A.N.

To those of you that are reading this please not that there are two stories before this one. They are called Slowly Slipping Awayand Gravity both are found on my profile. The other two stories followed the manga as closely as I possibly could, but this part of the series is completely original and takes place 4 years after the war.

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do NOT belong to me. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto.

Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga/or anime are completely original.

Reviews are welcomed and encouraged! Thank you!

Lead

Sasuke turned to his side uncomfortably. He could already feel a kink on his neck developing in the few hours he had slept. The room was silent, and dark, shifting again he tried to go back to sleep but found that he couldn't. The couch was too small. He slowly sat up, and almost sighed when he heard the light tapping against the window.

The snow hasn't let up… He thought as he ran his hand through his hair. It had gotten slightly longer, hitting the nape of his neck, not really spiking up in the back like it used to when he was younger, but just enough. His bangs were longer, but they weren't long enough to cover his eyes, just swept to his left side. He sighed and rolled his shoulders and looked up.

"You're up." was all he said to the brunette sitting on the bed, worn out teddy bear sitting beside her. He glanced at the window and found the moon still up, his eyes shifted to the clock on the wall, 1:30am. "It's a bit too early for you, don't you think?"

Sayuri looked away from the window she had been staring out of, to him and shrugged. "Yeah," she offered a small smile. "So?"

He felt his eyebrow twitch at the reply but said nothing. His mismatched black and rinnegan purple eyes shifted to the stuffed animal next to her. "Do you always take that thing on missions?"

Sayuri looked down at the bear. "Neji gave it to me as a present a long time ago." she whispered.

Sasuke looked away and clenched his fists. The Hyūga… He bit his lip and stood up to stretch once done he padded over to the window to look at the small village trying to hide his aggravation. It's always him.

"Hey," she called.

"Hn."

"You should take the bed." his eyes widened for a second but he quickly composed himself and turned to face the konoichi just as she swung her legs over the bed. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep much."

"Sayuri..." he started, eyes following her small form walk to the couch, setting the bear at the end. "Have you talked to someone about those nightmares?"

She visibly tensed but tried very hard to appear normal, failing miserably. "Go back to bed, Sasuke, we have a long day tomorrow."

"If those nightmares are interrupting your sleep then-"

"I don't want to talk about that right now. Go to sleep." she said through clenched teeth and pulled the covers over her head, turning away from him.

He clenched his jaw and glared at the auburn haired girl. Exhaling slowly, he walked over to the bed and pulled the covers over him. "You're acting childish, Marihasha."

"No one asked you, Uchiha." he heard her say, though her voiced was muffled by the covers.

XXX

Sometimes he found that he missed his left arm. Like now for example, as he waited for his teammate to come out of the rest room, he would really like to cross his arms over his chest but he couldn't and it slightly frustrated him. Maybe he should have taken Tsunade up on the offer to get a new arm. He frowned, no he needed this, to remind him of what he did.

Sasuke shifted his weight to his right foot as he stood against the wall, head inclined towards the window. The snow settled down for a bit, but not by much. There were people moving about, and that was good. They needed to ask questions...well he'd use other means to get a more direct answer but no one had to know that except for him...and maybe his partner. The door opened and out came Sayuri, light dark circles under her eyes. He sighed, he doubted she had slept at all.

Quickly forming the single seal her real form disappeared. In her place was his blue eyed, short haired, 'wife.' Sasuke pushed himself off the wall and transformed as well.

"Let's go." he said and moved to the door, the woman following closely behind.

XXX

It was well past noon and Sayuri sighed next to him. A small white cloud forming from her breath as she pulled her red coat closer to her. "This is getting us nowhere." she nearly huffed. Blue eyes on the old man who had a far off look on his face. She looked at Sasuke, who's sharingan was still activated. "Seriously, we can't keep stopping people to put them under genjutsu someone will get suspicious."

The man's red eye shifted back to the gray color of his temporary identity. "Let's go, before he comes too." he said taking her by the arm and nearly dragging the girl out of the forest.

They had stopped six civilians and three ninjas already and none had seen anyone suspicious, but did confirm hearing about the dead women, and the state that they were found in. That, however, didn't help them with anything. Each time they would get the same answers, but no one had any idea of who had kidnapped or murdered the women in the previous towns.

"We need to ask the villagers." she said, pulling her arm back. "It'd go a lot faster if we split up."

