DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Naruto"

Chapter 20: Puzzle

Sakura woke to someone nudging her shoulder, and faint voice saying her name. Her jade eyes opened heavily and then the shock hit her and she jumped. She took in her surroundings, her eyes zigzagging in all directions before finally resting on the man in front of her. She was at the camp site and the man was her old sensei, Kakashi. His visible eye watched her carefully. She noticed the concern etched in what little of his face was visible. The pounding of her heart was loud in her ears and she could feel heat radiating off of her face. Her nostrils flared and her eyes stung. She had been so close.

"I win."

"Sakura?" Kakashi whispered.

Tears spilled over the brim of her lashes. "I'm so sorry, Sensei," she choked. "I-I can't believe I fell a-asleep on my watch." Her speaking was almost incoherent.

"I can't believe you left camp on your watch," he replied grimly.

Her head snapped up to look at him. He looked so very old and weary at the moment. "Then… did you find me?"

"No," he sighed. In his head, Kakashi debated with himself whether he should tell the girl what he saw. Seeing how distraught, how broken she was made him think that maybe it would be alright to offer her some semblance of hope. "Actually, you have Sasuke to thank."

Sakura's pink brows furrowed. "What?"

"He, uh…" his hand shot up to scratch the back of his head. "He brought you back, despite the risk of getting captured."

Sakura's eyes widened. "He did?"

"He could have killed you, Sakura,"

"But he didn't!"

"Why did you go after him alone?"

She looked down, her cheeks burning uncomfortably. "I didn't intend on confronting him," she said slowly, contemplatively. "He's not coming back… I just wanted to see him."

"This is hard on all of us," Kakashi replied. "But you can't be so foolish, Sakura. If he had hurt you, I would've had no other choice than to kill him. I don't want to have to do that. Don't give him that opportunity…" he looked forward. "…he's hurt you enough already."

"What would you have me do, Sensei?" She stared solemnly at her skinned knees. "Hide when the time comes to face him? I'm apart of Team Seven, there's a risk in that alone."

"There's a difference in fighting with a team and fighting alone."

"More people to divide his attention…"

Kakashi sighed and sat beside the pink haired kunoichi. He ruffled her hair just like he used to back in her genin days. She looked up at him and gave a strained smile. Crow's-feet appeared in his eye as he smiled back.

"Get some sleep, tomorrow's a big day."

He still felt drained from his battle with Deidara, but he'd come out alive… the same couldn't be said for the Akatsuki member. No matter how exhausted he was, Karin had been right to move out, Sakura had easily found him, while they'd been camped. They couldn't risk discovery again, next time it might be Naruto or Kakashi. What would he do then? He wasn't comfortable with the idea of confronting his former teammates, they would just get in his way, prolong his battle with Itachi. He would kill them if he had to, but… oddly, he didn't want it to come to that. He admitted that somewhere deep inside he was hoping to return to Konoha after disposing of his brother. Killing anyone from the Village Hidden in the Leaves would certainly make his return anything but joyful. There would be consequences… there were already consequences he would have to pay.

Sasuke's face shifted into a slight scowl. He couldn't think about going back, not yet. He had to focus on the present and imminent danger he was about to face. He had to concentrate on being stronger than the treacherous murderer ahead of him. He had to block out thoughts of a pink haired kunoichi, which was much more difficult than it sounded. Ever since their encounter, he couldn't help but feel a bubbling of joy and a frustrating concern for her safety. Why did she have to go looking for him? Why did she have to succeed? He didn't understand why she felt the need to cling to him so tightly. He didn't understand why it gave him comfort.

He was so frustrated and angry over the emotions that found ground in his heart. They clouded his thinking ever so slightly. He didn't understand why he cared so much about her; he had tried so hard to forget her, to push her away. It only seemed the more he tried to forget her, the more he thought about her.

"Sasuke?"

He ignored Karin's obvious concern. She had no idea the gamble he had made on her life. What if Sakura had been so desperate to join him that she killed the redhead? Sasuke didn't like to think about it. For whatever reason, he was… relieved that Sakura hadn't, certainly not out of concern for Karin's wellbeing, but because Sakura hadn't changed. She had always been compassionate. He thought back to the Forest of Death when he first felt the power of the curse mark filling him with bloodlust. Sakura had been injured and the sight of it had brought rage to boil beneath Sasuke's skin. As one of the attackers arrogantly proclaimed he had harmed her, Sasuke had been more than willing to destroy him. She had stopped him. Sakura had stopped him and he didn't know how. It was like a puzzle he was trying desperately to figure out.

"Is something wrong?" Karin asked.

"Don't speak. Just keep moving," Sasuke replied tartly.

A/N: Sorry I didn't update on Sunday. I didn't take into account that I would be visiting with my brother all day. And well yesterday, I was working late. Gotta love basketball. So this is one of my shorter chapters, and for that I appologize. I was deeply lacking inspiriation. As it turns out, my mind is currently battling a vicious cycle of writers' block. I think it doesn't help that at the moment all I want to do is read. By the way, if you're looking for an new exciting read in the fantasy genre, check out "Adder's Bite: The Prince" by Cynthia Van Auken. It's like my new favorite. And if you're looking for an excellent Sasusaku fic, check out "Ripples" by YellowMask. Awesome. Anyway... let me know how you feel about this chapter. I'm trying to move along to the battle between Sasuke and Itachi, but I felt like it would be too soon to put it in this chapter. Send me some reviews. And I'll probably be updating on Tuesdays from now on. Also, I am now registered as a beta-reader, so check out my profile if your interested.

On a personal note, I'm looking for a beta-reader myself. I feel like having someone to help int he editing and idea department will help make my writing a lot crisper.

Well... until next time...