Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**The new and hopefully improved chapter one...YAY**

**Dont own naruto...duh..and this disclaimer applies to all my chaps...ne?**

**This story picks up from manga chapter 355 and 356…where the nin dogs who are accompanying Sakura picks up on Sasuke's scent….after that its all me**

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_Unspoken..._

_You are the __**antidote**__ that gets me by_

_Something strong_

_Like a drug that gets me high_

_What I really meant to say_

_Is I'm sorry for the way I am_

_I never meant to be so cold to you_

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_What is this feeling?...anxiety?...no...then what?..._

_I've waited so long...why why do i feel like this is slipping away from me?...i've waited so long...we've waited so long..._

_This time...this time...i will bring him back with my own strength..._

Sakura had learned to hide her deepest feelings over the years, so no one really noticed what has been going on with her lately. She let more of her inner Sakura shine through as a way to hide herself from those who seem to know her best. Sure enough both Naruto and herself made it clear that they will bring _him_ back...afterall he was their team mate..their friend...

but she never really got over him...i guess its true what they say...absense makes the heart grow fonder...

Everone knew that she_loved _him...but what they didn't know was that she still did...even more so now...

Putting her thoughts aside she turned to face one of the nin dogs who were accompanying her...

_did I...did I hear him right??_

"What are you sure?" Sakura couldn't believe what the nin dog just told her…_Sasuke? Is he here?_

"It's faint but the ground here has Uchiha Sasuke's scent," he told her whilst taking another whiff.

_This is it….I have been waiting for this moment. This time I am going to bring Sasuke back with my own strength. I will prove to him that I am no longer a hindrance, that I am strong and no longer that weak pathetic kuniochi._

I looked down to the nin dog once more to confirm if there was anything else that he should tell me.

"The scent isn't clear but we are getting closer and closer"

"Really close!"

I crossed my fingers hoping we will not lose the only lead we had._ We have finally found him…_

"Dammit the scent's moving away now" he looked at me and growled.

"What? I thought you had it. How could you lose it?"

_Incompetence..._...

Just then, the other nin dog turned to me

"Sakura! I got it! It's coming from over there"

Almost immediately, I become overwhelmed at the idea that Sasuke was just a few feet away from me. … I turned around expecting to come face to face with Sasuke but instead...instead... I saw a girl….a girl about my age with long red and umm uneven hair just a few mere meters away from me. She was purchasing something from a stall. Her back was to me so I could not see her face.

I turned back around somewhat confused._ That was not Sasuke….it was just some random girl...did he make a mistake?_

"Are you sure its Sasuke's scent?" I inquired

"Yes I'm sure, its faint but its definitely coming from her"

_How could she have Sasuke's scent on her? That means…no that cannot be…..he would never….no time to think about stuff like that I berated myself._

_If this girl did indeed have a trace of Sasuke's scent on her then that means, she might know where Sasuke is._

I turned around to face her only to realize that she was gone.

"Dammit! Where did she go?"

_Not again! How could I be so dumb? She was right there and I let her slip away._

I looked around frantically trying to locate her… this can't be happening…….I can't let this slip away …just as the thought entered my mind I noticed her turn down the street threatening to disappear from my line of sight yet again … _Oh no you won't_I thought to my self as I took chase after her. _Not when I'm this close…._

When I reached within range of which I knew she would hear me I shouted out to her

"Matte!"

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The marketplace was a bustle...all the vendors were out early bartering their way from the crack of dawn to dusk trying to earn an honest buck whilst trying to fend off the little prying hands of young thieves who seek them out daily.

The evening sun was harsh as it beat down on the little village having little or no effect on the poor village folk who ran amock trying to gather up ingredients for the evenings supper.

Amidst them a girl pushed her way through the crowds trying to get back to her tea house for the night deep in thought as she absentmindedly ran into a few of them...each throwing her a dirty look before scurrying away.

Karin was musing to herself. Trying to think of ways, she could get Sasuke alone. Away from those two idiots Suigetsu and Juugo. Her mind wandered to the time when Sasuke first sought her out.

