Chapter 14

Orochimaru snickered as Kabuto picked himself up from the ground. He heaved heavily as he held onto the spot that the lightening blade entered.

"He thought he killed you—so predictable."

Kabuto looked in Orochimaru's direction as he winced.

"Do you think Naruto got away before Itachi was able to decode your message?"

"Doubt it. By now I'm sure he's in the Akatsuki's hands."

There was a popping sound indicating that someone had just arrived. Orochimaru turned around to see his pink haired girl glaring at him.

"Well, isn't someone a little grouchy this morning." He mused.

Sakura clenched her hands at her sides.

"What did you do with him?"

Orochimaru shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever do you mean?"

Sakura took a few deep breaths before she continued.

"Naruto, where is he?"

"Naruto?" Orochimaru questioned.

Sakura looked into the darkness of the trees.

"Yeah I was wondering where he was. I was hoping that maybe you decided that he was useful to you after all. You don't realize the amount of power he has, there is so much under the surface that he hasn't discovered yet…"

Orochimaru smirked as he digested this information.

"Sorry to disappoint you but the Akatsuki got to him before I could. It's for the best I assume that they finish him off. They do have a noble cause."

"Then why did you leave them?"

"Why? Because I wasn't able to get Itachi, he caught onto what I was after and he confronted me about it. Therefore I could no longer stay in that place."

Sakura folded her arms across her chest as Orochimaru stepped up to her. Placing his hand on her side he pulled her close to him.

"I wonder why Sasuke didn't show up."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders in response.

"You know as well as I do that if Sasuke doesn't want to do something he won't."

"Yes, yes of course. He is very grouchy when he first wakes up. I should have realized that, oh well."

Sakura looked down at the grass that they stood on. Her mind wandered back to Sasuke and everything that had happened with them last night and this morning. Her heart ached to be in his arms instead of the arms she was currently in.

"What's the matter, you look sad." Orochimaru broke her out of her thoughts. She tilted her head upward and smiled sadly at him.

"Don't worry about me, I'm a big girl and can take care of myself."

Orochimaru smiled sinisterly at her.

"Well of course you are. Now, why don't we get back to Sasuke before he throws a tantrum that sends the whole base crashing down?"

With three pops they were gone.

Kakashi couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Sakura in Orochimaru's arms…everything was turning into a huge mess. And now Naruto had willingly walked to his death. Closing his eyes he forced Lightening blade out once again, cutting through the chakra that bound him he landed on his feet, breathing hard.

"I have to tell the Hokage."

Sasuke sat at the edge of his bed with his hand clenching his face. Itachi had been in the near vicinity and he just let him walk away! He was losing his grip on reality and it all had to do with Sakura. There was a quick knock on the door and then it swung open. Sasuke didn't have to look to see it was Orochimaru.

"Is there something wrong Sasuke? You seem a little crankier than usual."

Sasuke didn't answer. Orochimaru smirked as he entered the room, the door closing behind him.

"Whatever is the matter Sasuke? Wouldn't you want to kill Itachi?"

Sasuke bit his lip as his eyes narrowed into slits. Orochimaru took a few steps back, he knew better than to mess with Sasuke when he was in one of his moods.

Stepping out of the room he glanced behind him.

"Soon Sasuke…very soon your body will be mine."

His eyes bounced to the right to see Sakura bouncing down the hallway.

"What a surprise to see you coming down this way Sakura. Please get your belongings together, we'll be changing bases soon."

Sakura smiled sweetly at him, her finger playing with her pink hair.

"All right, I'll get right to that."

"Good, come see me tonight once you are finished with that."

Sakura nodded her head as Orochimaru walked past her and out of her sight. She glanced behind her to make sure that no one was around. Sneaking into the dark room she leaned against the cold door. When she brought her eyes up from the floor she was met by shinning red eyes.

"Sasuke…?"

No reply came upon her ears. The only thing that flickered was the redness of his eyes. They became more intense by the second. Sakura's heart began to pound in her chest as she took a few steps towards the red eyes that loomed in the darkness.

"I know you're upset about something but…can't you talk to me about it?"

Once again there was no reply. Sakura stood her ground as Sasuke stood up from his bed. He walked slowly over to her until he was standing right in front of her.

'Here he is right in front of me and yet he feels so far away.'

"You are becoming too much of a hassle."

Sakura didn't dare look him in the eye so she focused her attention on his chest. Was it only a few hours ago that she was able to touch it without fearing his rejection? And now here she stood and she was afraid of what would happen if she leaned forward to press her forehead against it.

"I think it's time you left Sakura."

A gasp escaped her mouth before she could stop it.

"You—you want me to leave?"

Sasuke turned his head away from her as a new anger arouse in his chest. Everything about Sakura was distracting.

