Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long. It's finals week and I'm studying really hard. Anyways hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto already so quit pestering me about it
Ch. 9: No Longer a Prisoner
They had set up camp at dusk. Sasuke wouldn't let Sakura out of his sight and no one dared give the suggestion that he should. He was definitely showing some over protective qualities. The Uchiha was sitting against a tree next to the sleeping Sakura. She was bundled up in his blankets sound asleep.
Suigetsu wasn't in any better shape. He was watching Karin. Sure he argued with her a lot but he just liked getting on everyone's nerves, especially hers. Her reactions when he goaded her was the most amusing out of the groups. And sure he had a small soft spot for her but only a little one. Besides, she was a member of his team. That meant that he would help her when she needed it even if they didn't get along. So he made sure she was comfortable and sat a few feet away from her.
This left Jugo to cook dinner. The big man had a suspicion that part of Suigetsu's reason for not helping was laziness. He had never met anyone more lazy that the swordsman. The only time you didn't have to fight to get him to move was when there was a fight involved. Then he just liked to test his skills...not to mention the guy was sadistic and little bloodthirsty at times.
After dinner they settled down for the night. Sasuke thought about where to go from here. He had to find Itachi but where to begin? He was thinking about this when his thoughts traveled to a certain pink haired girl next to him. The boy shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts and focused back on Itachi. It didn't take long for the girl to once again fill his thoughts. He sighed in frustration and stood up. Maybe a walk would clear his thoughts.
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Sasuke came to a decision. When he returned to camp Sakura was still asleep. He hesitated then picked her up and left the camp with her. About an hour later he arrived in Konoha. It was dark so no one was awake except for the few night owls. Sasuke was careful not to be seen as he traveled through his old village to Sakura's apartment.
When he got to her home he set her down on her bed. Then he just stood there for a moment and stared. Some part of him didn't want to leave her. He ruthlessly squashed that part and then left. He wouldn't regret his choice. She was a distraction and he needed to concentrate on his goal. He chose to ignore the part of him that disagreed with that statement. Besides, she was better off without him.
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Sasuke returned to camp a few hours later. They all saw the change in him. He seemed colder and more distant than ever before. When he saw that they were all awake he immediately ordered them to get up and that they were leaving. No one dared disobey him even Suigetsu. Sasuke traveled a few yards ahead of them.
"What's the matter with him?" Suigetsu asked.
"Sakura isn't here," Jugo stated.
Karin looked at the big man, "What does that have to do with anything?"
Jugo gave Karin an exasperated look, "Don't tell me you didn't notice that she made him happy on some level."
Karin looked back up at Sasuke. She thought about how he had acted before the girl joined them compared to after. Jugo was right. He had been different when she was around. The girl had made him...human. Now he was acting like he had lost the part of him that made him human instead of monster.
"As much as I hate to admit it...you're right, Jugo."
Suigetsu looked at Sasuke and said, "Great. Now he's become a slave driver."
"What do we do?" Karin asked.
"Wait and see what happens and don't do anything to piss him off," Jugo said with a pointed look at Suigetsu.
"What? Would I do something like that?" the swordsman asked with false innocence.
"Yes," Jugo and Karin said at the same time.
"You wound me with your accusations," Suigetsu said sounding hurt but the other two saw the humor in his light blue eyes.
"Yeah right. Like they aren't true dumbass," Karin said rolling her eyes.
She looked back to Sasuke. What was he thinking? If he cared for Sakura so much why did he send her away? Where did he take her? Karin watched him and began to wonder if what their leader felt for the medical nin was stronger than friendship could ever dream of being. Perhaps he was...in love with her. Karin considered this idea for a moment. It made sense. Sasuke didn't believe he deserved to be loved especially by her. Contrary to popular belief Karin could be insightful and empathetic. She just chose not to be most of the time. She continued to watch Sasuke thoughtfully and just hoped that Sakura came back soon. Karin would however die before she said that out loud.
---Meanwhile in Konoha---
The day after Sasuke had left Sakura woke up. She rubbed her head with a groan. God, it hurt. She glanced around trying to remember what had happened. That's right. She had passed out from chakra loss. Someone must have carried her here. She took a better look at her surroundings and then gasped in shock. What was she doing here?
She stood up and looked around. Everything was just as she left it. There was her bed with her blankets on it. Her dresser that had pictures on it including the one of team 7 before Sasuke left. She walked through the rest of the apartment. Everything was hers. She was home. Sakura fell to her knees hugging herself and cried. She was no longer his prisoner and that was the saddest thing in the world to her.
That's where Naruto found her. He had heard something coming from her house and went in to check it out. He saw her then. She was still on the floor crying so hard her body shook. He quickly made a clone to go get Tsunade and Kakashi. Then he rushed over and gathered her close. She continued to cry.
