A/N: Hello again! I'm not wildly happy with how this chapter turned out but it gets the job done. Once again, thank you for all of your kind reviews!

Chapter 18

Unveiling Shadows

Lee was laying down across a thick, horizontal branch of one of the great trees along the border wall of Konoha, arms crossed behind his head. Lee looked up at the overcast sky through the leaves. He had to unfortunately go easier today because the joints in his weaker arm and leg were aching due to the weather changes. Tsunade warned him to listen to his body and not strain his weak arm and leg when they hurt. When he had returned back from the failed Sasuke retrieval mission, Tsunade scolded him for running off and straining his body right after surgery. He couldn't blame her; he had ripped open his stitches and his fixed arm and leg were covered in deep bruising overworking them so soon. Tsunade told him that it would affect his healing, and he might be left with some chronic stiffness... which she ended up being right on. He did not regret it. Sakura looked so sad when they both watched the retrieval team send-off... while he tried to offer comforting words, it meant nothing without action behind them. He had to find some way to return a smile to her face, and back then it seemed like the only way to do that was to bring back Sasuke.

Lee sighed. Why did he say that to her yesterday?

Again, Lee had dodged around the real issue at hand and lied to Sakura. To cover up his uncertainty and fears he had over his feelings for her, he made up a reason to keep his distance. 'People would get the wrong idea,' he had said his concern was.

That was a lie.

He was worried he would slip up and say or do something uncomfortable. Sure, other people could get the wrong idea, but Sakura was right - it should have been her decision; he shouldn't have taken that away from her. But he panicked and did so anyway, and corrupted the meaning of his promise to her.

I am a terrible person, Lee thought, full of guilt.

Was trying to create some distance the right thing to do? Or did he make a terrible mistake?

A sudden shout nearby interrupted Lee's rest. Startled birds wildly flapped away. Lee returned to his feet in an instant. He listened. More shouts.

Perhaps others are simply sparring out here, Lee reasoned.

By straining his ears he was able to make out words. "You don't have to do this! Please stop!"

Someone was in trouble. He darted towards the voices across the tree branches. When he had gotten close enough he pressed himself against the truck of a tree to hide as he peered below. A struggle was going on between two people, an older man and a younger girl. Lee's eyes widened, instantly recognizing the form they were both using: The Gentle Fist. They were both Hyuga. The older Hyuga had the upper hand and was keeping on the offensive while the younger Hyuga barely kept up. This was no spar; the older Hyuga had killing intent behind his blows.

"You there! Help me!" she called desperately.

Of course she could see him with her Byakugan. The tree did nothing for Lee. Which meant the other Hyuga could see him too.

"Hisako!" the Hyuga man called sharply, not taking his eye off his prey.

Before Lee could intervene, another Hyuga appeared suddenly beside him, her palm thrusting towards Lee's heart. Caught off guard, Lee blocked her arm from the side, careful not to touch the Hyuga's hands. However, he had reacted too late, and the palm redirected firm against his left shoulder. Lee felt the sharp pain of the foreign chakra internally stabbing him. He leaped back onto another branch to get some distance to recover, immediately taking on a defensive stance.

"I may have missed the killing blow, but good luck trying to use ninjutsu with that sealed chakra point," the Hyuga, assumedly Hisako, smirked at Lee. She was a young woman close to him in age with short black hair and a birthmark on her chin. The veins on the side of her lavender eyes were pronounced on her skin.

"That will not be a problem," Lee stated, his expression firm.

Lee's left shoulder felt numb and stiff; it was a familiar feeling from his spars with Neji. This injury was going to affect his motor skills and strength in that arm somewhat, but it would be manageable. He spared a glance at the girl being attacked. She was genin-age and despite being at a disadvantage, was holding her own pretty well against her older opponent. Lee badly wanted to jump to her aid, but he couldn't just ignore Hisako, and end up dragging another enemy in close quarters to the girl.

"Why are you doing this?" Lee asked, studying his opponent for openings in her stance. The Hyuga's legs were a little too close together. If Lee tried, he could exploit this to knock her off her feet.

"This is Hyuga business only. Outsiders like you don't need to know a thing," Hisako spat, throwing a kunai at him with a tag.

