AN: Hey guys! This chapter's a bit longer to make up for the wait, so hopefully you guys will enjoy that :) Thanks to Kurai Hana-chan, Genny4, Infinite Nosferatu, 1ItachiUchihagurl, Hana-Taisho and Broken Reveries for your reviews, and everyone else who's supported this. Love you all!

Flowers of Transcendence

"Alright," Sakura grins, "Sasori, you and Deidara head over to the port and I'll meet you there. Sasori will brief you on disguises."

Sasori eyes her steadily while Deidara perks up.

"What about you? Where're you going yeah?"

Sakura pulls her bag strap over her shoulder.

"To a town a few miles from here. I'm going to fix you up."

Deidara cocks an eyebrow. "Fix me up?"

"I'm a doctor," Sakura says steadily, pulling out a kunai. "All kinds of things. I can disguise you."

Deidara looks like he's about to puke and Sakura can't stop the bubble of laughter from escaping.

"I'm kidding," she says. "I know a genjutsu-potion mixture that'll disguise you – Kurenai-sensei taught it to me. It'll work better than anything you guys know and will stop you from being identified. It just takes a few herbs though, so I'll need to buy some at the markets over there. I'll probably end up having to stay the night there though - the potion needs to sit for twenty-four hours, and it'll be easier just to rent a room."

"Sounds like a lot of trouble," Sasori says flatly.

"But worth it!" Deidara adds quickly.

Sakura smiles softly. "Yeah. I'll meet you back tonight, yeah? I gotta run before Ino freaks. Itachi said he'd cover for me – say I'm with him or something – but it won't be long till Ino really starts losing it and traces my phone or something."

"She's crazy even here," Deidara says with a grin, clapping her on the back.

Sasori rolls his eyes. "Let's go," he says sharply, already turning around and veering away. Deidara eyes his partner before turning back to Sakura.

"Thanks," he says quietly.

"No problem," Sakura replies, giving him a soft smile. It's a situation all too familiar, and their roles have been reversed many times a lifetime ago.

"Deidara!" Sasori calls, "Come here. You know I hate waiting. And you too Sakura, don't encourage him."

Deidara rolls his eyes. "I know Sasori-danna, yeah."

Sakura bites her lip, a smile threatening to burst through. "I'll see you guys later?"

Sasori shoots her one last look.

"Be safe. Stay out of trouble."

Sakura grins. "What could go wrong?"

Sakura places the last few herbs in her basket. Behind her, the first few rays of sunlight begin to ascend, illuminating the forest.

"Huh," Sakura says to the empty air, "I've missed the forest. I've missed… Konoha. Not that it was still standing when I… died."

She swallows harshly before turning around and quickly marching down the path to the nearest town. It's only a small one with only one inn for travelers but it'll have to do. The town itself however is rather busy for such an early morning. People are already around, hustling at the food stalls. Some small children are playing outside, supervised by a teacher with headphones in her ears. A few cars are rolling by, and she's passed occasionally by a few joggers. All in all a normal day.

She grabs her herbs at the market, a weak genjutsu covering her prominent features just in case. A quick search on her phone identifies the path to the Devon Inn - a place which looks less like a hotel and more like a house turned lodging.

Sakura stops in front, eyeing the piece of paper - laminated - pasted on top of the door identifying it as the Inn. She peers through the window - chipped paint, small reception, but strangely quaint and cozy. The receptionist sees her in an instant and shoots up, smiling brightly as she runs to the door, opening it for Sakura.

"Hi!" the receptionist - Anna - says with a smile, "Welcome to Devon Inn. How may I help you?"

"I would like a room, if you please?"

Anna grins. "'course! That'll be $80."

Sakura smiles, running through the recipe for the potion in her head. "Great, thanks."

"Up the stairs, to the left. Room 104."

Sakura thanks her again and grabs the card, quickly making her way up the stairs. The whole building seems crickety, on shaky foundations, and no doubt each of the rooms are quite small - the building is only two floors but they've fit sixty rooms.

