have you ever noticed southern skies?

its precious beauty lies just beyond the eye.

The room is very quiet, and Sakura feels as if it is the first glimpse of calm she has had the past few days.

She isn't tossing and turning, trying to force sleep. Not listening to Loki bark directions to his followers, or someone interrogating her with quick, sharp jabs. No fighting or explaining or looking to the man with gold hair and blue eyes that makes her ache with lost recognition.

Sakura begins to cry, silently.

They're not of sadness or despair - no, she's just thoroughly exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally, each part of her is sore.

They are not tears of self-pity. Those are not in need of shedding.

They climb down her cheeks slowly, and the only noise coming from her mouth is the occasional sharp exhale or shuttering inhale.

She swipes them away gently as she begins undressing, throwing her blazer and pants carelessly onto the bed.

Sakura counts each button particularly as she takes her blouse off, taking care to breathe deeply with each quiet movement of her hands. It seems to work - she convinces herself it has worked - when her tears have abated and her breathing has calmed just as she reaches the last button.

She enters the bathroom, which lights up suddenly and makes her jump. Sakura doesn't have enough strength to question the strange technology that confronts her at every turn in this place.

Even thinking about the man in metal - Tony Stark, a voice reminds her - makes her head pound in confusion.

The bright, unforgiving lights of the bathroom make her wince harder when she sees herself in the mirror for the first time. The literal first time - since losing everything but her name and instincts.

Her hair strikes her, immediately. It reaches just above her collarbone and is a soft pink… that, she thinks, makes her look more young and more harmless. The roundness, the openness of her eyes compliments this, but Sakura doesn't feel shame. Maybe she did, when she was— before.

But she likes to think it means her punches hit harder, landing on those expecting less of her.

She watches a satisfied smile spread on the lips of her reflection.

But her skin is dull and dirtied, her hair tangled, and she probably smells like sulphur and megalomaniac. So she hops in the shower, ensuring it is near-scalding to get rid of every inch of dirt, and rushes through the unremarkable set of soap, shampoo, and conditioner stocked within the shower.

Stepping out and wrapping a towel around herself tightly, Sakura pauses for a second before a loud curse leaves her mouth.

She doesn't have any other clothes.

But the silence is still there when she returns to the main room, and it makes her chest itch uncomfortably, so she only grumbles for a moment before forcing herself to put the pants and blouse back on. The blazer stays, crumpled, on her bed as she leaves the room and turns to her immediate right.

There is a slight scramble from behind the other door when she knocks on it briskly, and Sakura grins wryly to herself.

She finds an odd familiarity with Steve, in his humility and charming awkwardness and his willingness to trust her. And, as she'd said to him, it was a kindness that she really didn't think she deserved.

But empathy and compassion seems to weave through his blood and bones, and she knows she'll have to fuck up royally to lose her precariously-earned trust.

Sakura can't help but admire him greatly. It could be seen as a weakness, to others, to let empathy guide you at times.

Sakura thinks Steve is probably one of the strongest people she's ever met. Ever will meet.

Her rambling thoughts are interrupted by the opening of the door in front of her, upon which she sends a soft smile to the man in front of her.

Whose bare torso is only covered by the shirt he holds in front of him.

Why the fuck is everyone here unnaturally gorgeous?

Steve feels heat rise on the back of his neck as Sakura's smile falters, her gaze dropping to his chest before snapping up to his face and staying there.

Nobody ever knocks in this damn place, so he was caught off guard and feeling frantic and yes he should have pulled his shirt on—

"Ah. Um," Sakura says suddenly - purposefully, probably to break the awkward air around them. He quickly pulls his shirt on as she continues, "I was hoping we could, ah, find me a change of clothes?" Her voice rises a bit at the end, and he notices her biting her lip again.

A part of Steve wants to go back in the ice. Maybe, then, his neck and face wouldn't feel like they're burning.

Instead, he forces a grin, saying, "Y-yes! Yeah. Um… I think we'll have to find Agent Romanoff for that. But I can point things out as we pass by. Sound good?" Sakura nods eagerly, and he feels guilty that he didn't think to grab her a change of clothes before she washed up.

But he pushes this worry to the back of his mind, striding forward and deciding that their best chance at finding Natasha is walking around and hoping they stumble in to her.

