on and off," I murmur. "You would have been light-headed from blood loss. Your mind might have tried to repress the pain and stress. There are plenty of reasons you could have forgotten."

Sasuke nods slowly and continues to stare blankly ahead. As the silence grows, I shift my position uncomfortably, wincing as the skin of my leg peels off the edge of the dresser where it's been situated for so long. Uncrossing my legs, I swing them lightly, letting my heels tap gently against the side of the dresser.

"Naruto gave up his dream for you, you know," I say finally.

Sasuke's eyes slowly rise to meet mine. "He's an idiot."

I smile sadly. "I know."

カツ

"I'm bored."

Sasuke's chopsticks freeze half way to his mouth as he looks up at me.

I point to him with my own chopsticks. "And so are you."

He blinks at me a couple times before placing the uneaten bite back in his bowl and his chopsticks neatly on the table. "What are you suggesting?"

"Well," I toss a wad of food in my mouth and gnaw thoughtfully on the tough chunk of meat as I consider our limited options, "we need money, so we could find some sort of job for the two of us. We're also probably getting disgustingly out of shape. We should probably do something about that just in case the ANBU catch up with us again."

I see a small spark catch in his eye before his face goes very purposefully stoic once again. He raises an eyebrow at me. "Even without my chakra, a battle of ours could level this little town."

"Nah, we wouldn't have time. The battle would be over too fast." I grin as he glares at me contemptuously. "No offense, but you're not much of a match for me without your chakra."

Mumbling something under his breath, he takes up his chopsticks again and continues eating.

"We'll make it strictly taijutsu," I tell him. "That way we can stay in the room. No one will see us and know we're shinobi."

Sasuke's eyebrows knit together. He glances around the room as he chews. "It's too small," he says once he's swallowed. "We'll break something."

"It's not like there's much to break." I take a look around myself. There's the one dresser, this table and few cushions around it, plus the three futons. Otherwise, it's pretty bare. He's right about it being small though. "Besides, we can practice like the Hyuga with their Gentle Fist style."

"We can't use Gentle Fist," he says blandly, in that tone that makes it clear he thinks I'm an idiot. "Only people with the byakugan can fight that way."

I roll my eyes. "I know that. Obviously we're not gonna be hitting chakra points, but we can still use their style of fighting. It's close, mostly consisting of punches, blocks, ducks, and deflections. You don't need too much room. It's always good to learn a new way to fight."

Sasuke simply shrugs and grunts, but puts down his chopsticks all the same. I can see the fire lighting his eyes once again. He's as sick of this sitting around as I am. As shinobi who have trained their whole lives, being lazy doesn't really sit well with us.

I grin at him. "I'll take that as a yes."

カツ

A loud yelp escapes my lips as the manacle on Sasuke's wrist clips me hard on the side of the head. My vision goes dark. All I can see is the wood of the floor and the stars dancing across it.

Cursing, I reach one hand up to grab my temple and use the other to push myself up off the floor. I blink rapidly, trying to clear my sight enough to see Sasuke as he stands set in a fighting position across from me.

"You're getting soft," he says as he stares down his nose at me.

"Well there's nothing soft about that." I nod towards the manacle. "I may be out of shape, but you have the advantage of a built in weapon."

Shrugging, he drops his poised hands to his sides and watches me as I slowly get to my feet. As I straighten, the floor starts to rock beneath my feet and I quickly hunch over to rest my hands on my knees to wait out the wave of dizziness. "Woops, not yet."

"I guess we are done for the day then," he says blandly, stepping back as he crosses his arms over his chest.

I wave a dismissive hand at him, "Sure, sure. Enough sparring I suppose. We need to get going anyway."

His expression sours.

Straightening once again, much more slowly this time, I grin at him. "After all, you wouldn't want to ruin the reputation of the great Uchiha Sasuke, grocery-delivery boy." I can't resist the jab.

"You're going to get us caught using my real name, you idiot," he mutters darkly.

"I'm sorry, the great Masaru." Prodding at the side of my head, I wince as my fingers press against the tender, puffy skin where Sasuke hit me. "That's gonna leave a mark."

With an annoyed grunt, Sasuke brushes past me and heads towards the door. I smile and head over towards the dresser to swipe the folded rag and canteen off the top. "Men," I mutter as I wet the rag and start to bathe my face, neck, and under my arms. "Walk around smelling like pigs and they don't even know it."

