Chapter Twenty

OROCHIMARU'S HEADQUARTERS; SADA

"Sada."

I could hear a voice.

"Sada, wake up."

A voice calling to me.

"Sada please."

It sounded so familiar.

"Sada, are you alright?"

What did they want from me?

"Wake up."

I needed to rest more, I felt so weak.

"I'm here to help you."

Help me?

"I'll get you out of here."

Why did I need to leave, where was I?

"Come on, I've got you."

It felt like things were being pulled from my skin, I could feel my skin stretching before moving back into place, a few small prick like feelings. Then it felt like I was floating, the ground or floor, whatever was under me disappeared beneath me. I felt my body swaying, was I dead, moving on to another life? I forced my eyes open, I could see lights out of the corner of my eye. My mind was clouded, my vision still slightly dazed. Maybe if I blinked a few times it would clear itself up and I'd be able to see where I was. I let out a groan, trying to blink as much as possible to clear up my vision.

"It's okay, I've got you."

There the voice was again, the one that sounded familiar to me. Who was it? I moaned again, my limbs felt so weak and heavy, as if weights were tied to them.

"You're safe now."

Safe, from what? I didn't feel as though I were in danger. I heard what sounded like a door being opened, cool air rushing at me. I managed to see a small light, flickering at a distance. I vaguely recognized it as fire, maybe a candle? This room was darker than where I was now, was I going to hell then? I felt my arm sway as my body was brought into the dark room, the door shutting quietly behind me.

"You can rest here."

Rest sounded nice, I was so weak and tired. Maybe when I woke up I'd be able to see where I was, was this what the beginning of death felt like? I felt my body press against something soft, a sigh of content passing through my lips.

"You'll be safe here, I'll never leave your side."

Was that you Haku? Were you the one that saved me from a place of damnation? Was I in a better place now, with you? I could almost smile at that thought, the thought of being with my beloved again. I closed my eyes when I felt something placed over my body, it felt like a blanket.

"I'll take care of you, I promise."

I opened my mouth, trying to get words out before I passed out again. I needed to thank him for saving me from the darkness, Haku had brought me to the light to be with him again. I felt my mind drifting, the conscious world was soon lost to me but I managed to get his name out.

"Ha...ku."

"Sleep."

I passed out.

DAYS LATER

I groaned softly, my body felt so weak, I needed water and food. I opened my eyes, blinking when I saw the wall I was facing. It was dark, I could barely make anything out without my jutsu but I didn't have the strength to preform it. I managed to turn over on my side, I felt my eyes widen at the sight, there he sat...Sasuke. I felt my breath catch in my throat when his onyx eyes met my red ones, an overwhelming feeling of emotions washed over me. There he was, not even ten feet from me, I blinked when he moved up from the chair and came to my side. I swallowed nervously as he sat beside me, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Sada." he whispered, I felt my heart jump at the sound of his voice.

"Sasuke." I managed to get out.

He didn't say anything else, just stared me down like nothing had changed between us. It was like back when we were Genin, how we constantly stared at each other in comfortable silence, back when we could read each other's minds. It really did feel like nothing had changed between us, it was as though we were still the same people and like it had only been a few hours since we'd seen each other rather than three years. I didn't understand how it could feel that way, Sasuke had betrayed me and hurt me, everything Deidara had never done to me but...I still loved him.

I felt my heart skip again when he moved his hand from his lap, reaching it towards my face. I felt his fingers make contact with my cheek, his thumb stroking it lovingly before tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Sasuke." I murmured, leaning into his touch.

"Sada." he said softly, a small smile came to my lips.

I realized in this moment how much I'd missed him, how much he meant to me, and how much I loved him. I felt my cheeks go hot at the thought, watching his lips curve into a soft smile. He was like an angel of darkness, beautiful and cold, like me. We were the same, drawn in by the darkness and each other's light in that black void.

"I've missed you." he whispered, I nodded against the pillows in agreement.

"Every day was so hard without you." I admitted, he rubbed my cheek with his thumb again.

"I know exactly what you mean." he agreed, our eyes never left each other's. "You need to rest, I'll get some food and water for you."

"No." I said immediately, grabbing onto his hand. "Don't...don't leave me again."

He didn't say anything, simply laced his fingers through mine, his eyes telling me that he would never disappear again. I could feel my nerves calming down at the look in his eyes, feeling reassured that he would stay with me as long as I needed. I swallowed nervously, feeling slightly confused as to what had happened. The last thing I remembered was being strapped to that table with needles shoved in my skin, how had he gotten me out of there?

"You don't need to be afraid, no one is looking for you." he said quietly, I blinked curiously. "When I found out they had you, I killed Orochimaru and got you out of there."

"We're still here though, we need to go." I told him urgently, he shook his head.

"Don't worry, we're in the southern hideout now." he said, I tilted my head against the pillows.

"How?"

"I moved you to my room at the former base for a few hours to gather supplies before I brought you here, I'm trying to gather a team but you needed to recuperate. I had to go to the Eastern hideout while you were sleeping, this was the safest place for you." he explained, I took in a slow breath to calm my nerves. "I'll stay with you, I won't leave unless you ask."

I nodded a little, he released my hand and walked over to the door of the room. I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself, scooting up in the bed to sit up. I leaned back against the pillows, watching him. He opened the door and peaked his head out, whispering something too quiet for me to hear. After a minute he shut the door and came back to my side, placing his hand back on mine.

"I had one of my team go to get some food and clothes for you, I'm afraid your old ones were destroyed." he said, I felt my cheeks go warm in embarrassment.

"Gomen...for being a burden." I mumbled, lowering my head.

"Sada."