Every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent they pass straightens upon seeing him, and send him a grateful nod and salute. When their gaze shifts to Sakura, their smiles tighten and they don't nod at her.

Steve glances at her every now and then, but she doesn't seem too put out by this. More so, her attention is focused on everything else moving around her - the panels within the walls, the automatic doors, the windows that show them just how high up they are.

"It's pretty crazy, huh?" He finds himself saying, and her gaze travels to him. It is filled with some confusion, but mainly a near-childlike awe that makes his lips twitch into a smile. "All the advancements they've made… it's a lot to take in."

"Mhmm… Everything is… impressive, to say the least," Sakura nods slowly, eyes darting to her hands before back to him, "If… if I'm honest - nothing looks familiar. But not just because I, uhm, have amnesia," She rushes to say, just as this very thought crosses his mind.

"I mean," Sakura looks nervous to speak, and Steve stops walking. She turns to him, words on the ip of her tongue and a question in her eye, but Steve looks at her seriously before placing a hand on her shoulder.

The pink-haired woman beside him seems to hold herself back from flinching at the unexpected contact, but Steve can feel when she relaxes under his hand. The question is still in her gaze.

"Whatever you need to say - if it'll help us get you your memory back, don't be afraid to tell me, Sakura," His tone is assured, and he can only hope that Sakura is willing to be as open with him as possible. It'll only make everything easier.

She holds his gaze, and Steve can tell she is considering his words. Sakura seems to come to a conclusion - a positive one, thankfully - as she continues in a more subdued tone, "The… the t-technology, here," The word seems near-foreign on her tongue, Steve notes, "It doesn't even… nothing is registering. There are things that feel familiar, and things I can mostly recognize, and…"

Sakura trails off, struggling to find the right words for only a moment. But she seems to find them, and says, "Wherever I'm from… it's wildly different from this place, Steve."

Steve slowly removes his hand from her shoulder, furrowing his brow slightly as he takes in Sakura's decisive statement. Part of him wants to say she's simply from a less-developed country, and anyone there would be astounded at the technological advancements surrounding them as they speak.

But part of him knows it's never really that simple.

Sakura crosses her arms in front of her, eyes leaving his form to watch a group of agents - with their nods and then salutes and then non-reactions - pass by. The little bit of unfiltered, honest vulnerability she has just shown Steve seems to have made her nervous again.

He debates, internally, how to respond as they continue their journey through the winding halls of the helicarrier. They are just passing the main eating area, filled with buzzing conversations and the clinking of metal, when he decides on what to say. He tries to keep his tone clipped and impersonal, knowing that leaving anything else offers others the opportunity to pity him. That's not something he needs.

"I was born in 1918. Crashed in the Arctic in '45, stayed frozen for 70 years. Not much was the same when I woke up. People, places, how you went about your day… It was all different."

Sakura's eyes are focused intently on his profile, but Steve purposefully hasn't looked her way, choosing to look forward and continue their gradual advancement through the ship. He really hopes she isn't aware of his story already. It's embarrassing enough to say it, and makes feel Steve as if he's reciting a plaque set underneath an exhibit detailing the unbelievable rise and fall (and rise, he supposes) of Captain America.

Not Steve Rogers.

"…I'm sorry."

Steve doesn't realize his body has tensed until Sakura's voice makes his shoulders relax and fists unclench. There is very little pity in her voice, and a great deal of understanding. The silence between them is more comfortable, now.

They reach the area of the helicarrier that contains the expansive labs and research areas, and Steve stumbles through unsure explanations of what the people around them are doing. Those people are trying to track the cube, he thinks, uh- Yeah, there's a map on that screen. Those other guys are… they're also looking at a map. Ok, then, they're… measuring…

Steve gives up on trying to offer explanations when Sakura begins to laugh lightly at his perplexed expression. He can only offer a mumbled apology, that she shakes off with the wave of a hand. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops as her eyes are drawn to something ahead of them. Steve follows her gaze to see Agent Romanoff standing in front of a specific lab, staring in with a slight smirk.

"Agent," Steve starts, stepping towards the red-haired woman. She acknowledges him without a glance, offering a sharp nod, her attention still focused on whatever is occurring within the room ahead of her.

Steve glances in quickly, vaguely noting Sakura and Natasha greeting each other, only to tense up as he sees Tony purposefully aggravating a unsure-looking Bruce.

