Author's Note: I REALLY can't wait for the Boruto movie! I watched The Last a while ago, but never said. To be honest, I thought it was kind of rushed. It was decent though. Anyway, thanks so much for the support! Enjoy!

"They're almost here," Kurushimi silently thought, a wicked smile present on his features. "The fun will really begin soon..."

"There it is!" Naruto shouted breathlessly as he reached the top of the small cliff, hunching over while pointing at something off in the distance. He turned around to face the others. They were walking at their own pace, far behind the Uzumaki. "You guys better hurry up or I'm not gonna leave anyone for you to beat the crap out of!"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, we don't want to alert the enemy! Keep it down!"

"Yes, because yelling more will definitely help the situation," a very tired Sasuke retorted.

After the discovery of the hideout's location, the shinobi had traveled as fast as they could the next day, stopping at a small town that night to replenish their supplies and get some rest. The Uchiha, however, had taken the opportunity of rest and turned it into a "study" session. He had thought about every single detail they knew about the enemy, making sure he went over everything before he dared to close his eyes and sleep. It had taken them another day of running to reach their destination. At the moment, it was early in the morning, the sun just beginning to rise.

Activating his Sharingan, he noted that there seemed to be no one else but them in the area, thankfully.

Sakura put her notebook back into its usual place in her bag. "This is it. We need to catch up to Naruto if we want a good look at the place."

"Wanna race?" Sasuke inquired, smirking.

She returned his smirk. "You're on. Where do we start?"

"Follow me," he commanded. They jogged a short distance ahead of the main group, earning curious stares of amusement. Sasuke had not gotten another chance to tell her how he really felt in the last few days. In fact, it'd been in the back of both of their minds. He stopped and she did the same. "Alright, we're racing to where Naruto is. First one there wins. We start on my mark."

They got into position. Sakura was amused by his sudden mood change. "I didn't know you liked to do things like this. You never did when we were genin. I think Naruto has influenced you."

"Yeah right," he spat, "And... Go!"

They were off. Some of the others had begun to cheer them on, shouting their names and pumping their fists. The two were side by side, weaving through many trees and dodging low hanging limbs or holes in the ground. When they finally reached open ground, they were once again side by side, almost touching. Sasuke peered at her through the corner of his eye, which turned into a stare.

She eventually noticed and twisted her head to the side to face him. "I know that you can go faster than this."

He frowned. "I haven't gotten much sleep lately so..."

She narrowed her eyes knowingly. "And whose fault is that?"

They ended up smiling at each other for a few seconds. Sakura took a glance ahead and began to laugh quietly. She grinned one last time before moving off to the side. He raised an eyebrow before turning his attention forward. He gasped and immediately twisted around in a complete circle, stepping to the side as he did to avoid smacking into a wide tree trunk. The Uchiha silently cursed himself for getting distracted. Now he was on a rough path towards their destination and Sakura had a clear one. He jumped up and grabbed a low hanging branch, flipping so that he was crouching on top of it. Then, he pushed off and hopped through the branches until he gained a chance to hit clear ground. Sasuke landed, but grew frustrated when he realized that he would lose at this rate. He sped up. It was still not enough. His mouth opened a fraction when he remembered that he had his bandana on. With a smirk he thought, "Hn, we never set any rules."

Sakura gasped as Sasuke appeared in front of her, directly beside Naruto. The Uzumaki was also surprised. "You cheated!" Sakura exclaimed, reaching the finish.

The Uchiha crossed his arms, his smirk growing wider. "No one said that there were any rules."

She playfully punched his shoulder. "Jerk."

Naruto shook his head at his teammates, grinning from ear to ear. He pointed out over the cliff. "Look. There it is."

Sasuke and Sakura shifted their gazes to where he was pointing. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and frowned. Not too far away was a big hill that looked somewhat like a mountain. On the side facing them, there appeared to be an entrance. Sasuke could not move his eyes away from the dark opening. That was the entrance to the enemy's territory, the beginning of defeating Kurushimi and Kenshi. The longer he stared, for some reason, it seemed as if he grew more and more weary until finally, he staggered forward. It was a sharp pain behind his left eye that had hit him. He began to collapse.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted as both she and Naruto grabbed one of the falling Uchiha's arms.

Sasuke came back to his senses and breathed heavily.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

He shook his head. "I got dizzy."

