I have decided that work is like maths: Love the class, hate the subject. Yesterday, I had a twelve hour shift. Standing up and putting dishes away. Friday, a seven and a half hour shift. My feet are hurties! Anyways, here's Chapter 18 :)

Sakura opened the door and peered inside, before walking in. "Sasuke?" She called out nervously, before she gasped as strong arms were around her, threatening to never let go. The genjutsu around her lifted, and she heard the door close as Tsunade left the room. Sakura clutched the front of Sasuke's shirt, breathing in his scent, before hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

"Sakura," his breath shook the hairs on the top of her head and he rested his brow there. "I thought I'd lost you."

"You almost did," she mumbled in response. He lifted her chin up to meet his eyes and placed a light but passionate kiss on her lips. Sakura responded slowly. Her legs felt weak, and she knew that she shouldn't be standing for so long while still recovering. "Sasuke, I need to sit down." Her legs gave way, and Sasuke carried her over to the couch.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her, looking deep into her eyes.

Sakura shrugged. "Lively." She looked at him carefully, trying to repress a grin at her joke. He just stared at her as if trying to decipher whether she was serious or not.

"It was a joke, Sasuke. You know, 'hahaha?' Laugh? It was meant to be funny. F – u – nn – y. Say it with me. Fun – ny." He just stared at her, obviously confused. "The word 'Joke' really isn't in your dictionary, is it?" He scowled at her.

"This isn't a funny situation, Sakura." He said, obviously not happy that she was trying to joke about her own demise.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Sasuke! If you can't laugh at bad memories, then what can you laugh at?"

"Good memories."

Sakura shook her head, annoyed. "Could you please try to smile, Sasuke? You're killing me here -" He glared at her, "- I mean, oh you know what I mean." She brushed it off.

"Not funny, Sakura."

"Sasuke, please smile for me. It isn't that hard. See? All you have to do is this." She put her index fingers on either side of his lips and pushed up. "There we go. Not so difficult, is it?" She smiled at her own handy work. "I like you better when you smile, Sasuke." She confided. "It reminds me that only ninety nine point nine - nine percent of you is an absolute jerk." Sasuke looked at her darkly, and Sakura dropped her hands.

"What's wrong with you, Sasuke? Can't you see that I'm alive? That I'm recovering well? Won't you at least pretend to be happy that I'm happy?" She started feeling sad. She just wanted a smile from him. One smile. That wasn't so much to ask, was it?

Sasuke held her face between his hands. "Sakura, how can I smile, knowing that I almost lost you? You nearly died because of me. And," he hesitated, which Sakura saw with some surprise, "Tsunade told me that you were pregnant, and that the poison killed the child. How can I smile knowing that I lost my child and I almost lost you?" He held her tight against his chest. "I want to smile, because you are here with me, safe and alive and well, but I can't smile knowing all that we both lost. I feel so powerless. I have been training my whole life, killed some of the most dangerous men in the world, and yet, I couldn't save you from a simple poisoning. What's the point in power if I can't save those who are most precious to me?"

Sakura had frozen. Why had Tsunade told him about the child? Why? He needn't have ever known about it! She could have easily passed it off as something else… Her time of the month for example, or her body trying to dispel the poison.

Sasuke noticed when Sakura froze, and was very surprised that she wasn't babbling on about the news of their baby. "Sakura? Why have you gone so quiet?" She didn't respond, so he held her at arm's length. Sakura refused to look at him, and Sasuke wondered why she looked so guilty. "It's not your fault you lost the baby, Sakura. I'm not blaming you."

Sakura still refused to look at him. "I know, but it's not that." How was she meant to tell him that she knew that she had been pregnant? If lying had been an option then she would have gladly taken it. But Sasuke had already guessed something was wrong, and he would keep questioning her until she told him. And she was starting to guess at where the poison had been hiding…

"Then what is it?" He had a bad feeling about what she was going to say.

Sakura took a deep breath, still refusing to meet his gaze, and decided to be blunt. "I knew about the baby around the morning before I was poisoned. I also think I know what poisoned me: the muffin I had. I remember tasting something sour in it." Sakura dared glance at him. He looked calm, stoic. But there was a burning rage in his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you spit it out?" He ground through his teeth. He couldn't describe how angry he was at that moment.