"This guy could possibly be after you, and you want to split up." he said calmly, but the look he gave her let her know what he really thought about the idea.

"Well, first of all," she raised a finger. "I don't look like myself, or have you forgotten? Second of all," she lifted another finger. "I changed my chakra so that it's not recognized by him, and third of all," a third finger was in the air. "I'm and ANBU, and can take care of myself...ass hole." she hissed and turned away from him, walking towards the village but stopped and turned back to him one hand on her hip. "And if you don't like my idea that's your problem, but I want to get this done and over with as soon as possible. Doing it your way will only drag this week out."

He stared at her not giving her any indication that he was offended in any way. "Fine." his tone was tight. "Do it your way, but keep in mind," he walked closer to her and when he was directly in front of her, he leaned down so that he was at eye level to her. "Kenji, or whoever it is that's doing this is hunting down women. So be careful."

Sayuri and Sasuke stood opposite sides of each other, openly glaring at each other so much that the same old man they had placed under genjutsu, thought he saw sparks fly as he passed them, all the while feeling as if he had seen the two before. Sasuke and Sayuri turned away and while one nearly stomped away, the other quietly but stiffly headed the opposite direction.

Glancing all around her as she walked down the village, Sayuri paused in front of a small shop. Deciding to enter on a whim, she was surprised at how warm it was inside. She sighed in content as her near frozen fingers were quickly getting their feeling back.

"Oh, good afternoon!" a young woman waved. She was pretty, light brown hair, hazel eyes, and kind smile. "Are you looking for anything in particular?" she gestured around her, and Sayuri saw that the store had various fruits and vegetables.

"Oh, no I'm just looking." Sayuri smiled.

"Well, if you'd like anything just get the basket next to you and pick out what you like." Sayuri glanced down and saw a straw woven basket. She glanced at the smiling young woman then leaned down to pick it up.

She made her way to the apples and rubbed her chin. They all look good! She thought, and chanced a glance at the teen at the counter, who was reading a book, then back the to the rest of the store. "Slow day?" she asked, and the young girl jumped, her book falling over the counter with a light thud.

"Oh!" she quickly straightened up. "Well, yes...most people did their shopping yesterday...you know, snow storm and all." she laughed and scratched her head, obviously still embarrassed by her jumping.

"I see..." Sayuri smiled and bent down to pick up the red book. She glanced at the title and raised an eyebrow at the blushing girl. "Icha Icha Paradise?" The girl nearly screamed, snatching the book from Sayuri's hand. "It's alright." Sayuri laughed waving a hand over her face. "I won't tell anyone."

"R-really?" the young woman asked, hazel eyes big and pleading.

Sayuri giggled. "Yes." she went back to the apples and began picking the red ones, all under the careful gaze of the young woman.

"Miss?" The girl asked and Sayuri hummed. "I'm sorry...I know it's none of my business but…." Sayuri titled her head to the girl. "Are you the one who came here with her husband from the Lightning Country?"

Sayuri's blue eyes widened. "You know about me and Sa..." she cleared her throat. "...My husband?" she almost winced at the word.

The young woman nodded and laughed. "Word travels fast around here."

"Good to know." Sayuri said slowly.

"So where is he?"

"Who?" she asked absentmindedly as she went back to picking apples.

"Your husband."

Sayuri nearly dropped the bright red fruit in her hand. "Oh...well he decided to go on ahead and look around in case he found something he…liked." She looked off to the side. More like another genjutsu victim. Sayuri thought with a grimace.

"He is?" the young woman leaned forward. "Some of the women say he's quite handsome...NOT LIKE I WOULD KNOW OF COURSE!" She quickly added, waving her hands in front of her face.

Sayuri laughed nervously. "It's fine."

Clearing her throat, the brunette became serious all of a sudden. "But he really should be with you."

"With me?" Sayuri asked, now the girl had her full attention.

"Yes!" she glanced around and waved Sayuri over. Slowly she complied. "Women have been disappearing in the other villages. They've found them dead after a couple of days." she whispered.

"Where…did you hear that?" Sayuri asked, taken by surprise.

"Some of the travelers would mention it when they came by the store." She whispered.

"Oh!" Sayuri tried her best to look shocked. "Does anyone know who's doing it?" To her dismay the girl shook her head. "I see…Well what about you?" she asked. "You're here by yourself and running a shop aren't you scared?"

