Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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I was informed that my summary for this story made no sense at all, so I changed that. Sorry if you guys got confused on it! I humbly apologize and I tried to correct my mistake. If I made any other mistakes please let me know and I will try my best to correct them! Thanks!

Chapter Three: Wild Animals

Sasuke woke up in a sweat. He looked around for the glass of water that was on his dresser, and when he realized he wasn't in his room he frowned. Realization dawned on him when he remembered that he had given up his room for Sakura. So now he was stuck on a straw pallet and a course, dirty blanket for warmth. He scowled as he tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position.

He finally got fed up with it and decided to reclaim his bed for his own. He threw off the offensive material and stalked next door to his bedroom. He opened the door without knocking and entered. Sasuke was about to shake the girl awake when he heard her whimper.

"Sasuke…No!" she was sweating profusely, and he could see that her wounds were bleeding again. "I don't…believe you! Sasuke's not…dead!" She tossed and turned, fighting off invisible enemies. "Sasuke! Sasuke!" By now she was shouting his name.

As Sasuke hovered over her bed, hand outstretched to wake her up, she suddenly shot up, breathing hard.

"Sasuke!" Sakura didn't know where she was. All she could see was a dark figure hovering over her, his arm outstretched as if to attack her. She screamed, but it was cut off as his hand covered her mouth.

"Would you shut up already? You're going to wake up the entire house!"

Sakura's eyes widened when she recognized the voice. Sasuke…what's he doing here? she asked herself.

"Are you going to be quiet now?" Sasuke asked in a hiss.

She nodded her head, and Sasuke let go of her.

"That's better." He stood up to his full imposing height as he towered over her.

Sakura glanced at him, and then evaded his eyes as she blushed. "Sasuke…what are you doing here?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke looked down at himself, and then he swallowed quickly, now knowing what she was blushing at. He had forgotten to put his clothes back on and was now sporting his cream-colored shorts…and nothing else.

Sasuke folded his arms over his bare chest. Sakura conveniently made a point to look at her fingers.

"Hn. I want my bed back."

Sakura's eyes shot to his. "Well then where am I supposed to sleep?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Anywhere you want. The bed is mine, however."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I thought you said not to leave this room?"

"Hn. I meant anywhere you want within this room." Sakura harrumphed as she crawled out of the warm bed and stood shivering while Sasuke usurped her place.

He turned his back to her and ignored her. Soon she heard his even breathing, indicating that he was asleep. Sakura glanced at the door. It was still open. She wondered if she could make a break for it…and took a step towards the door. When she didn't hear anything, she cautiously and noiselessly padded to the door, but before she could leave the room Sasuke spoke.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. There are many…wild animals…out there that would enjoy having you for breakfast."

Sakura glared, then slammed the door. She made sure she made enough noise as possible as she made her way to the corner of the room and curled up into a little ball. She lay there for a full hour before falling into a fitful slumber.

Sakura woke up, feeling horrible, with her wounds throbbing. She was surprised, though, that her chakra had already came back to her. She could feel it flowing through her veins. She sighed in contentment as she sent it to her various wounds. Her shoulder wound took the longest and the most chakra to heal.

Once she was done healing she noticed that Sasuke wasn't there. She got up and walked around the small room to get the stiffness out of her limbs. As she was walked around the door opened and Sasuke entered the room.

Sakura's heart immediately began to beat faster, especially when Sasuke came nearer and nearer until they were only a foot apart. Sakura swallowed nervously.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he looked her over. "You've healed yourself." It was an observation, not a question.

Sakura nodded, and then rubbed her arms to ward off the goosebumps that arose whenever Sasuke was near. She winced when she rubbed her left arm.

Sasuke saw this, and took her arm in his hands and moved so he could see it. He once again glared as he inspected the wound. "Who did this to you?" he asked.

Sakura hesitated.

"Tell me," Sasuke demanded.

Sakura still wavered. She remembered the last time he had asked her that. The person who had hurt her had gotten both of his arms broken and nearly died, thanks to Sasuke.

"Sakura."

"Sasuke," she said, pulling her arm out of his grasp. "It doesn't matter. It was an accident. He didn't mean to do it."

"Was it the guy who replaced me?"

"Sai? No, it wasn't him. Look, Sasuke-"

"How about that new captain?"

"It wasn't Yamato."

Sasuke's eyes glittered dangerously. "So it was Naruto."