"I thought you were starting to let me in."

"You were wrong! Why would I ever let someone like you in? You're still the same as you were back when we were kids, annoying."

To say the words didn't sting her would be a lie. Clenching her fists together her breath quickened. Sweat rolled down her temple as the words started to sink in. Her eyes gleamed defiantly back into the cold red ones that were refusing to look at her. Her hands began to sweat from how tight she was making her fist. Masking her chakra she began to build it around her closed hand. In a swift movement her fist made contact with Sasuke's left cheek.

Being caught off guard he stumbled slightly, quickly recovering he put his hand on the place that she had hit him. A light trail of blood came down the side of his mouth. He smirked in her direction showing her that she had not broken his jaw like she intended.

"You have no right to speak to me that way. I don't care if you never want to let me in your life but you're going to have to deal with me! I chose to stay here with Orochimaru and you're going to have to deal with my presence even if you hate me!"

The uncontrolling chakra began to swirl around her thin frame. Sasuke's Sharingan spun slightly from the new information he was receiving from having the Sharingan focused on the distraught girl before him. He could clearly see the darkness that arose inside of Sakura when this foreign chakra made itself present. It completely threw aside Sakura's natural chakra to be able to consume her.

The light pink chakra that was normally the chakra that Sasuke was used to seeing was completely covered in the dark purple chakra. The evil sense of Orochimaru filled the room causing bad memories to surface in Sasuke's mind. In surprise the Sharingan fell back into slumber, his eyes returning to normal.

Her hair veiled over her eyes as she let the darkness take over.

"Sasuke I'm tired of trying to get you to understand that I'm not against you, that I'm willing to go with you to kill Itachi or do whatever you want. If you don't want my help then I'll just go to someone who does want my help." Her voice was deadpanned as she spoke.

The sensation of worry came over Sasuke as he reached out to take her arms she pulled slightly away from him.

"Sakura you don't know what you're saying. You go to Orochimaru for that purpose then you will forever be lost to everyone…including me."

A smirk came onto her lips at the irony.

"Here you are talking about me being lost forever, and yet, when it was something you wanted to do the thought never crossed your mind that you would be lost to everyone."

Sasuke didn't like how the feeling didn't subside; instead it intensified as she spoke. He grumbled to himself, angry with the way he was feeling towards her. Why did he have to let her in? She was only going to get hurt by him further. Yet while he was trying to get her to stop mumbling her nonsense it seemed nothing was getting through to her. In a despite attempt to 'awaken' her he did an act that he swore he'd never do again.

Bending down, since she was so much shorter than him he placed his lips on top of hers midsentence. Her eyes flew open in shock at his motion, her arms falling limp at her side. As his lips moved against hers he was relieved to see the purple chakra settle down back into the depths of her soul. Pulling swiftly away he turned his back to her, not wanting to see her face at this moment.

There was the sound of her taking an uncertain step towards him but then she stopped. clearing her throat she pulled at her pink locks.

"Sasuke…I…I'm sorry."

He didn't even feel like grunting in response so instead he began to walk towards the door. He reached out to clasp the door handle when a small hand grabbed onto his wrist. The sudden contact made him come to a halt, eyes glued to the door.

"Don't walk away from me again…I…" she fell silent for a moment, "I would fall apart if you did." She mumbled the last part, not happy to admit her weakness.

Sasuke closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against the door in front of him. This girl shouldn't put so much effort into him. There was no way he was going to go back to being the person she knew him to be. There was only one thing that was important to him…and he'd be willing to do anything to get that.

"Sakura…I chose revenge," Pulling his wrist out of his grasp he continued, "What we did was a mistake. Something that should never happen again."

Blasted tears began to build up in her eyes once again.

"Why do you always do this? Why do you always get close and then suddenly turn cold? I don't know what I do to make you this way."

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly. He had to get out of this situation. When she started to get this way he never knew what to say. Naruto was always the one that comforted Sakura; he himself had never been one good with words or affection. Ever since that fateful day he lost all sense of being compassionate.

"You better start packing." Was his reply as he opened the door and left her standing in the middle of his room.

His thoughts bounced around in his head as he made his way down the twisted hallways. There was one person that he could go to that he knew wouldn't question him and his decisions. As he made his way down the halls towards the medical area he shook with fear. Why was he afraid? There was nothing to be afraid of here.

Kabuto exited the room that he was seeking after. Looking up from his papers he grinned.

"Well hello Sasuke. Here to make your daily visit to Yuki?"

"Humph."

Kabuto pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Of course you never like admitting that you hold a soft spot for the girl. Well I'm sure you'd be interested to know that she is almost healthy enough to begin our procedure. You've done a good job in helping her recovery along. I'm surprised she took to you so quickly, usually people shy away from you, perhaps it's your amazingly good looks that caught her."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed drastically in Kabuto's direction. Kabuto smiled nervously and shook his hands from side to side, the paper flaying wildly.