"You almost fell off the cliff," Sakura informed him, visibly shaken.

Before long, the others came into sight and headed to the edge of the cliff. Sakura forced Sasuke to sit down on a tree stump about twenty feet away from the group.

"Sakura, I'm fine now."

"I don't care. You really scared me a couple of minutes ago."

"Sorry," he apologized quietly. "I'm not sure what happened. I guess I'm just more exhausted than I thought."

"If you don't willingly get some rest tonight, I'm going to knock you out," she threatened.

He nodded in agreement, knowing that she was serious. They watched as the others surveyed the structure and what appeared to be the entrance. Not long after, they began to travel once again towards their destination. About an hour later, Kakashi signaled for them to stop. They stood about a hundred or so feet away from the massive mountain like structure. The current Hokage cautiously took a step forward, scanning the environment. He relaxed. "It seems that we're safe at the moment. I'd like to know what we're walking into though."

Sasuke and Hinata shared a knowing glance before they moved to stand on either side of Kakashi. Each activated their dojutsu and focused on the opening to the structure.

Thump!

They gasped and grabbed their eyes simultaneously, deactivating the Sharingan and Byakugan.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, quickly coming to her aid.

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's arm before he fell, helping him steady himself.

"What happened?" Kiba asked.

Hinata answered, still holding her eyes. "It was blurry when I tried to look inside. Then it began to shake and pain shot through my eyes. It was like a throbbing sensation. I couldn't tell if there was anything in there."

"I felt the same thing," Sasuke added.

"No one else try and see inside from here no matter what type of 'help' you use," Kakashi warned as Naruto was about to activate Sage Mode. "Are you two alright?"

Sasuke nodded and released his mismatched eyes, blinking rapidly. Hinata hesitantly said she was fine. The Hokage stared at the opening. "Stop here. We need to discuss the situation before we act. For now, lets enjoy the day. Don't go far from here or out in the open. We don't want to alert the enemy in any way."

They split up and chatting filled the area. Sakura grabbed Sasuke's wrist before he could go anywhere. "You have to tell me what's been on your mind now. You keep putting it off."

He jerked his arm away. "No. I have to get busy."

She frowned. "You've been 'busy' ever since we found out where the hideout was located. Can't you take a break? We've already found out everything we possibly could with the information we currently have."

He narrowed his eyes and began to turn. "I can't afford to rest. We need to defeat our enemy before things get out of hand."

"I wondered when the old Sasuke would come back. I just didn't figure that it would take this long," she spat.

He was livid. The old Sasuke? Was she saying that he was like the Sasuke that had killed people? He became unaware of his right eye taking on a blood red color. "All you are to me right now is a burden."

She took a step back when he advanced. "A burden, huh? I wish you would've told me sooner so I could've stayed away from you. Why do you keep lying to me? I know that's all you've ever thought about me, so why do you tell me all these other things? I wait and wait, hoping that maybe you'll actually accept me for once."

The anger he had built up disappeared in an instant. He took another step forward.

"Don't come any closer," she warned, making fists and getting ready to strike if he didn't listen.

Sasuke froze and his eye returned to its regular onyx color. "Sakura, I didn't mean it. I got angry all of a sudden."

"Save it. I'm tired of your excuses and lies. I've been telling myself that you've changed, but I knew that something was wrong. I knew it because you actually acknowledged me." She laughed. "Me and my fantasies. I'm never gonna grow up and realize that it's never gonna happen. You just couldn't care less about any of it and I can't blame you. Yeah, I know I'm annoying so you don't have to say it." She turned and stormed off. "Don't even bother apologizing this time."

Sasuke was speechless. "What did I just do?" He wanted go after her and tell her how he truly felt. He desperately wanted to move, to go and make things right, but his body refused. The only part of his body that cooperated with him was his head. He tilted it to the side to see Kakashi, a frown visible in his eyes. Sasuke shifted his gaze to the ground and stared at his feet.

"Help me," Sasuke whispered weakly. He was shocked that those words had exited his lips, but he really did need help. Kakashi appeared to be as bewildered as the Uchiha. Instead of standing still, the Hokage put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and told him to stay put.

Sakura wiped her eyes and sighed. She leaned against the tree trunk and pulled her feet up to let her legs rest on the branch. She heard a rustle from nearby, but didn't move.