She was thrilled that he wanted her in his platoon.He acknowledged her, he knew that she would be a powerful ally…._and an aggressive lover!!_…..she giggled inwardly at this thought.

Hmm..What it feel be like to be in Sasuke's arms…to have him touch her…caress her…what it would feel like to have him run his tongue along her naked bod….

Someone who was yelling in her direction suddenly rudely interrupted her thoughts….

Karin looked around to see whom the person was yelling at only to realize that she was the only one on that particular street.

"What now? Didn't I pay the old lady for her elixir?"

Irritated she turned around to face a young woman of her same age with incredibly bright pink hair glaring at her intensely.

She had no time to deal with some stupid girl...especially some stupid girl with pink hair..._that can't be natural!!_

She turned around and began to walk away from the girl when she heard her shout at her again.

This time it stopped Karin dead in her tracks.

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"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura yelled after her.

At that, the girl stopped dead in her tracks. She saw her stiffen at the very mention of Sasuke's name. Therefore, this girl does know something about Sasuke.

_I knew it...she does know something.._

She turned around to face Sakura; the look of shock in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Where's Sasuke? Tell me now!" this time she said it more menacingly as she took a step towards the girl

The girl did not attempt to answer Sakura. She just stared at her almost dumbfounded.

"Where the hell is Sasuke!?" Sakura was getting angry.

_Why didn't this girl say something?_

Sakura balled up her fist ready to beat it out of her if she had to.

There was no way she was letting this girl leave...she needed to restrain her

She was about to attack the girl when suddenly the ground shook violently underneath her.

"What the???"

She looked up in time to see what looked like a small atom bomb explode rite in the direction of the woods.

_That can't be good..._

"Oh god, Naruto! He's in that area!"

Just as the thought entered her mind, she turned around to see that the woman had vanished.

"Fuck not again"

Whipping around wildly she turned towards her companions...

"Did you see where she went?" She yelled at them

"No..sorry Sakura...but i still have a trace of her scent...and from what i can tell she's headed towards the area that blast occured."

"Then we should head out there, our men might have got caught in that blast and I'm almost quite certain Naruto and his team is scouting in that area, they might be hurt"

With that, she leapt toward the nearest building making her way to the area where the blast took place. Afterall she was the only medical nin on this mission...if they were indeed hurt she had to be first on the scene.

_This is it..._"Hold on Naruto, Sasuke, I'm coming"

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**Maybe not much of an improvement but still better than the last...yes the first chapter is slow but hang in there...**


	2. meeting

First off let me say that i am suchhhh a loser...the name of the story is supposed to be antidote and not anitdote...secondly i wanna apologise for the crappy first chapter...it was late and i had an idea so i just wrote it down...i'm tryin to enlist some help but that may be a lost cause...if u guys have any ideas plz send it to me...i need all the help i can get...i get my inspiration from the manga so there may be a few areas where u might recognise to be from it

oh yeh i dont own Naruto or any of its characters...just another crazy fangirl

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**Karin pov.**

"Fuck!" How on earth could she of allowed a leaf nin to get so close to her? This was not good.If there was one leaf nin then that means there has to be more. Konoha never sends out just one.Usually they are in platoons and judging from the two nin dogs that were accompying her they were tracking someone...and that someone was Sasuke...

She closed her eyes and tried to sense Sasuke's chakra. Karin knew that her abilities were the reason Sasuke wanted her on his side, her ability to sense someone's chakra from quite a long range distance...she was extremely sensitive to other's chakra...that's why she was so valued.

A chill ran down her spine as she suddenly realised that she couldn't sense his chakra...not anywhere...it was as if he disappeared completely

With that she quickened her pace."Please, Sasuke be okay"

She had already put some distance between herself and the pink haired shinobi, but she always liked to be extra cautious.Once again she closed her eyes and tried to sense the shinobi's chakra.

"what the fuck? she's headed this way??" not only that but there were more leaf nin on the way.

She sped off without stopping to rest for a second. She had to reach the clearing before the rest of the leaf nins showed up. Her only thought was of Sasuke.The thought of him being hurt was her only motivation...she had to make it in time...

