"Two civilians approaching at 3 o'clock. Hold your positions."

Sakura held herself still under the canopy of branches overhanging the back wall of Okoppe. Sasuke crouched next to her, his red eyes scouring the dark alleyways beneath them as they waited to get the all clear signal from Neji. It was nearing midnight so few people were about. They were taking no chances though. Neji sat only a few hundred yards away, hiding himself behind a large outcropping of rock and using his byakugan to help aide them in spotting anyone near.

"Clear."

"Understood," Sasuke replied back using the small radio at his throat. Though only they two were going into the village, their team mates were supporting them from beyond the walls. As they silently dropped from the wall, Sakura caught sight of one of Sai's mice and followed it down the winding path through the various buildings. Earlier in the day, the ex-root member had once again sent in his scouting party to identify the quickest route to the pump house. Sasuke ran beside her, occasionally catching her eye and passing along a silent command through his head and eye movements which she had no trouble understanding.

A man's roaring laughter came from inside one of the few buildings with it's lights still on. The pinkette stopped just short of running into Sasuke's back as they moved even further into the shadows as they passed the bar. Her nose wrinkled as their continued journey took them through the back alleys behind a large restaurant. The smell of the days leftovers rotting away had her holding back a gag. Sasuke's arm flew out to the side, staying her position, as they rounded the next bend. Peeking over his shoulder, she saw a couple, little older than they were she guessed, walking down the street. They were engrossed in one another's presence – arms entwined as they strolled under the moonlight - and, thankfully, never saw the two shinobi hiding a mere three feet from them.

They watched the mouse squeeze into a small crack in the wooden doorway of a lone building at the edge of the main part of town. Sasuke motioned for her to stay close to the building and he alone ventured across the open street and quickly set about opening the door. When he was safely inside he checked the area once more before calling her over. A heavy darkness fell over her when Sasuke closed them inside.

"We're in."

"It's still quiet within the village. You should be clear," was the response from their captain.

Sakura withdrew a flashlight from her bag and led them down the hallway of the building. The unmistakeable smell of water filled the area and she could just make out the sound of the pumps running from deeper within the place.

"The mouse turned left at the end of the corridor."

"Thanks." She would loose track of the tiny creature as it blended into the dark walls while it scampered ahead of them. Thankfully, Sasuke could easily track it with his Sharingan. Sakura glanced at his profile, studying what she could see of him in the dark. Neji had been right in his decision to have Sasuke be the one to accompany her into the village. Though she was walking right beside him, she couldn't even hear the sound of his footsteps next to her. His breathing was quiet and controlled and his movements quick. However, she wished Neji hadn't voiced his reasons for assigning the task to Sasuke out loud.

"Your ability to move about undetected is probably the best out of this group's. After all, you managed to avoid even Konoha's eyes for four years."

He didn't seem to be bothered by that statement even when it was made, but it still didn't sit right with Sakura – regardless of how true it was.

As they rounded the bend, she focused once more on the mission before her. A short flight of stairs took them to the main room of the pump house. A complex system of steel pipes rose up from the floor before disappearing into the walls around them. Four large metal tanks sat along the far wall across from what appeared to be the main generator for the apparatus.

"Wow," she exclaimed, her eyes roaming every inch of the room. "This is a pretty complex system they have."

Sasuke merely grunted his agreement and stepped closer to one of the large tanks. She followed suit, moving to the one next to him, and ran her fingers along the metal surface. It was cool to the touch, probably from the fresh groundwater rushing through it she supposed. She was thorough in her inspection, but could find no where that seemed to have been tampered with. Sasuke's onyx eyes met hers and she knew he found nothing either. They moved on to the other two tanks and finally to the vast series of pipes around them. Frustration was quick to set in when neither of them found any obvious signs of tampering.

"Status report." Neji's deep tone demanded over the radio.

"Nothing so far," she replied. "But there's a lot of area to cover in here." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her answer. She shook her hand at him, urging him to look once more. It had been difficult enough to get Neji to allow them to do this mission; she wasn't going to stop looking for the poison now.

"Everything's still quiet for now, but try to hurry it up Sakura." She wrinkled her nose at his order just to appease herself. Her hands began feeling the seams of the pipes once more; she must have missed something in her search.

"Sakura," she paused in her explorations and turned towards her red eyed companion. "Is the amygdalin a powder or liquid?"

"Umm...it would probably be in a powdered form. Why?"

