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Question for this chapter: How do you like Boruto so far?

Special thanks to my Beta-Reader: GreyHowler

Sasuke walked out of the hideout and saw his group was waiting for him and Sakura. Karin looked frustrated about the fact that they were alone.

"Where is Sakura?" Suigetsu asked. Sasuke didn't respond and continued walking. A few seconds later Sakura walked out. Sakura joined the rest of the group and Sasuke turned to them;

"From now on, we five move as one and our group will be known as Hebi. Hebi has only one purpose," he paused, "Finding, Uchiha Itachi."

Sasuke turned away from the trees and said; "Follow me."

He had somewhere he wanted to go. Suigetsu noticed Sakura was falling behind. He knew she could keep up with them, so she must have been purposely avoiding them. He lowered his speed to fall in line next to her and asked if she was okay.

"I'm fine…Just thinking." She said shortly and sped up to catch the rest of the group.

.

Night came and the team stopped to rest and set up the camp. It was really quiet. Jugo was sitting under a tree staring at the stars. Suigetsu was exhausted from all the traveling and carrying his sword and was lying on the grass not far away from the fire. Sasuke was, as usual, quiet, brooding about something or other. Karin kept staring at Sasuke and day dreaming of him making a move on her. Sakura sat on a tree branch, thinking.

The peace and quiet didn't last long. After a while Karin and Suigetsu began bickering with each other. Sakura wasn't in the mood for this and yelled at them to shut up.

"Hmpf, don't tell me what to do." said Karin. Suigetsu noticed Sakura's mood and decided to stay quiet. Sasuke also noticed but said nothing.

"Sasuke-kun, why did you bring her with you? You only needed me right?" Karin asked and looked at Sasuke.

"Can you please stop flirting, it's annoying. He doesn't like it, we don't like it and most of all no one likes you!" Sakura said as she stood up on the tree branch.

"How do you know what he likes and doesn't like? You're just jealous that I'm more of a use than y-"

Before Karin could finished her sentence, Sakura had appeared in front of her and was pressing Karin's throat against a tree.

"Finish that sentence, I dare you. One little warning, before you do, thought. I am strong. In fact I'm stronger than you. I haven't done anything to you until now, because Sasuke asked me to behave. But I'm not in the mood right now. You can flirt all you want for all I care, but not here and especially not now. I can finish you so fast that you won't be able to say your last words." Sakura growled, squeezing the girl's neck tighter as she spoke.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand and demanded her to let go of Karin. Sakura first glared at him, then sighed and let go. She started to walk away from the camp site, but Sasuke continued to hold her wrist, preventing her from moving.

"What do you want now, Sasuke?" she asked, but refused to look at him.

"Your temper needs to die down and I-"

"Right now, you can't calm me down. You might maybe the only one who can calm me down when I've lost my temper….but right now…..you need to let me go, before I do something you don't want me to" she threatened and glared into his eyes, showing she wasn't lying.

She walked away, the moment he let go of her wrist. Suigetsu ran to catch up with Sakura and asked her what was wrong. She was silent for a few seconds before she spoke.

"I'm weak…" her voice was trembling out of frustration. She began to walk faster when Suigetsu also sped up, she yelled, "Don't follow me!"

Suigetsu stopped suddenly, mildly surprised at her outburst and watched her walk through the trees and out of sight.

"What did you do?" Suigetsu asked, when he noticed Sasuke presence. Sasuke had come up behind them and was silently standing behind Suigetsu.

"It's none of your business what I do." he answered.

Suigetsu started to laugh, "You really need to learn how to love someone."

"I lost that feeling long ago, Suigetsu." Sasuke replied.

"I feel bad for Sakura," Suigetsu whispered. He sighed then said; "Look, just be nice to her and protect her." and walked back to the campsite.

Sasuke suddenly heard a tree crashing about 200 feet away from them. It must be Sakura letting her frustration out.

'That's what I've been doing.' thought Sasuke.

The next morning

Everyone was already up and ready to leave bright and early. Sakura walked out of the trees and up to the group, trying to greet them normally. She had stayed all night in the forest away from the camp site to release her stress; she had made firewood out of quite few trees. After finally calming down, she had decided to not to return to the campsite and slept on a tree branch.