Kakashi crawled out from in between some prickly branches. "Ow!" he yelped as he finally got through them. He looked around to see that most branches were very close together. "Well, at least this provides great cover."

Sakura's expression did not change. "What are you doing up here?"

He brushed some dirt off his pants and smiled with his eyes. "I just wanted to chat with one of my former students."

"Naruto is probably on some clear ground. Why would you come all the way up here, getting scrapes and cuts, just to chat?"

He sighed in defeat. "He said that he didn't mean it."

"He always does," she scoffed. "I'm tired of it all. I give up."

"On what? Being friends with him?"

She threw her hands up. "I don't know. Anything involving him."

Kakashi chuckled. "So you're telling me that you're just gonna throw the years that you spent trying to save him away?"

She shook her head sadly. "I always ignored the ones that told me he was worthless. I'm living in my stupid fantasies too much. This time though, I realized how right they were. Heck, Sasuke tried to kill me. No wonder they thought I needed mental care."

Kakashi thought deeply for a minute. "Hm... I've never been in love, but I know that it's a real pain sometimes."

"You have no idea."

"My point is, can you honestly say that you hate him in an instant? I know that you've been through so much, but is giving up now really an option?"

"It's never going to happen anyway, so..."

Kakashi couldn't help himself. He laughed and shook his head back and forth, smiling.

Sakura sighed. "Don't tell me you think so too?"

He settled down. "Sorry, but it's just too obvious."

"What happened recently should tell you otherwise."

"He did say that he didn't mean it," Kakashi repeated. "Will you hear me out?"

Sakura nodded reluctantly.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "You know that Sasuke has always struggled with expressing his emotions. Sometimes even more so than Sai. I can tell that he's definitely been trying though, judging by how he's acted since his return. What's more is that necklace he bought for you. You know, we had exchanged a couple of letters after he left for his journey, and he told me that he was afraid. Sasuke said that he was afraid that you would never truly be happy with him. When he destroyed that meteor months ago, I could see him looking for a certain someone. Do you know who that was?"

She hugged her knees and glanced at the necklace. How could she possibly believe all this? At the same time, why would her sensei lie to her?

Kakashi continued. "I knew by the look in his eyes and his facial expression that it was you. To add to that, when he returned about a month ago, he wanted to go directly to you." He chuckled once more. "I think it's funny how he gets very protective of you Sakura. To be honest, I think that you two would make an adorable couple."

Sakura hid the furious blush present on her features. "Stop being weird Kakashi sensei. I don't know how I'm supposed to believe all that."

"I overheard something about Sasuke REALLY wanting to tell you a thing or two in private."

She huffed. "I was trying to get him to say what it was and you saw the outcome."

The Hokage frowned. "Sasuke is under a ton of pressure right now. Our enemies are after him and he doesn't know why. The abilities they have are not included in our knowledge either. That's why he keeps letting himself get so stressed. But, there is one more thing that probably tops all of that. He feels like he's put everyone in danger. The shinobi world, the village, this group, and most of all, you."

Sakura's expression was hidden from the masked man. "You really think all of it is true?"

He smiled in amusement. "I know it is."

Sakura stood up and wiped fresh tears away. "I think I have to go apologize to someone."

Sasuke watched the rain get heavier from under the shelter of a tree. Most of the others had ventured further away, but he had stayed put at their official stopping point like Kakashi had told him. He shifted his gaze to stare at the entrace to the caves, wondering why his and Hinata's eyes had been put under a spell of immense pain. "Maybe if I use the Rinnegan..." He took his headband off and ruffled his hair. Sliding his bangs out of the way, he focused the purple eye on the entrance. Almost immediately as he tried, he let out a small cry of pain and covered his left eye. What was wrong? Was this some sort of jutsu that prevents you from seeing the inside of the hideout? "They probably don't want us to see their chakra networks. That's a disadvantage to us. We won't be able to tell where and how many there are." His thoughts drifted back to the argument earlier in the day. The Uchiha wondered if Kakashi could really help him in this situation.

"Sasuke!"

He stood up in shock. "Sakura, I- UNH!" He was tackled by her and they landed on the hard ground. Sasuke couldn't tell if she was hugging him or trying to crush him.

"Sasuke I'm so sorry!" she cried.

"You're sorry?" he squeaked. She loosened her grip when she noticed his struggle to breathe.

"I never should've said any of that," she claimed.

