Summary- In the natural scheme of things, the dead stay dead. But in the world of ninjas, nothing's for certain anymore. Sasu/Saku.

&the [standard disclaimer] is rightfully [applied].

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r. e. f. u. g. e.

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chapter xii.

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March 20

Location- Rain

Three trees made a deafening crack as they collided with each other, and Sakura cringed. Tearing up a tree was reflex when she didn't have time to reposition herself to dodge. But with ten ninjas within fifteen feet, alerting every one of them where she was, wasn't such a good idea. One ninja jumped out of the trees above her; she parried his kunai with her own and threw him off her before the next one showed.

Sasuke's chakra spiked next to her and she felt his hand land on her hip. He pushed her to the side as four ninjas jumped into the clearing, and disappeared in his speed. The slash of his sword echoed in the trees while Sakura found herself with another three ninjas. She clenched her teeth when a kunai cut into her side, and sent her fist into the ground. The ground broke up into craters and fissures, and the ninjas went sprawling into the tree line. Resting her hand over her side, Sakura sent chakra pulsing through her hand and into the wound.

The stinging eased and then stopped. Taking her hand away, she heard a loud slap against wood. Feeling for any more ninjas, she found Suigetsu's in the same area the sound came from. Karin and Juugo were both south of her and Sasuke…

Was right above her. Looking up, Sakura glared at him. "I hate when you do that." He leapt down and paused in front of her, staring at the jagged hole in the ground. "And you leave unnecessary trails. If anyone ever tracked us, it wouldn't be too hard for them," he commented, absently taking in the scratches while carefully scanning for weapons that might be theirs.

Sakura grunted in response. Sasuke's eyes slid back to her, looking at the slice through her shirt.

"All done!" Suigetsu dropped into the clearing, followed by Karin and Juugo. He threw his sword over his back and motioned to Sasuke's still unsheathed sword. Blood dripped off its blade into the grass. "What, are we not done yet? That must've been at least fifty back there."

"Well, there's…" Karin paused and glanced at Sasuke. Setting her hands on her hips, she said, "There's a possibility we might be getting a visitor."

Juugo let his head fall back and peered into the sky, murmuring, "Tell us what you mean, Karin."

"Kisame and another Akatsuki member are heading in our direction." Sasuke cut in, abrupt and concise. "They have been for a day or two, but Karin wasn't certain they were coming for us. Now the distance is too close to think they aren't here for a reason."

Suigetsu leaned back on his heels and clicked his tongue. "What could they want with us?" He shifted the sword on his back again.

"Just be ready for anything." Sasuke turned around to start traveling toward Waterfall's border, glancing at Sakura pointedly.

What could they want with us?

Staring after Sasuke's back, she thought, who knows? They weren't even supposed to be alive.

Deep green carpeted the denseness of Waterfall's forests. Branches disappearing behind her, Sakura remembered she'd read once that there were twenty seven shades of green in Waterfall. From what she'd seen, that was probably about right. And it was also much darker in the forests than she remembered; the trees choked off any light and left the woods a murky shade of night constantly.

Sakura jumped onto the next branch as they ran, noting the strange, spongy feeling of moss under her fingertips. The rhythmic beating against the tree limbs was a droning monotony as always, and Sakura thought about the most boring times of her life; all that came to mind was right now. To her right, Suigetsu didn't look particularly bored and Juugo looked the same in any situation. She smiled at that, and glanced behind her at Karin, who maintained the same peculiar expression since Sound. Neither Kisame or anyone, for that matter, had come across them. Turning back around, Sakura figured Sasuke had ordered her to keep a close watch.

Why were those two trailing them? Karin said she couldn't tell who was with Kisame, which was odd. And Kisame hadn't decided to approach them yet. They must be waiting for something, Sakura thought. And that was never a good thing: it meant something was happening.

The scenery blurred into itself indefinitely, green streaking together in a hazy image. They were only about half way there to Rain, and they had a long way to go. Was Kisame… waiting for a day or a certain destination? Logically, Sakura supposed it was likely it could be a trap to go to Rain. If it were a trap though, it would've been better played if Kisame hadn't alerted them by following them at a fairly close distance for days. So that didn't make sense.

Sakura stared in front of her, and she looked at Sasuke. He obviously would have already thought about this. And come to think of it, Sakura wondered why exactly they hadn't seen anyone. Not a single Sound ninja for miles. She stared at the trees, marred by various gashes. Sound ninjas had been here before, though; there were gaps and hollows in the trunks from the poison. Shaking her head, Sakura thought if they weren't here, then were they-

"We'll stop here," Sasuke announced, his voice muffled and distorted by the wind. He dropped onto a lower branch and landed on the forest floor. Peering down, Sakura raised her eyebrows. It was a thick forest. Plant life covered the majority of the ground in a solid sheet. As she landed, the ground made the most unfamiliar sticking sound from the clumps of moss and algae; she looked at Sasuke with an amused smile inching onto her mouth.

Suigetsu poked at the built up vegetation with a sour expression on his face. "How in the world do they make fires here?!" He bent down to poke at it with his forefinger. "It's like… a life of its own!"