He focused his attention to the ground surrounding the large water tanks. "I haven't seen any signs of tampering to the pump system so far. Maybe we can find some remnants of the poison on the ground around here. If we can't find any evidence that Kabuto's been here, we might have to search further into the Land of Hot Water."

"Yeah, you're right," she remarked and joined in the search around the base of the pipes. As far as she was aware, the poison should appear in a white, fine powdered form. Thankfully, the flooring in the pump house was all dark gray stone. It should be easy to spot such a difference.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice carried over the radio.

"Nothing yet Naruto, we're still searching."

"Alright, just be careful. Watch out for her teme." She rolled her eyes at the unnecessary statement. She could look out for herself just fine. Though, she did appreciate the concern from her hyperactive friend.

"Do you not understand the meaning of maintaining radio silence?" She only caught the first part of Naruto's nervous chuckle before the line went dead once more in the wake of Neji's stern interruption.

A lock of her soft, pink hair dropped into her field of vision, and she batted it away in frustration. She and Sasuke had scoured nearly every inch of this room and come up with nothing so far. She knew that this village was where Kabuto had unloaded the potent poison, but for some reason, they were unable to find any traces that he had been there.

Leaning back against the stone wall, she crossed her arms and huffed out a angry breath. This didn't make any sense. Neji and the rest of her team were awaiting them on the other side of the village walls and she knew their time was running out. Every minute they lingered was putting them more at risk for being caught. She dropped into a crouch, briefly resting her head in her hands before tugging the candy colored locks away from her face. She could mope later, right now she didn't have a second to waste on anything other than looking for this damn drug.

As she leaned forward, preparing to stand up, something caught her eye just behind the tank Sasuke had been circling. Moving to his area, she leaned closer to the floor, inspecting the small, milky white crystal that lay there. She felt him come to crouch beside her, his knee brushing against her own. As his hand came into her line of vision, fingers reaching for the crystal, a page from one of her medical texts ran through her mind producing an instant reaction from her. Her hand shot out, fingers wrapping around his thicker wrist, and halting his movement.

"Don't touch it!"

His dark eyes bored into hers as she held his hand back from the unknown danger. "Why?"

"I think...I think that may be the amygdalin."

She pulled her gloves out of the pocket of her pouch as she continued to stare at the seemingly harmless object. When her skin was was covered by the thick leather of her gloves, she picked up the small crystal. As she suspected, there was no odor coming from it. It's cloudy color did not reflect light well, but when she transferred it to her other hand, she could see the barest of residues left behind on her fingers.

"I'd forgotten about this," she spoke almost as if she were talking to herself. "If you evaporate the compound and allow it to precipitate, the amygdalin will form these small, white crystals." She turned those intelligent emerald eyes onto her partner once more. "I don't need to see anything else; this is proof that the poison was introduced into this water system."

Sasuke studied the crystal she held out between her fingers. "Kabuto, or whoever he had acting in his stead, must have dropped this or knocked it off a larger chunk of poison." His brows furrowed as another thought hit him. "Are we going to have to look inside the tanks for this?"

"No. It's more likely that they've already dissolved in the large amount of water flowing through these pipes everyday." Sakura pulled her medic pouch from her side and unrolled the canvas. She took a small glass vial from one of the pockets and safely deposited the crystal inside. She withdrew two large vials filled with a clear, thick mixture before she placed her pouch back on her side.

"What's that?"

"A highly concentrated form of the neutralizing agent for amygdalin. This won't cure anyone who's been affected, but it will break down the poison into harmless sugars. I need to introduce this into the water supply."

He moved away from her and began studying the main pipes leading into the reservoir tanks while she leapt gracefully on top of it; both of them searching for any access point to the water.

"I think I found something." Sasuke joined her and watched as she tested the tightness of the small access door she'd discovered. It was on very tightly, probably secured by a workman's wrench, but that wouldn't be a problem for her. She handed the vials over to the Uchiha, removing the stoppers from both of them. "I don't think we should leave this open for very long," she explained.

"Agreed." He pressed his finger against the transmitter at his throat. "Hyuuga."

"Yes?" came the - only mildly irritated - response from their captain.

"Poison confirmed, we're introducing the neutralizing agent into the system now."

"Understood. Your area remains free of civilian activity, proceed."