Sure enough she finds her room - with about two feet between her bed and the walls, and a small little alcove for a bathroom which looks like it was built in the old wardrobe.

But it'll have to do.

She makes her way to the bathroom and dumps all the herbs from her pockets, sorting through them, identifying all the ones she needs.

She's just grabbed some peppermint - a common ingredient in sleeping potions and will do good to smother the original features - when suddenly, she feels a chakra signature.

It's only there for a second but Sakura freezes. She didn't recognise it - it wasn't Akatsuki - which means danger. Immediately she reaches into her pack and pulls out her weapons pouch, quickly strapping it to her waist.

Cautiously, she reaches out again, looking for chakra signatures. Nothing. Either the person is very good at masking their chakra signature, or she's mistaken.

Perhaps she's being too paranoid?

Sakura bites her lip before taking a deep breath and spiking chakra to her ears. And that's when she hears it – definite footsteps, inside her room.

And it's not Sasori, or Deidara, or any of the Akatsuki.

Which can only mean one thing.

Hebi.

Sakura clamps down on her lip, muffling her surprised gasp. She eyes herself in the mirror, steadying herself before regulating her breathing again.

In, out, in, out. Pretend you never noticed him.

It's not Sasuke - she would have recognised him in a heartbeat - which means either Juugo or Suigetsu. Hopefully it's Juugo, because she knows she's at a harsh disadvantage in such a setting - her main offense is her strength, and she won't be able to use it in such a confined space – not if she wants to keep the hotel standing. She's also lost her Strength of a Hundred Seal, so she won't be able to beat him through sheer stamina. Juugo would have the same limitations but Suigetsu - a water element, would be fine.

She could also bring the fight outside, through the window maybe? But if all else fails there's the door-

The door.

Water is seeping in underneath the door.

Suigetsu.

Fuck, Sakura thinks.

And then the water rises and Suigetsu's head grins at her. A kunai snaps to her hands and she raises it, a millisecond before Suigetsu hits. The metal clangs together but Sakura is strong enough to hold him back - and that too is only due to luck, as Suigetsu doesn't have Kubikiribōchō – Zabuza's old sword.

She's about to lean forward, press her advantage, but Suigetsu springs backwards. And then he has more kunai - two his hands, one in his mouth - and he launches forward again.

"Heehee," Suigetsu hisses.

Sakura curses and raises her hands, blocking him. But his momentum has forced her to skid back, and now that her back's pressed towards the wall there's nowhere else to go.

Suigetsu's grin widens and he swings with his kunai. Sakura swerves but his arm clamps down on her, blocking her movement and he raises his arm again to strike. Sakura takes the opportunity to knock into him and Suigetsu stumbles back, his kunai slicing her stomach rather than, more fatally, her neck.

Sakura hisses in pain, but just as she begins to send healing chakra to her stomach Suigetsu rolls over, blocking her once again from the door and swipes. Instinctively Sakura raises her arm to protect her neck - getting her arm sliced as well.

Suigetsu grins and slams the door shut. He's caged her in, but she needs to get out.

Sakura fumbles for her weapons pouch, grabbing more kunai. Suigetsu raises an eyebrow cockily, seemingly confident in his ability to win.

And he probably will too, Sakura thinks bitterly.

This new realisation prompts her to go all out. She charges, kunai raised. Suigetsu has no time to dodge, not expecting such a frontal attack, but it doesn't harm him - he simply splatters into water again.

Except that had never been her goal - he's not injured, but she barrells through him and breaks through the door, into the main room.

The door splinters, sending shards of wood into her arms. Behind her, Suigetsu laughs.

"You're not going to win, Princess," he says, "Not when you're in such a confined little space."

"Fuck you," she spits.

Then his eyes harden.

"As if you have the place to talk," he says with a snarl, "Look at what your boyfriend did to Karin. Do you remember what he did? She's in fucking hell now! And it's all your fault."

A wave of guilt rushes through Sakura - it's true it's true - and Suigetsu takes the opportunity of her momentary horror to leap forward, kunai ready.

