Sigh, i loved this chapter.

Also, for those who think that Sasuke is OOC (out of character) in this chapter: what, you think that Sasuke cant POSSIBLY be affected by Hikari's presence? Like Your Hoshi said in one of her reviews, Sasuke IS human, even though he's obsessed with revenge and tries to act all emotionless. He has emotions and human desires that not even blocking himself off can prevent. Sasuke has been affected by Hikari's presence, and so would you if she were real.

Anyway, hope that you all enjoy the chapter, and PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter 28

Suigetsu and I walked through the rainy streets, heading towards the nearest bank. The people of this part of the kingdom were somber and serious, quickly moving past us without any comment or odd stare. I supposed they were used to ninja coming and going, with the Akatsuki having so many connections here. We were here to find those connections. But it would be easier if the civilians and authorities thought we were working with the Akatsuki; they would be less inclined to object to our questions.

Suigetsu had cleverly come up with a plan to interrogate the bankers on their clients, which would help us narrow down the identity of an Akatsuki member and where his money and supplies were sent.

"Even when you're powerful enough to lay waste to an entire city, everyone needs someone to manage their money and their economic affairs."

There were three banks in the eastern section of the kingdom, and although it would be faster if we separated, we didn't want to get caught off guard if someone under the Akatsuki launched an ambush.

Suigetsu was focused, and his purple eyes glanced around quickly. "Hm…I can sense traces of powerful chakra…maybe it's in this one." The two of us looked up at the bank right in front of us, and large and expensive looking building. I snorted, and pulled Suigetsu away from it.

"Think about it Shark-boy. If the Akatsuki were aiming for the utmost secrecy, why in the hell would they announce their presence to the entire world by going to the bank in person? If I was going to guess, the Akatsuki member whose money is here would focus on the most inconspicuous bank here, and handle his affairs by telephone or by using civilian messenger."

Suigetsu nodded, and we continued walking down the street in search of the smallest bank. I turned to Suigetsu, and whispered. "Okay, so we just go in and ask about the Akatsuki? Seems too obvious…shouldn't we get the manager alone?"

"Leave it to me, beautiful. I've got it all planned out. Just follow my lead and try to look as regal as possible."

"What?"

"You're going to pretend that you're a faraway princess who needs to discuss some business with the manager on behalf of her uncle. I'm your bodyguard, and will do all of the talking. You're job is to smile and wow the guards with your looks. If they have any hormones at all, they'll let us in."

"Uh, I'm flattered, Suigetsu, but I don't think that I'm pretty enough to get past guards with no identification or anything like that…"

"Trust me, from a guy's perspective; if you came up to me and told me you're a princess, I'd believe you in a heartbeat. Okay, we're here. Let's go behind this wall, and transform yourself into a long purple dress and a tiara on your head. Keep the cloak, but make sure that the dress is visible somewhat."

I stared at him for a moment, and then did as he asked. When I put down my hands, I was in the same dark cloak as before, only instead of having sandaled feet showing where the cloak ended, there was a rich purple dress that reached my feet. My hair was pulled into an elaborate hairstyle, with a subtle diamond crown nestled there among the curls and the braids. Suigetsu whistled, and I rolled my eyes as I carefully pulled my hood so that it covered my head and partially shielded my face.

Suigetsu and I carefully blended with the crowd once more, and made our way up the bank steps. It was a public building, so there weren't guards at the entrance. The air warmed exponentially as the doors closed behind us, and I peeked around. The room was plain, with a long table with wire mesh to separate the bankers from the customers. There was a gate at the very end of the table, and behind it we saw two heavily armed guards. They weren't ninjas, I could tell that much from the lack of chakra being exuded from them.

A few customers stopped from their path back outside to stare at Suigetsu and I, and I didn't look at them as I hurried past. I didn't want to attract any attention than I already was. I approached the banker nearest to the gate that led upstairs, and the man looked up at Suigetsu with a jolt of shock at the sight of the huge sword.