Karin threw her bag next to a tree and turned around to sneer at him. "It's a forest. With plants. It does have a life of its own, nimrod." She plopped down onto a log and closed her eyes, hands forming her tracking technique.

Sticking his tongue out at her while she couldn't notice, Suigetsu countered, "But it's weird! It's clumpy and gross; how do we move it? Or can you even build a fire on it?"

"It's not a big deal if we don't have fire," Juugo noted, sleepily leaning against the massive trunk of the tree behind him. Sakura smiled, watching his eyelids droop closed; and his arm had successfully returned back to normal without any permanent damage, she thought with satisfaction.

"It is too a big deal! What can we eat without fire?! I am not eating moss!" Suigetsu, still yelling, gaped at Juugo's large form hunched in the shadows. "How can he say it doesn't matter?" he asked, looking at Sakura.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura assured, "You can build fires anywhere, Suigetsu. It just takes more work here because the moss is so wet. We'll have to have a lot more firewood than normal, though." She set her bag next to her feet and sat beside it. It was colder here from the lack of sun; they would need a fire.

Suigetsu rolled up on the back of his heels. "Well, I'm getting the firewood," he called over his shoulder before hopping out of the clearing.

Stretching out her legs in front of her, Sakura rubbed some circulation into them, erasing the tingling feeling from running so long. She yawned into the back of her hand. "So, food or water, Sasuke?"

He stared at her over his knees from where he sat across from her, and stood up. Karin was still perched on the same log, and Juugo seemed like he was asleep. "I'll get food." Sakura stopped rubbing her leg and titled her head toward his. "Are you tired?"

Strangely, he did look tired. Then again, the lighting had long shadows drawn over his face. Sasuke paused for a moment and headed into the trees without answering. Staring after him, Sakura noticed she hadn't ever thought he might be tired before. He didn't seen like the type to ever be caught sleeping.

He probably was tired, though. She reached into her bag and drew out some bottles, and headed to the last river she saw. Looking up at the forest canopy, she realized that she had thought it was dark before; it'll be pitch black at night. She had forgotten how dark it gets in Waterfall.

She kept retracing her steps until she heard rushing water. Walking in that direction, Sakura pulled through some of the scratching limbs to get to a creek hidden by a thick barrier of trees. The water looked black because of the darkness; but that was how all of the woods were.

Sakura lay on her back an hour later, watching the fire's shadows dance on the trees. One side of her positively burned next to the fire, but the other felt like ice. She sighed. It was going to be a long night. Flipping onto her side, Sakura shook her hair out of her face. It fell in a pile behind her head, much longer than she liked it. She fingered the pink strands and knew she couldn't cut it herself without it looking horrific.

Suigetsu's snores cut through her original train of thought, and she glanced over at him, looking comfortable as always. Next to him was Karin, who had been quieter recently; it probably took most of her chakra to be watching someone for days over a distance. Juugo hadn't moved, and Sasuke was sleeping a few feet from her. One hand on his chest, the other behind his head, he was laying flat on his back, mouth parted in peaceful breaths.

For a moment, she smiled. Then wistful regret and the old pain of being left so easily returned to their normal places, in the foreground of her mind with a biting edge of reality. Naruto popped into her mind, and she wondered if their promise might just have to go unfulfilled. His bushy, blond hair and whiskered cheeks –she remembered what he looked like perfectly… How was Naruto? she thought to herself. Raising her eyes back to Sasuke, Sakura sighed and shook her head. If she were to have to stay a missing ninja, would she have to travel alone, always running, forever? What would Sasuke do when Itachi was dead; he couldn't possibly want that.

Ino perched on the edge of one of the benches outside the Gate. What a slow day, was all she could think. Five more minutes of waiting and she slumped into the stone bench, irritably frowning at the birds overhead. Folding her arms, she tapped her fingers and glared at the red posts.

They were almost an hour late! An hour!

And she was the one who just had to wait for them. Just because Lady Hokage decided to be an Indian giver with her day off. Ino groaned and slid farther back. Of all the days. And what could Shikamaru and Naruto be doing? Oh, if he's lazing around somewhere sleeping, I'll kill him! Ino fumed.

And with another five minutes gone by, there was still no sign of them. She sighed and propped one of her legs up on the bench, looping her arms around it. Laying her head back, she stared at the sky restlessly, then moved upright and stared into the trees. There weren't even civilians to stare at; no one was ever in this area but during holidays. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against her knee. A gust of wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves and branches.

The wind died down. The cherry blossoms would be blooming soon, Ino thought…

"Hey, Ino!" She snapped her head up and looked at the Gate. Naruto's spiky blond head of hair bobbed up and down as he waved his hand in the air. Shikamaru was next to him, looking lackluster in every respect.

Standing up, Ino smoothed out her clothes and flipped her heavy ponytail behind her back. Naruto was the first to meet her. "Why are you waiting for us, Ino?"

Shikamaru trailed behind him, hands stuffed into his pockets. "You assume she's waiting for us."

"Oh, you're probably just waiting for Shikamaru, right, Ino?" Naruto grinned, enjoying Shikamaru's "Shut up" and waltzing away with his hands locked behind his head.