Tossing the rag back on the dresser, I take a swig out of the canteen and go after Sasuke who's already reached the end of the hallway. "Wait for me."

"If you would keep up I wouldn't have to," he mumbles as he swipes up his sandals and heads out the open doorway.

Jogging lightly down the hallway, I bend down to grab up my own sandals and emerge from the doorway only to find him heading down the street with his sandals already on. Years of being a rogue ninja must have made him a fast dresser.

"I may be late but at least I smell better," I tell him as I try to pull my sandals on while hopping after him.

He only grunts in reply.

Giving up on following him, I stop and kneel down to strap on my shoes. As I reach up to brush my hair out of the way, a salty breeze sweeps it back into my face. It's so much more pleasant here by the sea where the winds carry the water's coolness and the rich foliage blocks much of the sun's wrath. Even though it's already mid-morning, the air's heavy humidity isn't suffocating yet, a good thing too, considering that Sasuke and I will be out in it for most of the day.

"Take your time," Sasuke says drily. I look up to see him stopped in the middle of the street, watching me with a mild scowl on his face as he waits.

"Sorry." Securing the final strap of my sandal, I spring up to jog after him. "I wouldn't want to ruin your record as a model employee."

Shooting me a real glare, he turns on his heel to start plodding down the street once again. With an amused shake of my head, I fall in step beside him. Taking in a deep breath of the salty air, I lace my fingers behind my back and prance down the street with a stupid little smile on my face. I'm going to miss this little town when we have to leave. It reminds me a little of Konoha with its friendly, simple villagers and quiet hum of activity. But we've already stayed here a bit too long. We'll have to leave as soon as Naruto…

An uncomfortable weight drops into my chest. Naruto. He's been gone quite a while. I know he's coming back. I have faith in him. I know he is. I know it! But what if…

Shaking my head, I pick up my pace. I don't want to think about that right now. Right now I need to think about what I'm supposed to be doing and what I'm supposed to be doing is getting to work so that Sasuke and I can eat and pay our rent.

Without a word, Sasuke speeds up as well. Swinging my arms purposefully, I round the corner at a furious pace and just barely avoid running smack into Fumio-sama, the owner of one of the town's few stores and our boss.

"Whoa, Kaoru!" he says, jumping back a few paces as he clings to the wooden box in his skinny, wrinkled arms. "You scared me, girl!"

Giving him a sheepish smile, I bow lightly and apologize. "Masaru and I thought we might be late."

"Well not yet," Fumio-sama, the creases in his face deepening with a friendly smile as his old, crooked frame bends to set down his box. "But I have everything for your first few deliveries already packed and ready to go." He gestures over towards the half wall that forms the outside of his open-aired store, where two large baskets sit stuffed with packages. Pulling out two folded pieces of paper from his belt, he hands one to Sasuke. "Masaru, you're going to be delivering mostly on the western outskirts of town today." With a nod, Sasuke takes the paper and walks over towards our baskets. "Kaoru, you'll be mostly down in the…" Fumio-sama's voice fades off as he stares at me, the forgotten list drooping from his hand.

A bolt of panic runs through me. Did he suddenly recognize me or something? Have I met him before or did ANBU come through town asking about us? Sasuke and I will have to run. We'll take off for the woods south of here. Hopefully Naruto remembers where we agreed to meet.

"What happened to your face, Kaoru?" Fumio-sama asks, lifting a hand to his temple.

Mirroring his action, I touch my fingers to my own head and wince. Ouch! I forgot about that. "Oh, just a little accident," I tell him, relief tricking through me. "Does it look that bad?" Sasuke clipped me pretty hard. It must be starting to turn color.

"W-well, no," the man blusters. "I-I just…" He glances over as Sasuke, who's already pulling the straps of his basket over his shoulders, and then back at me. "How did it happen?"

"I just knocked my head on a dresser is all," I tell him, stretching my hand out for the piece of paper still drooping between his fingers. "Is that my list?"

Fumio-sama stares after Sasuke with narrowed eyes for a moment before handing me the list. "Just take care of yourself girl."

Pursing my lips to hide a smile, I nod earnestly and head over to join Sasuke. "I think you might be getting a bad reputation around town," I murmur to him as I lean over to pick up my own basket.

Fastening the strap across his chest which connects the two over his shoulders, he tugs at them so that the basket hangs comfortably on his back. "I know, I know," he mutters darkly. "He thinks that I'm abusing you."

I chuckle as I pull the bulging basket onto my back.

