Sakura checked into a hotel not far from the south side of town which she could see from any window in her hotel room. The south side of town was just a small part of the town filled with old run down buildings which could not stand up to any building code, they all looked like they we're going to topple over any minute now. It was the perfect place to start looking for Sasuke but she felt extremely tired and decided t start the search tomorrow.

…Switch…

This familiar chakra seemed to create a burning sensation all over his body; obviously it was a side effect of his body being in this weakened state. Sasuke's search for a healer has been put on hold since he became this sick; it was very difficult for him to move at all let alone make the walk to town.

…Switch…

Sakura after spending a day resting decided to have her dinner in the hotel's dining hall, the hall was filled with other hotel guests who decided to chow down in the hall instead of getting room service and eating in their rooms. The waiter delivered Sakura's bowl of Miso ramen and of course being incredibly starving she ate the oriental noodle soup with gusto.

After dinner Sakura went out to look around the town since she was pretty bored and couldn't even think about being tired. The night was young and the town was filled with joy, every bit of the town of Kikyo was filled with happiness. Soon she found herself near one of the old buildings which marked the difference in territory between this large town.

As Sakura looked upon the rotting old buildings she found herself moving forward with no control what so ever, as she walked the broken roads Sakura noticed that there was a weird vibe around the place. Sakura thought the vibe was the reason why they didn't end up rebuilding the place like the rest of the town.

It took twenty minutes to get to the end of it all, but all there was at the end of town was an enormous severely run down old mansion. It was very strange because the mansion wasn't as dilapidated as the rest of the buildings in fact it just seemed dirty not ruined. When Sakura walked through the door she saw how dusty it was all over the place, it was strange how even though the place was run down the wood hadn't rot through.

Sakura decided to take a shot in the dark "Hello is anybody here?"

"My name is Suki Meiko I'm looking for a Sasuke Uchiha"

…Switch…

Sasuke heard the words all to clearly and grabbed his katana; although the chakra presence of this person was familiar it was not the one which was causing his body to weaken so much. Sasuke limped out of the room and into the upstairs hall way, he leaned against the banister to see who it was. It was no one he recognized and she didn't look like a bounty hunter so obviously she had heard of him by reputation, actually now that he thought about it he recognized the armour.

"Are you here for the capture mission or are you a rouge ninja needing help?"

As soon as Sasuke said that she vanished then appeared a few feet in front of him. The mystery woman pushed her long black hair out of her face so he could see her properly.

"I am Suki Meiko I am here because I heard you need a healer"

"So what do you want in return?"

Sasuke saw the look on her face which gave away that she was pondering what to ask for in return "I need someone to escort be back to my home town Konoha"

"That's going to cost you more than some healing techniques"

"I am not a prostitute" Sasuke could tell by her tone that he had pushed her button which gave him endless joy.

"And I am not exactly welcome in the Hidden Leaf Village but those are my terms. So I would tell that drunken Hokage of yours to shove it"

"I can offer you immunity"

Sasuke stopped and realized what a big opportunity this was for him but he had to see if it was a trap so he decided to brooch the subject further "How can you do this?"

"A life swap. The Hokage has already decided on a sentence for you if you do eventually return so I would take your place for the punishment"

"What if the punishment is death?"

"Unlikely as the Uchiha family is a boost to the village's military status so it would be foolish to kill you but if that's the punishment so be it"

This offer seemed to good to be true so he decided to trip her up "Why would you do this for me?"

"Because my mentor Sakura Haruno died over a week ago and she wanted to see you return to the village one day, so as a loyal protégé I am willing to sacrifice my life to make her dreams come true"

Sasuke was shocked at this last statement and he was surprised at how much he felt because of the news of his former comrade's death. Sasuke turned around and started to hobble back to his room. Sasuke sat on the side of his bed with his head down just staring into nothing like a delirious mental patient.

…Switch…

Sakura was surprised that he was taking the fake news so badly after all she was just anther over the top fan girl to him. What ever the case Sakura wanted to get back to the topic of business and not just mope all day long about her supposed death.

