The morning was gray as they surged through the dense canopy.

How appropriate, Karin thought as she glanced at the sun struggling to rise.

Her mood was as dull as the iron-tinted sky. Despite her best efforts, Sasuke was no closer to her than he was before they left Konoha. In fact, he seemed to be moving entirely too close to Sakura.

When she saw his beatific smile aimed at Sakura last night, she almost screamed in frustration.

Karin had spent months with Sasuke in Taka and every one of those days she attempted to entice him closer. How had Sakura managed to twist him around her little finger in just three days? She turned a burning glare at Sakura's back, hoping she'd just burst into flames under its power.

Her murderous thoughts were cut short when Sasuke's hand shot out in front of her. He turned dark red eyes toward the two women and warned, "We're close. Stay behind me. Single file."

Karin didn't need to be told twice as she jumped right behind Sasuke. Sakura took her place behind Karin on the next branch.

"There are traps everywhere," he cautioned. "Watch for wire trips and don't step anywhere I haven't. Anything could be a trigger."

Sasuke leaped to the next branch with Karin right on his heels.

Their pace was significantly slower as he wove through the treetops, avoiding traps, most of which were invisible to Karin's eyes. She marveled at Sasuke's skill with the Sharingan. How powerful their red-haired, red-eyed children would be!

Karin drifted away from reality as she fantasized about Sasuke. Her eyes sparkled as she imagined him scooping her up in his arms, saving her from some imminent danger as he gazed at her as if she were some cherished treasure. She would wrap her arms around his neck and breathlessly thank him for his bravery. Then he would give her a smoldering look and say something gently chastising, like, "You should be more careful," and kiss her senseless. It took all of her willpower not to squeal out loud at the thought.

Looking around, Karin realized that this fantasy could easily become reality. With all the traps Madara laid around his base, she could surely get herself caught in one of the more innocuous ones. Then Sasuke would come to her rescue, whisking her off her feet and, more importantly, away from that pink interloper.

She focused on the forest ahead of her. There were so many traps that Sasuke was skirting that she couldn't see, but there were also traps that she could see.

There! It's a simple kunai launch trap! If I can just catch my foot on the tripwire, kunai will shoot out, Sasuke will grab me, deflect the kunai and then…hee, hee!

After a quick spritz of perfume, Karin drifted slightly to the left and lined herself up with the trap.

Sakura tried as hard as she could to focus only on tracking Sasuke through the golden leaves, to no avail. No matter how hard she tried to block out everything else, the redheaded nuisance would pop up right in front of her.

She certainly is single-minded, Sakura thought.

Even Karin couldn't spoil her good mood, though. Seeing Sasuke smile at her last night made up for every single day she'd suffered without him. She couldn't help but grin just thinking about it…until she inhaled an unexpected spray of perfume from Karin and convulsed into a coughing fit.

Hacking until her eyes watered, Sakura's irritation was renewed. What kind of ninja used perfume? Sasuke turned, his brows knit and, giving one final cough, she waved to him that she was okay.

As she swiped at her eyes, Sakura changed her mind—Karin could ruin her good mood. She took a swig from her canteen and thought seriously about why she despised this girl so much. Of course, the obvious reason was her interest in Sasuke—but that couldn't be all, right?

Traveling with Sasuke as a genin, Sakura had witnessed first-hand the amount of flirtatious women he dealt with every day. She remembered one trip through Grass Country in particular where women old enough to be her grandmother had blushed and fluttered their eyelashes at him.

At first, Sakura had been outraged—who did these women think they were, flirting with her Sasuke-kun? She knew she certainly wasn't alone in thinking he was ethereally handsome. It was only when she began to look deeper than Sasuke's skin that her outrage began to erode.

Under Sasuke's coldly beautiful exterior, Sakura found a boy who was courageous, frightened, skillful, and caring—he could be subtly kind or cuttingly honest. Slowly, her feelings for him changed. She could never say she didn't love his striking good-looks, but he became more than just that to her. She cherished every one of his shifts in mood—no matter how dark or cold he seemed to others, Sakura saw the warmth inside of Sasuke.