The girl looked down. "Well a little…But not too much, I mean from what they said is that all the girls are beautiful, I'm rather plain, no one would take me."

Sayuri frowned. "Don't sell yourself too short. You should still have someone to walk you home."

"Well, my boyfriend did, but he had to go and do a delivery so he won't be back for another few days." She placed her hands on the book and looked down sadly. "Honestly this isn't my book, it's his. I just found it when I was cleaning and I thought it'd be fun to read but…" she blushed. "I didn't know how…how…."

"Perverted it was?" Sayuri offered and the girl nodded. Sayuri offered her a hand, and the girl's questioning look she spoke. "My name is Iriai." The girl blinked and took Sayuri's hand.

"I'm Kukiko."

"Well, Kukiko, when do you close your store?"

Kukiko laughed. "At seven, that's when I close and leave for home."

"We'll be here." Kukiko gave her a look of surprise.

"You, and your husband?"

Sayuri nodded. "Of course, it's not safe to be walking around at night by yourself, especially with the murders."

Kukiko gave her a bight toothy smile. "Oh, thank you! You're the first to offer!" she leaned forward with a nervous look. "I've been actually terrified to go out at night with all of what's going on!"

Sayuri smiled and placed the basket on the counter. "Well, you won't have to worry about that. My…husband and I will be staying here for about a week. We'll walk you until your boyfriend returns."

"Oh! Thank you!" Kukiko jumped up and down, clapping happily. She began putting the apples in bags as Sayuri wondered over to the other side of the store. "Iriai?" she heard Kukiko ask. "Did you want the tomatoes too?"

"Uh…" Sayuri stared at the bright, smooth fruit and gently picked up four ripe ones and took them to the counter. "Yeah. These too."

Kukiko smiled. "I'll give those to you for free."

Sayuri's eyes widened. "I shouldn't."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" she took the fruit from her hands and placed them in a separate bag. "Consider it a thank you for the offer." Sayuri bit her lip and nodded, gladly paying for the apples and taking the two bags.

XXX

Sayuri walked around the small village taking note of the small number of people that walked past her. She began to realize, by the odd looks that she received that what Kukiko had said was true. Word traveled fast in this village. The sky above had turned a gloomy, gray color, and the temperature was dropping. Her coat did enough to keep her from freezing to death but it was still not enough.

"Maybe I should think about buying another coat…" Sayuri murmured, cupping her chin in thought as she walked. She had gone into other shops, but no one had been as open as Kukiko had, then again out of all the shop owners she was the youngest. So maybe she was less fearful and welcoming. Even with the war being over and all the countries working together for one purpose, it really did nothing for the smaller regions. She watched a group of grass ninja, about her age, walk her way. They eyed her suspiciously for a few moments before dismissing her completely.

Picking up her pace she decided it was time to look for Sasuke, maybe he had taken her advice and began asking around the village itself rather than the incoming travelers. When she did find him it was evening, and even though she couldn't see the sun setting the sky was turning darker and darker still. He was standing by a teahouse and the snow had started to fall again, coating the road. Silently she made her way to him, standing beside him as he looked across the street towards a restaurant.

"Let's go inside." He said after a moment of silence. Sayuri looked at him but nodded and followed the tall Uchiha inside. The woman that greeted them blushed as Sasuke asked for a booth near the exit.

The two sat down where another woman came up to them to place menus on their table. Glancing at Sasuke several times and fumbling over her words as she asked took their order for their drinks. Sayuri leaned forward to see a group of women huddled near the middle of the restaurant whispering, and blushing all the while casting Sasuke side glances. Sayuri raised an eyebrow at Sasuke who looked down at the menu as if nothing was the matter.

"You work fast." She said as she picked up the menu and began to go over the listed items.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, placing the menu down and raising a brow at her.

"I mean, the girls, they're all fawning over you like they always do." She shrugged, blue eyes on the Okonomiyaki. She peeked at him over the menu and shifted her eyes to the girls still giggling about him in a not so discreet manner.

"I'm not interested in them." He gave her a pointed look. Sayuri hummed and nodded, placing the menu down. He glanced at the bags sitting next to her and looked back at her. Noticing this, she picked up one bag and gave it to him. With a questioning look he opened it. "Apples?"

"Oh!" she snatched the bag from his hands and offered the other in its place. "I meant to give you this one."

Again he opened the paper bag and looked up at her. "Tomatoes."

