A/N: Been trying to upload this since Halloween, but it seems like there's a site-wide outage with new updates. Apologies for the inbox spam! This chapter contains depictions of violence, please heed the story rating.

Chapter Ten: Found

The air thickened with the scent of limestone and sulfur. Sasuke called his bloodline limit to surface, and the darkness of the cave took shape. Where sunlight previously streamed through ceiling was sealed with freshly-shifted earth, like a curtain over a spotlight. They didn't have long before the air ran out.

The Iwa-nin lunged for Higa. With unexpected foresight, the warlord unsheathed a short-sword drawn from his waist. His blind parry caught the nin by surprise.

In that split second, Sasuke caught the assailant by the neck and cast his genjutsu.

In his illusory cave, coils of dirt circled the Iwa-nin's legs as thick serpents, binding his chest and arms. The clay snakes lifted him off the ground and held him, spread eagled, at eye level with Sasuke.

"This technique… Are you ANBU?" The wide eyes that stared from under generous brows betrayed his age: nineteen at the most.

Sasuke parted the man's beard with the tip of his sword. "Tell me what you're after."

"You must have been deployed before the briefing." The man thrashed against his restrains. "We're on the same side. This is a classified mission straight from the Tsuchikage."

Sasuke sheathed his sword, and the serpents at the captive's arms sprouted fangs. With a hiss, they sank into the fleshy caps of his shoulders. The Iwa-nin yelped. "They know if you lie," Sasuke said.

"Okay! …It was a mission" Blood welling from his puncture wounds and soaked his jacket. "B-ranked, with another squad of Jonin. We made Chunin in August, after the exams. " He laughed, without humor. "It was Mako's second try, my third. We barely survived. And all for what? Moving rocks for a rich man."

The Iwa-nin stopped thrashing, but Sasuke could see the sheen of sweat on his brow even in the darkness .

"One night, when it was just Mako and I excavating, he approached us."

"Scorpion."

The Iwa-nin froze. "You know about him? Then you know what he's capable of."

Sasuke was impassive. "What did he want?"

At his silence, the snakes came to life, forked tongues darting out toward the skin of his neck. "He wanted our help! He knows what Higa intends to do with this mine. Dice up the gemstone and pass it out to the shinobi nations like candy in exchange for a few measly ryo. Mako and I were going to take him out down here, real quiet."

Between the sulfuric fumes rising from the exposed hard rock and the poor flow of oxygen down the mine corridor, no one would suspect an unconditioned merchant losing his bearings and hitting his head. And certainly not accompanied by commissioned officers from Iwagakure.

"What did he offer you in exchange?"

"You felt it earlier. This stuff is raw power. A single carat magnifies the user's chakra ten-fold. And there must be nearly two tons of unrefined gemstone in here." His brown eyes gleamed. "Think of what you could do with that."

"You'd leave your village?"

The Iwa-nin licked his lips. "Scorpion offered us a seat at the table. He intends to finish what Kazuzu started."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Kazuzu was a bounty hunter first and a black market dealer second. He had no aspirations for being in the spotlight, seeking membership in Akatsuki for that reason.

"I was always ordinary Bakuto. Chunin is probably as far as I'll get, no matter how hard I train. But with crystal gem and Scorpion's power..." His eyes glinted with tenacity.

Sasuke knew that look all too well. At thirteen, he'd chased the siren song of power from the village of Sound to the ends of the Earth, madness at his own heels. Orochimaru. Itachi. Obito. Konoha. Each act of vengeance, each kill sated his cursed hatred temporarily, while driving a pike into his chest. At the time, he welcomed the pain. It quieted the voice that whispered you are alone in this world. You have no one.

"I'd give anything for power," the man said. "Wouldn't you?"

In another life, he might have listened to Naruto. Turned back to the village and grown up with his classmates. Lived an ordinary life and when Sakura reached for him, he would not have to pull away.

Scanning the Iwa-nin's mind, Sasuke recreated the people of his memories. A ruddy-faced man with a stocky build and a great bushel beard. A woman in her sixties with brown eyes and stooped shoulders. A boy of twelve, with bright red cheeks and scabbed knees. A golden-haired kunoichi, with laughing eyes and a wide smile. And more. People came to being as the illusion cave expanded to accommodate the occupants.

But the Iwa-nin was focused on the occupants. "Father?"

Sasuke walked behind the older man and shoved him down to his knees. A hiss of splitting flesh and blood sprayed onto the ground. The body fell to the ground.

"No, Father!"

Sasuke moved on to the woman. One by one, he cut their throats, while the cave rang with the Iwa-nin's pleads. When he finished, he wiped the blade of Kusanagi clean on the Iwa-nin's flak jacket, crimson red indistinguishable from the rust-colored fabric.