Then, one day, she realized she loved him—as world-jarringly simple as that.

She shook her head and thought caustically that she should be focusing on the trail, not her unrequited love. She remembered her vow from yesterday morning—she would focus only on regaining Sasuke's trust and friendship. She would not look further than that.

As Sakura lifted her head to track Sasuke's position again, she was surprised that she did not see Karin's bright red hair flaming in front of her. What was she doing? Sasuke was clearly veering to the right, and yet, Karin was drifting to the left. Looking further along the path, Sakura saw the silver shine of a tripwire. Karin was heading straight for a trap! What was she thinking?

Her highly-trained body moved of its own accord as Sakura shot out to help her. Karin's foot pulled on the shining string that launched several dozen kunai in her direction. Sakura whipped out her own kunai and dove for Karin. Grabbing her around her shoulders, Sakura dipped them both out of range of most of the blades while deflecting the rest. Karin's arms shot up and gripped her around the neck while Sakura steadied them as they plummeted to the forest floor by pulling her closer to her body and carrying her.

As Sakura's feet touched the ground, she heard Karin's breathy whisper in her ear, "Oh, thank you! You saved my life!" Instantly, the whole scenario clicked into place for her—Karin intended to get caught in this trap and pictured Sasuke as her hero.

The reason Sakura despised Karin so much suddenly became crystal clear. To her, Sasuke was a beautiful dream, nothing more than a fantasy man. Karin knew nothing about who Sasuke really was. If she did, she certainly would know that the pain he carried was less like a fantasy and more like a nightmare.

Sakura snorted as she unceremoniously dropped Karin. "You should be more careful."

Sasuke landed softly near the two women, unsure of what had happened. Sakura jammed the kunai back in her holster and stalked off, fists clenching. Karin sat stunned on the ground looking from Sakura's back to Sasuke in disbelief. Seeing that Karin was unharmed, he turned to catch up with Sakura. He craned his neck back and commanded, "Keep up."

Sasuke scanned the woods as a cold feeling crept into his stomach.

"Sakura, wait."

He didn't want her too far away from him. They were very close. Memories of Madara's ominous presence raised the hair on the back of his neck. "This way," he said, nodding his head to the right.

As expected, the forest was soon interrupted by a towering stone wall. Sasuke scanned the surface with his Sharingan as he ran his hands along the wall, searching for the opening.

A small pulse of chakra embedded in the stone shone like a ruby to his color-detecting eyes.

"This is it," he said quietly. Sakura pulled a kunai from her pouch and waited, her eyes hard, but full of a confidence Sasuke wished he felt. His hands slid through seals he wanted to forget as a portion of the wall disappeared and an endless, black corridor stretched in front of them. He motioned them inside with a flick of his head and produced a small fireball which hovered over his palm to light the way.

A cold wave of anticipation washed over him as his heart beat frantically. His breathing quickened—he knew he should calm down, but found it impossible. The feeling of expectation was too overwhelming. He bolted past his teammates and took long, swift strides down the dark, winding hallways. Eagerness quickened his pace to just short of a run.

Heedless of Sakura's call, Sasuke made a quick turn and his right foot landed on…nothing.

Panic shot through him before stopping to quiver in his gut. It couldn't end this way—he had something he needed to accomplish! He tried to focus chakra to nail his left foot to the floor's end, but he continued to tilt forward. Sasuke's arms windmilled as he tried to fight back against the pull of the bottomless black that gaped below. Why now? I was so close, he thought before he began to fall.

Sasuke's body folded forward, jackknifed, when something strong grabbed him by the belt and yanked him back.

"What do you think you're doing!" Sakura hissed, her angry face just inches away from his.

Sasuke tried to appear calm as he pulled away from her and straightened his shirt. He knew his head was clouded, but he couldn't stop his need to hurry.

