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 it's 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!

Unaligned

"I got you!" a voice sang, there was a weight on her back and a kunai at her neck. She could feel the sickening grin on the man as he pressed the sharp object closer to her throat.

Sayuri gasped, same white ceiling as before greeted her, like it did every night. Pushing herself to a sitting position with her shaking arms, Sayuri leaned her head forward tears prickling at the comers of her eyes. She glanced out the window, again the sun was just rising. Brushing the tears away with the backs of her hands, she swung her legs over the bed. The cold wood sent a shiver up her spine, but she ignored it and moved to her bag.

Red and blue eyes inspected each item. She counted and recounted her kunai and shuriken, and packed extra warm clothes for the travel. She looked over her shoulder and saw the old brown teddy bear, pushing herself up from her seated position on the ground, she walked over to the bear and picked it up. She inspected the stitching of the ear and then brushed it brown coat. After a second of thought she stuffed it into her bag.

The clock on her wall said it was t was 6:40. Quickly she moved to her closet put on her clothes, grabbed her white cloak and rushed out the door.

XXX

Sasuke stood at the gates, hands at his sides and stared at the coloring sky. His black pack, like his black cloak hung on his shoulders. The morning air was cold and he could already feel the tip his nose turn red. He rubbed it absentmindedly as he waited for his teammate. Could he call her that? He wondered.

When he sensed her, she was not alone. Moriyo, Diachi, and Hajime had accompanied the nineteen year old on her way to the gates. He watched as her silver teammate tugged at her pony tail to get her attention, then how she swatted his hand away and scowled up at the man. Diachi laid a hand on her shoulder, and he could hear him tell Sayuri to calm down. Sasuke eyed the mans hand on Sayuri and he felt himself frown, jealousy gripping at his throat, but quickly did away with it when the four ninja noticed his presence.

"Good morning." Diachi greeted politely, taking his hand off of Sayuri. She in turn, tightened her grip on the strap of her back pack. They looked like a family dropping off their youngest sibling.

"I told them about the mission. In case something we don't hear from you within three days, they'll come looking for you." Moriyo said, crossing her arms bellow her chest.

Sasuke glared at the woman. "You're taking precautions in case I try somethig." he nearly snapped, they thought that he would hurt her!?

"Well she was Kenji's target during the war." Moriyo replied calmly. "It has nothing to do with you, personally."

"She won't be getting in to trouble." Sasuke replied, reigning in his anger.

"She has a name." Sayuri butted in. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here." moving to stand beside the Uchiha she turned to her team. "And for the record, I can take care of myself." She turned to Sasuke, and without really looking at him she spoke. "We should go."

Sasuke nodded and followed the brunette as she sped toward the trees leaving the other ninja behind.

XXX

The morning had turned to afternoon and they were still far from their target. The two had stopped occasionally for rest and for but other than that they said nothing to each other. Sasuke didn't know if he preferred it that way or if he should say something.

Sayuri suddenly stopped and he paused on a branch higher than her own. "We should eat..." she said, taking note of the sun's position in the sky. "We made good progress, but we won't be able to reach the village until tomorrow."

Sasuke nodded and followed her in her descent. "I still think we should keep going, just a few more hours before setting up camp." he said.

Sayuri dropped her bag and sat next to it, she looked up at him then took out a scroll that contained a map. After a brief pause in which she traced her finger over the paper she rolled it back up and tucked it away. "OK, we'll keep going, but first we need to eat."

Sasuke sat down a few feet away from her and took out his own lunch. Sakura had been kind enough to make him something before he left on the mission. He frowned, thinking back to the conversation they had last night but pushed it aside. Looking at the box he opened the lid and ate the food without much hesitation. Across from him Sayuri bit into her own onigiri, eyes wondering the area.

"We're getting closer to the border." Sayuri mused as she took a sip of water.

"The closer we are the more Grass ninja we'll see. They tend to wonder around these parts." Sasuke added.

Sayuri frowned, bringing her half eaten, rice ball back to the box. "We've had some problem with them recently. They've been raiding some of our genin and chunin teams." She took a deep breath. "They've been causing a lot of trouble for everyone. We've been getting reports of other ninja from smaller countries taking advantage of our 'peace.'" she looked off to the side in concern. "I wonder if Kenji has something to do with that too."