Sakura noticed Jugo was acting a little distant towards her. He was still feeling guilty for what happened in the past. She walked up to him and said;

"Jugo, you don't have to beat yourself up. I already told you, it's in the past."

"But….I attacked you when you visited me with Kabuto. I broke your ribs and almost killed you. Kabuto had to drag you out of the room…and yesterday, I almost attacked you again…" The guilt was eating him up so badly, he was almost in tears,

"It's okay, Jugo. You weren't yourself. Besides, it was part of my training." Sakura reassured him.

Jugo nodded sadly and wandered off to continue packing his stuff. Sasuke had walked up to the pair while they were talking and had overheard their conversation. He confronted Sakura about it.

"You didn't tell me Jugo attacked you, Sakura."

"Well, now you know…" Sakura replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why should I tell you anything?" Sakura lashed out and glared at Sasuke, "Just keep your nose out of my business. It's none of your concern."

Sasuke stared thoughtlessly at Sakura when she jumped on a tree branch to wait, ending the conversation.

'Sorry Sasuke, but payback's a bitch. I remember that night, before I pleaded to join Orochimaru with you. Before I begged you to stay, before I confessed my love for you. I had a bad feeling and I waited there to see if my feelings were correct. You were walking towards the Leaf Village gate. I asked you, why you wouldn't tell my anything….why it was always silence with you….You said the exact same thing I just said to you…' thought Sakura.

"Well, someone is still mad at you." Suigetsu whispered.

Suigetsu immediately backed away when Sasuke turned his glare to him. Sasuke sighed, leapt up to a branch and dashed away, not looking to see if anyone was following.

.

They traveled for several more hours before the forest began to thin and another hour brought them to an abrupt end of the trees and the beginning of a very bleak, very brown desert. As far as they could see, there was nothing but sand, sand, and more sand; one dune after the next stretched in every direction except the one they had come from. Sakura cringed slightly at the thought of the stuff in her clothes. Even after they had left the desert, she knew it take several days of washing for her things to be rid of every single grain of the wretched stuff.

"Let's take a break already," Suigetsu complained.

"Keep complaining and dragging your feet like this and we're never going to make it there!" Karin yelled at him.

"Why don't you shut up." Suigetsu replied.

"Why, you water monster!-"

"Enough! We are here" Sasuke cut Karin off and ended their argument.

Sakura wasn't in the mood for them and stayed quiet. She looked around the desert again and realized that there was a city, hazy in the scorching sun, just within her sight. She gave a silent sigh of relief; they could probably make it to the buildings by sundown, assuming what she saw wasn't a mirage.

They took a small break and drank their fill from a nearby stream before plunging into the hot ecosystem. The soft sand sank under their feet, making it very difficult to walk and nearly impossible to run. In fact, what they were doing resembled trudging more than walking, but after a couple hours, Sakura would have had no problems with crawling if it would have helped them get to the destination faster. It was so hot and her throat had been gradually getting drier as they walked. None of them had spoken for a while now, although Sakura could hear their panting breaths creating a monotonous beat with the sound of their footsteps.

Sakura soon gave up any attempt at keeping track of time or distance, but the sun was falling closer and closer to the horizon and the sand as well as the air was slowly becoming cooler. Her throat was still dry, but when she no longer felt the harsh sun on her face, she chanced a glance up where she had been staring at her feet.

She nearly cried out in relief when she saw that the city was closer than she could have hoped. Another half-hour and they had reached the first cobblestones of the one of the perimeter buildings. They walked through the city with renewed vigor and followed Sasuke as he led them to a well in the town square. They drew up buckets of cool water and drank their fill.

The sun set while they were drinking and heat radiated from the cobblestones, but the heat was not harsh like the sun. Instead, it balanced out the cooling air, which was quickly becoming cold without the sun to warm it.

Sakura had just taken her last sip from the water bucket when she heard Sasuke break the silence.

"Come," he said and they followed him deeper into the maze of buildings.

.