Sasuke raised his head up to see Kakashi standing a short distance away. The Uchiha mouthed the words "What did you say?". Kakashi smiled and gave him a thumbs up before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke frowned and narrowed his eyes in frustration. His expression quickly softened. "I'm the one that should be sorry. It's my fault."

She raised up and scooted off of him. Sasuke sat up and watched the rain again. "Do you really feel that way though?"

Sakura looked away. "Sometimes..."

"I'm s-"

"Stop apologizing. It's really," she paused, trying to find the right word, "annoying."

Sasuke smirked. "Not as much as you are."

She returned the smirk. "Says the one that has all the mood swings. First, you're asking to race me. Second, you nearly fall off a cliff. Third, we're arguing like there's no tomorrow. And now you won't quit saying you're sorry. Not everything is your fault all the time."

"Feels like it," he muttered. "The reason we're here on this mission is my fault. I don't even know why." He slammed his fist into the bark of the tree behind him, hitting it hard enough to make small droplets of blood drip onto the forest floor.

Sakura softly put a hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense up slightly. "I know that this must make you frustrated. In fact, I think all of us are disheartened because of how little information we have."

"It's not just that. Their abilities... I can tell that they're, hiding, something. What was the point of attacking all of us with weak ninja? What about the fake Kenshis?"

Sakura unclenched Sasuke's bloody fist and began to heal it. "We can figure all that out when we go inside their hideout. For now, don't worry about it. Why don't you tell me that thing. Please?" She reminisced over her conversation with Kakashi. Everyone else was convinced, so why wasn't she? Sakura needed absolute confirmation to truly believe it.

Sasuke's mouth fell open. As she finished up with his hand, the Uchiha twisted his head around, making sure no one else was nearby. He stared at their hands. She was done healing his, but hadn't let go. He was relieved at this because it gave him a sense of comfort. Grabbing his collar with his free hand, Sasuke attempted to put the words together. "Um, we've, uh, known each other for a long time, I guess. Like since before the academy..."

Sakura was holding back an amused laugh. It was really cute, no, adorable to see him in this type of condition. She nodded. "Mhm..."

He let his hand travel to his hair, shakily smoothing out his bangs. "And then we were put on Team 7 together. So we were, uh, closer. A lot happened after that and... We got to know each other a little better, I think..."

She had to bite her lip in order to keep quiet. Another nod.

He continued. "I missed you while I was gone."

Sakura couldn't hide the bright red blush in her cheeks.

He sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that... I'm glad we're friends..."

She waited, but nothing else came. "Friends, huh? What was I hoping for?" Apparently, Sasuke had caught her depressed expression because he quickly thought of something else to say. He knew that he had screwed up. AGAIN.

"No! No! No! That came out wrong!" the Uchiha elaborated, highly embarrassed. "I'm just... really bad with words."

She couldn't resist the urge to chuckle this time. "I can tell."

"Hn..." He gasped when she cupped both sides of his face, making him look at her.

Her smile grew bigger. "You're really nervous. Tell me when you're ready. I won't bother you about it anymore." She withdrew her hands and Sasuke turned away again, blushing lightly.

He glanced at his newly repaired hand. "Yeah. Sure. Thanks."

"So," she began, "what now?"

He rested his head on the bark of the tree. "I don't know, but I'm really tired."

"I wonder why," she commented jokingly. "Now that you mention it, I'm kind of sleepy too. The rain makes it worse."

He smirked and leaned forward. Sasuke took off his cloak and threw it over her.

"What's this for?" Sakura questioned, clearly baffled.

He put an arm around her shoulder. "You ran out in the rain before you tackled me. Might as well have been asking for a cold."

The Haruno grinned and rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes Sasuke, a cold is gonna REALLY hurt me."

They leaned back against the tree. He smirked. "You're annoying. Now shut up and close your eyes."

She did as he commanded and let her eyes close. "Yes, Master Uchiha," she mocked.

His smirk grew wider. "I thought I also told you to shut up."

She shook her head.

"Yo! Love birds! Wake up!"

Sasuke's eyes slowly twitched open. He glanced to the side to see that Sakura was beginning to stir. Looking forward, he noticed that crickets were chirping and that it was the middle of the night.