"Don't take it personally; you can't help the way you look."

Sasuke clenched his jaw and Kabuto could tell that he was ready to hit him. So as quickly as he could he passed him.

"Have fun Sasuke." He called over his shoulder. Sasuke watched as he disappeared from sight. Muttering profanities to himself he stepped to the door and opened it slowly.

As he entered he could see Yuki's small frame shaking from the doorway. What had they done to her this time? Anger swept inside of him again at the thought of them touching her and putting injections inside of her. All this was just so Orochimaru could have his dream come true.

Her lavender eyes looked up from their hiding place on her knees.

"Sasuke-sama…"

Nothing else had to be said as he strode over to her and sat down on her bed next to her, bringing her into his chest. She clung tightly to the folds of his shirt, pressing her face against his chest. Sobs began to emit from her chest. Closing his eyes he held her a little tighter, hoping in some way he was making the pain less painful. After a few moments she pulled away from his chest to look into his face.

"Sasuke-sama…what's wrong?"

Opening his eyes he looked down into hers. There was nothing he could keep from this small girl that had helped him so much while she had been here. Looking away he noticed how her face fell into a frown.

"You're running again…aren't you?"

The bed shifted slightly from underneath him. Soon small hands were placed on either side of his face, making him look at her. When he focused his eyes on her he could see the determination that lit her face.

"Why are you running? Are you afraid to truly feel the feelings that are coming out?"

Yuki smiled, her eyes closing from the gesture.

"I know you Sasuke-sama. I understand that you are afraid to be close to people because you might hurt them, or will hurt them. I also know that you want something very badly and you won't stop until you get that. But…Sasuke-sama, will it really make you smile, a real smile?"

"I smile." Sasuke huffed.

Yuki opened her eyes and gazed at him intently.

"It never reaches your eyes." As she said this she rubbed the skin underneath his eyes.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. Yuki leaned her forehead against his, drawing strength from his body. Sasuke had known from the beginning what Yuki's powers were and he wasn't afraid of her. This innocent girl had been brought up to believe that she was something to fear when in reality there was nothing to fear. Her abilities made her dangerous, not fearful. Closing his eyes he allowed the energy to be slowly zapped from his body. If there was anything he could do for this girl it was this. If giving his energy to keep her from dying was the only way he would do it a million times over, five times a day if he had too.

After a few moments Yuki pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry Sasuke-sama I always take from you."

Sasuke placed his hand on her head and shrugged.

"You do what you have to do to survive. Just like me."

Yuki looked up at him sheepishly.

"Sasuke-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Will you stay here until I fall asleep? And…" she fidgeted with her nightgown, "Will you promise not to run away anymore? That pink hair girl really loves you…I could see it in her eyes."

Sasuke turned away from her as he stood up while picking up Yuki at the same time; pulling the covers aside he placed her gently on the bed, closing the covers up under her chin. Once she was under the covers he laid down next to her, running his hand through her hair comfortingly, or at least he hoped it was doing that. He had never been one good at comforting. Ever since that fateful night…

Sasuke shook his head to stop his thought process before it got carried back to the past.

Yuki leaned against him and sighed evenly.

"Thank you for coming Sasuke-sama."

Sasuke looked at her peaceful face while he lay motionless. This little girl didn't deserve the torture Orochimaru put her through night after night. Just because she had a unique power shouldn't give him the right to extract that from her.

When her breathing deepened he knew she was lost to her dreams. Slowly and silently he moved off the bed, away from the small girl.

"You really shouldn't grow so attached to her."

Sasuke whirled around and glared in the direction of the voice.

"That's no way to greet me Sasuke-kun."

Orochimaru stepped into his view, a smile graced his lips.

"I simply came to tell you that we were leaving. Sakura has already finished packing her things. All that is left is to leave, we need to hurry or else the Hidden Leaf will try to penetrate this base again."

Sasuke walked over to his Sensei's side.

"Oh and by the way Sasuke. I hope you didn't forget that Sakura is mine."

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks and after standing next to his Sensei for a moment continued to walk away from him. Orochimaru licked his lips as he turned and watched Sasuke walk away.

'Although if you did take the liberty to take her then I couldn't refuse an Uchiha child. You would be ultimately helping me out after all.'

Sakura bent over, grasping her stomach. Sweat was dropping down from her face. Slowly she reached over, activating her chakra and placing her hand just above her stomach. Something had gone terribly wrong. As soon as the chakra began to smooth the pain she began to relax. Something was wrong with her but right now she was just glad she was able to sub side the pain.

