Disclaimer: The usual.

Warning: Possible spoilers. I read up to chapter 226 when I finished writing this. Definite spoiler for chapter 281. References to chapters 209, 212. But like I keep saying, if you don't know in the first place, how can you differentiate between canon and what I just made up? P

Chapter 5: Three Days of Banter

Dusk was stunning. The blood red of the sky had just cooled down to the tints of nightfall. Purples and blues mixed generously with swirls of grey clouds, almost painting the puffy look of eyes about to spill torrents. The gradient up there, coupled with the cool winds of early autumn and the gradually emptying streets, gave Konohagakure no Sato a melancholy sort of air.

Pink hair splayed behind her like a flag, green eyes watering with effort, she rent the idyll mood of the nearby sentry as she passed by with her wheezing pants. Sakura had to stop to identify herself, lest she find herself dead the next few seconds. She parted from the rest of her team, as they trudged towards the village office to give report and collect pay, and instead bounded up the steps leading to the top of the village gates, to one of the watchtowers.

The stitches at her sides were slowly clawing their way into her gut. It was all she could do not to collapse there and then, after a day of swift travel from the Land of the Mist. She halted in mid-step, almost stumbled and plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground, and wondered stupidly what she was doing, anyway. The answer came quickly enough from her oxygen-deprived brain, fueling her throbbing leg muscles. She continued her run and cursed herself for almost tripping—what kind of a ninja tripped on her own foot?

She collapsed upon reaching the uppermost step of the stairway, breathing hard. It really was rather silly to run straight up here; the place did not guarantee answers. If she wanted to see if Sasuke had indeed beaten her home, the Godaime Hokage would be the person to ask. Besides, it was only September 26. He'd be a day early if he had indeed already arrived.

Who else could know? The guards up here, of course. Or perhaps, she could run into an ANBU member she was chummy with who might tell her something----anything, anything at all.

Or maybe, just maybe, he and his team were on the very threshold of the village. She would be one of the first to sight them from up there. To look at him from far away... That was enough.

"They haven't come yet."

Sakura lifted her head to meet the blue eyes of the speaker. She had already recognized the other's voice, though.

She wanted to parrot back the words in disbelief. Instead, she stood up, came beside the blond young woman, and leaned her exhausted body on the balustrade.

"Ino-chan," she said, voice already admonishing. "What are you doing here? It's cold, it might rain, and we are at the gates and---"

Ino turned to smile at her, a much less martial reaction than she was expecting.

"I can't help it," was Ino's simple reply. It could have been the poor lighting, but Sakura could have sworn there were tears standing unshed in her eyes. But then, Ino never cried.

"What are you doing up here?" Ino asked as well, raising an eyebrow at Sakura. "Shouldn't you be heading home to rest?"

Sakura sighed. "Same reason as you, albeit involving a different person." Then, she grimaced. "But that's not the point. We're going home right now."

"Home?" Ino echoed.

"Uh-huh. Your house. Last time I checked, it had a roof that could keep out water when the storm hits."

At that, lightning flashed. The minutes following brought back no thunder.

"Okay," Sakura amended. "Aside from the roof, it also has walls that keep out the cold and draft.

Ino held up what looked like an extra jacket. Sakura couldn't really think of a suitable retort to match her friend's. And so the stillness stretched a bit longer.

As dark blue gradually swallowed all the other colors in the sky, the stars began to peep through in patches. Though slightly dingy, constellations were now recognizable. Venus stood out low in the horizon, and Polaris was comforting in her seeming permanence in the north.

"Ne, forehead-girl."

"Hm?"

"Remember doing this ten, eleven years ago?"

"How could I forget?"

A pause. How could she forget, indeed? That was when Sasuke defected to join Orochimaru. That was when she failed to stop him.

"Heh," Sakura continued with a joke. "Maybe I can ask Naruto to bring him back again."

"Or send Lee to surprise the enemies?"

"Or Temari to save Shi---"

"That tramp!"