"Sasuke, I told you it's not important."

Sasuke ignored her. "What happened?"

Sakura sighed. She knew that she might as well tell him. He wouldn't stop pestering her about it otherwise. "Well, I guess I'll start at the beginning."

Sakura walked over to the bed, and motioned for Sasuke to do the same. When he didn't move she said, "Please, it's hard for me to concentrate with you towering over me like that."

Sasuke sat down, and when Sakura spoke he didn't look at her, but rather seemed very interested in the opposite wall.

"Thank you," she whispered, and then started her explanation. "Naruto and I were assigned a mission, with Sai acting in your stead and Yamato substituting for Kakashi."

"What happened to Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, interrupting her.

"He was…hurt," Sakura said, not wanting to go into detail. When Sasuke didn't press her for details, she silently thanked him and continued. "We knew that there would be a meeting with an Akatsuki spy on a bridge-"

"How did you know?"

"From my fight with Sasori. Before he died he told me and his grandmother because we defeated him."

Sasuke looked surprised. "You defeated Sasori?"

Sakura nodded. "With the help of his grandmother. Together we took him down." Sakura seemed lost in memories until she was snapped out of it by Sasuke clearing his throat.

"Sorry. Anyways, we met the spy there, but it ended up being Kabuto. Orochimaru also showed up. The Kyuubi ended up taking over Naruto. Four tails appeared that time. I couldn't bare seeing Naruto like that, so I tried to stop him, but got hurt in the process." She gestured to her arm.

"To everyone's surprise Kabuto showed up and healed this. I remember what he said. 'Your side and mine have something in common - Akatsuki's a thorn in our side. As I see it…if you we let you live, there's a chance you might take out another Akatsuki member for us.'" Sakura ended her story and looked at Sasuke. "So you see, it wasn't Naruto's fault. He wasn't it control."

"Hn. He should have been able to control himself from hurting the people he cares about. That's a pathetic excuse."

Sakura looked deep into his eyes. "Do you think so? I think we all do things we don't mean to. We all have demons inside of us, Sasuke. Some of us just know how to deal with them better than others."

Sasuke could sense a deeper meaning entwined in her words, but didn't ask about it.

Sakura smiled then, breaking the serious mood. "Plus, it really doesn't hurt anymore. I can finish healing it by myself." For a demonstration her hand started glowing green, and she touched it to the wound. After a few moments it didn't look as raw, and it looked healed. But the scars were still there.

When Sakura was done, Sasuke stood up. He handed her a pack and said, "Get up and follow me. Unless you'd rather stay here." Sasuke left the room, not looking back. Sakura quickly jumped up and followed him, putting the pack on her back.

Sakura walked quietly behind Sasuke in the dimly lit corridor. It was silent but for the barely audible creak of the lanterns hanging from the ceiling and the steady drip drip of the leaky foundation.

Sakura repressed a shudder. It was utterly and completely creepy down here. How can Sasuke live like this? she asked herself.

She stared at said boy. No, she corrected herself. Not a boy…yet not a man. Said boy/man invaded her thoughts as Sasuke led her down a labyrinth of corridors and hallways, all of them dark and cold. It seemed to go on and on to Sakura, but in reality it was only fifteen minutes.

They finally came to a set of stairs, leading to a platform about five square feet and a bolted iron door at the end. Sasuke touched the door with his fingertips.

"Stand back," he ordered. Sakura could see intricate carvings etched into the door. She was about to ask what Sasuke was doing when she heard the high-pitched sound of a thousand birds.

Chidori? What is Sasuke doing? she asked herself.

She could see the electric-blue chakra forming around his hands. Sasuke sent it through his fingertips and so on through the door. When the chidori traveled through it, Sakura could see the carvings moving, almost as if the chidori was unlocking it. The entire process took little more than a minute.

When Sasuke stepped back the heavy metal door swung slowly open, and sunlight filtered through opening. Sakura blinked, and held up her hand in front of her face to shield her eyes from the unexpected light.

Sakura followed Sasuke through the door and outside, the door swinging shut behind them.

Sakura looked at the narrow pathway, barely distinguishable unless you were specifically looking for it. She looked at the surrounding foliage. It was a thick forest, with the trees and plants so close together that you couldn't see past the first layer. The vegetation was wet and tropical, so it must rain a lot here.