His fingers hooked under my chin, lifting my face to meet his eyes. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks again, my face was burning even more at the intensity of his gaze.

"You aren't anything close to a burden, I'd do anything for you." he told me, I felt a smile come to my lips again.

"Arigato Sasuke." I murmured, he smiled a little.

"Sada..."

"Hai?"

He didn't say anything and lowered his eyes, I touched his cheek, I didn't want him to look away from me again. I wished I could stare into his eyes for a thousand years and never have to look away. He looked up into my eyes, moving his fingers through my hair.

"You are...so beautiful." he whispered, I felt my heart speed up when he leaned closer to my face.

"Sasuke, got that stuff you wanted."

I blushed darkly at the sound of the voice, snuggling into the warmth of the sheets. Sasuke grimaced slightly at the interruption, going to the door and opening it.

"Arigato." he said, I leaned over to try to get a look at who was in the doorway.

"Our new team mate doing better?" the voice asked, it sounded like a male; Sasuke shrugged.

"She needs more rest." he said. "I don't want any interruptions until tomorrow morning, I'll see how she's doing then and we may move out to the northern hideout."

"You got it."

Sasuke shut the door, moving across the floor back to my side. I smiled a little when he sat a tray on the bedside table, putting the clothes on a vacant chair. I reached over, taking the glass of water and all but chugged it, I realized how thirsty I was. I finished off the water by the time Sasuke came to sit next to me, he smiled warmly at me.

"Do you want more?" he asked, I felt my cheeks go hot again.

"Please."

He took the glass from my hand, sitting the tray next to me. I looked down at the food, sushi, thank kami. Sushi was something that would fill me up and I was starving. I took the chopsticks, eating the sushi slowly and smiled when Sasuke handed me another full glass of water. I sipped at the water slowly, trying not to make myself sick. I was so thankful he was here with me, taking care of me and spending time with me. If it weren't for him, I could've been dead right now or worse, being experimented on. He'd risked his life to save me, taken out Orochimaru single-handedly, and had gotten me out of the base safely. Mere words couldn't thank him enough for what he'd done for me.

I had to get back to Amegakure though, back to Akatsuki headquarters, they must've been worried about me or worse...they thought I'd betrayed them. If not Pein, Konan knew my loyalty to the organization, hopefully she would be able to keep me safe until I could explain everything to them. I hoped that they hadn't destroyed Tamotsu for covering for me, perhaps they'd just questioned him about my whereabouts. He couldn't give them any answers, I hadn't told him where I was going but I hoped they'd be able to piece it together. Deidara knew that I wanted to rescue Sasuke, after I'd heard of his location, maybe they'd put two and two together and realized what I was doing. Would they come after me, try to save me? If not, they would probably assume I was dead. Before anything though, I had to get Sasuke back to Konoha, I had to convince him to go back.

"Sasuke." I whispered, his onyx eyes found mine.

"Are you still hungry? I can get more for you." he said, I shook my head.

"Sasuke...you need to go back home." I said quietly, hoping he wouldn't snap at me.

"I can't Sada, you know that." he responded, I bowed my head.

"Sasuke...please." I asked of him, trying to hold in my tears. "Naruto and Sakura need you...the village needs you."

"And I need to defeat Itachi." he reminded me, I looked up at him through my bangs.

"They can help you." I told him. "They're stronger now, Gaara-kun told me how well they were doing a few months back. I'm sure they're strong enough to help you."

"I have to do this alone Sada." he said, I blinked curiously.

"Then why are you gathering a team?" I questioned, he tightened his lips into a thin line.

He looked down, avoiding my eyes. He wasn't going to tell me, I could easily see that. He was planning something but he wasn't ready to share it with me, I wouldn't push him. That was something about our relationship that wouldn't change, I wouldn't force him to tell me things just like he'd never forced me. I placed my hand on his, he looked up into my eyes and I smiled a little, trying to reassure him it was alright. He nodded a little, knowing what I was thinking.

"Sada, I need to know what you were doing there." he said, I felt the blood rush to my cheeks.

"I was...trying to rescue you." I admitted, blushing darker; he smiled softly.

"I didn't need rescuing though." he told me, I took a sip of water.

"Demo...what Orochimaru was planning for you-"

"I knew all about that, I always had a plan." he said, that over confident smile I was so used to seeing spread across his face. "You could've gotten killed though Sada."

"If Kabuto hadn't snuck up on me I would've been fine, I could've killed him." I stated. "Demo...he drugged me and I couldn't slip away."

"I'm glad I found you." he admitted, I nodded in agreement.

"Me too."

"I'd like if you joined my team." he said, I blinked curiously.

"I...I have places I have to be and you need to go back to Konoha." I said, trying to get him to understand.

"You're not giving up on that are you?" he guessed, I shook my head. "We'll see how things go."

"Really?" I pressed, secretly overjoyed that he'd consider going home.

"Hai, I'll think about it."

"Arigato." I whispered.

"Try to get some more rest, you need it." he said, sounding concerned.

I nodded halfheartedly, beginning to realize how tired I truly was and slid down into the bed. I sipped down the last of the water and handed the glass to Sasuke, he took the tray from my side and placed both on the bedside table. I smiled a little when he squeezed my hand lovingly, turning on my side towards him and closed my eyes. I felt my body relaxing when his free hand started petting my hair soothingly, finally allowing my mind to slip away into sleep.

"Sada...I love you."

I barely heard the confession, smiling a little before I lost consciousness.

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Now that Sasuke's back in the mix we're getting closer to Sada's final decision. I'll be letting you know about something special I have planned for the big reveal when we get closer to it. Until then check out my other stuff, once this is finished I'll be able to focus my full attention on my other Sada story, Akatsuki no Hime. Review please!

Lots of Love