She hesitated. "I'd only just found out, Sasuke. You'll find that a lot of girls keep it to themselves for the first couple of weeks. And the baby was still only in its early stages. I still had around a fifty percent chance of miscarriage, because it was in the first two to three weeks. I didn't want to get your hopes up at the prospect of a family, only to have a natural miscarriage. And as I said before: I thought nothing of it. It could have easily been too much baking soda." She looked down at her lap, and felt him move off the couch. She heard a door slam, and looked up. Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

She sat there for what seemed like forever, before the door opened and Sasuke walked back out.

"Sakura, I have to take you back with me."

Sakura raised her head, showing him shocked and angry eyes. "No way in hell, Sasuke. I'm staying here."

He glared at her. "Sakura, I have to take you back. You know where the locations of some hideouts and safe houses are. It's too dangerous for you to stay here." Sakura blanched at him, shocked beyond words. After everything that she had been through while a prisoner with him, he was saying 'It's too dangerous in Konoha.'

"I. Can't. Believe. You. Back there, I was raped, abused, tortured and poisoned! And yet, you have the nerve to tell me 'Konoha is too dangerous for you.' I have never been tortured or poisoned or abused or raped in Konoha! At least, not by Konoha citizens who were perfectly aware of what they did! Konoha is my home, Sasuke, and I'll be damned if I'm going to willingly leave it for some hell hole! No. Not even for you, Sasuke! I am not going to leave Konoha!" Her nostrils flared in anger. Oh she was pissed now!

"If you won't come back willingly, then I'll take you back by force." He advanced towards her, determination in his eyes.

"I already told you I'm not going back! And if you give a damn about me at all, you'll respect that!" Her voice got louder and louder, conveying the anger that she was feeling. "Hey, here's a thought," her voice still projecting anger, "why don't you stay here in Konoha? Why do I have to be the one that goes back?" To Sakura this sounded extremely reasonable. Why shouldn't he just stay in Konoha?

"Sakura, I have good reason to stay out of Konoha" He told her, trying to stop the memories from flooding into his head.

"Oh really?" She mocked. "Then tell me what this 'oh so good reason' is. What? Are you afraid that Naruto will be even more powerful than you? Afraid of having your ridiculous pride and ego hit?" She knew that she was crossing into dangerous territory, but she couldn't have cared less! How dare he order around, like she was some sort of slave! That was long over. They were in her world now, and she'd be damned if any headstrong jerk tried to force her away from it.

Sasuke was immediately infront of her, his face merely centimetres from hers, their breath entwining infront of them. Sasuke's eyes radiated hurt, anger and loss. Sakura immediately realised that she had gone too far. "The first reason, Sakura, is that I'm an S rank criminal. I'd either be arrested or killed on sight. Fuck having a family, fuck reviving my clan, fuck staying with you, I wouldn't live long enough to put up my hands in surrender! The second is that Konoha was responsible for the destruction of my clan! Itachi was merely used as a pawn for the Elders to wipe out my family! If it weren't for Konoha, my clan would still be alive. I'd have a mother, a father, maybe even more siblings! I wouldn't have spent nine years of my fucking life wallowing in hatred and loathing for my brother, and I certainly wouldn't have killed him. How the fuck could you expect me to live in Konoha, knowing that they could kill me, or kill those who are close to me, purely because we breathe? It's not an option, Sakura." He was breathing heavily and his nostrils were flared from the surge of rage. His eyes had bled into the Sharingan, the tomoes spinning dizzyingly fast. He had said the whole thing softly, almost whispered it, but Sakura would have preferred it if he'd yelled at her.

Sakura stared at him, dumbfounded. She felt so guilty. "Sasuke, I -"

"Forget it, Sakura. I don't want to hear it. You want to stay here. I get it. But I'm leaving tonight. I only stayed to make sure you were safe." He walked back to his room and Sakura shakily got to her feet, intending to follow him.

"Sasuke, wait! I'm sorry, I didn't know." She slowly made her way to the door and leant her head against the cool wood. "Please, Sasuke. Gomen. I didn't realise. Forgive me."