Sasuke removed his finger, effectively cutting off their transmission before turning his attention back to the task at hand. Sakura looked up at him, her eyes assessing his readiness. With a nod of his head for confirmation, she applied her vast strength to the circular hatch, the metal squeaking against each other as the small door lifted. As soon as her hands were clear, Sasuke poured the clear, syrupy liquid from both tubes into the large tank. Sakura replaced the lid, tightening it once more before taking the now empty vials from him and shoving them into her pouch. With a hop, both team members were once again on the stone floor and quick to remove any trace of them having been there. Sasuke grabbed her flashlight from the table, tossing it to her, before turning off the main light once more.

"We should hurry out of here," she said from right behind his shoulder as they climbed the stairs to the main floor. "I don't want to press our luck any further tonight."

She took the grunt that left his throat as an agreement and moved as quickly as she could up the steep steps. Though it was still pitch black inside the narrow hallway, she cut off her flash light and kept herself close to Sasuke. It would do them no good for someone outside to see light flickering underneath the door of what should be an empty building. As long as she was relatively close to Sasuke, she could easily feel whenever he stopped or turned so she wouldn't run into him.

A breath of relief slipped past her when they made it to the door. The hard part was over and all they had to do now was return to their team mates waiting for them on the other side of the wall.

"Someone's approaching the building! Hide yourselves!" Though their communicators were turned down so that no one else would be able to over hear their conversations, Neji's harshly whispered order sounded no less than a battle cry to Sakura's stunned ears. In the inky darkness, they were unable to clearly see the door handle, but they could easily hear the sound of the key entering the door and the lock tumbling.

Sasuke didn't pause to think of his actions, he simply clamped his hand around Sakura's upper arm and dragged her behind him as he descended the staircase swiftly and silently. Thankfully, Sakura made no noise as he hurried down the dark corridor, his sharingan keeping him from running blindly. They flew back into the large pump room, steering clear of the vast number of pipes and equipment scattered about. There were no other exits in the building nor any windows they could flee from. The only other room he'd found in his earlier search was a tiny closet used for cleaning materials. With no other options open to him, he ripped the door open to the room and shoved them both inside, just getting the door closed just as light filtered through the tiny crevice at the base of it.

"It's too late for this." A loud yawn followed the man's irritated words.

A sharp breath came from the woman in his arms and he tightened his grip, sending her the single to be silent. There was no helping the position they were in. As he saw earlier, the small room was filled with various bottles of cleaners, mops, and buckets lining the walls. He could clearly see where everything was and in order to keep her from inadvertently stumbling into something in the very limited space they had, Sasuke kept his arms wound tight around her shoulders. The crown of her pink hair brushed against his jaw and he tried to ignore the tickling sensation it brought.

"Damn it," the man in the next room cursed. "Guess I gotta check 'em all. I don't see any reason the pressure alarms went off."

Well at least he now understood why they found themselves with the unexpected company. Perhaps when Sakura opened the hatch on that reservoir tank, she had accidentally triggered one of the alarms for the system. Obviously, there was another monitoring station they were unaware of somewhere in the town. Sasuke simply hoped this man would hurry with his inspection and leave. Naruto had made his clones and positioned himself at various places surrounding the village. At Neji's orders, he would create a diversion if necessary to allow them to get out of the village safely. Should that happen, he was positive their entrance into the town would somehow be found out.

And the moment this country's damiyo discovered he – Uchiha Sasuke – was on the team, all hell would break loose. After everything he'd done in the past few months to find a, relatively, peaceful position within the Konoha ranks, that was the last thing he wanted to happen.

What was that scent?

Though he found himself in the confines of a cleaning closet, it wasn't the pungent smell of harsh chemicals assaulting his nose. It was subtle; gently filling his head as he took slow, deep breaths to keep his heart rate under control. A fresh scent, one that reminded him of the wind. He found it...calming, which was odd given the circumstances they were under. Sasuke turned his head, feeling the soft brush of Sakura's hair rub against his chin. His burning red eyes lowered to her, but her face was buried against his chest. He could find no irritation welling up at their proximity as he was the one to place her in that position, so it was to be expected.

"Piece of..." A loud thump drowned out the man's words and the scrape of a chair against the floor could be heard. Footsteps moved closer to the door they were hiding behind. Sasuke pressed his hand flat against Sakura's back and allowed his other hand to begin a slow descent down her side as he moved towards the handle of his Kusanagi. Whether the man was a civilian or not, should he open that door, the likelihood that they would be attacked was great.