"Sasuke, where are we going?"

He didn't look back as he replied. "Sound village."

"Why?"

Sasuke sighed. "Orochimaru sent me to show you around."

Sakura frowned as she jogged to catch up to him. "He sent you? Doesn't he have subordinates to do things like that? I can't imagine you agreeing to something so trivial as that."

Sasuke spared her a glance. "Trivial?" Sasuke smirked as he looked back ahead. "You'll see."

Sakura's frown deepened. What is Sasuke talking about? Sakura mulled over this for several minutes, providing Sasuke with the silence he wanted.

Sasuke's thoughts went to his summoning from Orochimaru earlier on that morning.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, sheer contempt laced through his words.

Everyone knew that Sasuke was not a morning person. Combine that with severe lack of sleep and an annoying kunoichi and you've got one pissed of shinobi.

Kabuto sighed.

"Sasuke, you should learn to respect Orochimaru-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke growled as he folded his arms over his chest in a defiant stance.

Orochimaru just grinned his maniacal grin. "Sasuke…"

Sasuke spared the Sannin a glance.

"I have a mission for you."

"A mission?" Sasuke echoed, frowning. What's up with that? thought Sasuke. I never get missions. That's for the sound-nins.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"You are to deliver a message to the Hokage. You-"

"No."

Kabuto stepped in. "Sasuke, don't interrupt Orochimaru like that!"

"Hn." Sasuke turned to go.

"Sasuke," Orochimaru said, making Sasuke stop. "As I was saying, you won't have to enter the village. Just get close enough to send a messenger bird and then you can leave."

As much as Sasuke didn't want to agree, he knew that he had to. For now, Orochimaru was in charge. For now.

After Orochimaru gave Sasuke the message and he memorized it, Sasuke turned to leave. Orochimaru turned to Kabuto.

"Kabuto."

"Hai, Orochimaru?" Kabuto stood at attention.

"I want you to send the kunoichi to Sound village. Let her get a feel of her new home…and it's inhabitants." Sasuke's ears pricked up and he stopped at the sound of "kunoichi". Orochimaru continued, either not noticing Sasuke's lack of movement or ignoring it. "Have three of the sound nins escort her. And make sure she knows what will happen if she tries to escape." Orochimaru said that last sentence with joyful malice that had Sasuke clenching his fists.

Sasuke turned around. "Are you really going to send Sakura with a pack of wolves while she is the helpless lamb?"

Orochimaru grinned, and Kabuto smirked. "Why Sasuke," Orochimaru crooned. "I didn't know you cared."

"Hn. I don't. I just thought you needed her unharmed."

Orochimaru shrugged. "I don't care what happens to her as long as she's alive."

"But those guys will destroy her!" Sasuke tried to contain his rage, but it overpowered him. He forced himself to calm down and not to show any weaknesses, especially in front of them.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

Sasuke inwardly swore. He knew they were goading him. "Hn. I could care less what happens to her. But you risk war with Konoha if she dies. You realize that, right?"

Orochimaru sighed. "Fine. Kabuto, you will escort-"

"I'll take her."

"But, Sasuke, you have a mission."

Sasuke shrugged. "She'll come with me."

Kabuto narrowed his eyes. "And what's to prevent her from escaping?"

Sasuke turned his back to them and walked out of the room. Before he left, however, they heard him say, "…I'll kill her myself."

With the tone that he used they had no doubt that he would.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when Sakura gasped and grabbed his arm, pointing. "Look Sasuke!"

He looked in the direction she was pointing and frowned. It was a pair of glowing yellow eyes, looking directly at them. He shrugged her off.

"Knock it off! It's just an animal. Ignore it and it won't harm you."

Sakura, not wanting to show she was scared, nodded, and tried her best to ignore the staring eyes.

She held her breath as they walked past them, and, though the eyes followed them, their owner did nothing.

Sakura let out her breath when she could no longer feel them watching her. "Phew! That was close! Now I know what you mean about wild animals."

Sasuke looked at her. "That wasn't one of the 'wild animals' I was referring to."

"What-"

"Never mind. Just be quiet, will you?"

Sakura tried not to let the hurt show in her eyes, but it came anyways. She slumped her head and stared at the ground, fiddling with the front of her shirt.