"I wouldn't be surprised." At her questioning look he continued. "He worked as a spy for Obito, trying to get to you so that you'd become the ten tails juinchiruki, remember? And now there are women being kidnapped and found dead, in the same manner that indicates his style of killing."

"Yes… but, he never really did anything." was her troubled reply. "He took care of me." she whispered but he still heard her.

Sasuke eyed her carefully, putting his chopsticks down. "He doesn't have to outright do anything to betray you. He was a spy, probably informing Obito of your every move."

"I see.." the two fell back into the silence before she decided to speak again, desperate to change the subject. Looking for anything she saw the napkin around the bento and asked, "Is she a good cook?" A question she regretted asking the second it left her mouth.

He looked down at the emptied box in his hands and, recognizing what she was doing, he shook his head. "Not really. I was hungry though."

Sayuri watched him carefully for a second then averted her gaze. "She's good for you." he heard her say but before he could reply she was already packing her bag again. She turned to look over her shoulder, watching him do the same.

"Let's go." he said once he picked up the bag again. "There's a small inn a few hours up ahead. We shouldn't be out in the cold like this."

"Right." she agreed. The temperature was dropping again and it wouldn't do for them to be outside during the night.

XXX

The sun was beginning to set when they arrived. The old woman looked pleased to have customer and gladly gave them their room keys. The two quietly made their way to their rooms, stopping at the bright red doors before them. They were right next to each other and that worked out perfectly. If either one of them noticed something wrong, they wouldn't have to go far to reach the other.

Opening the door Sayuri stepped inside, hearing Sasuke close the door behind him on the other side. She gently shut the door, and moved to lock it. Placing her bag on the small chair she pulled her hair out of the pony tail and massaged her head. Taking a look a the bed she sighed and allowed her self to fall face first, on it.

"Why did it have to be him..." Sayuri said, her voice muffled by the pillow. Turning on her back she watched the fan move in a circles providing a small breeze in the warm room. "I just need to get this mission done." she covered her eyes with her arm. "Kenji...what the hell are you doing!" she asked herself.

XXX

Sasuke was sharpening his katana when he heard the water to the bath run next door to him. He paused and placed the sword down beside him and listened to the running water. She's taking a bath. He thought to himself then picked up the katana and sheathed it. Think of something else...He ordered himself, his mind betraying him and going back to the running water. With a low growl Sasuke picked up the weapon and stood up, heading to the door for a late night training session.

Finding a suitable spot, not too far from the inn, he began going through motions, hacking at the trees trying to get the image of a certain girl in the shower, out of his head. He bit his lip and spinned, ramming the katana into a tree trunk. She always had that affect on him. Making him think about her when he really shouldn't. And since last year it had become too much. He had originally thought of staying if...he paused his train of thought. No, that was in the past, and he couldn't think about that now.

The raven haired Uchiha, slashed at a tree once more, sweat rolling down his sides, the cold air burning his lungs, but he didn't care. What he cared about was finishing this mission and of keeping Sayuri out of harms way. To do that he had to have a clear head.

Find Kenji, take him down, keep Sayuri safe. He repeated to himself as he walked back to the inn. Hoping that by now the auburn haired girl was done and he could go on with his night.

XXX

Crickets were chirping outside of the window when his eyes suddenly opened. He was sleeping soundly until something, or rather someone caught his attention. He pushed himself up on his arm and looked around him. There was a pulsating chakra and his foggy mind was trying to figure out where it was coming from. He fully sat up and ran a hand through his long, black hair. He stopped and turned to look at the wall.

"Sayuri…?" he asked himself. He made his way to his door, opened it and was met by the cold winter air. He moved to the front of her door and lifted his hand, pausing just above it. Maybe he should just let it be. He thought to himself but then felt her chakra rise up again and decided to go ahead and check any way. He knocked twice but received no answer.

With a frown, Sasuke went back into his room, picked up a kunai from his pouch and stepped back outside. He knocked twice on her door, this time a bit louder than the first but still no answer. Taking the kunai in his hand he checked that no one was out before picking on the lock. It clicked open and he let himself in.