Tears streaked down the man's face, soaking into his beard. For the first time, in the dozens of times he'd done this, Sasuke felt a twinge of… something. What would Sakura think of his interrogation techniques? She could never know, he decided. This darkness was a part of himself that he could never let her see again.

"We can do this again," Sasuke said. "Or you can tell me about Scorpion."

Hoarse, the man recounted what he knew. The Scorpion was raised by wealthy civilian parents in a mountain village in the Land of Lightning. He defected after engineering an accident that killed hundreds of innocents. The Scorpion never showed his face, but he was of menacing stature with black hair. It corroborated information from the Bingo books and Sakura's intel.

Sasuke released the genjutsu and lifted his sword once more, this time to the Bakuto's throat. To onlookers, the genjutsu would have been imperceptible, transpiring within the space of a single breath's time.

"Take us up," Sasuke commanded.

Bakuto did not notice the shift in the fabric of his reality. With shaking hands, he formed seals, and the column of mud plugging the mine shaft fell away. Light and crisp mountain air cut through the darkness of the cave. Higa squinted, and Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, moving with the captive onto the platform. They ascended thousands of feet until the were once again level with the ground.

The western sky was deep blue and cloudless. The sun was a welcome sight, shining directly overhead and refracting off the snow-capped slopes of the Little Sister. Two figures dropped from the mountain ledge. One deposited a body at Higa's feet— Mako, the Iwa-nin who had stayed above ground.

The other motioned for Sasuke to release Bakuto to him. At Higa's nod, Sasuke sheathed his sword. The nin encased Bakuto's body in an earthen shell. With a kunai, he sliced the fabric knot of his forehead protector.

The two figures bowed deeply. "Our deepest apologies, Higa-sama. Rest assured that this matter will be investigated with urgency. We hope that our continued dutiful service may restore the honor of Iwagakure in your eyes."

"Hope is a curious thing," Higa said, reaching for Mako's weapons pouch. "It can be a candle that leads you out of darkness or a shroud before your eyes. It steals your sense and robs you of your wits." He poured out its contents: scrolls, shuriken and a fistful of limestone, yellow-green flecks glinting in the sun. "Tell the Tsuchikage that I do not take lightly to theft."

The two nin looked at each other. "They will face their crimes in court—"

"Kill him," Higa ordered. "Here and now, or Iwa will not see a crumb when production begins."

"No-" Bakuto cried, but his voice was muffled by the collar of earth that rose from the shell, encasing him completely. He shouted for a few more moments, and then silence. The mulch shell broke into pieces, and Bakuto's body crumbled next to Mako's.

Courtesy dictated that each village maintained ANBU to carry out assassinations of their respective defectors. Exceptions were made on a case-by-case basis, but Sasuke was glad to have been spared the task.

Higa removed his ventilator mask. He must've been tipped off. "I trust you gentlemen to clean up here," he said to the Iwa jonin.

Sasuke pulled off his own masked and pocketed it, grateful for the pure mountain wind purged the dust from his lungs.

"Shall we return, Kyouya?"

There was no draft in the ventilation shaft.

Sakura could not figure it out. After the young Iwa-nin fell, two men in cloaks collected his corpse and left. They paid no attention to the crushed metal vent. Sakura had pushed and pried, pounded the metal with her fists until her knuckles were numb against the frosted steel. All underground mines required air circulation for temperature control and to remove the noxious gases freed from limestone. But the air here smelled crisp and clean. And even when Sakura had hammered the cylinder to its original diameter, where it was surely patent, there was still no draft.

It had taken all her willpower not to uproot the entire damned thing from the ground. Sakura dropped from the mountain ledge, returning to the entrance of the mine. The head-frame was as deserted as she'd left it. Neither Higa, Sasuke or the Iwa-nin had yet surfaced. Sakura sprinted back down the mountain pass. He will be fine, she thought. Sasuke was captain for a reason, and she needed to trust him.

After thirty minutes, the inn was in sight. Sakura clambered up the brick facade, digging her fingers into the cement mortar. She found Riku in Higa's corner suite, pulling on a wolf-pelt cloak. What sorts of questions had she asked Kaede at their dinner last month? Sakura disguised her appearance and followed Riku into town, towards the market.

Aizu's bazaar was the center of local life, a wide swath of flattened tundra flanked by natural hummocks that defended the plaza from wind. Villagers ambled through the narrow streets in their thick cloaks, while peddlers sang their wares of salted mackerel, sweet rice sake, and painted ceramics. The sweet scent of freshly baked bread filled the air.

Riku approached a cosmetics stall and examined a silver-capped jar. Sakura followed, occupying herself with the other items on display.

"Yes, beauty! That's my wife's famous facial essence," the shopkeeper exclaimed from under an awning of coated canvas. "Crafted with pure water from the Little Sister."