Bruce. The only man, that Steve knows of, that turns into an uncontrollable green giant when aggravated.

Steve feels a migraine coming on.

He makes a move to step in, immediately, unafraid to confront Stark's ignorantly endangering attitude, but hesitates when he remembers the lost woman he's supposed to be guiding around.

He turns over his shoulder to face the two women behind him, one who meets his gaze with the cool raise of a brow, the other who tilts her head ever-so-slightly in question.

Natasha can seemingly sense the obvious internal debate facing Steve - he was assigned to help Sakura out but there's also the problem of a maybe-Hulk maybe-transforming behind him - and sends him a silent nod. Steve sends a grateful one back, gaze returning to Sakura's curious one. His body has blocked her from seeing in to the situation occurring behind him.

"I, ah… I've got to ask Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner a couple questions. Uhm, we can pick the tour up after…? I'll find you, and we can- I can finish showing you around. I'm sorry, Sakura," He says, sincerely, knowing he's probably the person she is most comfortable around. Steve can tell that Sakura doesn't believe his excuse, but she thankfully doesn't question it for now.

Instead, she smiles at him and nods, and Steve sends her a grateful half-smile before he turns around and heads into the established workspace of the two scientists.

He can only hope there is still a workspace left.

Natasha held back an exasperated sigh, only her familiarity with the whims and egos of the men around her preventing it from being released. Years of working at S.H.I.E.L.D., and days of working around the other members of their little hero-team have made her nearly desensitized.

Nearly.

But Natasha decides to let the boys work it out amongst themselves, and focuses her attention on the fidgeting woman beside her.

Fury placing some amount of trust in Sakura makes Natasha less suspicious of the girl, but there will not be a moment she lets down her entire guard. There are too many loose threads and unanswered questions for that.

Still, Nat can - at the very least - act welcoming to her, and she sends Sakura a smile, receiving a hesitant one in return. She takes in the uncomfortable set of the pink-haired woman's shoulders, the tiredness of her gaze, and… the fact she is wearing the same clothing she arrived in.

Natasha sighs audibly this time, clucking her tongue slightly.

"Ok, let's get you some different clothes. Ones that stretch a bit more, preferably," Sakura nods enthusiastically at this, and Natasha smiles slightly at her eagerness to get out of the worn, dirty pant-blouse combo.

Nat isn't one for very much small talk, so they head towards the storage area in silence. She opens the password-locked door with quick fingers, chuckling under her breath at Sakura's whispered "wow" at the sight of the massive room, stocked wall-to-wall with everyday supplies for those onboard. It's really nothing compared to the weapon storage area.

But Natasha stays quiet, instead moving to the wall made up of sliding panel doors and electronic screens. They open with the press of a button, to shelves filled with carefully-folded, crisp uniforms. The ones in front of them are for S.H.I.E.L.D. employees specifically, so Natasha flicks the screen, allowing the shelves to rotate until they arrive at the uniforms intended for the Black Widow.

She glances at Sakura, who quickly shuts her open jaw with an embarrassed look. Everything seems to impress the pink-haired woman, easily, a fact that Natasha files away into her ever-increasing observations of the girl. Combat-trained, amnesiac, unknown powers, unfamiliar with modern technology, appeared from the Tesseract…. Loki probably has a less complicated backstory, she thinks wryly.

"This is all mine. I think we're around the same size, so just choose whichever you'd like," Natasha says, thumbing through some of the folded bodysuits mildly. Sakura looks at her with a small, eager smile and replies, "Thank you," before stepping closer to pick through the clothing.

It takes only a moment for something to catch her eye, it seems, as she kneels down to grab something from the very bottom shelf. Natasha can't help but laugh when she sees the chosen piece.

"A lot of people here like the whole monochromatic thing, but I had to say no to wearing something the same colour as my hair," She says, taking in the deep maroon bodysuit, similar to hers in the top and pants, but with a mid-thigh length leather skirt overlayed. The extra layer appears useless, but Natasha knows it is there to hide more weapons than humanly necessary.

Sakura looks to her, asking silently if her choice is alright, and Natasha nods to appease the excited look in her eye, "Go ahead, it's yours." The younger girl (she thinks the pink-haired woman must be younger) stands up quickly, sending her a wide smile and a genuine, "Thank you very much, Agent Romanoff."