They walked through the dark city, until they saw an entrance at the base of one building with stairs that led down to an even darker tunnel. Suigetsu thoughts this arrangement rather sketchy, but said nothing.

"A hideout in an abandoned city. I never heard of it." said Suigetsu, his voice echoing off the walls of the stone tunnel.

"This isn't Orochimaru's. The Uchiha clan used to store munitions here." Sasuke explained.

They looked behind them when they suddenly heard a noise. Two cats were standing behind them

"It's been a long time Denka, Hina." Sasuke greeted.

"Well, if it isn't our Sasuke boy." said Denka.

"What can we do for you, meow?" Hina meowed.

"We need weapons and medicine as well as some others supplies for our battle." Sasuke answered.

"Are those..."

"Talking cats" Suigetsu finished Karin's sentence as he approached Denka. He tried to pet Denka, but immediately pulled his hand away when Denka hissed at him. Sakura giggled softly at Suigetsu's reaction.

"They are ninja cats. Be careful and respectful or they'll rip you apart." Sasuke explained.

"Did you bring us a present?" Hina asked.

Sasuke turned to Sakura and held out his hand. Sakura reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of what looked like to be catnip and handed it to Sasuke.

"Here, a bottle of catnip for you."

Hina jumped up and grabbed it from Sasuke's hand.

"It's my favorite, meow." Hina thanked.

"Follow me and I'll take you to granny cat." Denka said and walked past them.

The team entered a room where they saw a woman sitting in the middle of the room on a carpet with cats all around her. The woman greeted them and introduced herself as Nekobaa, the granny cat. She told them to take a look around and ask for what they needed.

Sakura greeted Nekobaa politely, bowed and asked if granny cat had some clothes for her. Nekobaa called a girl to come to the room.

The girl ran into the room and greeted everyone. She had long brown hair reaching below her waist and hazel eyes. She wore a sleeveless red blouse, light-colored pants, fishnet stockings and sandals. She also had bandages wrapped around her upper left hand

"This is my granddaughter, Tamaki. She'll help you with clothes."

Sakura followed Tamaki into another room, leaving Suigetsu playing with one of the normal cats, and Karin leaning against a wall, while Jugo looked at the supplies and Sasuke walked into a different room filled with weapons.

.

In her room, Sakura changed into a red, hooded short-sleeve top, black fingerless gloves, low-heeled, knee-high black boots , and black shorts. To complete the outfit, she wrapped a red shawl around her hips.

'This way I can hide my pink hair by putting on the hood when we get to a village.' thought Sakura as she looked at herself in the mirror. Tamaki handed Sakura a black cloak, which Sakura thanked her for and led the way back to granny cat's room.

"Sakura, you look hot!" Suigetsu complimented her. Sakura giggled softly with a blush before thanking him. Karin just glared.

Jugo went next to change his clothes, Karin snuck into the room where Sasuke was, and Suigetsu continued playing with the normal cats. Sakura sat down and waited for the others to finish. She noticed Denka was sitting next to her feet and slowly patted his head.

"Denka likes you? That's very interesting. He doesn't really like to be petted by anyone, human or cat" Nekobaa spoke.

Sakura smiled as she continued petting Denka, "He seems to be enjoying it very much."

"What's your name dear?" Nekobaa asked.

"Haruno, Haruno Sakura." she answered and looked up at her.

"That is a very fitting name for you, dear" Nekobaa complemented.

"Thank you very much, ma'am."

"How do you know Sasuke?" Nekobaa asked.

"We used to go to the same academy when we were kids at the Leaf Village. We also used to be in the same Genin Team," Sakura answered.

Denka jumped up and ran towards a shelf of books. He picked up a black book up, ran back to Sakura and dropped it in her lap. Her eyes widened the moment she opened the book; there was a pictured of a young Sasuke holding a cat with young Itachi standing next to him.

"They looked so happy." Sakura whispered.

"Itachi would usually visit me for errand he had to run and Sasuke would tag along with him every time. Sasuke always got bored and gave Itachi a hard time so Itachi created a game; Sasuke was to collect paw prints from the fast and nimble cats," Nekobaa explained, "I've known them since they were wee little things. I can't believe it's come to this...They used to love each other so dearly, but now...they are the only two remaining Uchiha and yet they must kill each other..."