They continued on the narrow pathway for a full fifteen minutes before Sakura couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed. Well, he had enjoyed the silence while it lasted. A part of him, buried way down deep, wanted, no craved, to hear her voice. He squashed that annoying part of him that, no matter what, he could not get rid of.

"What?"

"How much further is it?"

"Not much farther."

"Oh."

After two minutes Sakura was about to ask him the same question again, but abruptly the trees ended, and the road got bigger. Not far into the distance Sakura could see various huts and people milling about.

Sakura got closer to Sasuke as they neared the village. Before they entered the gates, Sasuke stopped her.

"Sakura, take off your Konoha headband."

"Why?"

Sasuke looked at her. "They will not hesitate to kill you, or worse see how much pain you can endure before you succumb to death, if they found out you were a Konoha shinobi."

Sakura's eyes widened. But instead of shaking in fear, as she would have done two years ago, she nodded, and took it off. She placed it in the pack that Sasuke had given her, and then passed through the gates.

Sound village was large, but it was quiet. The only place that was loud was the taverns that they passed. Sasuke paused in front of a rundown building.

"This is where you go to if you need medicinal supplies."

She nodded, memorizing the name and building and position it was in the city.

He crossed the street and paused before another building. He handed her some coins and told her to buy more clothes. He had another errand to run.

Sakura nodded. "Thank you, Sasuke."

Sakura went inside and purchased some new clothes. They were all black and fit her form perfectly.

When she left the store Sasuke wasn't there. Sakura frowned.

She looked both ways and didn't see him anywhere. She started walking back towards the gates when he way was suddenly blocked.

Sakura gasped as she took in the sight. She was surrounded by eight men, all of them leering at her. She looked around for someone to help her, but everyone had cleared the streets at the first sign of a fight.

"Excuse me," Sakura said quietly, trying to go in between two of them. Immediately there arms shot out, barring her way.

"Let me by, please," Sakura gritted out, angry.

One of them sneered. "You're not going anywhere."

Sakura stepped back and assumed a fighting stance. "If you don't let me by I'll be forced to make you."

They all chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll give us a show."

Sakura swallowed. Where is Sasuke? she thought desperately. No! I don't need him! He's not coming! I can do this all by myself! Her face became determined.

She threw a kunai at all eight of them at once, which they all caught.

Sakura frowned. This is going to be harder than I thought.

One of them stepped up in front of her. Sakura gathered some of her chakra into her fist and swung towards him. To her surprise he didn't try to move, but rather took the punch.

Sakura grinned. "Gotcha!"

"Hn. Not quite." Sakura's eyes widened when her fist didn't just collide with his cheek, but was absorbed by it. It was like punching gooey mud. It hardened when it engulfed her hand and her forearm.

"What the-" Sakura tugged on her arm, but it wouldn't budge. She didn't want to try and punch it off, on the off-chance that that arm would get stuck too.

Sakura swore. She tugged and tugged, but her arm wouldn't break free. The man whom she had tried to punch and turned entirely into this gooey, sticky substance.

The men around her just laughed.

One of them, apparently the leader, stepped forward. "Mmm. You look tasty." He licked his lips suggestively. Sakura repressed a shudder. Man this guy's creepy!

Sakura took out a kunai and began hacking away to get her arm free. But whenever a chunk fell off, a new chunk replaced it right away.

The men slowly advanced towards her. She looked at them. Their eyes all gleamed maliciously. They had a…feral…look to them. As if they were wild animals.

As they drew nearer her, Sakura closed her eyes and began concentrating her chakra into the hand that was caught. Concentrate. Don't let them intimidate you. Concentrate.

She could feel their shadows on her. She could smell their putrid stench. She could hear their ragged breathing as they closed in for the kill.

She opened her eyes. Chakra shot out of her palm, making the hard substance explode.

She looked the leader square in the eye. "I will not be your prey." She bit out every word, and then spat at him.

"Why you-"

"Is there a problem here?" A cold voice asked. The men surrounding Sakura all turned to face the raven-haired boy.

Sasuke had his arms crossed and had a bored, yet annoyed, look upon his face.

The leader was about to say something, but hesitated when he saw who he was. The man's eyes widened, and sweat beaded his brow.

"We-we were just having a little fun," the man said.

Sasuke sighed. "Do you know who that is?" he asked, indicating Sakura.

The man shook his head.

"She is Orochimaru's new apprentice."

The men's faces blanched and they all took on a look of fear.