"Sayuri?" he said, voice low and just above a whisper. He walked further inside and saw her backpack on the chair. He turned to look at the bed and watched her turn towards him, eyes closed. The sheets had bunched up around her to leave one leg uncovered. His eyes ran up her leg to the black shorts, following up to the blue long sleeve top, and finally to her troubled face. Activating his Sharingan, he took a look at her chakra net work and found it to be acting unstable. It rose and fell abruptly and each time it did, Sayuri groaned or turned.

She's having a nightmare. He thought and quietly walked up to her, foot stepping on something soft. He looked down and saw a worn teddy bear, the same he had seen her bring to their first C rank mission to the Land of Waves. He picked it up and put it on her nightstand along with the kunai, before pressing a palm against her cheek. No temperature. He noted and gently slid it down her neck to her shoulder.

"Sayuri…" he spoke in a whisper gently shaking her. "Wake up." The girl groaned beneath him, he glanced at her lips but quickly looked away. This was not the time. "Sayuri." he tried again, louder.

She gasped, eyes blinking open. For a brief moment she looked lost and afraid, until he saw recognition in her eyes.

"Sasuke?" she asked, glancing down at his hand. He quickly pulled away and stepped back and away from the bed. "What...How did you?" she looked to her right and found a glinting kunai that did not belong to her. She sat up with a frown, the sheets pooling at her lap, legs shifting under her. "Why are you in my room?" she said slowly, eyes narrowing at him.

"You were having a nightmare." he said and moved to pick up the kunai, but she quickly snatched it away pointing it at him.

"And you came into my room just for that!?" she bit out. "People have nightmares, Sasuke, just in case you didn't know." He shouldn't be in her room at all. She wanted him nowhere near her at the moment.

"Your chakra was spiking as well." he watched her, his Sharingan deactivating, the red fading into black. "I tried knocking but you didn't answer. So I came inside." he said without much emotion. "Did you think your life was in danger...?" He asked glancing at the kunai in her hand.

Sayuri dropped the kunai on the bed and wrapped an arm around herself. "You should go back to bed, Uchiha." she said turning to see the moon through the window. "We have an early day tomorrow."

"Sayuri, those chakra spikes just now are not normal." he tried to reason.

"I'm fine." she said firmly, letting her arms fall to her sides.

He watched her carefully, knowing full well it was useless to try to get her to talk. Without another word he stalked off, opened the door letting the cold wind in] and left closing it firmly behind him. It wasn't until she heard the shutting of the door next door that Sayuri breathed out, running a shaking hand through her hair.

XXX

It was 7 in the morning when the two checked out of the inn. The old woman happily received the keys and bid them farewell. Sasuke and Sayuri rushed through the forest in awkward silence. The closer to the north border they got, the colder it seemed to get. Getting a bad feeling, Sayuri tilted her head up to the sky as she landed on another branch.

The sky was slowly taking on a gray hue to it. It's only noon...She thought with a slight frown, pulling her coat closer to her. But it's so cold.

Sasuke who had also taken note of the change in whether suddenly stopped. Sayuri absentmindedly kept going, only to bump into the man. He caught her and himself just in time, using his chakra on his feet to keep a good hold on the tree branch, and his arm to keep her from falling over.

"Oh!" Sayuri stumbled back. "Sorry." she apologized.

He stared at her for a moment and noticed the slight circles under her eyes but decided not to comment on them. He turned away from her and crouched low before leaping off and landing on the ground. Confused Sayuri followed him and watched as he crept towards a couple of bushes, then turning back to her he waved her over. Quietly she moved closer and peeked through the leaves, eyes wide in surprise.

"Is that..." she turned her head to Sasuke who nodded.

"It's the town..." he said. "We should change our appearance before we head out. If Kenji really is here, he'll recognize us in an instant."

Pulling back the nineteen year old formed a single seal. In an instant the auburn haired young woman was gone, replaced by a short black haired, blue eyed girl wearing Sayuri's clothes.

"Is that who you transform into, nowadays?" Sasuke asked nonchalantly.

Blinking up at him the woman's eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Nothing." he shrugged and formed a half seal with his hand. The tall Uchiha was replaced with a young man with sharp silver eyes, and black hair that was tied at the nape of his neck. He resembled Itachi but without the marks on the sides of his nose. "Let's go."