Riku set it down.

"Use it every night, and your complexion will never dull. Your skin will never wrinkle." The shopkeeper grinned. "Your husband will never have eyes for another!"

Riku fixed her gaze upon the shopkeeper. "If my husband had eyes for another, he would find himself in short need of a wife. In fact, my husband should count his blessings if he lives long enough to behold me age at all."

The shopkeeper flushed and retreated to organize stock in the far end of the cart. Riku picked up a tiny pot of rouge and dipped the brush in. To Sakura, she declared, "Every time a man opens his mouth, a woman is disappointed."

Sakura shifted the basket on her hips and set down the cream jar. "You sound like you've had your share of disappointment, my dear."

"Oh, plenty. I'm sure you understand. I was reared in social circles dominated by men. We were expected to be quiet wives. Endlessly enduring." In one bold stroke, Riku painted a stripe of rouge down the inside of her wrist. Her long nails were shaped and painted like coffins, but for a moment, Sakura thought she saw a rim of dirt underneath. "You know, a man's greatest weakness is his facade of strength, but a woman's greatest strength—" Riku leaned in, and Sakura caught a whiff of her perfume "— is her facade of weakness."

A deluge of roses and musk, but underneath, the unmistakable stench of sulfur.

Sakura smiled tightly, regretting her henge.

He found her alone at the western end of the bazaar, where the shoulder-to-shoulder caravans of the center plaza gave way to animal pens and supply crates. Her disguise was masterful— a stout matron in her sixties, with skin like crumpled parchment and grey hair secured in a twist at the base of her neck. On her right hip perched a woven basket.

When she saw him, she dropped it to the ground. "Thank goodness," she said. Her reedy voice was one of a stranger, but the look of relief that washed over her lined features was one he knew well. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

She picked up the basket, with a hint of embarrassment. "Let's go over there." She gestured to one of the twenty-feet tall hummocks that marked the periphery of the bazaar.

The outer slope of the mossy knoll faced the west. The gold rays of sunset offered little respite from the wind, sweeping down from the peaks of the mountains on the horizon, unbroken by the flat terrain of the valley. Sasuke positioned himself between her and the gust. She glanced at him, and he had a hard time remembering how to bend his knees to sit.

They were quiet.

"Higa was betrayed," he said finally. They traded what they'd learned, most concerning the part about Scorpion and the ventilation shaft, and the tension dispelled.

"I guess he's not our problem. Let's figure out what we can before Shikamaru's team takes over, and leave Scorpion to Kumo," she said. She handed him a bun from the basket, still warm.

"I do owe the Raikage a hand."

Sakura's look was withering. She peeled back the rice paper on her own and took a bite. Her green eyes lit with delight, and she let out a noise obscenely close to a moan. "What is it?"

"The henge," he said quickly.

"Oh, I forgot."

"Don't—"

She released the transformation. Her back straightened, her legs lengthened, and the folds at her neck evened to graceful contours. Great. Sasuke diverted his eyes to the field, chewing mechanically. The shadows of the dwarf trees lengthened as the Sun sank below the horizon.

"Sorry, you don't like sweets, right?"

"I like it." He wasn't tasting anything.

"It's so pretty out here," she murmured. The dark sky glowed a peculiar shade of green. Same as her eyes? "Look how bright the stars are."

No, her eyes were deeper, emerald specked with gold, glittering with wonder. "Yeah."

"Can I tell you a secret?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Back when you were gone, on nights I couldn't sleep, I'd sneak into your yard and sit on your porch to feel a little closer to you. I promised myself that as long as we were under the same sky, watching the same stars, I'd find you again." A shy smile lit up her face. And here you are, it seemed to say.

The idea of her breaking into his family home didn't bother him as much as it should have. "Why?"

"You know why."

If I still have a place in your heart—

"You would have said anything." The words came out like an accusation.

"I would have." Sakura drew her knees to her chin. "It didn't work."

Her feelings were the last thing on his mind then. "There was nothing you could have done."

"Did you consider it? Even a little?"

His hands fisted at his sides. He'd used that genjutsu, hadn't he? If he was capable of inflicting that pain on her, without reason or remorse, then he couldn't have cared. "No."

"I see."

When did he get so used to lying?

Sakura took a deep breath, as if summoning courage. "Last night, I was inconsiderate. I was only thinking about me, and not about you. What I said—" she faltered "— please forget about it. You set your own boundaries, and I crossed them, and I'm sorry." Guilt washed over her features.

What the hell was she talking about? She made it sound as though she'd coerced him.

What did you expect? — whispered a despondent corner of his mind. When have you ever passed on an opportunity to break her heart?

"After everything that's happened, I understand if things feel too weird between us. I don't want you to feel cornered or like you don't have a choice. So I was thinking... how do you feel about seeing Tsunade-sama instead of me for your eyes?" she asked.