Sakura sweatdropped. Ino's snarl reminded her of a komodo dragon. "But Kankuro really did push Temari during that conference."

"Oh, really?"

"Well... That doll creature did it for him."

"See? That temptress on stilts has mannequins and tanuki working to put her within groping range of my man!"

"You know what? I wouldn't be surprised if the Sand really is involved in that mission to the Southern Crack."

"Uh, they do tend to be really dedicated—or suicidal. I wouldn't mind having them as allies."

"Better than enemies," Sakura added.

"Of course, it would be selfish of us to wish them their doom."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed softly, hanging her head. "Poor Naruto."

"Poor Naruto?"

"For having a friend who just said what she did."

"You were just whistling in the dark, stupid."

"And his best friends are insanely obsessive."

"Really? What's Sasuke obsessing about nowadays?"

"Who knows?"

"You, maybe?"

Sakura laughed mockingly. "I wish."

"Who knows?" Ino said, staring at Sakura in dismay.

"I do. He told me so."

Ino frowned.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Silence.

Sakura was uncomfortable in that silence, so she broke it. "Speaking of Naruto, I haven't seen him much these past few weeks. What's he up too?"

"Working overtime, apparently."

"I know, but he never told me what for."

"I bet Iruka-sensei knows."

"And Hyuga Neiji's been acting weird, too. Kept asking me questions about Naruto."

"Heard he tried to mince Naruto a few days ago."

"Oh? What for?"

"Some prank, I think."

"Poor Naruto."

"Poor Neji, you mean."

"That, too."

Again they drifted to silence.

An hour or so later, the lightning flashes were coming closer and closer together. Soon enough, thunder came rumbling faintly.

"They're not coming tonight," Ino said finally.

"Probably not," Sakura agreed.

"And it's going to rain soon."

"Not that soon."

"Soon enough, I say."

Sakura sighed. "I suppose so."

Ino went home and Sakura went with her.

September 27, two weeks after Uchiha Sasuke's group left for the mission, five days after Nara Shikamaru's team left for support.

Surprisingly, Haruno Sakura slept in that day. When she awoke to the glare of the sun five hours later than usual, she instantly flew out of bed and careened out of the room. Two seconds later, she returned at a dead run, halting at the foot of the bed, frozen. Setting her jaw tightly, she leaned forward and tugged the thin blanket to expose the bedsheet underneath.

The floral pattern of the bedcover of the Nara's guestroom was slightly wrinkled but was clean and unmarked.

Sakura bit back a curse and hurled the fabric she held across the room. She quickly regained composure, however, and affected a careless sigh as she serenely went to the bathroom. Humming, she hastily brushed her teeth, washed her face, and threw on clean clothes. She would have been out the building, had not Ino stopped her.

"Escaping, are we, Sakura?"

The pink-haired kunoichi jumped in surprise.

Ino stared at her for a whole minute, then sighed. "This is going to be a long day," she muttered. "Come have brunch with me, then we'll see what we can do to distract ourselves. Hanging out at the gates, jumping at each shadow..." She shook her head. "We'd be dead by nightfall."

"Heart attack?" suggested Sakura.

"I might jump off the battlements before that even happens, I think."

Neither of them voiced the possibility that no one would come at all that day, as what happened the day before.

"What do you have in mind, Ino-chan?"

"I volunteered us to watch the flower shop."

"Oh?"

"What? Is that a little too tough for you?" Ino sniggered.

"Of course not. Just thinking you might have picked a more vigorous activity, you know?"

Ino sighed. "I know, I know. You mean, more engaging. Actually, Shika's mom wanted some help cleaning deer skin, curing leather, pounding antlers to powder...that stuff. It's actually less boring than playing shopkeeper, but it's icky business."

"Er... I'll take the Yamanaka shop, thank you."

"Thought you might feel that way." Ino grinned.

The Yamanaka flowershop did prove a good distraction. The two women were fairly busy throughout the day, serving customers, passing their dull moments by arranging wreaths, bouquets, and such. During one slow spell, Sakura spoke.