Finding the dirt road that led to the village the two ninja walked side by side. The wind blew harder and dark clouds rolled over the sky. Some of the shop owners had begun to close down, hurriedly entering their homes, until there were only a few people left. Some stray Grass ninja looked their way with curious eyes but the two ignored them.

"We need to find a place to stay." Sayuri said, hand tightening over the strap of her bag.

Sasuke looked around him, being the taller of the two, eyes landing on a hotel further down the road. "There." he nodded up ahead and the two quickly made their way there.

An elderly gentleman with a small scowl looked up from his paper eying the two newcomers. "May I help you."

"We need a place to stay." Sasuke spoke up. On his right Sayuri stood a couple of feet away, looking around, noticing a small restaurant further down the hall.

The old man's green eyes slid from the tall long haired man to the young woman standing next to him. "This isn't a brothel."

"What!?" Sayuri exclaimed waving her hands. "No! We're-"

"Married." Sasuke cut her off. He ignored the look she sent his way. "We have been traveling for a while and we need a place to stay."

What the fuck does he think he's doing!? Sayuri thought biting her lip.

The man pursed his lips, eyes shifting from the man to the woman. "You're married…" he repeated incredulous. The two were a considerable distance apart, and the woman looked like she wanted to murder the tall man. "Really now?" he was not amused.

Screw it! Sayuri thought and trying to not look so stiff, inched closer to the Uchiha, gripping his black cloak. "Please, we're tired and cold. You see we came from the outskirts of the Lightning Country, our village was destroyed by a fire and he found a job at the Land of Earth. We're only going to stay a couple of nights, just to regain our energy before we continue on our journey."

Raising a brow the old man looked at the tall man who stood, a bit stiff at the proximity. However the woman was easy on the eyes, and when she pleaded with those big blue eyes of hers, it only made her seem more appealing. "All right." he said, and turned to get a key. "You two got lucky too, there's a snow storm coming and all of my rooms had already been rented out, but I have one more." He placed the key. "How long is your stay?"

"A week." Sasuke answered taking a small pouch out. "How much?"

"180,000 yen."

Sayuri's mouth dropped open. "Come again?"

"Here." Sasuke quickly paid for the room and got the key from the man that happily counted the money. "Let's go." he gently guided her down the hall leading her to their room on the third floor of the building.

"He's charging nearly 30,000 yen a night!" she hissed and waited for Sasuke to open the door, following him inside.

"I'll just tell Kakashi to reimburse me." Replied the Uchiha.

"And what was that!?" She said dropping her pack unceremoniously on the ground turning to Sasuke who closed the door behind him. "Why the hell did you tell him we were married!?" The jutsu disappearing leaving the real her to stand across from the now normal Sasuke.

"He thought you were a prostitute." he shrugged. "I rectified the situation without drawing too much attention to ourselves."

"Are you kidding me!? You could have said we were siblings!"

"Does the idea of being married to me bother you that much?" he asked eyes narrowed down at her. Sayuri's eyes widened and she opened and closed her mouth but nothing came out. She was left speechless. "Forget I said anything." he said gruffly and turned to the room. "There's only one bed."

Turning her attention to the room she bit her lip. "Well...at least there's a couch" she said, looking at the piece of furniture, that looked anything but comfortable.

"I'll take the couch." he offered.

Watching him set his bag down, Sayuri tugged at the sleeve of her coat. "How about we take turns?"

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Turns?"

"It wouldn't be fair if I took the bed during our stay when you paid for the room." She said trying to ignore the fact that she felt sorry for her earlier outburst. No! He's dating Sakura, he really should have thought of another excuse! She reassured herself.

"Suit yourself." he said turning away from her.

Looking around she moved to open the blinds and what she saw took her by surprise. "He wasn't kidding about the snow storm." she said, in the few minutes they had been inside the building, the roads had been covered in snow, white flakes fell heavily unto the ground and some hitting the window making light tapping noises.

"Great." Sasuke mumbled and watched Sayuri lean closer to the window. This is not going to work out... He thought and moved to the bed grabbing two pillows, and the extra blanket.

A.N.

Thank you so much for the reviews! I absolutely loved them! So here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I have most of what I want to happen planned out already, so the updates will probably come faster than usual. Thank you all for the support!

Please Review! Thank you!