カツ

The night air feels heavy and hot, hotter than normal. Rolling over, I try to find yet another position on top of my sweat-soaked futon. I don't know why I can't sleep tonight. We've been working all day. I'm exhausted! But somehow sleep just doesn't want to come.

Letting my heavy eyes slide open, I stare blankly into the corner where I know Sasuke is sleeping. He's nothing but a dark figure spread across the length of his futon. A few weeks ago watching him would have made me anxious, worried, doubtful. Now it seems almost familiar and maybe even…comforting? No, not comforting. It couldn't be comforting. Maybe it's just that when Naruto first left I was beyond alone. I felt as if I was facing the whole world by myself.

Now, I wouldn't say Sasuke is exactly on my side, but he wards off the loneliness a bit. I feel more peaceful solitude than despairing loneliness.

He's changed so much. It almost scares me, like I'm going to wake up and it's all going to be a dream. I wonder what's going on behind those dark, solemn eyes of his. He used to be teetering on the edge of insanity, manic in the most calculating, deadly way. At the very least, he's calmed down a little. I can tell that there's still darkness stewing within him, but it's at a light simmer rather than its former rolling boil.

Could it all be an act? He seemed to have a change of mentality right before Ino –

Biting my lip, I curl my fingers stiffly around the edge of the futon.

He could be faking it. It doesn't seem like it, but he's a very practiced liar. He has to be to have survived this long. Whatever happens, I can't let him play me. I can't get too relaxed. Naruto's counting on me.

The floor boards creak lightly outside our room. I wrench my neck around to look towards the door. I don't see anything. Another soft creak. It's probably just one of the other hotel guests.

I turn over on my futon so that I'm fully facing the door. I'm pretty sure it's nothing, but I'm not going to be able to relax until I'm absolutely positive. Curse my shinobi training.

I watch the door, my breaths still and quiet in the darkness. It's nothing. I'm sure it's nothing. My body starts to relax. The heaviness of sleep pulls at my body once again. Maybe I'll finally be able to get to sleep now that I've had a little adrenaline rush.

More creaks and the whisper of metal slowly pulled across metal.

That's not another guest. Sitting up, I swing my legs off the edge of the futon and slowly start to get to my feet.

"Sasuke!" I whisper, "Pst! Wake up. I think there's someone – "

The door slams open and bangs back against the wall. A dark figure sprints towards me, kunai raised above its head. Ducking under the swing, I grab the attacker's arm, watching over its shoulder as more black-clothed figures pour into the room.

I cock my elbow back, gather a small ball of chakra in my fist, and swing. The white mask covering the attacker's face explodes as I release the chakra along with my punch. Its head snaps back.

The pieces of the mask crumble to the floor around us and my eyes widen in recognition as the attacker shakes its head and stares me straight in the face.

"Hanabi-san?" I breathe.

Taking advantage of my shock, the young woman shakes free of my grip and hits me in the side. Fire sings through my abdomen and I stumble back, groping where she hit me. My fingers close over some sort of metal dart lodged underneath my rib cage and yank it out. Vision blurring, I stare into Hanabi-san's hard, pale eyes as my legs give out beneath me.

"W-why?" I mumble through numbing lips. My muscles start to shudder violently. "H-how could you – ?"

"For Konoha," she states in a low voice.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I slide myself backwards with failing limbs. My shoulder hits against something hard and I look up to see Sasuke standing above me, his hard eyes staring darkly at Hanabi-san.

Sasuke. He's our only hope. I have to let him – No! No, I can't do that.

But I have no choice.

Grabbing his leg with a numb hand, I stream a thread of my chakra into his body, weaving it into the correct pattern to unlock the seal.

"No!" Hanabi-san yells and lurches towards us.

A slow, dark smile spreads across Sasuke's face. He looks down at me, the moonlight glinting off the spinning red pattern of his irises.

My vision goes black.

A/N Hey guys! Long time no see! Hope ya'll are enjoying your summer if you're in the northern hemisphere:) I've had an extremely busy, but awesome semester which included a mission trip to Las Vegas, NV to street evangelize! Totally out of my comfort zone, but such an amazing experience. If you're interested, or would like to hear more about my trip, please pm me!

So I hope you guys liked the little twist in this chapter. I always feel like I'm posting crap because I barely have time to write so that kinda eliminates editing all together. My goal is to get at least two more chapters out this summer. It's a lofty goal for me so we'll see how it goes:) God bless you guys and please please please comment!