Warm breath blew across the hollow of his throat as Sakura brought herself closer to him in response to his movement. His fingertips dug into the soft flesh beneath his hands. For someone who showed such incredible strength, he found her body to be surprisingly small in comparison to his. Their height difference was always obvious to him, but he had not realized how slim her body was. His large hand almost spread the width of her lower back and her shoulders were much smaller than his. Watching her destroy boulders and fell trees with a single punch had an odd way of distorting her body proportions to his mind.

The footsteps moved away from their area once more and more grumbling came from the man in the room before the lights were turned out. Sasuke pressed his hand into her back once more, telling her to remain quiet for now. The head beneath his own nodded once, she had understood his signal. As her hair brushed against his skin, that scent filled his nose once more.

Could it possibly be coming from her?

It had been many days since they set out from Konoha and, like any good kunoichi, Sakura did not wear perfumes or use heavily scented soaps of any kind. With that knowledge, he wondered where this particular scent was coming from? His curiosity peaked, Sasuke lowered his head until his nose was amidst her candy colored hair. As his deep breath filled his lungs, that calming scent washed over him. Perplexing as it was, he now knew the scent was coming from Sakura.

Sasuke opened the door behind them, listening carefully for any signs of the civilian who'd taken them by surprise. When he found none, he pulled away from the decidedly female body in his arms and set out for the staircase once more. He kept hold to Sakura's wrist, unwilling to allow her to use the flashlight again.

"He's left the vicinity. You should be clear to leave now," came Neji's voice over their radios.

"Understood."

He pulled her along, thankful for her odd silence, and quickly left the pump house. There were even less people about than when they'd first made the trek through the dark alleyways, which suited him fine. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to get out of this hermit village and get back to the open woods. This mission was becoming an annoyance to him in more ways than one.

"Oh my goodness, that's just so horrible!" the elderly woman exclaimed under Sakura's understanding eyes.

"Yes, it is."

"But it's so wonderful that they've found the treatment for that ami...amg..."

"Amygdalin," the medic supplied.

"Amygdalin, yes. Oh thank you so much for helping me out my dear."

The pinkette smiled, the patient look on her face being one she had carefully learned to adopt so long ago. "It was no problem. Now, you just be more careful on your journey."

The woman stood with Sakura's assistance, gently testing her now healed sprained ankle before she put her entire weight on it. "Oh I will. Thank you again."

Sakura sent her off with a wave and moved to return to her team, which was waiting not-so-patiently for her. She didn't feel bad about making them pause in their journey back home.

So she couldn't directly tell the physicians of Okoppe what it was that was making their villagers sick. Okay, she understood why she couldn't and obeyed her orders.

That didn't mean she couldn't indirectly let them know.

Every chance she got, she made sure to be very vocal about what poison she had treated in Haru-san's village. Even if she couldn't give them the antidote personally, with just a little research, the doctors would be able to discover the cure for their patients. She was gossiping like an old woman in her effort to spread the word about the amygdalin. Though the village of Okoppe was mostly cut off from society, she was sure that someone would get wind of the tale she was spreading and lives could be saved. Until she was able to get permission from their damiyo to enter the town, this was the best plan she had. Neji was fully aware of what she was doing, but thus far he'd had nothing to say about it.

"Can we go now Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined as she re-joined the team. "I wanna get back home."

Sakura merely rolled her eyes at the impatient jinchuriki and gave a quick nod to Neji. Their captain took point and jumped into the thicket of trees once more, slowly making his way towards Konoha. She fell in line behind him, but soon slowed her pace until Sai overtook her. Watching the ex-root member's back as they traveled was much more appealing than staring at the short raven hair and Uchiha symbol stitched between Sasuke's shoulder blades.

How much had she worked to bring herself to the point she was now? How many carefully placed barriers had she built around her heart? Sakura didn't care if she was lying to herself, she was willing to do whatever it took to make it day to day.

One short mission had threatened all her hard work.

It was imperative that they not be discovered during their mission, so she understood and agreed with his quick actions. She knew he didn't do anything on purpose, and that just made it harder for her to deal with. However much she had grown as a kunoichi, she had found it impossible to be objective the moment he'd crushed her to his chest in that tiny closet.

