A/N: I know, I know! It's been terribly long since I updated this fic and for that I apologize. Let me tell you, this chapter was agonizing to write. Not only because my muse decided to take a vacay without my permission, but because I was honestly starting to lose interest in the fic. Don't worry though! I've had a VERY good week and have seen/read tons of fanfiction, fan art, music, and novels that helped bring about plenty of ideas and concepts to incorporate into this. So I can safely say that this story has returned to its rightful place at the top of the list.

Anyway, on to the story. Yes?

xx LCF

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Though if I did many unspeakable and less-than-honorable things would have occurred by now. Yeah I mean that. ;P

Edit 6/20/17

Hey everyone! Don't mind me, I've just cleaned up and tweaked a few things around.

Storm

Chapter 4: Submergence

Suigetsu's arms grew slack once the kunoichi's eyes clouded over. There was no point in keeping his guard up; not when Sasuke pulled her into one of his genjutsu.

He leaned tiredly against the stone wall of the cave—a pensive frown tilted his lips at the Uchiha's unusual actions. This was not the first time they'd had an outsider break into their ranks. In all actually, there had been a little less than a handful in the past few years since the war had commenced that had tried to spy on them and gather information. Taka was constantly being hunted down by the Allied Forces divisions due to being part of Akatsuki and because of their allegiance to Sasuke. But not once during all of those times had Sasuke stayed his hand or given them even the smallest chance to explain themselves. All it took was one look into his Sharingan and he would pull them into a dark abyss, never to resurface again.

So why would he hold back now?

Violet eyes looked to the pink-haired kunoichi before him. She was a pretty little thing— to him, at least. At first glance she was ridiculously feminine with her long pink hair and impossibly green eyes. He couldn't blame her for using a henge to hide these features, they were a dead giveaway to her identity and would easily become a liability if she was targeted by an enemy. But as he studied her further, Suigetsu noted that despite the overly feminine exterior, she seemed to be quite capable of handling herself in lieu of the fact that she'd been critically injured only a few days ago by a band of Hunter-nin.

Suigetsu shook his head. Despite her petite frame and subtle curves, she was dangerous. He could see it properly now. A lean build that was good for stealth, and a killer set of arms that he was sure could punch his lights out if given the chance. She was skilled in chakra manipulation too; she had to be in order to have the control needed so that Karin with all her skills couldn't tell that she'd been using a henge.

Speaking of the red witch…

His eyes travelled over to the flame of red hair as she took a seat by the fire. She looked much more put off than usual, which left him wondering if he wasn't the only one to take note of Sasuke's unusual behavior. A wry smirk filled his lips at the thought.

"Strange one, isn't she?" he mused aloud. "I wonder what it was about her that made Sasuke feel the need to place her in a genjutsu instead of just killing her."

Karin said nothing as she threw him a dark glare before she focused her bespectacled eyes on the fire at her feet.

Green eyes opened briefly only to snap shut tightly again due to the blinding light of the sun.

The sounds of waves crashing reached her ears, and Sakura was acutely aware of the damp sand she was currently laid upon. After a moment, she slowly opened her eyes once more, this time giving her pupils time to adjust themselves accordingly. Her eyes were sharp as they ran over the surrounding area, taking in every hauntingly familiar detail.

She was back on the beach that she'd washed up on, battered and bruised all those years ago.

She didn't expect to see Sasuke standing atop an outcropping of rock about fifty yards away, overlooking the sea. He seemed relaxed, calm even, as he stood there. It was such a far cry from the person Sakura had encountered hours ago—if that. Who knew how long he'd kept her under the influence of his Sharingan?

With a small bit of effort on her part, she managed to push herself up with shaky arms, her legs standing uneasily for a moment before she regained a sense of balance. Sakura walked to Sasuke slowly, acutely aware that no matter how familiar the setting was, she was in a setting of his creation and despite the nonchalant composure, he was most likely scrutinizing every move she made.

It wasn't until there were several feet of distance left between them that she stopped. Both were silent for a moment as Sasuke continued to look out upon the calm sea that had delivered her to safety all those years ago. Sakura stood behind him, her eyes trained on him in case he decided that her life was forfeit after all.

"What are you here for, Sakura?" he asked evenly, his dark gaze settling on her as he turned. He was as brusque as ever. It seemed that time had only honed that innate ability to get straight to the point.