"W-We don't serve ninja here, please leave!"

I sighed, knowing that Suigetsu's plan to do all the talking would end up scaring this guy even more, and slowly looked up to meet the banker's eyes. "Forgive the threatening appearance of my servant, it is necessary for someone of my stature to have a guard that will discourage any threat to my well-being. Surely you understand."

The man peered at me, and I lifted my chin high as he asked. "Who are you?"

"I am sorry, but my name must remain a secret, as many are seeking to destroy me. I will tell you that I am a princess from a faraway country, and on behalf of my uncle I wish to speak to your manager."

"I'm sorry; I can't just allow you to go through. My manager is very reluctant to see any suspicious looking–"

I glared, and reached up to sweep the hood off of my head, and the man gulped at the sight of my tiara and my rich purple collar.

"I am royalty, you insolent excuse for a banker! I am powerful enough to have an army knocking on your door in less than a week. Do not suggest that my motives in meeting with your manager are less than noble, unless you wish for more conflict. Now, will you allow me to see your manager, or do I need to send a message to my uncle telling him how a certain banker refused my fervent request because of a suspicious feeling on his part?" I asked coolly, my eyes flashing as I held the banker's gaze evenly. The man was unable to look away, and Suigetsu remained silent, standing behind me respectively.

The banker glanced around at the gaping customers, and whispered. "Y-Yes, of course, My Lady. Just this way. My master has a room in the upper levels of the bank."

Score! I am a genius! I mentally crowed as the man hastily opened the gate and let Suigetsu and I through. The guards tensed, but after the banker whispered to them, they stood aside to show us through two heavy metal doors that took the strength of all three men to open. They were so thick that I knew that no sound would permeate through them, and I strode through them without a moments hesitation, keeping my face proud and imperious. Suigetsu was silent and deadly behind me, and the guards kept their distance as the metal doors closed behind us.

I stopped, and looked back to ask. "For security purposes, is the area around the manager's office soundproof? It would be very dangerous if any of the information I relay to him was heard by enemy ears."

"These walls are virtually soundproof, My Lady. You have nothing to fear."

I shot a quick glance to Suigetsu, who gave me a tiny nod, the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips. "I see…that's good to hear, gentlemen."

"My Lady?"

Without warning, I whipped around, releasing the jutsu that had me dressed in the attire of a princess, and sent my foot slamming into the nearest guard's chest. The man was about to fly backwards, but I reached forward to grab him, and clapped a hand around the man's mouth and pressed the pressure point at the back of his neck. The guard went slack, and I lowered him to the floor as silently as I could while Suigetsu finished knocking out the other guard.

Suigetsu grinned and butted his shoulder against mine. "Wow, beautiful, you sure know how to get what you want. Just flash those pretty eyes of yours and whip out the fancy speech…and you're home-free."

"Thanks…I was actually surprised at how quickly they believed me. I mean, I didn't even tell them my supposed uncle's name…or what kingdom I was from."

Suigetsu chuckled, and we ran down the hall and up the stairs, finding no one around as we dashed up the stairs. We slowed as we reached the single wooden door, and Suigetsu heard something, and put a finger to his lips to keep me quiet. I listened, and a muffled voice was heard through the wood.

"…I will have the money arriving here by tomorrow, and after that I will decide what my next actions will be. Master Kazuku has recently been killed…by the village of Konoha. Don't worry, I heard that some of their ninja are snooping around the kingdom in search of Itachi Uchiha," Suigetsu and I glanced at each other in shock and listened as the man went on. "but they don't have any way to track the Akatsuki back to any of us. Yes…no one is allowed to see me without passing security. Yes…yes…I understand. Good day."

I grinned as I recognized the name as one of the members of Akatsuki, and Suigetsu opened the door quickly, the two of us dashing into the room. There was a man that was in front of his desk, and he whipped around at the sound of us bursting in. I tackled him, and noticed that he was only twenty-five or so. So young to be meddling with people as dangerous as the Akatsuki.