"You're the captain of this team and you're leading us straight into traps, Sasuke!" Sakura scolded as she scrutinized him. Under the power of her dark green gaze, he felt uncomfortably exposed. "You'll never get the answers you're looking for if you're dead."

He was shocked into silence—how did she see through him? How did she see so easily what he was after? Was he that transparent?

"Shut up! You don't know anything about Sasuke-kun!" yelled Karin as she jumped in between them, her arms spread as if to shield him.

Sakura turned her gaze to Karin and Sasuke saw her wince as her face flushed pink. Anger? Embarrassment? Sasuke couldn't read her guarded expression. It frustrated him to know that he was an open book to her and he couldn't read her at all.

Sakura turned from her, arms folded as she mumbled, "Like you do."

He saw the heat rise in Karin and he recognized her readying for a fight—he'd seen the signs too many times before when they traveled as Taka. She seemed to have two modes—flirting and fighting. With this in mind, Sasuke tried to head off what was sure to be a loud, irritating rant by asking her a question.

"Karin, can you sense anything?"

Her mood flipped immediately as she turned a blinding smile to Sasuke. "I'll try," she said, bringing her hands together.

As she was concentrating, Sasuke moved closer to Sakura. He knew what she'd said was right—he wasn't paying enough attention to their welfare. He had a goal and he needed it accomplished, but it shouldn't come at the cost of his teammates' well being. Again, he questioned his ability to captain this team.

Sakura's burning gaze was turned on him in expectation. He'd just begun to work for her forgiveness—he wouldn't backtrack now. He wanted to say something, but he felt so unsure of himself. Her eyes softened and her mouth turned up at the corners. Encouragement bloomed inside of him, so he began, "Sakura, I…"

"It's him!" gasped Karin, her eyes opening wide.

All three of them froze and anything Sasuke thought to say was cast aside as he grabbed Karin roughly by the arm.

"Where? Where is he, Karin? Show me!"

"N-northeast about fifty yards and down another ten," she stammered as he began to steer her. "Sasuke-kun? You—you're hurting me…"

"Which way now, Karin?" Sasuke's Sharingan darted around the endless halls—there was a manic, feral look on his face. He'd been pushing Karin along for at least ten minutes now.

"Left," Karin managed to squeak out as Sasuke shoved her down yet another hallway. "He–he's close now."

At that Sasuke almost broke into a run as he dragged Karin along. Sakura was jogging right behind them—she almost felt bad for the girl.

"Stop! He's behind that door."

She thought he was going to tear the door off the hinges as he flung Karin away from him. As she pushed through the door immediately behind him, her medic's ears tuned in to raspy, shallow breathing.

Sasuke thrust the fireball dancing on his hand around the room, searching. Sakura's eyes could barely adjust to the rapidly changing pools of dark and light he was creating until she saw the cot pushed into a corner of the room and an obviously injured man laying on it.

The firelight twisted Sasuke's scowl into a mask of rage as his eyes lit on the room's sole occupant. Sakura felt a familiar fear run down her spine as his chakra began to swirl ominously.

"Itachi."

Wet, shuddering gasps forced Sakura to tear her gaze away from her teammate's twisted face. She prodded him aside and strode to Itachi's bedside.

"Flushed and sweaty," she murmured, "breathing shallow and rapid." She lifted each of his eyelids in turn. "His pupils are dilated. Untreated wounds…hmmm." Sakura recognized the signs of a systemic infection. Who knew how long Itachi had been here with little or no medical attention?

Sasuke seemed to have gotten over his initial shock as he came up behind Sakura and tried to nudge her away from his brother by inserting his body between them.

"Sasuke? What are you doing?" Sakura asked, surprised and disturbed that her examination was interrupted.

"Get out of the way, Sakura. My brother needs to answer for what he's done."

"Answer? What kind of answers do you think you'll be getting out of him now? Look at him," she hissed, pointing at his cataleptic brother. "He's comatose and, if I'm right in my diagnosis, he may never regain consciousness if he doesn't get treatment quickly."