Sakura remained still as she watched Sasuke for a moment. Green eyes took in the changes that six years—she hardly counted their last, and painfully brief encounter—had put between them. He was easily a head taller than her now, the ends of his slightly longer hair still stuck up at odd angles, but the bangs that had once been neatly groomed to frame either side of his face fell messily upon his forehead. The open collar of his shirt revealed a small bit of the lean muscle of his torso that was littered with an array of faint scars. Sakura briefly wondered how he'd gotten them. It was yet another reminder that though she'd known his childhood counterpart, Sakura truly had no idea of who he was now outside of what she'd heard of his ominous reputation. And even that had been nothing more than faint whispers in the wind.

"Nothing," she finally replied. "I'm not here for anything, Sasuke. Not anymore."

She refused to meet his gaze, opting instead to settle her viridian eyes on a particular scar that cut diagonally over his left clavicle.

A tense moment of silence passed between them.

Sakura could clearly recall days where silences like this failed to exist. Days during their short time together as genin where the air would be filled with her inane chatter and Naruto's loud proclamations. Where all Kakashi ever did was sit back at the base of a tree and giggle every so often while he leafed through a familiar orange book while he had them complete grueling exercises that only Sasuke could keep up with.

She was so caught up in her own musings that she failed to take notice of Sasuke as he watched her intently, his dark eyes taking in every movement she made. It wasn't until the world slowly began to melt away that she looked to him once more. But Sasuke had vanished, and with his disappearance the color, sounds, and smells of the genjutsu disappeared into nothingness.

Sakura stood still in the darkness, her body rigid with apprehension as she braced herself for whatever Sasuke had in store. There was a brief pause on her part, and suddenly the darkness around her exploded with images—memories, she realized—of the past three years of her life. Memories of lonely nights, her grief, and anguish all brought to the surface of her psyche and spread out before her for his perusal.

There was anger, there was self-pity, and there was spite. But underneath all of that was also steadfast determination that did not waver throughout the years of her self-imposed exile. As the years progressed before her, Sakura saw herself grow a steady resolve that took place in her heart and a determination to regain her status as a Konoha shinobi and return home. All she needed was a plan of action and a means to an end.

She would do whatever it took to make that happen.

The images stopped abruptly and within seconds, Sasuke was before her once again. His gaze bore down upon her evenly, giving her no room to ponder what he could possibly be thinking. The darkness that surrounded them slowly began to fade away, and before she knew it, Sakura was once again within the cave with four pairs of eyes glued to her.

She met Sasuke's red eyes head-on and ignored the other three as she waited for some explanation that she knew would never come.

The silence was then broken by Karin as she pulled her own red gaze from the the pink-haired kunoichi and settled it on Sasuke seriously. There was no lilt to her voice, nor was there any other form of emotion. Seriousness was etched upon her features, her red brows pulled together as she looked at Sasuke intently.

"Sasuke," she murmured in warning before she closed her eyes and brought her hands up to focus her chakra more carefully.

"Aa." was all he said as he stood and began to make his way out of the cave with Juugo and Suigetsu following suit.

He paused before Sakura briefly, his blank face betraying no thought in his head. "You will remain here until I return."

Green eyes narrowed indignantly. "How about you just let me go?" she bit back.

"Hn." Was all he replied before he vanished through the curtain of water, leaving Sakura to Karin.

Whatever Sasuke and his subordinates had gone after had clearly managed to get past them. They hadn't been gone ten minutes when Sakura noticed the sudden mass of chakra signatures that appeared out of nowhere and were quickly heading in their general direction. She was unprepared when a white arm suddenly appeared out of the stone she was currently leaning back on and gripped her arm tightly, a pale face and yellow eyes the next things to emerge. Sakura wasted no time as she drove the elbow of her free arm into his face with some difficulty.

A pained grunt escaped the being and the hand that held her instantly let go. Before she had a second of reprieve, the large mass of chakra suddenly materialized only a few yards from the cave with each of the signatures just as identical and malevolent as the last. Sakura grit her teeth angrily as she pulled at her restraints. Unless she managed to get a hold of her weapons pouch that was nestled at Karin's feet, there was no way she was going to be able to be free to defend herself. Just as she was about to blatantly call out the red-haired kunoichi and give the tart a piece of her mind, the mass of chakra outside disappeared without a trace, and Sakura knew that that couldn't be a good sign.

