Sakura hauled the unconscious Yamato over her shoulder, preparing to leave, but lost her footing as her vision blackened. Sasuke took Yamato from her, slinging him over his shoulder with one hand, and catching her with the other hand. He pulled her against him gently, letting his body hold hers up.
Sakura grimaced, not quite wanting his help. Internally though, she was pleased to be held so tenderly by the Uchiha.
She defiantly pushed away his arm and stood on her own, despite the small part of her that wanted to linger in his hold. She held out her hand, motioning for him to return Yamato.
After all, she had had most of her chakra back, and even if it was half depleted in freeing Yamato, she was sure she should've been able to take Yamato herself. "I can do it," she told him for emphasis, a faint hint of accusation in her tone.
Sasuke merely raised his brow and steered her towards the cavern's opening. She followed him out from their former prison, chewing on her lip as she debated how to broach the subject of Madara. She knew delaying it any further was pointless; it was now or never.
'Not that knowing would do me much good in escaping', she thought bitterly, 'even with all of my chakra, I can't even come close to matching him.' She supposed there wouldn't be any chance for her to escape from him should he be back on their side, but she just had to know.
'Besides,'she mentally shook her head, 'I'm being too harsh. Of course he's still on our side, I have to believe that.' She tried swallowing the lump in her throat, angry at herself for doubting him, but unable to cast that doubt aside.
She built up her courage and opened her mouth to speak. But then she hesitated; selfishly wanting to soak up as much of the time she had left with him as she could. Her foolish heart couldn't bear the thought of ending what little progress they had made. When they came up to a meadow, far enough away from the base that they could no longer see it behind them, Sakura finally called for him to stop.
Sasuke halted but glared back at her with impatience. Not deterred, Sakura addressed the issue head-on, "What happened with Madara?"
Sasuke turned away from her, so rigid that she feared he might actually snap in half. "None of your business," he coolly told her, his icy voice devoid of emotion. She frowned, her heart sinking, but she clamped down on those feelings, locking them up for later.
She pressed him further, unafraid of his frostbite, "It is my business; I was a prisoner of the enemy, and now I'm right outside his base with no explanation. We shouldn't have been able to just waltz right out of there like that. Now what happened!"
He clenched his fists until they turned white, and for a second, Sakura thought he might take off. Slowly letting out the breath he was holding, Sasuke turned one eye toward her, "I made a deal with him, and in return, he let us go," the tension hugged his words tightly.
Sakura felt her heart sink further, 'What kind of deal would convince Madara to turn us both loose, after going through so much just to get us in the first place?' She stared into Sasuke's eye, waiting for him to continue.
He studied her intensely, trying to see into what she was thinking, trying to see what she would do. Sakura gave him nothing, reserving her judgment for after he finished, "I agreed to help him with…something. Something not related to the war, or even to Naruto and the eight-tails host."
Sasuke said nothing more, challenging her to take the conversation, or rather the interrogation further. But Sakura braced herself and continued, "What exactly did you agree to?"
Sasuke turned away from her again, shifting Yamato to his other shoulder, "You don't need to know. Let's go."
Sasuke began walking away, headed in the direction he had chosen. Sakura bit her lip. 'How. Dare. He! That arrogant, self-righteous, son-of-a,' Sakura stopped herself, and tried to take a steadying breath. Seeing that he was almost to the edge of the meadow, Sakura snapped, no longer thinking, only needing some kind of outlet.
He probably did sense her coming, but she was too close, and he was too surprised, to do anything about it. She shoved Yamato off to the side rather unceremoniously and pinned him to the ground. She kept his head in the dirt with her knee pressing firmly down on his spine, (thereby preventing any use of his Sharingan), and used her other leg to pin his legs down, securing his wrists tightly to the ground with her hands.
Although she was rather surprised at herself for even attempting something like that, she seriously considered trying to break whatever genjutsu she must be under because it worked. Had she, Sakura Haruno, really pinned the Uchiha Sasuke to the ground, in one move?
She was so stunned in fact, that she sat there a good minute and a half before she remembered what she was trying to accomplish. When she realized this, she also realized that Sasuke was (a) yelling something muffled by the ground, and (b) struggling almost successfully against her hold. Then Sakura realized that the Uchiha Sasuke would likely kill her to compensate for the embarrassment, just as soon as he got free.
She figured she might as well as ask the last question she would ever utter because she gone this far to ask it, "What deal did you make with Madara?"
She ever so slightly released the pressure of her knee from his back, allowing him to lift his head, which she regretted due to the profanities that came spewing out. She cringed at the harshness but waited patiently for his answer.
After he had let her know the severity of her crime, (and the accompanying painful death by which that crime would be rectified), Sasuke finally calmed down. He asked to be released, sounding annoyed and exasperated. Tentatively, Sakura released him, watching his body language, ready to attempt an escape. Sasuke did not however make a move to kill her, although his face held remnants of the livid expression he must have been sporting while eating dirt.
He simply walked away and sat down ten or so feet away from her, brooding and glaring holes through her head. She tried to meet his gaze once or twice in the ensuing silence, but each time, he pointedly looked away. After a few minutes of sulking, Sasuke finally answered her question. Sakura wasn't really sure why.
"I agreed to help him locate certain scrolls. Not scrolls of jutsu or anything like that, just some history scrolls. These scrolls belong to each of the major nations, and it would take too much time for him to get them all himself while the war is going on."
Sakura knew there was no way that could pass as a fair trade for both of their freedoms. He continued, perhaps guessing her thoughts, "Knowing Madara, or at least, knowing what Madara is not, it probably has nothing to do with the scrolls."
He looked away from her before continuing, "Which is why I'm already taking steps to stop whatever it is he has planned."
Sakura asked him about Kabuto, and he went rigid once more, clearly infuriated by the name. "Yes," he ground out, "he was involved."
Confusion suddenly clouded the anger as he turned to her with his own question, "How did you know Kabuto was there?"
Sakura took her turn to look away, saddened by her unwilling help in locating Naruto, "After Madara left with you, Kabuto came down to extract the nine-tails chakra from my arm."
Sakura gave him the outline version of what happened at the Heaven and Earth Bridge, shortly before finding him at Orochimaru's base, and what Kabuto had done in the cell. "And so apparently," Sakura concluded, "there was enough nine-tails chakra that he thinks he can use it in locating Naruto."
When she finished, he looked up at her, "I didn't know about that, although I do know that Madara's whole plan still hinges on gaining the last two tailed beasts."
"Let me help you Sasuke, you don't have to fight him alone," Sakura whispered, her eyes pleading.
He cared for her, and about her, maybe more than he would have guessed, considering that he hadn't killed her just now like he had spoken of doing in his indignation, but it changed nothing. He had brushed off her offer when they were only thirteen, and he thought now what he had then: she couldn't help him.
Suddenly, he felt five chakra signatures approaching their meadow. He glanced at Sakura, and she nodded, telling him that she felt them too. He motioned her to grab Yamato, and moved to stand in the center of the field.
Sakura moved to stand beside him, but he motioned her back. "I can handle myself Sasuke," she said, refusing to comply. He sighed at her attitude, "Once we know more, than you can join in, until then, let me use my Sharingan." He hesitated a second, but added with a slight smile, "The only one who gets to kill you is me."
Sakura nodded dumbly, not quite believing what her eyes were telling her. Sasuke just smiled at her. Her heart fluttered incessantly, and her legs felt like jelly. 'He really did, he just smiled at me'. She knew that now was a time to prepare for a potential enemy, 'But he just smiled at me. He really did!'