"Ne, Ino," she said. "Don't you wanna be first to see them return like that time?"

Ino grinned broadly. "Oho! So you finally admit I won that contest, eh?"

"I'm not admitting anything. I only conceded that we tied, as we did in our first chuunin exam. I stand by that."

"I suppose, you're right. As for your question, what's the point? We've seen them depart and arrive from dangerous missions before—hell, they've watched us do the same! Why should this be any different? Just because everybody calls it a 'suicide mission?' Hey, not all of them are expecting to die, you know. We'll only be making it hard for ourselves, if we waste time and energy waiting and worrying."

Sakura turned back to the blossoms she was trimming. "You're right, " she said finally. "I love you, but you cannot love me back."

"Beg your pardon?"

"This." She held up a yellow tulip. "That's what it means."

Ino nodded. "Acknowledgment of unrequited love. You still remember those symbolisms?"

"Some of them. It's hard to forget when you memorized a whole book of them, just to impress your rival. I almost fainted too when I found out what it means—after I gave both Sasuke and Lee some."

Ino turned to her seriously. "I knew what it meant at that time. When I gave Sasuke some, too."

"..."

"But." Ino smiled. "I was wrong. About my feelings, I mean."

"Oh."

A thoughtful silence came over them. Before they had a chance to break it themselves, the gentle tinkle of a bell floated to them, heralding the entrance of a customer.

"It's like that with me, too," said Sakura.

Ino was startled by that. However, she was left no chance to ask her friend to further elaborate on the cryptic statement. Sakura had already turned to minister to the old lady who just arrived. Ino had plenty of opportunity to forget the incident during the ensuing busyness of the afternoon.

That night, Sakura was in turn startled by a question from Ino. They had been eating supper in silence in the Nara home. No messenger had come to share news with either of them, and neither saw the point of traveling to the city gates and climbing up a watchtower, especially since it had started raining again.

"Do you know anything about the Land of the Southern Crack?"

"The basic stuff," Sakura answered with a shrug. "It's bordered by a tundra that gradually turns into the desert of the Southern Crack, where most of the country's towns are. It doesn't snow there at all, but it's extremely cold. It's logical to think that the Nameless village is hidden there, but Naruto said Aburame Shino thinks they're in the mountains shadowing that desert."

"I think I remember that conversation." Ino nodded thoughtfully. "These Nameless ninjas are literally nameless? The last time I went on a reconnaissance mission, we didn't even know their name or were even sure they really did exist."

"Apparently, their hitai-ate headbands are bare. Nobody really knows a great deal about them, and what Konoha do know is doubtless under wraps. You mentioned reconnaissance missions; we've been building intelligence on the Southern Crack for years now, ever since their politics started becoming ugly. They've been largely ignored by the rest of the world till recently."

"Maybe these ninjas are waiting for the outcome of the civil war."

"But the village & country is separately ruled; we're not under the Fire country, nor they under us. It's usually the same for other shinobi countries, even though we all act like its otherwise."

"Maybe they want to change that."

"Maybe."

"Are you suggesting that this mess, the series of events... of that tyrant even managing to conquer Southern Crack with his coup, and now this new uprising against this tyrant... all that is just an exercise of power? This won't end with the assassination of the so-called tyrant, then."

"No, it won't." Sakura shook her head grimly. "Shinobi tend to operate on territories. The nameless ones would be threatened by the Konoha operation in their land. They'll retaliate to establish their so-called sovereignty over their country, as well as establish their presence in the shinobi world. Konohagakure no Sato is preparing for this eventuality. Those so-called clean-up teams are going to intercept the nameless shinobi invaders."

"The plans have already been drawn out?" Ino asked in awe. "I mean, we learned our lesson from the Sound nin operations years ago, but... Talk about paranoia."

"Yeah, we had a war with the Sand but beneath that, the Sound were the perpetrators."

"And Orochimaru." Ino groaned. "No S-class lunatics this time, I hope."

"Ditto. It doesn't hurt to be prepared, though. I guess, part of the plans had been drawn out long, long ago. The rest depends on this mission, the additional intelligence they would have gathered, and, of course, on your husband, Konohagakure's premier go player."