"Shit," was all she managed to say before they instantly surrounded them.

Sakura shot up just a handful lunged for her, the sound of metal whizzing through the open air reached her ears before she could dodge. She was surprised when she felt the binds on her ankles fall away. Disbelieving eyes landed on Karin's form as she sent another wave of kunai at the white mutations.

"Well what the hell are you standing there for?" Karin bit out harshly, narrowly avoiding one as it snapped at her neck like a rabid animal.

Sakura wasted no time as she promptly jumped in the air, looping her arms under her legs easily and allowing her hands to now be situated in front of her as opposed to her back. One of the white things came at her then, and she did not hesitate in clobbering them on the temple with her brute strength, sending it crashing into the wall. Just because she didn't have her chakra at her expense didn't mean that she couldn't pummel these atrocities without some ease. Sakura leapt as two charged her at a time, making sure to bring down her heel on one of their heads. She knew she hit her target when she felt a sickening crack as its skull caved beneath her boot-clad heel. She wasn't too far from the mouth of the cave, and as she quickly tossed another white figure over her shoulder, Sakura did not hesitate before running out past the curtain of water and diving head first into the pool of water just on the other side.

"Yo, kunoichi!" came a loud cry, and suddenly Suigetsu barreled through the canopy of trees with his large blade swinging violently about and decapitating several white figures that had made a beeline towards her. He came to a stop on the water close to where she had surfaced, sharp teeth exposed in a smirk.

"So what's my prize for saving the damsel in distress?"

Sakura shot him an incredulous look. "I was not in distress."

Suigetsu snorted at her offended expression. "Right, that's why you're in the water looking like a drowned kitten while those Zetsu were ready to gnaw your skin off."

"I was observing them seeing as this is the first time I've ever laid eyes on one of those things!" she snapped before diving under once more and swimming to shore.

His bark of laughter reached her ears in the water, and as she dragged herself out, his body slowly re-solidified itself as he looked towards her.

"You know, I think I might come to like you Kitty. You've got spunk." He grinned.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply with a nasty retort when there was a sudden crash. Karin sailed through the torrent of water that concealed the cave and landed sloppily on the surface of the pond before promptly slipping under. Sakura took immediate notice of the blood that was steadily dissipating in the water from an injury and on instinct, dove back in. She swam to her side quickly, landing a punch on another Zetsu that quickly approached Karin's prone figure. Sakura swam faster towards the bottom of the quarry. Once she got to Karin, she looped an arm around her waist and kicked off the soft earth with as much might as she could muster and broke through the surface in just a few seconds.

She noticed Suigetsu had made his way towards them, his large blade glinting dangerously in the light as he swung it around the water with practiced ease. He sliced through two more of the white figures while Sakura checked over Karin's injuries.

"Get. Off. Me." the redhead hissed weakly as she fought off Sakura's advances once she'd managed to drag them onto shore.

"Shut your mouth," Sakura replied brusquely, her gaze clinical as she raised a hand to the gash on the other kunoichi's temple and applied firm pressure to ease the steady flow of blood.

"Why are you doing this? In case you forgot, we're Akatsuki. You know, part of the terrorist group that the other Nations are currently at war with. Or are you that desperate to become a traitor to them?" Karin spat.

Sakura's hands froze on the spot. She immediately seized Karin by the collar of her soaked cloak, her grip causing the leather of her gloves to pull taught over her knuckles in a slight creak as her hands shook with barely restrained fury.

"You know nothing of me or the things I've seen nor the tribulations I've faced. The only reason I bothered saving your life was because you did the same for me, whether you wanted me there or not. You could have easily turned me away when they brought me, but you didn't. Trust me, if it weren't for that I'd gladly leave you to your fate."

Karin said nothing as she narrowed her red eyes in disdain.

"Hey you two, watch it!" hollered Suigetsu as he sliced his way through another Zetsu.

Sakura turned to catch another creature about to strike. She chastised herself for dropping her guard and was just about to give it a solid punch when Sasuke appeared before her and plunged his sword through its torso. Before she could even begin to grasp what had happened, the bindings on her wrists were cut away and his middle and pointer finger sent a surge of chakra into her system once more, overpowering and effectively breaking the seal that Karin had placed on her.