Natasha accepts the gratitude with the vague wave of a hand, but her attention shifts when she feels a dull buzz on her wrist. She looks to the device there, and realizes it is a message from Nick.

'Thor's given us all he knows. Head in.'

His vague phrasing doesn't hide the meaning of his words, and Natasha inhales deeply before she lets out a silent breath. She pastes a smile on her face before she looks to the girl in front of her.

"Sorry for the repeat, but I've got to go. Director Fury needs me for something. I can walk you to your room, though, and you can get changed and wait for Steve to grab you," Natasha explains, shutting the panel to the clothing storage and leading them out of the room, "Not that we don't trust you on your own, but-"

"But you don't trust me on my own. Not yet," Sakura finishes, and Natasha can't help but smirk at the frankness in her town. She's glad Sakura is smart enough to know her little tour guides aren't just there for sightseeing purposes, but as safeguards.

She hopes Sakura doesn't turn out to be bad, because she's starting to like the girl.

"Not yet," Natasha affirms, and they are silent again for the rest of their walk.

The outfit isn't nearly as squeaky as she was expecting it to be.

No, wait- Sakura rubs her calves together. No squeak at all. Huh.

Wherever she is, another place or time or world, they have a knack for making shiny leather outfits entirely silent.

And it is absolutely more comfortable than the things Loki put her in, Sakura notes as she twists and turns in the bathroom the mirror. The colour is nice, too. She thinks it suits her.

But there is only so much time Sakura wants to devote to looking at herself, so she turns the light off and enters the muted bedroom. It's been about 20 minutes since Agent Romanoff dropped her off, and she can't help the antsy feeling developing in her stomach. There is no windows in the room, and the dull grey walls are starting to remind her a little too much of the walls of the interrogation rooms.

She worries her lip between her teeth, knowing that she is supposed to stay in the room unless she has an escort. It's more of an indirect order, honestly.

But…

But she hasn't eaten yet, right?

Yeah, no one can fault her for wandering the halls in search of food. And no one could know she's memorized the route to the cafeteria. No harm, no foul, she assures herself.

And she assures herself it is not suspicious glances she throws either way when leaving her room. No, she is not checking that the coast is clear.

Absolutely not.

Sakura moves quickly and silently, not entirely sure what her final destination is intended to be. She doesn't know the passcodes to get into the more high-security areas, nor does she really want to go to the lab where Steve was… asking questions.

Except-

Steve is in front of her when she rounds the corner, sending glances she would definitely classify as suspicious in either direction before entering a dimly-lit hallway. She hesitates for only a moment before following with quiet footsteps, knowing she should probably just go find some food. Her curiosity betrays her.

Sakura watches in fascination as Steve pries open a goddamn door, and holds her breath when he turns ti stare directly at the patch of shadows Sakura has hidden herself in. That same breath is released soundlessly when he turns back around and enters what seems to be a large storage area.

God, she should really just turn back around and pretend she didn't see anything. She can feel her adrenaline begin to rise, seeing Steve jump up and onto a metal walkway before disappearing around a corner.

Sakura curses under her breath, hoping she's got a strong enough understanding of her power as she directs in to her legs and feet. She crouches for a brief moment, before leaping and landing - silently, thank god - on the same walkway.

She is careful not to rattle the metal under her feet as she heads in the direction Steve traveled, sticking to the shadows once more when she sees his still figure in front of a set of boxes placed on a table. Knowing he is unaware of her presence, Sakura steps forward slightly, obtaining an unobstructed view of the content of the box as Steve lifts the lid.

In it, a set of weapons and mask sit, all in matching matte black shades. This seems to upset the Captain, as his entire body stiffens and he looks up and to his left. The discovery means little to Sakura, but for it to affect Steve so visibly, it must-

"Sakura?"

"Fuck."

Steve ignores her blunt curse, his pulse beating through his ears acting as a distraction.

He cannot… no, no, he can.

He can absolutely believe S.H.I.E.L.D. has been messing with stuff they shouldn't have. They pulled the Tesseract from the ocean, so it's pretty obvious they're operating on less-than-oustanding morals.

"How did you get— you shouldn't have followed me," He finds himself saying, but isn't really able to be as upset as he probably should be at having Sakura going after him. The goddamn HYDRA weapon he now holds in his grasp is a far more troubling matter.