"Surely they can't be stupid enough to blatantly attack us in our own stronghold. I mean, sure, we've been shaky the last ten years... Orochimaru, the Akatsuki... That'll be tempting, but we're us. Our reputations speaks for itself, ne?"

"They won't attack here. They'll just nip at our flanks, at the Fire country, make their presence known. But even that cannot be allowed."

Ino's answering grin glinted dangerously. "No weaknesses."

"Well..." Sakura considered that. "A few retreats from our parties would be okay, too. We can't seem too impenetrable. That tends to challenge rival villages, ne?"

"Damn complicated," muttered Ino, shaking her head. "Politics is shit-messy. Did you know the Hokage was under pressure from the Fire Country daimyo to keep out of this Southern Crack thing?"

"We're always under pressure. It's the shinobi way. We're tools; naturally, Fire gets jealous when she doesn't monopolize our usage."

"Very nice way to put it. Tools."

"It's a convenient term." Sakura shrugged. "Never mind its accuracy."

"So does the Fire country know of this operation at all?"

"Probably not. The spies they can hire in the big towns are amateurs compared to us. And hiring foreign ninjas? That's gotta be the stupidest thing they could do. A country's might is measured also by the might of its Hidden Village. Therefore, no daimyo would pick a fight with its own—it's like suicide. We're entitled to our secrets. That way, when sensitive issues like this arise, we can move independently."

"And when we get caught by foreign governments—with proof, of course— we get sanctioned by Fire country for disobeying orders."

"Er... Basically."

"Useful tools, really," said Ino with a smirk. "Helps people salvage their honors----and their heads, while we're at it."

"Yeah."

"So... This problem Shika had to see to himself probably has something to do with the Nameless ones, huh?"

"Could be."

Ino sighed. "I hate not knowing. Shikamaru knows I hate it. Gah!"

"And waiting." Sakura chuckled. "He knows you hate waiting."

Later that night, Sakura took a late bath, staying in the bathroom for some time. For nearly an hour, she just stared at her underwear. It was white and clean when she put them on in the morning; it remained so now that she had taken it off.

That was precisely the problem.

Actually, her menses weren't even late yet. Her drawn schedule said as much, predicting her to start bleeding on Wednesday, September 29. She could have started today, anyhow, or yesterday.

For some reason, the fact that Sasuke hasn't returned from the mission relieved her, as if inadvertently giving her more time to find out the truth. She felt guilty, of course, afraid that such a notion might actually jinx her friends.

Still, she wouldn't be able to face him without knowing, not knowing whether or not she had destroyed his life already. He deserved the truth. She deserved the truth, too. She really hoped tomorrow would bring her answers. She really hoped tomorrow would bring home Uchiha Sasuke and company.

In that order, of course.

The next day brought neither.

At 3:30 in the morning, she had awakened too early, terrified by a dream she could not even remember. At first, she could do nothing but lay motionless on her bed, sweating underneath the thin blanket. The eerie oppressiveness of the silent early morning crept upon her constantly, until even her violent shifting of positions couldn't banish the swirls of notions in her head, those noodles of scenarios, tangled and webbed, swimming in her head. Twenty-four minutes later, she was pacing around the room. She found a strange sort of calm in tracing various patterns, figures of number, some of kanji even. Eventually, the silence of the room won out. It created too much space and yet weighed heavily on her ears. Her cauldron of thoughts were drawn out that way, as if incorporeal chopsticks picked their way past her eardrums (her nostrils, perhaps) and drew out the noodles of thoughts from within her skull. And now those tangled imaginings floated about her head, tantalizing with the power of their possibilities. At four-fifteen, she sneaked out of the Nara house, clad in her nightgown and a thin burgundy cloak. The worst-shot of a genin would have pinioned her on a wall with a handful of kunai even at that light, but she couldn't care less. Only the ANBU would be up and about at that hour, anyway, and they tended to be close-mouthed. They wouldn't spread gossip on how her orange-and-purple nightgown clashed horribly with her rose-tinted hair. Or that she was mooning over the Uchiha boy again.