Kankuro towered over the pair, an eyebrow raised and an amused smile on his features. He waited until they had fully woken up to speak. "The rest of us were about to discuss the plan for tomorrow. You two are the only ones missing." He chuckled lowly and spoke mostly to Sasuke. "I won't say anything about this if you don't want me to."

Sakura handed the Uchiha his cloak.

"I don't care," Sasuke replied truthfully.

Kankuro rolled his eyes and led them back to the meeting area. They spent a lot of time discussing a plan.

The fifteen shinobi stood directly in front of the entrance to the hideout. They were hesitant to enter at first. Sasuke had attempted to activate his Sharingan, but got the same result as the first time. Very slowly, Kakashi led the group at the front, Sasuke at the back. The caves were illuminated by strange large crystals that gave off a dim blue light. All was silent except for the footsteps and breathing of the ninja. Before long, they came to a stop. The main path split into five different paths.

"What do we do now?" Shino asked, barely loud enough to hear.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and looked down each path. "I guess we have no choice. We have to split up."

"This could be a trap," Shikamaru warned.

The Hatake sighed. "I know. We won't be alone though. I'll have us go in groups of three."

Gaara glanced around. "I'm not sure if it will be safe to meet up here once we've completed our second search."

"I agree," the Hokage replied.

Naruto threw his arms into the air. "Well what the heck then?!"

A few signaled for the Uzumaki to calm down. They hadn't planned on there being more than one path. That and no one had confronted them. So far...

Kakashi struggled for a final decision. They let him think on it for quite some time. He eventually stood in front of the group again, looking extremely frustrated. "Alright, I know we didn't plan on this, but we have no choice except split up." He went over some precautions after they were assigned to a group. "Be warned. I don't want any of you letting your guard down."

All of the shinobi nodded and prepared to leave. Kakashi, Lee, and Tenten decided to take the first path on the left. Next to them were Shikamaru, Sai, and Ino. The middle was taken by Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino had next to the end. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had the very last path.

"Good luck," Kakashi said.

They seperated. Team 7 slowly began to make their way through the dimly lit tunnel. Sakura stopped.

"What's wrong?" Naruto inquired.

She nervously looked in all directions.

"Calm down," Sasuke commanded softly, his voice full of concern.

Sakura halted and took a deep breath. "It just feels off. Ever since we came into the caves, I've felt it. Like we're being watched."

Naruto had a serious look on his face. "It definitely feels weird. I tried activating Sage Mode earlier, but I ended up like Sasuke and Hinata."

The Uchiha took a short glance behind them. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. "Not being able to activate my Sharingan or use my Rinnegan is odd. To add to that, none of us can see what's really inside of this place without getting excruciatingly painful throbs in our heads."

Naruto shook his head. "Well, now isn't the time to wonder about everything. We better get moving."

The Uchiha and the Haruno agreed and their slow pace returned. They traveled further and the path remained the same other than a few twists and turns. In that time, Sakura had hesitated to keep moving a couple of instances. Sasuke did not need the help of his clan's kekkei genkai to know that she was terrified. Sure, that feeling of being watched lingered, but was it really scaring her that much? What was different? What had she noticed that the men hadn't?

Naruto halted to inspect a crack in the damp cave wall.

The last member of the Uchiha clan repeatedly stole glances at the medical ninja. Finally, he grew tired of watching her suffer. He grabbed her trembling hand and entwined it with his, giving it a light squeeze before gently rubbing his calloused thumb over it. She stared at him for a minute. He gave her a look that said "relax" and she turned away, attempting to comply with his request.

"I promise... I won't let them hurt you," Sasuke vowed silently.

Kurushimi had soundlessly been watching the five groups. His attention had mainly been directed to the last group, the one with Sasuke Uchiha. He smirked when he saw the girl's expression. He listened in on their conversation about being watched. "Hm... The kunoichi has already figured out that I'm watching everything? Sakura Haruno definitely has a sharp mind. There's no way that they know how I'm doing it though. They're not even positive of that I am doing. Not to worry. My fun is just beginning..."

Author's Note: I've been waiting to get to this point where they're in the hideout. For now, things will remain peaceful. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites! By the way, someone asked for my social accounts. I'm not going to say right now, but maybe later. I'll have to think on it. Anyway, what do you guys think of the latest Naruto Gaiden chapter? I think that it was my favorite one so far! Please review!

OTHER UPDATES

Family Struggles should be updated by now. Thanks for being patient with me for that update!