Sayuri looked away, feeling her face warm. "I…I'm sorry about calling you an ass hole. It was childish of me." She heard him place the bag beside him and she turned back to him. "You do still like tomatoes, right." Sasuke's gaze soften a bit as he nodded. "Great!" she sighed.

"Are you ready to order?" A sultry voice made the two ninja turned to see a new waitress, blonde hair, green eyes, and very well endowed. Sayuri looked her up and down.

Did she open the cleavage of her uniform more? Sayuri wondered as she looked behind the tall woman to the other waitress all of whom looked rather sad looking a sticks in their hands, their white kimono styled tops pulled tight across their chests, covering their cleavage. Did they draw sticks to see who would take his order!? Sayuri felt her eyebrow twitch and turned to look up at the blonde that smirked down at Sasuke, ignoring Sayuri completely. Well then…

The woman leaned closer to Sasuke, giving him a full view of her assets. He looked away and slid his hand over to Sayuri's taking it in his. "What do you want, dear?" he said calmly.

Sayuri looked down at their hands. "Uh…" she looked up at the woman, who turned to her not too happy. "I'll have the Okonomiyaki." The woman gave Sayuri a once over and pursed her lips and wrote down her order.

"And for you?" she asked, green eyes shifting to Sasuke, coy smile on her red lips.

"Sukiyaki." He replied not giving her another glance, pulling away from Sayuri to give the waitress their menus. Sayuri saw the woman gasp in shock at Sasuke's dismissal as she took the menus and turned away, swaying her hips as she did so.

"That's one way to get rid of someone." Sayuri muttered.

"We're not here for that." He said plainly and gestured to the booth on the other side. "The two men, one with a red coat and the bald one.." Sayuri's eyes landed on a man with black hair, in a red coat talking to a bald man across from him. She turned back to him and tilted her head. "I've been asking around, a lot of the people I talked to say that man arrived 6 days before we did."

"Ok…so?"

"Think." He sat back and cast a glance at the men. "It took me a day to return to Konoha to give Kakashi my report. Two days for him to get another lead and call us to his office, a day and a half for us to get to this village. All of the murders happened in villages that were about a day from each other."

Sayuri frowned. Just then their waitress set their teas down, glaring at Sayuri but smiling at Sasuke. "That would give whoever is doing this enough time to move on to the next village, this village…if Kakashi-sensei is right." She said when the blonde left. Sayuri picked up her tea and blew on it.

"The timeline and the villagers point to the red coat."

Sayuri pursed her lips and rested her chin on her hand. Eying the men as they ordered another round of sake. "What about the bald one?" she whispered, shifting her eyes to him.

"His companion arrived the day before us."

Frowning Sayuri gave him a pointed look. "How did you get all that information?" All she got as a response was a flash of his sharingan eye as he lifted the tea mug to his lips. Sayuri took a deep breath and rolled her eyes at the Uchiha. "Just make sure you don't get caught."

"Who do you think you're talking to." Sayuri met his gaze at that. It almost felt like he was teasing her…almost.

"Here you go!" the blonde waitress interrupted setting down Sasuke's plate first then Sayuri's. She winked at Sasuke before sauntering off.

"That's definitely interesting." She said as she snapped her chopsticks apart. "We'll keep an eye on them." Sasuke nodded his head once and began eating, eyes trained on the two across from them.

"I also met someone, she works at a store, and told me about the disappearances." She said between bites. Sasuke looked up at her and sat back. "Villagers and travelers talk to her, so it'll be easier for us to get information without resorting to certain…tactics."

Ignoring the jab Sasuke turned to her. "Who is it?" he asked, picking up his tea.

"Her name is Kukiko. We'll be walking her home until her boyfriend comes back, every day at seven."

Sasuke raised a brow. "We'll walk her?"

She shrugged. "She told me not to walk around the village by myself because of the disappearances. I would do it myself, but it'd be strange to her if I did. She might become suspicious." She was trying to play it off, but Sasuke had been right, whoever was doing this was hunting down women and it wouldn't look normal for her to be wondering around by herself.

Sasuke remained quiet and watched his companion as she returned to her food. "Resourceful as always."

"We don't all have a sharingan." She replied taking another bite.

"That's not what I meant."

"Huh?" she looked up at him with curious eyes, covering her mouth as she waited for a reply. The twenty-one-year-old ignored her and went back to eat. Sayuri sat back and crossed her arms over her chest, and tilted her head to watch the two men again, however this time they were watching her. Eyes widening by a fraction, Sayuri smiled and turned back to her food.