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're so full of it. And get back here, Naruto. I'm here for Tsunade." He turned around with a boyish grin on his face. "Another mission?!" Shikamaru groaned and sat down on the bench, closing his eyes. "Troublesome."

"Well, something like that," Ino paused, sitting down next to Shikamaru herself. "She said it was delicate situation, which to me means anyone but Naruto should get the job."

"Hey!"

Snickering, Ino continued, "Anyway, I think it's just a package or something that needs to be picked up from Sand. From Gaara, specifically, I think." She crossed her legs and leaned back.

"A package or something?" Naruto visibly drooped. With a sigh, he noted, "That does not sound very important or time consuming."

Ino managed a small smile, half tingling with the knowledge he was just avoiding being in Konoha. "Well, she wanted you particularly to do it. So don't feel so bad." Comforting Naruto wasn't one of her habits, but it was hard not to when he hated having nothing to do –being alone and having nothing to do. Obviously, it got him thinking too much.

Naruto shrugged. "Well… It is Sand. I haven't been there in a while."

Shikamaru shifted his head toward Naruto; he couldn't actually be…? "You've been traveling a lot recently, Naruto. What for?"

Again, Naruto shrugged, commenting, "It's just something to do. You know, visiting old friends you haven't seen in a while."

"I know you don't think she's dead, Naruto," Shikamaru said, watching Naruto meet his eyes for a split second before he looked away. "But you can't kill yourself looking for her. I know that's what you're doing."

Ino went silent. Glancing at Naruto, she thought he did look… tired, sometimes. "Yeah, you're not looking so hot," she tried to joke, wanting to change subjects and fill the silence.

Naruto, being Naruto, of course took the lead and let out a laugh, however awkward and small it might have been. He scratched the back of his head. "Please. I always look good, Ino. You know that." He gave a half-hearted wink.

Ino laughed lightly and rolled her eyes. Shikamaru moved next to her, asking, "So, that's all Tsunade said?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. That's all she said." Ino looked at him. "Why do you ask?"

Shrugging, Shikamaru laid his head back and stared at the clouds. "Just because she's been giving a lot of missions recently. I went into her office before I got the last mission, and her desk was even more cluttered than it usually is."

"Well, Shizune's been covering at the hospital because they've been constantly understaffed. So Tsunade doesn't really have anybody to help her with it, and she hates paperwork," Ino noted, watching as Naruto suddenly looked back at the Gate, a determined frown tensing his face.

Shikamaru elaborated, "The paperwork's from the recent surge of all the ninjas on duty. She's been getting a lot done." He stopped and looked away from the clouds, tilting his head sideways toward Naruto. "I think the Council wants to name a new Hokage soon. I think that's why Tsunade's been doing so much -finishing every project that she's wanted to do since she first became Hokage."

"But –but who would they appoint?!" Ino tried to lower her voice. "You have to be at least a certain age, and Tsunade doesn't have any direct… offspring," she finished lamely, omitting that Tsunade didn't have any… any alive students that were fit to be candidates.

"You're thinking a little too morally, Ino." Shikamaru glanced at Naruto as he said, "The only reason the Council could want another Hokage is because they're more displeased with the rules than usual. The only way to remedy that would be to have one of their own become Hokage."

Ino shrieked, "One of those old bats?!" She looked at Naruto when there wasn't any echo of what she said and frowned. He stared at the cobblestones.

Shikamaru lifted his head off the back of the bench and leaned forwards on his knees. "Hey, Naruto." He waited until Naruto looked up at him. "Maybe you should go check on Tsunade. I'm sure she's got some things to tell you before she makes you leave again," he added with a lazy smile.

Naruto, more or less, chuckled. "Yeah… I guess I'll see you guys later. Tell Hinata I said hi; I meant to see her when I got back."

Ino beamed at that. "Will do." And throw in some flowers with that "hi" too, she thought, mentally wondering what Hinata's favorite flower might be. She watched Naruto wave goodbye and jump off into the direction of the Hokage Tower. Shikamaru sighed beside her and she turned to sit towards him. "What, Shika?"

"It's… hard to ever doubt Naruto, but it's hard to believe him, too." He looked over at Ino. "He said he was in Waves and felt her chakra, a little under a month ago."

Ino gave a tentative smile and looked down at her hands folded on her lap. "Well, it's hard not to think about it. Everyone needs help at the hospital and Tsunade's always busy." Sobering, Ino sighed and turned to Shikamaru. "The trees are going to bloom soon."

a/n.
i was so excited when i finished this chapter. because i couldn't use the computer for a few days. anyway, there it is! i hope you enjoyed it. :D (& for anyone who maybe got confused by the end, she's just saying that the sakura trees are going to bloom soon.)

and ohmygoodness, i did update by the end of the week. *is proud she held true to her word* and i even looked at some of the older chapters, found some phrasing and wording and a little bit of format i didn't like, and fiddled with it. maybe when i finish this, i'll revise "refuge" one last time so it can finally rest in peace on my profile page. so i can look at it and know i'm totally satisfied with how it came out.

anyhow, a penny for your thoughts?