"We didn't know. We'll be leaving now." They hurriedly turned to leave, but Sasuke stopped them.

"It would be wise to be cautious in the future."

The leader nodded, and then they all jumped off.

Sakura stood there, still holding a kunai and in a defensive stance. She relaxed when she realized that they were gone.

She wiped her forehead, where she had been sweating. Her hand was throbbing, and so she healed it.

Sasuke sighed. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes without getting into trouble."

"It wasn't my fault! Those men were like-"

"-wild animals?" Sasuke interrupted.

Sakura closed her mouth. So that's what Sasuke was warning me about.

Sakura bowed her head. "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful in the future."

Sasuke nodded, and then turned to leave. Sakura quickly caught up to him.

"Sasuke?"

"…"

"Where did you go?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Hn. That's none of your business."

"Oh."

Sasuke looked at the hurt in her eyes. "I went to talk to someone quickly. I thought you wouldn't be done by the time I got back."

It was the closest thing to an apology that Sakura would get. Sakura nodded her head, and smiled.

"Thanks. Don't worry next time, Sasuke. I can take care of myself. I had those guys! You should have seen me! I-"

"Sakura."

"Yes?"

"Save your breath for the journey."

"Journey?" Sakura echoed.

"We're taking a slight detour back home."

"Where to?"

"Konoha."

Sakura stopped. "Does this mean….Does this mean that you're taking me back?"

Sasuke kept going, not looking back. "No. I just have to deliver a message."

"But-"

"Sakura, don't even think of escaping." This time he did turn around and face her. "Like I told Orochimaru. If you attempt to escape, I'll kill you. If you do escape, I'll hunt you down and kill you. Don't try to escape."

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat. "Sasuke…"

But Sasuke was already turned around and walking away. Sakura hesitated before following him. Sasuke…what kind of darkness are you in?

Sakura didn't know the answer to that, but she vowed that she would save him from it.

Well here's another chapter! Sorry for the delay. I got a bunch of ideas for other stories and kind of lost my inspiration for this one. But don't worry I'll still finish it! I'm not a quitter! (Plus it pisses me off when authors do that so I would never do that to you guys!) Anyways, special thanks to:

FaitaGirl- I so know what you mean about poorly written fanfics…not saying that mine are any better you know just my opinion after all. Thanks for the compliments (I'm blushing)

Kunoichi142- Well I hate it when stories are written horribly so I try not to do that. I try to keep the character in character, but sometimes it's hard to write what you want to write without making them a little OOC so I apologize in advance if I do that. I'm glad that I didn't have any errors! (more balloons and confetti)

mia14conchelez- of course I made Sakura tough! I'm sick of her being portrayed as weak and helpless (even though she kind of is in the anime/manga but oh well!) She did get a lot stronger though, so I'm showing that side of her. And I don't think Sakura will ever stop loving Sasuke. She's shown that ever since the beginning of the show, she was willing to die for him (and if that's not love baby I don't know what is!)

InuyashaLover167- thanks for answering the question about AU. Wow I'm so behind on those terms! I have to get right on that! And of course Sasuke cares (he just doesn't show it)

darknesses-light- Yes a new story by me! I just don't know what to do with myself if I'm not writing a story! I always have all of these ideas swirling around in my noggin so I thought I'd put them to good use! Yes I am finally done with finals and yah I did pretty good! Second highest grade on my history final for all of the classes so I'm psyched about that!

Neko's Snow- Sorry if the last chapter was a bit slow. I'll try to put more action and stuff in them! If you have any suggestions you can always tell me (not promising that I'll put them in my story, but at least they're there if I ever need them!)

rebel-girl- Hmm…I've never read that story…perhaps I should check it out…What line are you talking about? I apologize if it sounded like I copied or something but I swear I didn't!

she who loves gaara- I'm happy that you think it's beautiful!

Ur2tRoUbLeSoMe90- Thanks! I'll try to update sooner (but the chapters are a lot longer now so I'm putting a lot of effort into them!)

C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only- Oh okay I thought you thought my story was crap or something! (thank you for clearing that up!)

TinhThuyVan- Well if Sasuke is mean that means he's in character: ) Don't worry Sakura is brave, she just has her moments!

Nickel1984- Thanks!

M Warrior- Thank you very much! I will now be putting in the line thingys (do they have a technical name???) Very helpful and hopefully less confusing for you guys now!