Lee knew better than to block it. Lee leaped off the branch to a lower one, minding the tagged kunai. Shiruken exploded out of of the tag as the kunai passed him. Lee used his momentum to swing himself to the other side of the tree. He heard clunks as the shiruken embedded deeply in the tree trunk. Hisako appeared suddenly from around the other side of the trunk aiming another attack at his heart. This time Lee was ready for her and deftly redirected her palm aside. The two of them traded quick blows. Lee remained defensive with his feet planted, not wanting her to find an opening to disable him. He found himself quickly getting into the motions, blocking and evading all of her punches with ease, and found himself able to predict her next moves. Lee knew he could thank his familiarity with the Gentle Fist technique to Neji.

"This isn't the first time you've fought a Hyuga," Hisako stated after recoiling from a blow, displeased.

Lee frowned, saying nothing. Fighting her was bringing back fond memories of sparring with Neji. It made his heart ache.

Hisako darted forward with another series of punches. When he spotted an opening, Lee deftly grabbed her arm and redirected her downward to try and catch her off balance. Hisako stumbled and fell from the tree. Lee followed her down with a solid kick to her stomach, knocking the breath out of her. Hisako hands shot out to his foot as they fell, hoping to disable it. Lee leaped away, knowing better, before rebounding against the side of a tree towards her with another kick. Hisako caught a branch and swung herself away from him, trying to recover.

I need to hurry, Lee grimaced.

In a flash Lee was behind her. Knowing he was there, she tried to whip around to defend herself, but it was too late. Lee delivered a hard leaf whirlwind kick to her side, sending her flying. Her head banged hard against the tree trunk with a crack before she went limp and fell to the forest floor.

Lee's eyes darted immediately to the girl in danger. She was on the ground backed up against a boulder with the Hyuga man cornering her. The girl's limbs were covered in sealed chakra point bruises and her movements were sluggish. Lee's eyes widened; he recognized the fatal Gentle Fist move the man was planning. In a blur Lee was at the Hyuga man's side, hurtling his fist at the man's head. The man knew he was there, and attempted to dodge, but it was clear he was not expecting that sort of speed out of Lee when he leaped back with a cut at his temple from Lee's knuckle. Lee immediately moved in front of the girl as the man glared them down.

"Thank you," the girl said.

Lee glanced at her to check her condition. It was then he realized her forehead was bare of the curse seal and she had a familiar likeness about her. "H-Hanabi Hyuga?" Lee stuttered. She was Hinata's sister, heiress to the Hyuga clan. It had been a few years since he had last gotten a good look at her.

"Yes," Hanabi said rather coolly. "Don't worry about me and keep your eyes on Takeo."

Lee's eyes shifted back to the Hyuga man - Takeo. He had a frustrated grimace on his face, his body was tense as though he was deciding between fleeing or fighting. Before he could decide, his head suddenly swung towards a corner of the forest, pure panic on his face.

"Father..." Hanabi uttered.

Takeo dashed towards the unconscious Hisako and tried to pull her up to her feet. Before he could get her up he suddenly collapsed, writhing on the ground with a bloodcurdling scream as he clutched his head. Lee's jaw tightened. He knew what this was but he had never seen it in person. Someone had activated his cursed seal.

Out of the corner of the forest several Hyuga men appeared with Hiashi Hyuga himself in the middle, holding up his hand in a sign.

Hanabi stumbled to her feet and ran to her father. "Father, he's subdued, you can stop it now," she pleaded.

Hiashi's stern face looked down at his daughter, eyeing her injuries. With a nod of his head his guards rushed to the rogue Hyuga as he released the seal. The screaming subsided, replaced with whimpers as Takeo curled into a ball. "You could have used the curse seal at any time to put a stop to this," Hiashi scolded.

"I know, but..."

"This was not the time to think on the morality of the seal. It was meant to be used in situations just like this. You would have been dead if help did not come." Hiashi's eyes drilled into Lee, with perhaps a hint of recognition. Lee felt out of place in this clan conflict, and shifted on his feet uncertainly. It was hard to imagine this man as Neji's uncle.

The guards had both of the rogues restrained and dragged them back to Hiashi. One of the guards lifted Takeo's limp head by his hair so Hiashi could see his face.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Hiashi said.

"I did it for the Hyuga," Takeo spat.

Hiashi's expression soured. "You no longer belong with the Hyuga," he responded. "Prepare them for interrogation. I will join shortly," he said to his guards.

The guards nodded and hurriedly dragged the two rogues away.

"How did you know where to find me?" Hanabi asked her father.

"Hinata knew you liked to come here."

Lee took this opportunity to step forward, not wanting to continue being a passive viewer. "Why did they attack Hanabi?" he asked, concerned. What sort of inner conflict was going on within Konoha's own walls during this time of relative peace?