His stomach plunged. "What?"

"She lives pretty close to the village. I can write a medical exemption form for you to travel," she said. "She's the best of the best."

Blood thundered in his ears. "She retired."

"She won't mind one patient."

"She'll say no."

"Have some faith, Sasuke-kun. I'm her favorite student; she'll do it for me. What do you think? "

He'd never considered Tsunade; she'd vanished into seclusion after retirement. Sakura was offering him exactly what he'd wanted. If Tsunade said yes, he wouldn't have to search for a medic-nin. If Tsunade said yes, he'd have no reason to see her.

"Okay."

"Alright, it's settled. I'll ask her when we get back to the village." She stood, blowing on her hands. Her breath frosted in the frigid air onto her blanched fingertips. "I should head back to Kuzu. I have to do those autopsies before Higa gets back."

He held out his gloves, as nausea rolled heavy through his stomach. "Be careful."

"I'll be alright." Sakura smiled. "You need those more than I do."

Sasuke looked down. His hands were trembling.

"See you in a bit," she said. She took off before he could respond.

Sasuke squeezed the gloves in numb fingers of his left hand, the one she'd given him. This was what he wanted— to disappear and never speak with her again, so she'd forget him and have peace. He stared at the space she'd occupied, the frosted ground marked with the imprints of her boots, toes facing away from him, and acid clawed up the back of his throat—

—too soon not yet he wasn't ready fuck fuck—

Sasuke bolted after her. He caught up in seconds, sliding in front of her so quickly she collided into his chest.

"Wha— what's wrong?" she asked from the ground.

"I don't want to see her," he said.

"Who? Tsunade-sama?" Sakura stood, brushing the dirt off the heels of her palms. "Did you chase me to tell me that? You could've waited until we got back to the complex."

"You were right," he said. "Last night. What you said."

"Oh." Sakura's eyes widened and her arm crossed over her body. "Why did you want to stop then?"

"It'd make things complicated."

"Like what?"

"Leaving."

She faltered. "Do you mean leaving me?" Guilt flashed over her face. "Is it something I said?"

"It's not." He said. Was he going to do this? The wind fell silent, as though to goad him on, but his voice was a croak. "I hurt you."

"On the roof? I was overreacting," she said.

"Before the war," he said, a little impatient. Why wasn't she getting it? "At the bridge with Karin." And all the others, again and again. Too many to count. "I hurt you."

They stood there, breaths mixing. He'd held the words in for so long that the moment felt surreal. Snow dusted the tundra like a sheet of fine lace and melted into the skin of her nose. She looked as startled as she did in the alcove. "This is why you've been distant," she said, realization dawning.

"I wanted you to leave me alone," he said. "But you never did. Neither of you."

"Of course not," Sakura said. "We love you. We're friends, remember?"

His gut twisted.

Sakura took a deep breath, as if steadying herself. "The war was hard, and I'm not going to lie. There were times I lost faith in you. But it's over. You are not that person anymore. You haven't been that person in a long time. There are things I did that I regret too; we all make mistakes. Dwelling on the past keeps us from living in the present," Sakura said. "I know you're sorry, Sasuke-kun."

"You're not afraid of me."

"Not at all." She slid off her gloves, and he didn't realize how cold his hands were until she threaded her fingers through his. "I feel so safe when I'm with you, like nothing in the world could hurt me."

She forgave him. A burden of five years lifted off his chest. "I didn't want you to cry," he said.

Her expression flickered and she smiled at him, eyes shining. The image seared itself into his soul.

Why did he feel so awful?

"I'm going to hug you," she warned before pulling him into a tight embrace. Her head came but halfway up his chest. How could someone so strong be so small? Her arms locked around his waist, and he was engulfed by the lush scent of her hair. A desperate greed ripped through him— more more he wanted this to keep.

No, this was enough. He'd get over the rest.

As if she sensed his turmoil, her arms looped around his neck, and she rose to her toes. The world narrowed to the comely weight of her pliant form against his, and the ground softened beneath his feet. Green eyes gleamed with mischief."I was right," she murmured, an inch from his lips. "Say it."

"I don't want to be your friend," he said immediately.

Her brows rose.

Panic brewed. There was no going back to pretending after this. "What?" he asked.

"N-nothing. I just wanted you to admit I was right." Color suffused her cheeks. "But that's good too," she said quickly.

"You really are annoying," he muttered.

He ducked his head to hers, and her fingers wound in his hair. The snowy landscape fell away as he hitched her off her feet by the tuck of her waist, dizzy with the music of her laugh, and the kiss she pressed to his lips was sweeter than sunshine.

A/N: I loved writing this chapter teehee :) Thank you all for your kind comments and support. Hope everyone has been hanging in there this election week.