The warmth of his body seeped into hers as he held her shoulders. Her face had been pressed into his neck, giving her no other option but to breath in the spicy scent that was his own. She'd almost yelped when his hand slid down her side until she realized he was moving closer to his weapon. Never had she been so happy to be encased in darkness so the fierce blush raging across her face couldn't be seen. With every press of his strong hand into her back her heart beat sped up. It was a miracle she'd been able to continue taking slow, steady breaths.

For her younger self, being in that position would have been a dream come true. Now, it was doing nothing but causing her distress. She and Sasuke were now being somewhat friendly to each other; the last thing she needed was for her body to betray her just from being in the Uchiha's arms. Sakura ignored the more colorful ravings of her inner at that thought.

For all they had been through, this peaceful state they found themselves in was a major achievement. She wouldn't allow a simple case of her being flustered to damage that. So, for now, she would maintain some distance from the avenger until she was sure she had her body back under control. The last thing she wanted to do was make him uncomfortable being around her.

Being so absorbed in her thoughts, she nearly barreled into Sai's stationary form atop a nearby limb.

"Why'd we stop?"

Neji turned to his team gathered behind him and held out Katsuyu for all to see.

"Katsuyu? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked the much smaller form of her shishou's summons.

"Sakura-san, I'm afraid the news I bring is not good." Katsuyu's soft voice did nothing to ease the dread that filled all their stomachs. "For the time being, none of you are allowed back in Konoha."

"What?"

"Wha...why?"

"What's going on?"

Neji's glare silenced the barrage of questions flying at her. The snail's tiny eyes focused on Sakura. "Tsunade-sama has placed Konoha under quarantine."

That dread coiled around itself until it had all the weight of a large, lead ball sitting in the pit of her gut. "No..." the horrified gasp escaped her throat. "We were attacked?"

"Yes, though how Tsunade-sama is not sure."

"What do you mean we can't go back?" Naruto's angry voice echoed in the forest. "If Konoha was attacked then we have to be there!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible Naruto-kun," Katsuyu's voice remained calm, even under the hero's palpable anger. "The virus is highly contagious and though there have been no fatalities so far, Tsunade-sama isn't taking any chances. No one is allowed in or out of Konoha for the time being."

"What about treatment? Has Tsunade-sama discovered what it is they're infected with?"

"No Sakura-san. Unfortunately, Tsunade-sama herself has been infected and the process is moving slowly."

Sakura balled her fists and tried to ignore the angry tears burning her eyes. "If that's the case, then I should go back to Konoha! I can help her and Shizune-san find a cure!"

"She knows that, but she isn't taking any unnecessary risks. Your orders are to avoid Konoha until further notice."

"Damn it," Neji spat.

"I understand your frustrations Neji-san, but please abide by Tsunade-sama's orders."

The captain whipped his head away from the summons perched in his hand.

"Poor baa-chan," Naruto shook his head, the angry haze still clouding his cerulean eyes. "I swear this bastard is gonna pay with his life for all this shit."

"Did she give any other orders?" Neji asked her, worry etching across the handsome lines of his face.

"Yes, you are to meet up with the other shinobi who were out of the village when the poisoning occurred. If you head west for half a day, you will meet them. Yamato-san is preparing a camp for you all. I've already informed everyone else of Tsunade-sama's orders."

"This is bullshit!"

"Naruto," Sasuke snapped at his friend. "There's nothing else we can do at the moment. If you go into the village, you're only going to get sick and give them one more patient to try and cure."

"We will follow the Hokage's orders," Neji announced. "We'll meet up with the other shinobi and discuss what to do from there. Perhaps they have found some additional information."

"I will contact you with any further orders." With that said, Katsuyu disappeared from his palm with a small plume of smoke.

The relieved atmosphere that had surrounded the group after their successful mission was gone. They changed course, following the direction Katsuyu had pointed them in with heavy hearts, the faces of their loved ones potentially suffering floating through their minds. They had already faced several trials and defeated them in this dangerous game Kabuto seem fixated on playing, but now the threat was in their own backyard.

A/N:

Ya know what I can't stand? A summer cold! I have to warn everyone to stay away from me because I turn into such a whiny person when I get sick! For everyone's sake, I locked myself in my house alone until it passed. Look at me, I'm STILL whining!

Hey, I'm always happy to see how many of you are putting the story on alert or fav but I'd love it even more if you'd spare a moment and let me know what you think of the chapter. Reviews make my world go round. Just a few words in the little box below ya will do.

Thanks so much for reading!