Well, I suppose I didn't really have any room to talk, seeing as I was only fifteen.

I smiled widely at him as Suigetsu carefully snipped the wires of all the phones and other communication devices, and after he was done I let the man up. The man sat up, and his eyes were wide as he took in Suigetsu's sword.

Suigetsu grinned. "I wouldn't raise your voice if I were you; I've been itching to use this sword of mine to decapitate some heads."

I nodded, and sat the man up, kneeling beside him. "What's your name?"

"G-Ginji."

"Alright, Ginji…we're going to have a little chat. If you tell us what we want, we'll let you go and you can walk away as if nothing happened. But if you don't…well…I think you know what happens." I murmured, and Suigetsu hefted his huge sword in response.

Ginji swallowed hard, eyes flickering towards the way Suigetsu's sword gleamed, and clenched his fists. "W-What do you want?"

"How long have you been handling Kazuku's affairs, and where does his money get sent from?"

I was just finishing lifting the unconscious Ginji after his interrogation – Suigetsu was pissed that he wasn't allowed to kill him, but I ignored him – and placed the man in his chair, situating his hands and head so that it seemed like he had merely fallen asleep at his desk. Suigetsu rolled his eyes, and I was about to ask him something when a bright light shone through the window, and the two of us looked outside to see a blinding flash of light.

"What the hell?"

I ran over to the window, and saw that it was an explosion. Suigetsu frowned, and I opened the window so that we could slip though and out onto the roof. The white haired boy beside me swore under his breath.

"That looks pretty serious…I wonder…"

My chest constricted as I whispered. "Is Sasuke…?"

"It couldn't possibly be Karin or Juugo, seeing as they were the farthest away from us…"

I started running before he had finished, and the panic increased in my chest as I realized that Sasuke couldn't have possibly escaped the explosion. It was too large and if he had already exhausted himself in a fight…there was no way…

I felt Suigetsu running beside me, and he was strangely silent as he followed me as we raced along the roofs, and I ignored the silence as well as the fact that the rain had stopped. The air was cold and chilly, and I shivered as I slid down a banister and landed on the ground outside the ring out houses. The smoke from the explosion was still lingering in the air, and it seemed like hours as we ran through the forest in search of somewhere to summon Sasuke with the scroll the Uchiha had entrusted to Suigetsu.

Finally we reached a large empty clearing, and I gritted my teeth to restrain the urge to scream as Suigetsu slowly unfurled the scroll, spilling a few drops of blood onto the scroll.

Why was I so afraid? I mean, it was Sasuke…I knew I should be concerned, but not outright terrified like I was in this moment. Was it because I felt indebted to him, was it because I viewed him as a friend?

All I knew was that if Sasuke hadn't survived…I would take up his mantle, and kill Itachi Uchiha, and either succeed or die trying.

I owed it to Sasuke…for saving my life…for becoming my friend – however reluctant – when all I saw around me was despair.

There was a resounding boom, and suddenly there was a huge purple snake – it was gigantic – appeared in the clearing, battered and bleeding as it's vicious yellow and black eyes glazed over as it lay dying. I saw a familiar teen kneeling beside it's mid-section, barely ten feet away, and I let out a breath when I saw that it was Sasuke.

A warm feeling rose in my chest, and I stopped when I realized that it was love. Pure, unfiltered love was pulsing in my chest with every heartbeat, and that feeling was increased as I saw his dark onyx eyes flicker up to lock with mine.

I froze, and horror filled me. I was…in love with Sasuke Uchiha. I had admitted it to myself before, but it was only now that it was really true. There was no other way to look at it, and I clenched my hands as I scowled to myself.

I'm pathetic. Thinking that I was in love just because I was worried that he had died. I wasn't in love with him…I was just his student; what student wouldn't be concerned for the health of his or her teacher?