The two Hyuga looked at Lee. Hanabi opened her mouth to speak but Hiashi raised his hand to silence her. Hanabi bit her lip.

"This concern is only for Hyuga," Hiashi answered curtly. "Thank you for protecting Hanabi. You may leave."

Lee wanted to protest but he knew that was unwise. He was not going to get any more information of someone like Hiashi. He knew that much after watching Tenten try to after Neji's death. Lee bowed his head out of respect and left, giving Hanabi one last curious glance. There was a deep frustration in her eyes.

"Sakura."

"S-Sasuke!" Sakura whipped around from the kitchen sink. Sasuke stared at her, his expression unreadable, as always. His hair had grown longer, such that his bangs were hiding his eerie Rinnegan. While she normally would want to go for him for a hug - to touch him as a reminder to herself he was real - something held her back this time. She could feel his cold presence swallowing up the room. "I... I wasn't expecting you home, if I had known I would have gone grocery shopping today," she said sheepishly.

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said, as he began removing his traveling gear on the kitchen table. "I will be visiting Naruto and be leaving again shortly after."

"Oh," Sakura said glumly. Of course he would. "Will you be leaving to visit him right away?"

"Yes," Sasuke responded as he headed to the door. "I just wished to drop off my things first."

"Wait!"

Sasuke stopped and turned his head back towards Sakura and caught her eye.

"I-" Sakura hesitated.

Now's the time, a voice in her head said. Question him and don't back down. Don't be so weak-willed this time!

"Naruto can wait. We need to talk," Sakura said firmly.

He turned around to face her. "What is it?"

Sakura bit her lip. She hadn't thought this far ahead. She was not expecting Sasuke to arrive yet and she hadn't sorted out all the questions she wanted to ask him, but it was time to put her foot down or otherwise it would be several more weeks until she saw him next. "It's about your missions..." Sakura's eyes drifted from his. When she noticed her averted gaze, she forced herself to look back at him. "What are you doing on them? Why does every single one take you away from home for so long?"

"Like I've told you, there are parts of the shinobi world I haven't seen. These missions allow me that opportunity to see and learn things for Konoha," Sasuke said, reciting his usual response.

That's always been his excuse.

"Well... like what? Why are you always being so secretive about it all? You've never been clear to me what you've been doing this whole time."

Sasuke raised a curious eyebrow, not expecting this sort of reaction out of her. "Because it's classified."

"Bullshit," Sakura declared, her fist trembling at her side. "I know a lot of these missions are low rank. Nothing low rank would require this level of secrecy."

Sasuke chuckled. "Naruto told you this, I assume?"

"Does it matter?" Sakura shot back, taking a step towards him, feeling bold. She had found her confidence again. "Are these missions just an excuse to get out of the village? Are... Are you not happy here?" Her eyes softened as she searched his own, but she kept her expression firm. She had hoped she and Naruto could provide that happiness for him.

Sasuke's eyes twitched.

"Is it because of the villagers' distrust of the Uchiha...?" Sakura implored, studying him, trying to catch another reaction from him. "If so, you need to stay and show them not to hate the Uchiha name! Uchiha may have started the war, but an Uchiha helped end it. You need to remind them of that. How can Konoha learn to trust the Uchiha again when you're always gone? You need to show them the good in you, and things will get better, I promise. I may now carry the Uchiha name, but it's not by blood, so I can't be the one to change people's feelings as much as I would like to try."

Sasuke remained silent, now studying her as much as she was studying him.

The silence bothered Sakura, so she kept talking, hoping to snag some sort of conclusive answer. "Or... is something else about Konoha bothering you? You said you have a problem with the shinobi system... please explain that to me so I can understand and not be ignorant to it."

Sasuke continued staring at her, expression unchanging. Sakura was starting to feel silly and self-conscious for rambling so suddenly to him.

"...Sorry, it's just... dammit, I'm... I'm lonely. I miss you every day. It hurts when people ask me where you are and what you're doing when I don't know a thing. I haven't been blind to the looks of concern I get when I can't answer those questions. Can you blame me for wondering? Wondering why even when we are married you feel like such a stranger to me sometimes?" Sakura's voice trembled.

Sasuke looked at her with pity. "That day at the Uchiha memorial... you said you wanted to help me. Is that still true?" Sasuke asked, eyes drifting to the photo frame of them that Sakura had placed face down on the end table.

"Yes, of course," Sakura answered.

Please, let him open up.

Sasuke nodded, satisfied. He leaned against the wall. "I actually need your talents to help me with something coming up soon. If you help me, I can give you what you want."