She stumbles back, hands forming seals at lighting speed – tiger – ox – monkey – rabbit – ram – boar – ox – horse – monkey – tiger – dog – tiger – snake – tiger – ox – monkey – rabbit – bird.

She finishes just in time – thank god for that drill Kakashi-sensei made me do – and a giant water wave crashes down onto Suigetsu and sweeps him back.

Not to waste one moment, Sakura quickly performs an earth jutsu, securing all the walls and crevices in the room until they're essentially a box, the water piling up and up around Suigetsu, encasing him in a ball of water.

Suigetsu twists and turns against her jutsu but it fights back, flows down his mouth-

But then he disappears.

And Sakura, too late, remembers another one of Suigetsu's techniques – the ability to merge with water jutsu.

The water ball explodes, and there's more and more water and it begins to pool at her feet, but she doesn't know where he is.

The water level keeps on rising and she jumps up, onto her bed - anywhere to escape the water. But it continues to rise, and rise, and where the fuck is Suigetsu?

Kami where the hell is Deidara and Sasori?

But more importantly, how the hell is she going to get out?

She eyes the window, but the water has already run up the walls and encased it. She would need to break it from a distance – maybe a lamp, or a drawer-

The lamp.

Sakura nearly hits herself.

Of course.

She begins to stumble across the bed, half-tripping over her covers. Suigetsu seems to realise her plan a second later and the water shoots up, twisting into various jutsus – but Sakura is faster.

"Doton: Kōka Jutsu!"

Defensive, A-rank technique. It's used up all her chakra - she has nothing left - but it's the one technique she needs. Hard rock armour encases her body, and she knows that for a few seconds, she is completely immune to Suigetsu's water attacks.

His first jutsu slams into her with a devastating force and her armour begins to crack. But a few seconds is all she needs.

Sakura slams into the lamp and pulls it out of its socket and she plunges it into the water.

Electricity charges through the water.

For a second, the water is still. And then it twists, and morphs, and a form begins to rise up from the water. Suigetsu's face emerges and he cries out – but he's quickly regulating the electricity away - much faster than she's anticipated and he's going to be fine in less than a second. But she has no time and no bloody chakra-

So she lunges forward and punches.

Her arm cleanly cuts through his chest, and he stares at her, eyes wide. And then he slumps, sliding of her arm and onto the floor.

Oh my god, Sakura thinks.

Beneath her, Suigetsu lies in the water, eyes half closed. He seems to be looking up at her, lips curved in a small smile.

He's dead.

I've killed him.

Sakura begins to shake, her eyes incapable of leaving Suigetsu - no, not Suigetsu - his body!

She snaps her eyes shut but she can still see him - tranquil, almost, submerged in a pool of water that he will never escape. Around him, her earth jutsu holds strong, a coffin.

Sakura stumbles back onto the bed, leaving trails of blood on the covers – his blood, and her blood.

It's not as if she hasn't killed before, or isn't accustomed to the sight of blood. She's done things much, much worse than this.

So why is this freaking her out so much?

Because she's condemned Suigetsu to the same fate as Karin.

Sakura's head swirls, and tears begin pool at her eyes. She's choking, then, but blood is still pooling out of her arm and her stomach and her fist is still encased with parts of his heart-

I have to get out, she thinks numbly, I have to escape.

So she tears across the room and out of the window, running straight into the forest. Except god forbid some civilians see her bleeding and limping away from a dead body – so she veers off the paved path, one hand over her stomach to stem the bleeding.

She feels faint, and she knows that if she doesn't get treated she'll faint.

Maybe she'll even die of blood loss, the medic-nin inside her says.

That snaps her out of her reverie. Immediately she sends the little recovered ounces of chakra she has to her injuries. But she barely has any - it's going to be a slow and painstaking process. She needs to lie down, somewhere where it is safe, and there aren't any cameras.

For a second, she contemplates just turning around and checking herself into a hospital. But a murder charge is too much of a risk, even with Itachi and Kisame's connections.