"What do you mean never regain consciousness?" His eyes, initially wide with shock, narrowed as fury reigned on his face. "He will wake up and he will answer my questions. Now, get out of my way, Sakura."

She was more than a little surprised at his rapid mood change, but she knew the powerful emotions Itachi could raise in Sasuke. Her heart ached for him, but her need to heal had to override everything else. She was a shinobi on a mission—this was no place for her heart.

"Sasuke, I don't know how to make this more clear to you. If you don't get away from my patient, I will remove you." She drew herself up to her full height and spread her arms wide in front of a prone Itachi.

Sasuke's overwhelming anger became evident as his Sharingan activated.

Knowing that challenging him would only escalate this situation, Sakura tried a more conciliatory approach.

"Itachi doesn't even know you're here. And we have a mission to complete. Right now, you can help by giving me some light to work by and finding some clean water." She reached out to brush her fingertips across his clenched fist as she added softly, "Please, Sasuke-kun."

At her touch, Sasuke blinked, his eyes returning to their usual black—the defeat reflected in that black was heartbreaking. He unclenched his hands, lit an old oil lamp, and slowly walked out of the room. Karin rushed to follow him. Sakura's stomach dropped to see his beaten-down slouch, but it was her duty to put her patient's safety first.

I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, thought Sakura as her hands began to glow green, but I promise I will save Itachi…for you.

Sasuke slipped his hands into his pockets as he trudged forward, only half-heartedly looking for a source of water.

"How dare she! Sasuke-kun, I know how important it is that you speak to Itachi. Remember, I was the one who found him," boasted Karin as she gripped his bicep.

Sasuke barely registered her voice or her touch. It felt like the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. When the Hokage told him that there was a chance Itachi was still alive, that his chakra had been detected in one of Madara's bases, Sasuke's heart soared and then froze. His brother had been a source of agonizing conflict in Sasuke for years. Now, after all that hope and anxiety…

What had he been expecting when he found Itachi still alive? He supposed it was one of two scenarios, both equally satisfying. Either his brother would soothe him with a story of how it was Madara alone who had murdered their clan and he is, and always was, the big brother Sasuke remembered from his happier childhood days…or Itachi would cackle with glee about how he relished murdering everyone Sasuke held dear. Then he would have the satisfaction of slowly squeezing the life out of Itachi. His hands curled into fists in his pockets as he thought about how his search for answers would be delayed. Whose fault was this?

"…Sakura. She's always getting in the way, Sasuke-kun. I told that Hokage she wasn't necessary. There isn't anything she can do that you or I couldn't do together." Karin turned a smug smile to Sasuke as she squeezed his arm. "We'd be better off if she'd stayed home. Really, I could've healed your brother already and you could be getting your answers right now, Sasuke-kun. Sakura is just trying to make herself seem more important by taking all of this time to heal Itachi. And who knows if she's even healing him? What if she's in there killing him!" Karin wrenched Sasuke's arm and swung him around to face her. "Maybe that's why the Hokage sent her along! Maybe the Council doesn't want him coming back to Konoha at all and Sakura was sent to eliminate him!"

For a fleeting second, Sasuke pondered this—after all, as captain of this mission, it was incumbent on him to consider all the possibilities. Just as quickly as the thought came, it went.

Sasuke trusted Sakura. He'd seen a glimmer of this same trust still reflected in her eyes. When she'd touched his hand and added the affectionate suffix to his name, Sasuke felt transported—his rage evaporated instantly. He recalled a simpler time when his unfettered fury was directed only at those who hurt his precious people—at the Sound ninja who dared lay a hand on Sakura. Her touch and tears brought his humanity rushing back—put the monster back in its cage. He knew she would never rob him of the one chance he had for closure, for peace of mind.

No matter what happened, if he could only speak with Itachi, he knew he would finally be able to close the book on an old chapter of his life.

And start a new one, Sasuke thought wistfully.

He pushed a door open at the end of a hallway and walked into a cobwebbed kitchen.

"Karin, find something to put water in. I'll see if I can get the pump working."