Leaning back against the cold wall she took deep breaths. There was movement from the corner of her room as her eyes were brought to focus on it.

Then the movement stopped. Gulping she shifted her position slightly. Her hand grasped down into her side bag that held her Kunai.

Red eyes peered at her from the darkness. She sighed in relief as she let the Kunai fall back in its place.

"Next time ask before you come in."

"I thought I could never sneak up on you."

Sakura pushed her damp hair out of her face, not caring to reply. There was more movement as Sasuke stepped out of the darkness and fell down at her side.

"Orochimaru is up to something."

"Isn't he always? And is that why you're talking to me now?"

"He knows about us…" Sasuke continued not caring to answer her question.

Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration. Of course, the only reason why Sasuke would be talking to her willingly is because he's afraid something awful will happen to him when Orochimaru finds out about what had gone on between the two of them.

"Did he come out and say it?"

Sasuke looked down at the space in between his knees.

"So how do you know that he knows? Maybe he's just trying to freak you out so he can figure out if something like that really did take place with us." Sakura reasoned.

Sasuke shook his head.

"You don't know Orochimaru like I do. I've been with him for three years, I know his way of thinking. My senses are telling me that he knows."

A feeling of dread spread itself through Sakura's being.

"Uhm…if he does know then what do we do?"

Sasuke moved his left foot and leaned his head against the cold stone wall.

"You were in pain just now. What's going on?"

Pushing at her unruling hair she grunted.

"Why would you worry about that? There's nothing that is wrong with me."

Sakura froze as Sasuke moved so he was only an inch away from her face.

"You're a bad liar Sakura. So don't even try to lie to me, you're going to tell me what's wrong."

Sakura gulped as she slid away from him a few inches. Her hands began to shake as she recalled the new foreign pain that had overtaken her a few minutes before.

"Let me first figure out what it was. When I find out I promise you'll be the first to know."

"Don't tell Kabuto about any of it."

Sakura was surprised by the outburst, "Why?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her incompetence.

"Because it might be something that he nor Orochimaru shouldn't know about. Just forget going to him for help on the matter, all right?" He stated firmly, leaving no room or argument.

Sakura had to admit that she was glad he had set the ground rule on this matter. For once Sasuke being controlling had its perks.

When she let her green eyes focus on his black ones she didn't try to move them away. When he made no move to pull away either she slowly eased her hands up onto his face. When her hands made contact with his skin his eyes closed as he smelled her smell in.

A small smile tugged at the sides of Sakura's lips.

"Why do you always pull away? You don't have to suffer things alone anymore." She whispered softly, not wanting to disturb him from his thought process, whatever that was.

He sighed in response as he allowed himself to fall down at her feet, his face still in her hands.

Opening his eyes he reached out and touched the locket that hid beneath her shirt.

"I don't ever want to hurt you…but…" he trailed off as he tried to pull away. Sakura's grip on his face tightened making it so he couldn't budge.

"No, don't do it again Sasuke. Right now you're actually letting me see the side of you I once knew, the side I fell in love with." She mumbled the last part of her sentence.

His onyx eyes met hers once again. He reached out with his calloused hands and touched her face. She leaned into his hand, comforted by his touch. How his touch could make her feel comforted he would never know. His hands were covered with blood of the innocent, surely he hadn't killed them but he had caused many wounds.

Leaning forward he allowed his lips to brush silently against hers. She responded just the way he knew she would. She weaved her arms around his neck and let her fingers play through his black hair.

Sasuke allowed himself to be lost inside the kiss that would forever change his destiny. Once the kiss had intensified he pulled away from her, gasping for air.

"Orochimaru is looking for us. It's time to leave."

Sakura looked towards a dark corner of the room, folding her arms across her chest.

"But…we leave and the Leaf can't find us again…"

Sasuke smirked, his old self coming back into play.

"I thought you gave yourself to Orochimaru and that you are willing to serve him. Shall I tell him you have chosen otherwise?"

Sakura's head shot up to look at the boy that had just been kissing her so passionately a second before.

When she saw the look on her face she knew things had gone back to normal. She would have to savor the moments when Sasuke let his guard down because this was the way he was going to be for most of the time. Picking herself off the ground she smirked right back at him.

"Oh yes and he'd be so pleased to find out that you messed with his girl while he was away."

Sasuke's narrowed dangerously by her threat, turning on his heels he walked out of the room with her following slowly behind him.

Okay so here is the long awaited chapter. My beta saw my post for chapter 14 and she was like, uh-oh. But no worries since she got it back to me in record time. I hope everyone is okay with how long they had to wait...I hope I didn't loose any readers.... :S

Review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. The next one should be really good. Its taking me a long time to write it since fighting scenes take a lot out of me. teehee. ^^

Anyway, please review!!