"Alright I'm willing to give into your extra services charge, so do we have a deal?"

"Sure now heal me"

Sakura tuned the chakra finely then concentrated it in her hands, after Sasuke laid down she placed her hands above his body. Sakura thought it was strange that Sasuke was healing slowly, there must have been more damage then it looked like. Sakura was worried by this because she might not even be able to heal him fully.

…

The next morning was completely hazy as Sakura spent most of it half asleep, instead of staying in her nice cosy hotel bed Sakura ended up falling asleep on the bed with Sasuke which of course frustrated her to no end. Of course Sakura was trying to convince Sasuke to come back to the hotel room with her but he hadn't budged on the subject.

"Oh come on if we have to suffer can we at least suffer in luxury for something I already paid for?"

"No because that would entice you to leave the room and leaving the room is a bad idea"

"What if I stick it out with you in the room?"

"You know you're as stubborn as her"

"So I'm guessing that's a yes. Okay I'll go pack your things wait all you have is that stupid sword so I guess we're good to go"

"If you just had pink hair you would be exactly like her"

Sakura flinched at this comment which just deepened her sadness even more. She soon distanced herself from this line of thought and helped Sasuke walk. Sakura let him lean on her shoulder, the closeness just served as a reminder for what she felt for him. Soon enough though this pain would go away because she didn't plan on living out the entire sentence which awaited her back in Konoha.

…Switch…

So far Sasuke had been severely annoyed by this change of venue but he knew that he would've eventually had to leave that god awful place he was staying in. Although maybe he would feel better if he knew why he felt close to this girl who until two days ago he never knew existed. To Sasuke Suki Meiko was the ultimate mystery in life; she acted like she knew his inner being, she constantly generated a familiar aura and she acted like a dead woman who Sasuke thought he had gotten over years ago. Sasuke made it one of his priorities to find out the whole truth about Suki Meiko.

Sasuke was lying down on the bed because he had been worn out all after noon, the very familiar chakra from before had come back and Sasuke could tell it was getting closer. Sasuke was scared because this person was probably out to compromise this deal with Suki, it might even be some one from the Hidden leaf village who still holds a grudge against him. After a long time of thinking on this train of thought he could feel his body being forcefully shaken which made him get out of his mind.

"Hey Sasuke are you okay?"

It was so puzzling to Sasuke because the expression she was giving off now was the same one he had seen on Sakura a thousand times before "I'm fine I was just figuring out our strategy"

"Okay well its eight o'clock and I'm going to order in dinner so what do you want?"

It took a second for Sasuke to register what she was saying but he knew his answer immediately "I don't really care as long as it's edible"

"Alright but don't yell at me if you end up hating your meal"

Sasuke watched as Suki triumphantly walked to the room's phone and flipped her hair while she did it. Sasuke smirked at this little amusing show Suki was providing; it definitely was going to make this whole escapade a lot more interesting.

It took half an hour but room service finally delivered their dinner up to the room. Sasuke relished every second of the first proper meal he had had in months while Suki just sat there fiddling around with hers. Sasuke could have sworn that he even saw a tear slide down her perfect porcelain cheek but the next time he looked all traces of the tear was gone.

...Switch…

Sakura was breaking down inside, before her body gave in for a second and tear went down her cheek but she soon rectified that. At this point she really couldn't afford to break down and cease to be useful. This emotional outburst was probably the delayed effect of finally being able to bring Sasuke back to the Hidden Leaf village, Sakura ended up not eating her dinner at all. Sakura just got up then went to the bed then pulled up the covers and laid down.

"I miss her too you know"

The sudden voice of the Uchiha made Sakura's body shake like a maraca "What do you mean?"

"Sakura was very important to me once and now that she's gone it hurts"

"Really Sakura said she thought you had long stopped caring for her"

"Yes that was true but now it's not"

With that the conversation ended and Sakura started to cry under the covers. The conversation had overwhelmed her and eventually she ended up going to sleep.

…To be continued…