He grabbed the handle and pumped until cold water spilled into the sink. Karin clattered around in the cabinets while he kept pumping. Digging under the sink, he found a bucket, filled it to the rim, and made his way down the hall.

Karin quickly raced to catch up. "You know, Sasuke-kun, Sakura was trained by Tsunade. Without that training, Sakura would be nobody—barely a shinobi," she continued waspishly as they came closer to Itachi's room. "If it came down to it, where do you think Sakura's loyalties would really lie?"

Sasuke was about to scoff at Karin's attempt to diminish Sakura as he pushed the door open…and saw Itachi slump back to his futon as Sakura stood over him with a syringe in her hand.

Systemic shock was Sakura's first thought. Although she could tell most of Itachi's wounds had not been treated at all, Sakura knew there had to be some kind of underlying condition that would've led to this level of sepsis. She didn't have time to find out if his immune system was previously compromised—she needed to treat this infection before his organs began shutting down.

A vision of her teammate's slumping departure appeared in her mind as Sakura scanned Itachi with renewed determination. She would heal him…for Sasuke.

"Well, at least he's still got color in his skin," Sakura mumbled to herself. She knew that a bluish hue would indicate that the infection had progressed so far as to reduce the flow of blood in his body. "You've got a fighting chance, Itachi. Don't give up. Sasuke-kun's counting on you."

Suddenly, Itachi's eyes flew open as he grabbed one of her hands off his chest. His grip was surprisingly strong. "Who are you?" His voice was deep, threatening, and hoarse with disuse.

Fear spiked through Sakura. Although he was certainly weakened, Itachi was a shinobi like no other and was not to be underestimated. The fact that he had even regained consciousness was a feat in itself—his grip on her hand was quickly becoming vise-like.

"I—I am Haruno Sakura, medic of the Hidden Leaf village." She rallied her courage. "I am attempting to heal your injuries, Uchiha-san. You have many infected wounds. Your body has been overwhelmed trying to heal itself. You are weak and in shock and if—"

"Haruno Sakura…I know you. You were on my brother's genin team."

"Yes, Sasuke and I are part of Team Seven," Sakura said, unsure if Itachi was asking her or telling her, and more than a little insecure that Uchiha Itachi knew who she was.

"Are? What do you mean, are, Haruno-san? Where is my brother now?"

Itachi's grip on her hand became crushingly tight at the mention of Sasuke's name. "He's here…in this building. We are currently on a mission. Could you release my hand, Uchiha-san, so I can continue healing?"

"Healing? I don't think so. I have no intention of living past today and, if you have any loyalty to Konoha, you will end my life immediately."

Sakura was stunned. "What are you talking about? We were sent by the Leaf to retrieve you!" Remembering what he'd sacrificed for the sake of her village, she continued a little more gently, "Itachi-san, the Hokage knows about your mission—the position you were put in. Sasuke knows, too. He just wants to talk—"

Itachi grimaced in pain and his eyes hardened. "I will never speak of my mission to anyone. I will never compromise the safety of the village—not even for my little brother."

Sensing a possible way to reach him, Sakura countered with, "That wasn't always the case, was it, Itachi-san?"

At that, he reared up from the futon, Sharingan activated. "I would rather die than betray Konoha!"

Sakura was filled with terror as she stared helplessly into Itachi's revolving Sharingan. The black tomoes slid across bloody red to form the three curved points of his Mangekyou.

She fought desperately against his powerful genjutsu, but it pulled at her consciousness. Her last thought, before she was consumed by the darkness of Itachi's Tsukuyomi, was why she never felt this fear when she looked into Sasuke's Sharingan—surely, it was just as deadly. She didn't have long to contemplate this as she heard Itachi's voice echo in her head, much smoother than the rasp he had outside this monochromatic vision.

"Haruno-san."

Sakura turned toward the direction of the echoing voice and saw Itachi, powerful and intimidating, as he gripped Sasuke's pale, limp body by the throat.