Sakura stared emotionless at the pictures while listening Nekobaa's story. She couldn't understand it. They looked so happy in the picture. You could even see the love between them. She couldn't imagine the same boy who made up a game for his own little brother, was the same boy who murdered his own clan, his own parents. The strong love they had was gone, just like that. Now there was only hatred and the desire to kill each other...

Suigetsu overheard everything, but stayed quiet and continued petting the cats. Jugo broke the heavy silence when he came out of the changing room. Nothing was able to fit Jugo, so he had decided to use a curtain. He called out Suigetsu and told him that Tamaki wanted him to go in next.

"I don't need any new clothes, just a cloak." Suigetsu said as he entered the room.

Sakura slowly closed the book and put it on the ground, "Ma'am do you have any medical supplies?"

"Yes, in the room where Sasuke and the red hair girl are. There are some books, herbs and tools in the corner of the room. You can take whatever you like" Nekobaa answered.

After thanking her, Sakura got up and went into the room. She saw Karin throwing herself on Sasuke, who ignored every attempt she made. She noticed some herbs and medical supplies on a table. She walked past them and observed the table.

"Leave…" Sasuke demanded and looked at Karin.

"But-"

"Now…" Sasuke cut Karin off.

"Fine!" Karin yelled and marched out of the room.

"You used to come here a lot, huh…" Sakura tried to start a conversation.

"Granny cat told you..."

"Yeah, she also showed me a picture of you and…" Sakura paused. She hesitated first but said it anyway, "You used to be really happy back then..."

There was a moment of silence before Sasuke responded, but he changed the subject instead, "I see you've changed your clothes."

"I can move freely in this and I can put up my hood in case were are walking through a crowded village to hide my pink hair." Sakura answered.

"Take whatever you think is necessary for your medical stash." Sasuke advised and walked out of the room.

'Changing the subject, huh...It's still painful for him to talk about the past. He must've really loved and looked up to his brother...Itachi...why?' thought Sakura.

.

After taking everything she needed, Sakura walked back to the main room where everyone was waiting for her.

"We'll be going now. Thanks for all your help." Sasuke spoke and gave her some money.

Sasuke walked with his team out of the room. Sakura bowed to Nekobaa and thanked her. She turned around to walk out of the room, but Denka and Hina stood in front of the entrance to stop her from leaving. Sakura stared, confused at the two cats. She turned back to Nekobaa when she saw that Tamaki had entered the room with a big scroll and had handed it to Nekobaa. Nekobaa stood up, took the scroll and handed it to Sakura,

"It's a summoning scroll" she spoke, "Denka and Hina wants to work with you. You can summon them when you want to see them and when you need their help. But in order to summon Denka and Hina, you must first sign a contract."

"You guys want to work with me?" Sakura asked and looked at the two cats.

"Yeah, meow" Hina replied.

"Normally, we don't like to be summoned by anybody, but we like you and trust you. We can help when you and Sasuke are in danger." Denka explained.

Sakura happily nodded and signed the contract. She used her own blood to sign her name and placed her fingerprints on the scroll.

"Take care of him." Nekobaa and Tamaki both requested at the same time.

"I will." Sakura replied and walked out of the room.

"She's a good girl." said Denka.

"Indeed she is." Nekobaa replied.

xXx

When she finally made it out of the tunnels and back in the abandoned city, Sakura saw everyone was waiting for her.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Suigetsu asked and looked at her bloodied finger.

Sakura looked at her finger. She had forgotten to heal it after she signed the contract.

"I'm okay." she replied and healed her finger.

"What? One of the cats didn't like you and bit you, right?" Karin mocked Sakura.

"No, she signed a contract with them" Sasuke replied back to Karin for Sakura. Everyone looked stunned at Sakura when she nodded that he was right.

"Hmpf!" said Karin

"Cool!" Suigetsu yelled.

"They must have really liked you. Normally they don't like to be bound and summoned by a human" said Sasuke. Sakura blushed a little after hearing all that.

"Let's go." said Sasuke.

xXx

~To Be Continued~

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