"To finally be together with no secrets?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"Yes," Sasuke answered coolly. "As long as I can trust you to keep this between us."

"You can trust me with anything." Sakura felt her heart swell up with joy... but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that kept her from getting drunk on the bit of validation Sasuke had given her. It reminded her of what she harshly told herself yesterday about being too emotionally dependent, and the doubt of being burned by Sasuke so many times. "What do you need me to do?"

"The details are still being worked out, but I have need of your expert chakra control to do something I cannot do myself. I will need you to come with me outside of the village. I know you've wanted to join me on one of my missions for awhile now. You'll finally get that chance."

"My chakra control? What for?"

"I'd rather we discuss it when we leave. The next time I return to the village I will take you with me and explain everything, just like you've always wanted."

Sakura was taken aback. For all her suffered misery, this seemed to be too easy, or perhaps she had merely just asked these questions at the right time. Something didn't seem right. "Oh... Okay! Great!" She honestly didn't have anything better to say.

Sasuke smirked, seemingly amused by her shocked reaction. "May I go now?"

"S-Sure!" Sakura responded quickly. "I'll, um, have leftovers in the fridge if you need them."

Sasuke nodded. "See you, Sakura," he said, and left.

Sakura stood there, staring at the shut door that Sasuke went through for a few long moments in disbelief. Just like that, she would have all her questions answered that plagued her for the entirety of their marriage? That all that difficulty and vagueness from Sasuke would be solved by the next time they meet? Sakura was eager for answers, but also very doubtful.

Shikamaru's request echoed in her head: keep an eye on Sasuke for any suspicious behavior.

Could she trust Sasuke answer all of her questions? Or will he just answer them cryptically or just lie to her?

She couldn't depend on Sasuke for all of the answers. She was done depending on him and begging him for scraps of recognition. Lee's effortless attentiveness towards her these past months as merely a friend made her realize how pitiful her mindset was before in regards to Sasuke - that she allowed herself to stoop so low as to fight for validation and affection from her own husband like a parched person desperately seeks water in a desert.

Her eyes drifted to the traveling gear Sasuke left on their kitchen table. A poncho, various small weapon bags, a few scrolls, and a backpack of survival gear. Sakura approached them warily, taking another glance at the door to make sure Sasuke was truly gone. Should she look through his things? Would that be a betrayal of his trust and privacy?

You're his wife, you can look through his things. And it's not like he's ever trusted you much, anyway.

Sakura searched through his bags. She found rations, knives, poison vials, camping supplies... nothing unusual. While digging through his backpack her fingers brushed a hidden compartment. From it she produced a single photo. Sakura was familiar with it - it was of Sasuke and his team of missing nins. Sakura never remembered the names of the two men, but she remembered Karin, who was blushing with a sweet smile. Sakura's memories suddenly flashed to seeing Karin crumbled on the ground, bleeding out, with Sasuke egging her to kill Karin to prove her loyalty to him. Sakura shook her head to rid herself of that terrible memory. This photo must mean a lot to him for him to take it everywhere with him. She wondered why he wasn't carrying that Team 7 photo of them instead. She thought Sasuke had only took on those missing nins only for his purpose of killing Itachi. Perhaps he cared about them more than she thought.

Sakura sighed, disappointed that she found nothing, but her eyes trailed back to the vials of poison. Poisons were often regional, made with whatever toxins that were native to the area. Sasuke was always on the road, weeks at a time, so he was bound to resupply while away from Konoha. She inspected the vials - most of them she recognized as toxins native to the Land of Fire, however, there was one empty, unlabeled vial with nothing but a few drops of poison left. This one had a distinct dark purple hue to it. Sakura went to her room and dug out her own shinobi supplies, pulling out an empty vial of her own. She came back to the kitchen table and replaced the suspicious vial with one of her empty ones.

Hopefully Sasuke won't notice, she thought as she swished around the meager amount of poison. I just hope it's enough for our analyzer to pick up. She pocketed the vial for later. She would get it tested in the lab when she went into work.

Sakura then went through the task of putting everything back where it belonged in Sasuke's things, hopefully such that he shouldn't know she had snooped. She felt dirty doing something like this, but she couldn't fully trust Sasuke she realized. She hated that about him - that he never tried to earn anybody's trust. When she thought about it, there were actually a lot of things she didn't like about Sasuke, and it hurt to admit it.

A/N: What's this?! Actual plot after 18 chapters? Yep, I know.