"Save Sasuke. Save Konoha. Kill me."

Itachi had the point of Kusanagi pressed up against Sasuke's chest. Sakura scrambled to her feet and frantically began to run toward them—but every step she took moved her further away.

Fear was crushing her lungs as she ran, panting, "No! I'm a medic-nin! I'm here to save you!" Tears leaked from her eyes as she yelled, "I promised Sasuke-kun!"

"Protect your teammate, Haruno-san. Kill me."

She stumbled as Itachi pierced Sasuke's bare chest—dark blood slowly oozed from the wound. Seeing the blade slide so easily into his body, Sakura felt the overwhelming need to crush his attacker. Although she knew it was what Itachi wanted, she could not suppress her primal desire to protect Sasuke.

Against her better judgment, she felt chakra scalpels spring from her fingertips. Armed with deadly chakra, she found she was suddenly able to move toward her dying teammate. Pulling back to plunge her weapons deep into Itachi's heart with all her might, Sakura froze.

"I promised Sasuke-kun!" Sakura fought to hold back her hand, but the torture of seeing the life drain from Sasuke's body was too much.

"You are prolonging Sasuke's pain by keeping me alive. You are putting your village in jeopardy by healing me," Itachi admonished her, compelling her to bring her scalpels closer to his heart by pushing Kusanagi in further. A trickle of black blood gurgled from Sasuke's mouth.

"NO!" she screamed, her hand creeping closer to his heart, despite her agonizing effort to restrain it. "Sasuke needs to know. He needs to hear it from you. He would never forgive me if I killed you!"

Memories of Sasuke's smirking face surfaced in her mind—her confidence soaring when he subtly complimented her genjutsu awareness—his fingers twined with hers as he reached out to her in his moment of pain—the tickle of his warm thank you on the back of her neck—hope rising in her chest as he softly called her name at Orochimaru's lair—the security of seeing the bold uchiwa standing between her and all enemies. A powerful strength rose in Sakura. She would not submit to Itachi.

"Release!"

She gasped like she'd finally surfaced after nearly drowning and color flooded back into the real world around her—but she wasn't out of danger yet. Itachi still held her hand in a crushing grip, the bones in her fingers snapping as his red eyes swirled threateningly. Acting purely on instinct, Sakura grabbed a syringe from her pouch and jabbed it into Itachi's thigh.

Anger and menace contorted Itachi's face as he leaned in, nose to nose with Sakura. She began to feel lightheaded with terror—she knew she was hyperventilating, but she couldn't stop. She was starting to doubt the contents of her syringe before Itachi's grip went slack—the red draining from his eyes as they slid closed.

The syringe tumbled from her trembling hand to the floor as Sakura's knees finally gave out. Never in her life had she been so absolutely terrified. Just as she was about to hit the floor, she heard Sasuke call her name. Relief flooded through her—Sasuke was here.

He was safe.

Years of repetition prompted Sasuke to leap to Sakura's aid as he caught her before she hit the ground. How many times before had he held her like this? He didn't know, but he was sure this was the first time he'd caught her reluctantly. Although his body sprang to help, his brain cursed her as he assumed Karin was right and Sakura had just caused his brother's death.

He had been so sure of her—of what he'd seen in her eyes. Had she been fooling him this whole time? Was she really working for the Council? Had that glimmer of forgiveness he'd seen been…fake? He pulled his hands away from her like she was on fire. He'd never felt such anger toward Sakura. What had she done? Sasuke turned his attention to his brother, who was lying still as stone on the futon.

Karin walked over and dumped the entire bucket of cold water on Sakura as she spluttered back to consciousness.

"Thanks a lot," Sakura said to Karin with a glare.

"That's what teammates are for, right?" she said with a sickly sweet smile.

Sasuke desperately felt his brother's neck for a pulse. When his shaky fingertips met a gentle thumping beneath Itachi's skin, he exhaled his relief.

Now, he was confused. He whirled around to face a dripping Sakura. "What the hell happened here?"