Kakashi got there first. It tore him up to see the girl so sad. Tsunade followed close behind him. She checked Sakura over but could find nothing wrong with her. By this point Sakura had cried herself to sleep.
"She can't stay here like this," Naruto said.
"I'll have a room prepared for her at my place," Tsunade said after a moments thought.
Naruto nodded and then picked her up. On their way through town all of Sakura's friends rushed over. They wanted to make sure that their friend was ok. No one stayed long because they could see she needed rest. Everyone promised to come and see her again later.
Days past but there was no change in Sakura. Everyone worried that she was lost to them. All she did was sit in her bed and stare out the window. Occasionally she would start to cry. Sometimes is was just silent tears running down her face. Other times the tears sent spasms through her body. No one knew what to do.
Naruto went to the only person he knew could help. He walked into the Yamanaka Flower Shop a week after Sakura's arrival. Ino was at the counter talking to Shikamaru. She saw Naruto and immediately asked how Sakura was doing.
"I'll be honest, Ino. Something is seriously wrong. She doesn't eat or sleep. She just sits there staring out the window and cries. We don't know what to do," he said with concern lacing his voice.
Ino made Naruto tell her everything about how he found her. When he finished she stood there for a moment and thought. She put herself in Sakura's shoes and then knew what was wrong. It didn't take her long to figure out how to fix it either.
"Don't worry. Just leave everything to me," the blonde girl told Naruto.
He nodded and left the shop. He trusted Ino to know what to do.
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"I thought you said to leave it to you. Not you and Shikamaru," Shikamaru complained a few hours later.
"Quit complaining, Shika. I may need your help so live with it," Ino snapped back.
The two of them were traveling through the forest. Ino was looking for team snake. She wanted to see how Sasuke was dealing with Sakura being gone. If the blonde had her way he wouldn't be doing well at all. She dragged Shikamaru along with her because he was a better tracker than she was. He, of course being who he was, wasn't happy about it.
"What a drag," he grumbled.
"What did I say about complaining," she said dangerously.
Shikamaru quit talking. He knew better than to push his girlfriend. No one but Sakura had as short a temper as Ino. He really didn't feel like pushing his luck with it. Doing so was normally painful for him. He suddenly stopped. He could feel it. There was three people heading their way.
"Ino, stop."
"What is it, Shika?"
"Someone is coming."
The waited and then three people stopped in front of them. Two were male. One of them carried a large sword and had silver hair. The other was a big muscled man with orange colored hair. The last member of the trio was a girl. She had red hair and eyes and was looking at the two Konoha ninjas in consideration.
"Are you having problems with, Sakura?" the big man asked.
"How do you know Sakura?" Ino demanded.
"My name is Jugo. This is Suigetsu and Karin. We are members of team snake that is lead by Sasuke Uchiha."
Ino sighed, "I'm glad I found you. How is Sasuke acting."
"Like a bastard. He's become a slave driver," the one called Suigetsu said.
"We thought maybe we could help each other," Karin stated.
"Oh, and how do you propose we do that?" Ino asked curiously.
"They won't get back to normal until they're together. So let's get them together."
"What do you have in mind?"
Karin grinned at Ino who just grinned back. The two of them began to plan. Shikamaru groaned. It seemed as if his Ino had found a girl just a meddlesome as she was. This could be interesting if it didn't kill Sakura and Sasuke. He listened to their plan because he knew that Ino would ask him for his opinion. He was right. As soon as they finished Ino looked at him silently.
"It could work. The problem will be getting Sakura out of the bed to do it."
"I can handle that part," Ino said confidently.
"I'm sure you can," he agreed.
"Then let's get this show on the road," Karin said.
The two groups separated. Ino and Shika headed back to Konoha so Ino could kick Sakura into action. Karin and the rest of her team headed back to where they had set up camp.
---In Konoha---
Ino walked into Sakura's room. Not much had changed. Sakura was staring out the window. Her eyes were red from crying. She seemed limp as if her body didn't have any strength anymore. Ino frowned with concern. If this didn't work they could lose Sakura. The blonde girl locked the door behind her. She had warned everyone that what she was going to do would probably piss Sakura off and that there would be lots of yelling. That didn't mean she wanted them to rush in and interrupt them.
"You look like hell, forhead girl," Ino said in the most condescending tone she could.
"Go away, Ino. I'm not in the mood."
"From where I'm standing you don't look like anything but a dirty rag doll."
Sakura looked over to Ino, "Shut up."
"Oh did that make you angry."
Sakura didn't respond.
"What's the matter? Did Sasuke reject you or something?"