Sasuke stood on the other side of the door, his head resting the same way as Sakura's. He was so angry with her for provoking him like that. He realised that she wasn't to know, but that didn't make any difference to him. How could she be so heartless? Siding with Konoha, even after all they'd done to him? He thought that she'd cared for him more than that. All of her apologies washed over him. It was only to be expected, after all, a dark snake like voice whispered in the back of his mind. She is from Konoha. Their murderous mind frame is embedded in her flesh. She was tainted from the moment she was born.

A different part of Sasuke argued against this though. No! That isn't true! She didn't know about that! Can't you hear her on the other side of the door? She is sorry that she hurt you! She isn't like them!

Oh yeah? Well then, why won't she come back with you? Face it, Sasuke. She doesn't care for you at all. She loves seeing you in pain. She started hurting you from the moment you saved her in the clearing. You were just too weak to realise it, and now you're paying the consequences for that. It's just like when you were a boy again. You were too weak to finish off Itachi on your own, and now you're too weak to get over this girl. You know that although Itachi may have been a pawn, he was a pawn with a brain. He could have very easily just not have killed your clan. And you know that you wouldn't have defeated him if he hadn't have been sick. You should stop caring for people. All they ever want to do is hurt you…

Shut up…

You know I'm right, you're just too weak, Sasuke. You are weak and pathetic.

"I'm not weak." He ground out. He could hear Sakura crying softly on the other side of the door.

"Sasuke, please, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

He slowly opened the door and saw Sakura standing there, tears in her eyes. "Come back with me." He said one last time.

Sakura shook her head. "I can't go back, Sasuke. Konoha is my home." Her legs gave out and she crumbled to the floor. "Sasuke, things are different now. Tsunade wouldn't kill you, or your family. She would die before she let innocent civilians be slaughtered. Please stay. For me. Stay with me. Please."

Sasuke crouched before her. "No." He said coldly. "I leave tonight. You can either come with me, or you can stay here. If you stay here, you will never see me again. That I can promise you."

That night, at midnight, Tsunade walked beside Sasuke and Sakura, both of whom had genjutsu's placed around them. They got to the gates and stood there for a moment.

"Alright, you two. You know what happens. Off you go." They both nodded, before walking off. Tsunade stood there a moment, before walking back to the mansion.

Sasuke and Sakura walked side by side along the dirt road. They had made a plan for Sasuke to leave the village undetected and Sakura to come into the village without causing suspicion. At dawn, Sakura would walk back, looking the worse for wear, and Sasuke would be effectively gone.

When they were out of sight of the village, they let the justu fade away, and reverted back to their normal selves. The silence was agonising for Sakura. Sasuke had remained angry with her, and he refused to talk to her. She felt so lost and confused. All she wanted was to hold him, beg him to stay with her, come back with her. She knew that that wasn't going to happen.

When a light filtered over the horizon, Sasuke looked at Sakura. "Last chance."

Tears started to form in her eyes, and she hated that all she ever did was cry now. She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "I can't."

He turned to leave, but Sakura grabbed his hand. "Don't leave like this." Sasuke looked at her, confused, so Sakura perked up on her toes and gave him a soft, lingering kiss. "I'll miss you." She whispered, wishing she could say three different words. "Please take care of Aya for me. Watch out for her."

He nodded at her stiffly, before he was gone.

She stood there for a moment, before slowly heading back to Konoha.

Lalala... What? You should know by now that I love to stir things up! Alright, so deep breaths, don't you look at me like that! Put the knife down... No, no, don't pick it back up! Down... Good child! *beams happily*

Chapter 19 - Home

..."So, Sakura Chan, where have you been all this time? We only tracked you to a river, and couldn't find any traces of Chakra after the river. What happened?"...

...He had one destination in mind, and didn't want Karin anywhere near him...

Sakura. His heart ached when he thought of her. He wished he hadn't left her so coldly. He wished he would've held her, and kissed her before he left. Tell her he'd miss her like crazy too...

You want to know what happens next, don't you? Do Sasuke and Sakura get back together? Will there ever be a happy ending? Will Naruto ever willingly eat vegetables? You know what to do to find out :) x