She looked at the floor and answered, "He regained consciousness, Sasuke. He was delusional. After he broke a few of my fingers, I had to sedate him."

Just sedated… Muscles relaxed at the knowledge that his brother was merely sleeping, but an icy cold in his gut made Sasuke realize Sakura was not being entirely truthful with him. What was she hiding from him? He glanced at her swollen, misshapen hand. "Broken fingers wouldn't cause you to pass out, Sakura. What else happened?"

"Nothing, Sasuke. Really. Like I said, he was…just a bit confused. I was afraid he would hurt himself, so I sedated him. Simple as that."

Not once during their conversation had she looked him in the eye. He could see her whole body trembling—from cold or fear? Something here was not right.

"Your brother has a system-wide infection. If we don't get him back to Konoha soon, his organs will begin to shut down. I've stabilized him as much as I can, but without the proper course of antibiotics, I can't do anything to improve his condition." Sakura had begun to towel off with a blanket. "Sasuke, I need you to assemble the stretcher while I heal my hand and get Itachi ready to travel."

Sakura had hidden behind her medic mask. Whatever transpired in this room, Sasuke wouldn't get out of her now. Realizing the best course of action was to take care of Itachi first, he set to the task of putting the cocoon-like transport together—it would enable them to tree-hop back to Konoha while keeping Itachi safely immobilized.

They gently slid Itachi into the stretcher and gathered up their packs. While Sakura and Karin were assembling their gear, Sasuke surreptitiously passed his hand over Itachi's pulse again to reassure himself. He was so close to getting all the information he'd ever wanted—he wasn't about to let anyone come between him and the peace he longed for.

Soon, they were flying through the treetops. Sasuke lead the way, one end of the pole Itachi's cocoon hung from was braced against his shoulder. He glanced back at Sakura as she supported the other end of the pole.

After all that had passed between them on this journey, he felt they'd reached an understanding—they'd started to become friends again. After an endless period of crushing guilt, he'd finally lifted that weight. But now, when he looked at her, he saw nothing in her eyes—it was a sight he'd never seen before and he didn't like it. Sakura had never been this closed off to him, he thought, burning with frustration.

Stars began to sprinkle the navy blue sky before they stopped and quickly ate. Sakura stressed, yet again, that they get Itachi back home with all haste—she handed out soldier pills and advised that they travel through the night. Sasuke felt a cold tingle of panic as he felt nervously for Itachi's pulse yet again.

"But I just sat down," whined Karin, kicking her heels like a spoiled toddler against a huge log. "I don't think I can make it all the way back to Konoha without a break. I'm exhausted! I mean, it took so much out of me to find your brother for you, Sasuke-kun." Karin turned big, sad eyes toward Sasuke as she pouted.

Sasuke sighed. He knew what Karin was angling for, and he also knew that fighting her would take precious time away from Itachi's recovery. He slid his pack to his chest, raised the wooden pole to his shoulder and motioned for Karin to get on his back.

Her eyes lit up as she squealed out, "Sasuke-kun! You're my hero!" and leaped onto his back. He dipped with the additional weight and turned to nod at Sakura as he took to the trees. Sasuke didn't see Karin also turn to Sakura with a triumphant look as she stuck her tongue out childishly. He only knew that soon after, he was pulling Karin's arm from around his throat as she gripped him so hard, his vision began to cloud.

As Karin burrowed her face into his neck, he began to question his judgment. He'd questioned his ability to lead this squad so many times during this mission—he'd made so many bad decisions. Sasuke just hoped that trusting Sakura wasn't another mistake.

This chapter is dedicated to Rainbow the Unicorn...you know who you are! UNICORNS RULE!

Speaking of ruling unicorns, this chapter would not even be suitable for your eyes without the tireless work of my benevolent Overlord Paige. One day, Paige, you'll rule over a kingdom that has no ladders! We will all be free!

You all make me blush with awe and gratitude at your words of encouragement. Thanks you so much for taking the time to tell me what you think of Look Underneath. It means the world to me!