I would like to apologise for the cataclysmic amount of time it has taken me to get writting again. I thank everyone for having the patience to wait, especially people on the alert list and everyone who reviews. Special thanks to emptyspaces who always writes such encouraging reviews! Reviews keep me going in the dark weary hours. So this chapter is short as it is a very long chapter split in two. Unbetad so sorry for any mistakes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (if I did Genma and Kakashi would be love slaves to a vixen of a kunoichi names Kenners)


Sakura had an irremovable smile on her face, a sad, sombre smile that she could not remove despite her best try. She laughed quietly and cast a confused d glance at her bedroom door. She didn't quite know what move to make now; go into her bedroom with him or just pretend he wasn't here. What the hell was he doing anyway? He had seemed to get up and leave very briskly, and after her emotional outbreak and idiotic comment she felt very exposed. Sakura had worked for a very long time piecing together who she was a person and a kunoichi and she was proud of the results. He did however seem to be the only chink in her armour, the only spot where she could be hit with a feather and everything would come tumbling down. That moment a minute ago was a testament to that. She thought back to that momentary lapse of control and smiled again. She wasn't going to analyse why he had hugged her back or why it hadn't felt the way she expected. She just decided that this was the way things were.

"But he didn't have to be obnoxious!!" her inner voice pointed out inside her head. Sakura had to agree with the concerning voices, his departure was impromptu and she starred quizzically at the sealed bedroom door. Sakura lifted herself up off the floor and dusted herself off as she placed the mug on the side. She walked tentatively over to her bedroom door, she lifted her hand to knock on the door. She couldn't help but feel a bit outraged that she now had to knock on her own door. So instead she steeled her nerves and opened the door swiftly. Sakura looked around the room with no Sasuke in sight, he was not passed out on the bed as she had expected or rummaging through her belongings like Naruto did. The gentle wafting of her curtains caught her attention, her window was fully open and the breeze was causing the curtain to dance and the blinds were now open again through the force of the breeze. And suddenly it clicked! The empty room registered to Sakura in an instant and she laughed out loud, clapping a hand over her forehead; he had already left! And if she was honest with herself, she wasn't at all surprised. Sasuke Uchiha was nothing if not efficient. Get what was needed, in the form of a quick patch up and then leave. To her he was like a phantom, so much so that she wondered whether he had ever been there at all. Maybe she had dreamed it all, she had been under a lot of stress lately and there were lists of medical explanations running through her head to rationalise it. Sleep deprivation, caffeine overdose induced by the sleep deprivation. She had no reason to believe she was crazy, well crazier.

Tired of thinking Sakura stepped forward, fully intent of collapsing into bed and prescribing herself a healthy dose of shut eye. Suddenly she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and pull her back roughly while a hand clamped tight to her mouth. She was pulled back quickly until she felt the sharp stop as they were pushed up against the door. She gasped into the hand capturing her and looked back to see Sasuke's scanning the room, his sharingan spinning hypnotically. Captivated suddenly by the sharingan's hypnotic power was scintillatingly numbing. Suddenly his eyes snapped down to lock right with hers, Sakura physically felt her eyes widen. He leant down until Sakura could feel his breath across her ear.

"Someone's been in here," he said darkly.

Sakura head snapped back to look at the room, trying to see what he was looking for. She felt his body was stiff behind her and she felt suddenly nervous. The idea of someone invading her personal space sent a shiver down her. Suddenly the air in the room became stagnant and close even with the breeze from the window, making it hard to breath. Suddenly she saw a flash in that direction and she snapped her head round to see a small crow perched on the window sill. It was no larger than her fist, too small for a crow, maybe a raven, its head darting to look around the room. Suddenly its eyes locked in on them pressed against the door. Its obsidian eyes glared right at Sakura and suddenly flashed a horrific shade of yellow it made her flinch in reaction. Then everything went black as she felt a sharp pressure on her neck as Sasuke's finger pressed down into her pressure point. She slipped away into unconsciousness and Sasuke held her against him while he performed his jutsu perfectly, despite his lack of chakra.

Sasuke turned his attentions to the intruder and half a second later the crow suddenly convulsed and instead of dying instantly as it should it simply disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke paused for a moment to wait for a possible retaliation but nothing came. So he quickly scooped Sakura into his arms and moved her into the living room where he lay her on the couch to sleep off the procedure he had had to do to her, again. He knew he would pay for that in a few hours time but it was necessary. He lowered her gently down and positioned her head so that it was comfortably on the arm rest. Then he returned to the bedroom window and jumped out onto the roof in the blink of an eye.