I repeated that to myself as I ran over, and pushed aside those warm feelings as I knelt beside the battered Uchiha. I scanned his beaten and bruised body, the ragged breaths that escaped his chest as he leaned heavily on his arm, and I stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"You're an idiot. Letting someone beat you up this badly…"

"I killed him."

"By using this huge snake?"

"No."

The snake was dead – it had been saying something while I ran over to Sasuke, but those words were tuned out unconsciously by my mind – and with a poof it disappeared. Suigetsu sighed, and walked over to where we were kneeling.

"That explosion was pretty big, you're lucky that you got out of there alive."

Sasuke nodded curtly, and I saw that he had an open cut on his cheek that was bleeding rather profusely. I reached out to touch his jaw, holding him still as I reached for some bandages and a small bottle of antiseptic liquid. Sasuke didn't flinch when I touched his skin, but that was probably only because of his exhaustion.

"Hold still, Emo-boy. I'm going to stop your bleeding. Karin will be here soon I hope…she can heal the rest of you."

"Stop..."

"I wasn't asking for your permission, Sasuke. And shut up please, you're making it harder to clean up the blood. Sure, Karin'll heal you, but will she wipe all the blood away? I doubt it…I have a slightly stronger stomach for stuff like that than her. Unless she's confessed her fetish for blood or something…that would be slightly creepy, but whatever…maybe you're attracted to girls like that. I wouldn't know."

I tilted his head gently to the right to allow me to get the blood that was dripping down his neck, and he did so without complaint, his eyes staring at the ground in front of him as I doused a small bandage with the cleaning liquid and wiped away the red substance.

Sasuke didn't say anything more, but he didn't pull away either, like I expected him to. Even after I wiped away all the blood, he didn't move, and seemed almost content when I gently taped a bandage over his wound, and patted it to make sure it was secure.

He was pretty out of it after his battle…I probably shouldn't read too much into it.

I heard Karin's familiar shriek of Sasuke's name behind me, and cringed when Karin pushed me out of the way to latch onto Sasuke desperately. I didn't even have the energy to snap at her, too ready to get out of that awkward peacefulness that was growing between Sasuke and I in the moments I treated his injury.

Juugo smiled oddly at me, and I patted his shoulder before turning to approach Suigetsu. Something flared behind me, and I heard Sasuke's voice yell.

"Hikari!"

"Die!"

I felt a hard fist slam into my side, and I didn't have time to scream before I was sent tumbling into the ground. I felt several things crunch in my right side, and blood welled up in my mouth as I rolled hazardously across the grass and small rocks. I went limp so I wouldn't injure myself anymore, and tried not to cry out in pain as my back hit the side of a tree with surprising force. A groan escaped my lips as I struggled to get to my feet, and I spat out a globule of blood as I managed to get to my feet, leaning against the tree. My side felt like it was on fire, and something was constricting my breathing somewhat as I looked up to see Juugo curled in a ball, whimpering as Sasuke stood over him, his Sharingan unleashed. The Uchiha looked like he was about to fall over, but then his eyes locked on me, and he straightened, his face blanking in something akin to panic. Suigetsu was running over to me, and I took a step towards him.

Pain – blinding, horrifyingly vivid – flared in my chest and side, and I cried out as I fell towards the ground, my head spinning as it hit the ground with an echoing thud. I felt Suigetsu reach me a moment later, and his hands slapped my cheeks as he scanned my body.

"Don't faint on me, Hikari! Just stay awake, and…" His eyes widened as his eyes found my right side, and he swore. "Holy shit! Hey, guys, you might want to come see this…it's pretty bad."

I swallowed hard, blinking fast as tears welled up. "I'm fine, they don't need to see. I'll just get up and–"

"No, don't move!"