To her credit, she only spent an hour at the top of the village walls before admitting how amazingly foolish she was being (she screeched it aloud, actually, decorated with a few choice words). She stayed until sunrise despite her self. The burst of gold over the pinking horizon was somewhat uplifting.

She managed to sleep for two hours thereafter.

At eight in the morning, she was awakened again, this time by a violent spell of a thunderstorm. Ino was stolen from her an hour after they had breakfast for some nonsense about a mission from three years ago. Sakura could have sworn she would have diced up that important dignitary from the Country of the Earth or whoever he was.

Kurenai was away, Naruto was still missing, Lee was busy, and even Kakashi wasn't around to be pestered—or to pester her. There were no missions available for her, not even D ones. The genin rookies were prodigious this year, they say, and the ones from the previous year were no less impressive. (No wonder she was out of work. Those twelve-year-olds were probably even better than her.)

She trained until sunset, instead, trained till the ground swam underneath her feet and her mind flailed to keep coherence in both speech and thought. Her father stared at her strangely when she performed the obligatory visit, and her mother demanded she head to the hospital. Sakura said she only needed to use the bathroom, never mind that neither parent believed her. After a brief shower, she left for the Nara's.

By then, Ino was home with news that they haven't arrived yet. Sakura was upset by that, but not as much as she thought she would have been. Being dead tired had its merits, after all. Of course, exhausted as she was, Sakura willingly helped her friend prepare supper.

Conversation over the meal was somewhat vague----or so Sakura remembered. Sometime along the meal, she excused herself from the table and enclosed herself in Ino's bathroom. Knowing exactly what she was searching for, Sakura delved deep into Ino's stock of hygienic paraphernalia.

Feeling sharper than any other time during that entire sluggish day, Sakura read the instructions on the pregnancy test kit carefully. The test would be accurate only after the first missed menses . Her menses she expected to come on Wednesday, tomorrow. However, if she did ovulate the night she slept with Sasuke, or 24 hours after that, she should either be menstruating now or carrying his forming child. If she didn't ovulate that night, the test would result with a negative. Either way, she would get an answer.

Briskly, professionally, she performed the test. She caught urine with a doggy paper cup she filched from the Haruno kitchen and used the provided dropper to put urine into the disposable tester. The two windows on that small rectangular plate changed colors. The test was done.

Sakura laughed upon reading the result. She laughed so hard that anybody listening would have mistaken her raucous howls of glee for ragged wails of despair.

081304 0340

AN: There goes the result. : ) It's evil not to say it outright, but you probably can guess. Again, this relatively short chapter was unbetaread.

Much thanks to Luckychan. I stole that bit about the symbolism of a yellow tulip from a short story she wrote. Ehehehe... She researched it, I'm sure. And it just popped in my head while I was writing this. (sweatdrop)

I hope I didn't disappoint, Lady Light. animEvivvErz, the dream was meant to be weird, being a dream. I'm glad you found it interesting, trickmaster. Like Neptune said, it was trippy. I had fun writing it. He he. Really wanna know what's going to happen? Then, you know how Sakura & Ino feels, right? XD About the Itachi-Sakura meeting, I'm glad you called my attention. See, I just mentioned it in passing, not really planning to include it in the plot. But now, it will be addressed in a later chapter. (I'm working on it. ) On cliffhangers, blame it on Masashi-sensei, E-chan Hidaka. He always ends each manga chapter with cliffhangers. T-T Ayce Shade, I hope this and the next chapters would clear things up. I guess, it's because the story isn't told entirely linear. Yes, Mikazuki, chapter 4 is a tad cryptic, but it does have a lot of bearing on character development. Icarus' Song, feel free to point to a sentence or paragraph that's particularly unclear. I would gladly look in on it. : )

Thanks for reading. Comments, complaints, etc. are welcome. I wear fire-retardant clothes when checking mail.

Next update: 101004