Souvraya: Again I'm late. I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't mean to be late. I will try to not be so late next time. I promise! I just have a lot to do at the moment. Will be better come June, will have less school then. *bows*

Disclaimer: See chapter 1...

Pairings: There's a little list over all the pairings to be expected in chapter 8. For this chapter there won't be any.

Story: Haku's sent to collect someone... And Zabuza's eagerly waiting for the kitsune...

Warning: None, I think...

A/N: This is slightly AU, and somehow (don't ask how, but somehow) Haku and Zabuza survives the bridge... Naruto would be 15 in this fic. And Zabuza will probably stay OOC, since I need him like this for this story. Please forgive me... Get used to his seeming schizophrenia too...

Explanations:

"blah" = talk

//blah// = thoughts

~POV~ = changing point of view

Why won't you love me?

Chapter 12

They were going north. Problem was, no one knew how far or exactly where. It was still a blind search, or at least a search in the dark. At least they knew the direction, but that was it.

Sasuke was impatient. He wanted to find his kitsune again, but it seemed to be harder than he'd thought it'd be. Much harder.

Because north was north, but north was also a big, big area. It would take a long time to search through it all. But he did not intend to stop before he'd found Naruto.

His mind was still sent on finding him, no matter what. And then he'd hurt those who took his kitsune away from him. Hurt them very much. And nobody was going to stop him.

He looked around. They were travelling together now, since they knew that they'd headed north. And they knew that they'd not just gone over the next hill. So for a little while they would all travel more or less together. A bit scattered, naturally, since they didn't want to be spotted, but within talking distance.

He could see from where he was that he wasn't the only one worried. Iruka- sensei was just ahead of him to the left, with a worried expression on his face.

He almost smiled. Iruka-sensei was probably the one who cared the most about Naruto, maybe with the exception of himself. So it was clear that Iruka-sensei would be worried.

The almost-smile faded. He knew that if they didn't find Naruto, Iruka- sensei would at least be on his side when he said he would continue the search until he found the kitsune. He didn't think Iruka-sensei would give up on Naruto that quickly or easily.

He snapped his thoughts back on what he was doing when he almost slipped off the branch he was currently at.

He looked quickly around and was relieved that no one seemed to have noticed his slip.

He went back to trekking north.

TBC

A/N: A bit short I think. But I just have to make slow progress with the search party if I'm going to get the time to put Naruto and Haku together. Or at least make them proper friends. So I'm afraid it'll take some time before Sasuke reaches his kitsune... ^ ^

Reviewer's corner:

Anael Razualle: *accepts flowers with a bow* Next chapter. YAY! ^ ^ me likes your fantasies... ^ ^ *drools* *hugs u*

Me-la Kenzu: Is good, is good. The chap wrote itself though, cause I had completely different plans for them... *rolls eyes* but... I think it worked out. Glad you think so too. *hugs*

Angel: Here's more. Hope you still like. Will soon be even more. ^ ^

Sakaba Sharpie: Glad you agree. It's so very true. I guess there isn't much to say about this chapter either, but it is needed. Unfortunately. I will continue, don't know how many chapters there will be in the end. But more than 20, I'm sure. ^ ^

Nejidragon: THANK YOU! I love to be told stuff like that! I update as often as I manage, but I have some small problems because of school and a tiny writer's block that I'm trying to kill. It's slowly working... ^ ^