"Make yourself useful." he ordered before cleanly slicking through another Zetsu in the next moment.

Sakura stood rigidly, her shoulder in line with Sasuke's as she stood a few feet away. Already she could feel her chakra returning to her; feel the thrum of her power as it flooded her body.

"What are you playing at?" she asked as she delivered a chakra-laden kick to the face of an approaching Zetsu, sending it flying before it embedded itself in a nearby tree.

Sakura was unable to hear his response as more Zetsu came at her. She wove through them easily, dodging all their strikes fluidly and exchanged blows. Now that her chakra had returned, she only needed a single solid hit to render them immobile, of not kill them outright. The kunoichi deftly avoided another one of the figures before bringing her heel down in a chakra-enhanced strike that created a deep fissure in the earth and swallowed up not only her intended target, but several others that had been too close to her skirmish.

However, so caught up was she in her fight, that Sakura failed to note the dark eyes that carefully took in every move she made.

When it was all said and done all that was left was rubble, upturned trees, and the four shinobi that stood in the midst of it all.

Sakura pushed her unruly bangs away from her face as she ran a hand across her brow. It had certainly taken longer than she expected to eliminate all of them. It seemed like there was an endless supply of these monstrosities, because with every one that Sakura took down; three more were soon in its place. But eventually they managed to come out triumphant and Sakura found herself coming to terms with the fact that now was probably a good a time as ever to take her leave.

Surging chakra to her legs, she wasted no time in taking off towards the east. She mentally cursed when she felt three signatures on her tail before they blipped out of existence. Warily, Sakura dropped down onto the ground and bolted through the trees. She wasn't surprised when she came face-to-face with Sasuke.

"What?" she bit out as she stopped a few feet from him.

"You're coming with me."

"Like hell I am!" Sakura bit back.

Immediately she heard Suigetsu and Karin land just a few yards away from her, effectively trapping her within their triangular formation.

"There's no option," Sasuke continued as he approached.

He stopped several paces before her, and Sakura was truly able to take in just how much taller than her he was now. Slightly unsettled with the fact that she had to crane her neck back just to be able to get a good view of him, Sakura ignored the unsteady rhythm of her hear as it pounded in her ears, determined not to let him get the best of her. He would not intimidate her into doing his bidding. She wouldn't allow it.

"You'll be of use to me in the future."

Green eyes narrowed viciously at his words. "You're not letting me go because I'm suddenly useful to you?" she raged. "What about what I want?"

"I know what it is you want, Sakura. You want to go home." Sasuke said harshly, his voice dripping with venom and a cynical type of sarcasm at the mention of Konoha. "You want to return to that pathetic excuse for a village and be with your friends, but you know you can't do that if Danzou is still in control."

Damn him. Damn him and his stupid red eyes. She thought fiercely.

It wasn't fair how he could pull her under with the power of his dojutsu and could go through every single thought that ran through her head and pick apart every desperate wish and desire in her heart. Petite hands clenched tightly to restrain the growing urge to knock him on his ass.

"I'm going to kill Danzou. Join me, and you can go back to your village when it's done."

His statement left her silent as disbelieving eyes searched his for any semblance of a lie. She didn't trust him, that was abundantly obvious, but she also couldn't ignore the opportunity that dangled before her. To confront Danzou and figure out what he'd done to Tsunade, to be able to go home…

"What's the catch?" she asked warily.

"You are to keep me alive no matter the cost."

Sakura caught her lower lip between her teeth as her brows pulled together. There was more to this—of that she was sure. There was more behind his gaze than just wanting the demise of the Hokage. But what it was exactly, Sakura didn't know. From the look of it, Sasuke was her best bet at getting to Danzou relatively unscathed, and even if that didn't work out, she knew that staying by his side would guarantee her to come in contact with Naruto.

Naruto, she thought solemnly. This entire war had been waged partly in part to protect Naruto and any other remaining jinchuuriki. If she were to join forces with Sasuke's team, not only would she presented with the chance to go home, but could also use every opportunity presented to her to keep them from finding him.

That last thought was all it took for her to make up her mind.

"I accept," she said as her eyes stared into his unflinchingly.

She would do this, she would keep Naruto safe and she would return to where she truly belonged. If she could not take her stand among her friends and comrades, then she would support them in any way she possibly could. Sakura just hoped with all her might that she hadn't set herself up for failure.