Sasuke picking up on her distress looked up and then back to the men who by now had gotten up and were making their way over to them. Narrowing his stormy grey eyes, Sasuke sat up and watched them carefully as they came to stand before their table. Across from him Sayuri tried hard not to wrinkle her nose from the strong smell of sake that they emitted.

"What's up cutie?" the one with the red coat said, laying a hand on the table and leaning towards Sayuri, obscuring her from Sasuke's view. Sayuri put her chopsticks down and looked at the man. Black hair, purple eyes, tan skin, he was not bad looking. He had a good build, and from the looks of it he wasn't a civilian. Her eyes trailed off to the kunai holster on his thigh.

"May we help you?" Sasuke spoke lowly. The man ignored him and continued to smile down at Sayuri in a way that she could only assume was his 'disarming' smile. Behind him was his bald friend. Tall, green shirt, long black pants, sandals, strong build.

They're ninja. Sayuri thought, eyes shifting back to the man before her.

"What? You're not going to say hello?" he said teasingly, smirking down at her. The two Konoha nin could already feel the gaze of the other customers upon them.

"Uh…hello?" Sayuri said shifting back in her seat.

"You have beautiful eyes," the man started lifting his other hand to her chin. "Has anyone told you that?" The man was suddenly pulled back by the collar harshly. "Hey!" the man shouted stumbling on his feet. Sasuke stood his full height glaring at the man. "What the hell is your problem!"

"My problem is that you're touching my wife." Sasuke replied moving to stand in front of Sayuri.

"Wife?" the man laughed and leaned to the side to meet Sayuri's gaze. "You can do much better than him." He winked.

Sayuri watched Sasuke's back tense then turned to see the onlookers whispering among themselves. She quickly got her wallet and put money on the table moving to stand behind him. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don' cause a scene." She whispered loud enough for him to hear. She turned to look at the smug men. "Sorry but I'm not interested." She spoke in a clear tone running her eyes up and down scanning him for any more information she could get. "You're not exactly my type." She tilted her head up to Sasuke and smiled sweetly up at him. "Let's go, dear."

Both turned and walked out the small restaurant. "They're rogue." She whispered, dropping her arm to her side. "No headband anywhere, they also don't seem to be high in rank." She continued as she led Sasuke away from the route to their hotel.

"You were serious about the girl." She heard him speak as they walked side by side in the cold night.

"Yes…" she nodded. "She's alone, and most likely…scared." Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eye. Sayuri's shoulders hunched over under her coat, and her eyes were downcast. "No one should feel that way." He turned back to the street when she looked up, not wanting to be caught staring.

"I understand." Came his quiet reply, taking Sayuri by surprise.

The lights began to turn on as they walked towards Kukiko's shop, but all Sayuri could do was steal glances at Sasuke. When he caught her staring she turned back to the road and cleared her throat. She smiled then. "You've become kinder." He heard he say as she picked up her pace waving a slender light brown haired woman. "Kukiko!" she said, he could hear the smile in her voice.

It was the first time in a while that he had heard her happy. Then again, Sayuri is good at pretending. He thought with a frown at the way she had smiled up at him at the restaurant. It had taken him a lot of will power not to pull her close back then.

"Iriai, is that him?" he heard the other woman ask as he approached. She changed her name.

"Yes," she laughed giving Sasuke a worried look. "This is my husband…"

"Tachi." He offered.

Sayuri raised a black brow. Real original, Uchiha. She bit her lip and watched as Kukiko shifted her honey colored eyes from 'Tachi' to 'Iriai.' "Something about you two seems…" they tensed. Had she figured them out? "Right!" she finished with a grin.

Sasuke looked away and Sayuri gave a relieved laugh. "Well that's great."

Kukiko watched the two carefully and continued to smile. "Thank you, for offering to walk me home." She bowed. "It's not far from here."

"Don't worry." Sayuri relaxed. "Let's go." She looked up at Sasuke who nodded as Kukiko led the way.

A.N.

Not much action I know but it will pick up. Thank you all for the reviews! I really appreciate it. Please keep going and letting me know how I do. Writing this will be a lot harder, I've already got everything mapped out on how I want it to go, I just need to keep in mind that Sasuke needs to be in character and that is, actually very difficult XD

Anyway please review!

Thank you!