God she hopes that Sasori and Deidara felt her chakra flares. They'd come for her.

And just like that, she hears footsteps.

Wow, Sakura thinks, thank god for small mercies.

But then the figure emerges, and it's not Sasori or Deidara.

It's Juugo, and Uchiha Sasuke stands behind him.

"Well fuck," Sakura curses.

It seems her chakra flares have attracted the wrong people.

Sasuke eyes her grimly, eyes her blood-stained clothes, and pulls out his sword.

But then Sakura feels two other presences appear behind her - familiar ones. The ones she needed.

Sasori and Deidara.

Finally.

"Took you long enough," she murmurs, right before her head fades into darkness.

When Sakura wakes up, the first thing she thinks is-

Wow. This pillow smells really nice.

She opens her eyes to a luxurious room, flat screen TV in front of her, bed sheets bundled up around her.

And then she realises that she's not wearing a shirt.

Frantically she looks down, and sees her stomach bound with gauze, along with her arm. Her chest wrappings are still on – thank goodness – and Sakura sighs with relief when she sees that her pants are secure too.

For a second, she's happy.

And then she remembers the horrific events.

It's as if a bucket of ice water has been dumped over her head. Her heart clenches, and the tears are coming on again, and all she can think is- I killed Suigetsu and now he's suffering suffering suffering-

The door opens and Itachi steps inside.

"Good morning Sakura," he says softly.

"I killed him," she murmurs back, "I killed him."

And then the tears begin to fall and Sakura sobs uncontrollably into the bed sheets. Itachi strides over awkwardly and pats her head.

"It's alright," he says, "You're alright."

"I didn't mean to kill him," Sakura manages to say between her wheezes.

Itachi pauses. "I don't think you did."

"'course I didn't mean to," Sakura mumbles.

"No," Itachi says sharply. "I wasn't referring to that. I don't think you killed him."

It takes Sakura a moment to register his words. Then she sits up sharply, ignoring the pain in her stomach and turns to him.

"What are you saying," she says quietly. "Don't say that."

"I mean-" Itachi begins, but then the tell-tale sound of footsteps sound outside the door.

"Sakura?" Ino calls, "You in there? Can I come in?"

Immediately Itachi grabs the covers and pulls them over her, hiding her wounds. Sakura quickly wipes her face with her hands and dives under the covers, obscuring any sign of her previous conversation.

"Sure," she says, her voice muffled by the covers, "Come in."

"You've got to be real careful Forehead-girl," Ino says as she opens the door, "You know Deidara's-"

Then she freezes. Her eyes dart from Sakura, to Itachi then back again.

"Oh my god," she says.

Belatedly, Sakura realises that she looks as if she's naked, inside a bed, with Uchiha Itachi.

"Oh great," Sakura mutters. This is not what she wants to be dealing with right now.

Ino stalks over and plonks down next to her.

"Itachi-san," she says, big smile on her face, "If you would excuse us?"

He walks over to the door and waits there.

"Itachi-san-"

"Leave it," Sakura says tiredly. "What'ddya want Ino?"

"Well," the blonde whispers, leaning in, "How about you answer me first? When the hell did you land Uchiha fucking Itachi?"

"I didn't," Sakura says flatly.

"Shh!" Ino exclaims, shooting a quick look at Itachi who simply raises an eyebrow. "Yes," she hisses, "yes you evidently did."

"Ino," Sakura says tiredly. She's about to reach up to rub her eyes but then she realises the stab wound on her arm and quickly shoves it under the covers. "Why did you come here?"

Ino purses her lip, eyeing Sakura quizzically before relenting.

"Alright then. Deidara's escaped."

Sakura bites her lip, hiding her smile. "Oh really? I didn't know."

"Well, yeah. And I thought that since you were his hostage, he might come back for a bit of revenge. So I've taken it upon myself to hire a bodyguard. His name's Sai and he's lovely."

Sakura starts at the name, but quickly reminds herself that he's not her Sai – no one here is her anything. Then Ino's words register and Sakura groans.