"You're not calling me beautiful…things must be serious, huh?" I murmured, grimacing as pain flickered up and down my body. "It hurts, Shark-boy. It's hard to breathe…"

"No shit…Hikari, I think a few ribs were broken, as well as muscles being torn from the force of his attack. A rib must have punctured a lung…that explains why it's hard for you to breathe."

"Juugo went into his maniac mode? It was so sudden…" I tried to take a deep breath, but let it out in a rush as my chest hurt terribly. I coughed; it felt like there was something lodged in my chest that was preventing enough air to get through my body…but there was nothing there.

I stared up at the sky as Sasuke – supported by Karin – entered my line of vision. I smiled slightly at Karin.

"You might get lucky…I could die, and my supposed affections for Sasuke – don't know how you came to assume that, but whatever – will no longer be an issue for you."

Suigetsu slapped me on the cheeks, a bit harder this time. "Don't be an idiot; you're not going to die."

"I could. You never know."

Sasuke glared. "I do. You're not going to die."

"But you don't really know, Sasuke…and even if I did die, life would go on. People would go on hurting each other, brothers would go on hating each other and trying to kill each other, and idiots would go on being idiots. Nothing would change."

My mind was getting fuzzy, and I imagined that this was what it was like to be drunk, because my speech got slightly slurred, and I found myself saying things that I normally would keep to myself.

"You know, Karin, you'd be really pretty if you weren't such a heinous bitch. Suigetsu…I don't even know what I was about to say, but it was something good. Juugo's still amazing, even if he did almost kill me. Ooh…you know Sasuke; you're really sexy when you use your Sharingan, its pretty bad-ass. Haven't I told you that before?"

Suigetsu sighed. "She's pain-drunk. You better heal her, Karin."

Both Karin and I spoke against it.

"No way in hell!"

"I'd rather not bite her arm…kind of awkward. Suigetsu, you'd just video-tape it, label it as a lesbian act, and put it on YouTube or something."

Suigetsu frowned. "What the hell is YouTube? Some kind of jutsu?"

Sasuke's jaw clenched, and he barked. "Do it now, both of you!"

"But Sasuke–"

"Emo-boy, there is no way–"

In a flash, Suigetsu was gripping Karin by the shoulders, and he forced her sleeve back to reveal her bite-ridden forearm. Karin struggled, but Suigetsu was firm, his eyes serious as Sasuke lifted my head gently, but with some force.

I clamped my mouth shut as Karin's arm was brought closer, and Sasuke growled. "Bite it."

"No." I whispered through clenched teeth, and I tensed as another wave of pain erupted through me. It was getting hard not to cry at the pain,

"Bite it."

"No."

"Now!"

"No!"

Sasuke was silent for a second, and then said something that made my jaw drop in shock.

"If you do not open your mouth, I will be forced to scar you for life by engaging in certain activities with Karin."

What did he just say?

I opened my mouth to yell at him, and Suigetsu moved Karin's arm so that it was in between my teeth. I yelled in surprise, and tried to back away, but Sasuke's hands kept me from doing so. I glared at the Uchiha, and his eyes were deep as he leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Please, Hikari."

My teeth were biting down before I could stop myself, and Karin winced as the rush of chakra flowed through me. I felt it healing my side with surprising speed, and my head was spinning, but not as a result of the chakra. Sasuke's lips were still at my ear, and the feel of his breath against my cheek and ear made my heart race.

I loved him.

I felt my vision fading, and I felt Sasuke's head resting against my shoulder. I slowly let my hand rise up to touch his hair, and I leaned my cheek against his head. It felt so right, and I let my eyes close as I felt Sasuke's body go slack as he passed out.

I smiled slightly and heard Suigetsu saying something smugly. I only caught the last bit before I fell asleep.

"…you're out of the running, Red. Now that I think about it…I don't think you ever had a chance of competing in the first place."

What was he…talking about?

But everything slipped away, and I let myself fall into the softness of Sasuke's hair against my fingertips.