"Go away, Ino-pig. I don't want to hear it."
Ino sneered, "How pathetic. No wonder Sasuke rejected you."
Sakura stood up and clenched her fists, "Don't talk about things you don't understand."
"What is there to understand? You're in here moping about Sasuke because he left again right. Again, how pathetic."
Sakura ran towards Ino. The blonde dodged the attack easily. Normally Sakura was more of a challenge but days in bed and crying had weakened her. Not to mention she had barely eaten anything. Her body just wasn't in the condition to go fighting someone.
"That was weak, Sakura."
"Shut up, Ino. You don't know how I feel. You couldn't understand how I feel. Shikamaru loves you. You never had to live with the knowledge that he couldn't or wouldn't love you."
"What makes you say that? Do you know how long I've loved Shika. It was way longer than we've been dating. I thought he hated me back then."
"But it turned out that he loved you too. Sasuke left me crying on a park bench three years ago, Ino. Now he's dropped me off here and I'll never see him again. He must hate me."
"Then go get him. Instead of sitting here feeling sorry for yourself go back to him. Maybe it's not what you think. Maybe it'll turn out that he loves you too."
Sakura's green eyes looked into Ino's sky blue eyes, "What do you mean?"
"Sakura think about it. If he truly didn't care about you then why didn't he leave you here the last time he brought you to Konoha? Why did he try to protect you instead of using you as a shield? I don't think Sasuke's motives are as simple as you're making them."
Sakura thought about it for a moment, "Do you really think he cares?"
"Yes I do," Ino said. She wasn't lying. She had suspected that Sasuke had cared about her friend long before this but never said anything.
"What do I do then?"
"First get cleaned up and train for a few days. You need to build your strength back up. Then go find him."
Sakura considered what Ino said then whispered, "But what if he doesn't care?"
"Then you've lost nothing by trying."
Sakura smiled at Ino, "Thanks Ino. You're right. I won't lose anything because I can't lose what I didn't have."
Ino nodded and smiled, "No go take a shower will ya."
Sakura ran off to get herself back together. She didn't want to look terrible when she saw Sasuke again. She hoped that Ino was right. It had torn her apart to think that Sasuke hated her. That was why she was so depressed. She had thought that he had brought her back to Konoha because he didn't want her around anymore. But Ino was right. She wouldn't know the truth until she tried.
---Meanwhile with Team Snake---
"Oh fearless leader. We need a rest," Suigetsu called to Sasuke with sarcasm.
Sasuke didn't respond. He just kept walking.
"Sasuke for once I have to agree with the lazy ass. Let's take a break for a day or two," Karin agreed.
Jugo didn't say anything. He merely found a comfortable spot and sat down. His back was leaned up against a tree and his arms cushioned behind his head.
Sasuke finally stopped and looked back at them. He had barely said a word since the day he had returned without Sakura. Not that he talked much before that but this was different. It was like something in him had died and it was something he needed in order to feel. He looked around at them and then shrugged.
"Set up camp here then. I'm going to the closest village to see if there's anything interesting to hear."
Then he was gone. The team sat there for a moment. Suigetsu turned to face Karin.
"I'll admit. I'm surprised you went through with the plan. I figured you'd back out because you wanted Sasuke."
Karin merely shrugged. She didn't wasn't to talk about her feelings regarding the Uchiha. Over the last few days she couldn't help but wonder about her feelings herself. Then one day she had an epiphany. She didn't love Sasuke. If she had then she wouldn't have tried so hard to get rid of Sakura. It wouldn't have mattered if Sasuke had feelings for her. If Karin had truly loved him then she would have been accepting of his feelings. Sure she would have wanted to fight for him and it would have hurt for him not to feel that way with her but... In the end she still wouldn't have fought because it would hurt him for her to do so and if she loved him that was the last thing she'd do. After she figured that out she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her. She didn't love him so she didn't need to fight for him.
Suigetsu watched her. Maybe there was hope for him after all. He was beginning to wonder if she would ever give up on Sasuke. These new developments were definitely hinting that she finally had. He hoped she had. For now though he would wait and see. No point in acting only to find out he had been wrong. Besides, just because she gave up on the Uchiha didn't mean she had noticed him yet. No, it was better to wait for the moment. And piss her off of course so she would never guess.
"Well, will wonders never cease? You've finally given up on prince charming," he commented with a smirk.
She reacted just like he predicted she would. Karin punched him and yelled. He continued to smirk as he nursed his aching jaw. Pissing her off was just too much fun to resist.
Jugo shook his head and proceeded to set up camp. They would be staying here until Sakura arrived. Then they would see what happened.
There finished. Now review or I won't update...and no flames by the way...I don't like them so I don't want them