"Ino," Sakura sighs, "I don't need one."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I really don-"

"If I could cut in?" Itachi says eloquently.

Ino frowns. "Very well."

"I've had much military experience," he says. "Two posts to Afghanistan, one in Iraq. I believe that I'd be perfectly qualified for the job."

Ino looks absolutely flabbergasted. Sakura barely manages to suppress her chuckle, simply digging in deeper into the covers.

"You?" Ino says incredulously, eyeing the seemingly weak pretty boy up and down.

"Yes," Itachi repeats, tone slightly scandalised. "Me."

"But your emotional attachment might hinder you from doing your job!"

"Unlikely."

How very true that was, Sakura thought, thinking back to the time he'd left her dying in an Iwa prison after having secured the jewels needed. Kisame had chewed him out for that though, and made him go back and get her.

"Very likely!" Ino says, eyebrows knotting in annoyance. "Not to mention Sai's had experience as a marine, and an undercover agent!"

"Then his talents would be better used elsewhere, then, wouldn't they?" Itachi says, arching an eyebrow. "And plus, I served two years as Police Commissioner in Washington D.C. before I started my corporation."

Ino's mouth opens and closes.

"I see no problem with that!" Sakura pipes up.

"Well then," Itachi says, "It's all sorted then, isn't it? Unless you want me to call up your superior? I know Inoichi-san quite well. I believe he is your father?"

For a second, Ino's face is furious. But then Sakura nudges her friend and her polite mask slips back on.

"Of course," Ino says sweetly, "But if anything happens… it'll be on your head."

"Of course," Itachi says back, just as sweetly. Sakura has a bad feeling that Itachi's just trumped Shikamaru on Ino's hate list.

Then Ino pointedly glares at Itachi before slamming the door behind her.

"That was a bit harsh," Sakura says sheepishly.

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "You would prefer having someone tail you?"

"Well… no," Sakura relents, "But she did have a good point about the emotional attachment thing – a perfectly reasonable conclusion she drew based off the evident."

"Correct under what she assumed was true," Itachi says flatly, "But not correct."

Sakura's lips begin to curl into a grin. "Whatever you want to think."

Itachi swerves towards her, eyes narrowing. "What do you mean by that?"

Sakura shrugs. "Ino was right, and you know it."

"Preposterous. I'm always right."

Sakura simply smiles.

"Why did you offer anyway?" Sakura asks, sinking back down into the bed. "You could have just told her you knew some guy who could do it. Now we'll have to stick together all the time."

"Ah yes," Itachi says softly, "I have a hunch."

Immediately Sakura sits up, not caring if she reveals her chest – they're bound anyway. "About Suigetsu?"

"Yes," he says. "I had my men chase down his body. But it's gone."

"So Hebi has it."

Itachi pauses. "I'm not so sure about that."

"What do you mean?" Sakura says sharply, biting her lip, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," Itachi says slowly, "That Sasuke doesn't have the body. I suffered great backlash after killing Karin – backlash you don't seem to be experiencing."

Sakura stares at him flatly before gesturing down to her two stab wounds.

"Not like that," he says, rolling his eyes, "But mental backlash. Migraines, crippling ones, and effects unlike the ones I experienced after using mangekyou. But not you."

Sakura nods slowly, processing the new information.

"But how does that connect to the body? Why do you think Sasuke doesn't have it?"

"I can't tell you," Itachi says in frustration, running a hand through his hair, "But you have to trust me."

Sakura hesitates. A few weeks ago, she would have never agreed. A lifetime ago, she would have agreed in a heartbeat.

"Please," Itachi says softly, "You have to trust me."

Sakura pauses before reaching over and taking his hand in hers. His palm is thousands of times smoother than before – no doubt from handling pens and computers rather than kunai and shuriken.

"Alright," she agrees, "Alright."

AN: Hope you all enjoyed that! I've also started some other multi-chaptered fics which are quite different from this, but they're all still tentative. I might post them soon, depending on how they're going. But anyway, next chapter will be coming, and please review, let me know what you thought!