Sakura seems to sense his half-hearted anger, as her eyes are trained on the weapon in his hands. She doesn't cut corners when she asks, "What does that… what does it mean?"

Steve's jaw clenches as the disgust stewing in his stomach rises, and he responds tensely, "It means S.H.I.E.L.D. had other intentions." He advances forward, pausing only as he reaches Sakura's side. Her eyes have darkened at his serious reply, and he's grateful, for a brief moment, that she is able to pick up on things rather easily.

The less time he wastes explaining, the better.

Steve thinks for a moment, before he says decidedly, "…Follow me."

He walks with quick, purposeful steps towards the lab, feeling Sakura closely at his heels.

He feels so stupid, naive to think for a moment that S.H.I.E.L.D. were operating with only the best interest in mind. No, their interest took priority. And as that interest involves meddling in HYDRA weaponry, it isn't one that Steve can stand back and ignore.

He can hear Fury and Tony speaking as they near the lab, recognizing the latter's voice asking, "And what exactly is Phase 2?" Steve enters without hesitating, throwing down the HYDRA weapon and announcing that as Phase 2.

"Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me," He says, clenching his teeth as Fury steps forward to offer some ingenue excuse about gathering information-

"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony interrupts, sliding down from his seated position on the table. He turns a screen around so the rest of the room can take in the blueprints of weapons assembling themselves on the computer.

It makes Steve's blood boil.

Tony's serious, cutting tone is directed solely at the director, as he says, "What were you lying?"

Sakura finds herself lost, again.

Not physically, this time. But the sudden rush of discoveries and accusations and pointed tones seem to be falling in to place all at once, and she can only stand back and observe as the tension in the room rises drastically.

From what she's gathered through their inclusion in her interrogation questions, and the poison in the voices of those that speak it's name, HYDRA was a very, very bad group. A group that stands for everything S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't.

So for the organization to be using their technology… it isn't a good thing.

A rudimentary, simple conclusion, but it is the only one she can reach with all the unanswered questions rattling around in her mind. Thor and Agent Romanoff enter, then, and this only seems to escalate the situation, as the red-haired woman's… suggestion towards Bruce leaving is not very well received.

Sakura feels a throbbing begin in the centre of her forehead, but her small grunt of pain is ignored as the confrontation gets more and more intense. People begin to talk over one another, voices rising, bodies moving closer together in hopes of intimidating the other.

There is a lull in the arguments that is quickly filled when Steve and Tony begin trading sharp, deceptively-calm remarks, the tone of their voice and the burning of their eyes betraying the obvious discord between the two.

Sakura dully notes that she felt a similar way when face-to-face with the Tesseract, but she is having trouble identifying how that connects to this moment, or the root cause of the pain in general. It is far too severe, far too focused a pain to simply be as a result of the bickering around her.

Steve's voice momentarily cuts through the pulsating in her head, "…ut on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

Whoever responds to this is unintelligible, as her ears have begun to buzz and the static in her forehead makes her gaze swim and stomach churn.

Sakura is forced to shut her eyes, and she thinks she may have let out a loud noise of pain, as there is a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment. It's gone the next, distracted by the beeping of something that sounds, to Sakura, as if it is very far away.

Eyes closed, images flicker against her eyelids, moving so fast they are hard to grasp.

There is a rush of light, and then distinct flashes of colour. A large figure, dark energy, pain, the buzzing in her ears getting louder and louder, stars burning, planets dissolving, shapes breaking apart then coming together-

Then, finally, a singular stone. Beating with a bright, orange light.

And then the world around her is exploding, and Sakura finds herself hitting a wall.

/an/

sorry this is a little later than other updates ! it's my longest chapter yet - double some earlier ones ! - and i needed everything in this chapter to be in this chapter (if that makes sense hah). thank you for the follows and favourites and reviews - a special thanks to rimk10 and musicmiss18, whose reviews motivated me greatly! they really do make a difference in my writing, so please drop a review if you enjoyed the chapter!

also - would people be interested in a kingsman x naruto crossover ? i've had a concept floating through my mind that i'm really interested in exploring, and i think would work well in the kingsman universe. plus eggsy x sakura sounds like the fuckin bomb.

thanks for reading !