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**Sakura's Pov**

"we're almost there!" Sakura shouted to the two nin dogs. "keep up!!"

"Sakura-Chan we need to wait for back up! what if we come up to more than a few enemies? we cannot defeat them all with just the three of us!!"

Sakura was gettin irritated..._damm those stupid nin dogs..._she couldn't slow down she had to find Sasuke...if she stopped now he would be lost to her again forever..._Sorry Naruto i can't wait for you to arrive...it might be too late...you'll understand rite?_

Sakura was getting further ahead of the nin dogs. They looked at each other worried...there was no stopping Sakura once she got her mind made up about something. The only thing that they could do was to follow her. They had to keep an eye on her. They knew that she was no longer that crybaby Sakura...but when it came to Sasuke all bets were off...

Sakura looked back towards the two nin dogs...she hesitated...then stopped as she reached the other tree branch...if they wanted backup so be it...

"one of you go find naruto! he shouldnt be too far from here!!" she shouted at them

"but Sakura-chan we cannot seperate, its more dangerous that way!"

"if one of you go get help we can still go after Sasuke and have backup on the way"

Both nin dogs looked at each other...this made sense...they didnt have to stop their pursuit of Sasuke...and this way they would no for sure that they would be getting some reliable reinforcements.

"hai! I will go" shouted one of the nin dogs as he turned heel in the other direction."I will find Naruto, you two go on ahead but be careful!" he shouted as he quickly disappeared

Sakura nodded and proceeded in the direction of the blast...the other nin dog following closely...the clearing was only a few hundred metres off..._we're almost there_...

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Karin reached the clearing to find that suigetsu and Juugo was already there. Lying next to them was Orochimaru's summon Manda...the snake was dead...

_what happened here?_

Sasuke had been badly injured..._who did he fight? leaf nins?...no...akatsuki!_

Karin couldn't tear her eyes off of Sasuke..._GOD he looked so hottt even though he was all battered_...she thought as she licked her lips.._Sasuke_

"Hey bitch! what took you so long?" Suigetsu yelled at her..._dammit this stupid woman what the hell is her problem...didn't she know that they needed to get outta here...that blast would sure bring alot of curious onlookers..._

"you asshole! what the hell is your problem?" she shouted angrily at him.

Never mind him she needed to warn Sasuke of the konoha shinobi that were headed their way.She turned to Sasuke

"Sasuke-Kun i need to tell you som..." she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence when Sasuke cut her off

"we need to get out of here, i need to find a place where i can recover" Sasuke said as Juugo helped him get to his feet.

A few seconds later they were in the air heading to town.

A few paces behind them Karin turned around. Narrowing her eyes as she looked into the distance.

"what the hell..."

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As Sakura approached the clearing she sensed that a few people were there already. She stopped short of it and peered out from behind a bush. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw a huge snake lying lifeless on the ground.

_My god! what happened here?_ What on earth had the power to kill such a gigantic snake...even though the snake was dead it looked quite intimidating...Sakura didn't like snakes.She remembered the time during the chuunin exams in the forest of death when she and Sasuke encounterd a giant snake...it had been the most horrific moment in her life...

_wait a minute? snake? OROCHIMARU!!_ Sakura was now visibly trembling as she peered out the bush again... she noted four prople standing around the snake. She recognised the woman from town..._ah i've found her..._Sakura's eyes wandered to her companions..there were a thin scrawny looking guy who looked very pale and not much of threat at all, next to him stood a gigantic man about 6 11" with visibly large muscles and a face that looked so pure, she recognised neither of them.Lastly her eyes wandered to the last man, he was on his knees facing the snake...she couldn't see his face.

The woman was arguing with the scrawny man before she turned her attention to the man who were on his knees.

whilst watching them Sakura noted that the man on the ground might be the leader judging from the way the other's moved around him. _If he was indeed the leader he might know something about Sasuke..._she thought as she clenched her fist. Just the she noted the big guy help him to his feet as they moved to disappear through the forest.

Sakura was about to pursue them when the nin dog made a low growling nose. She turned to face him.

"Something's wrong...edo's supposed to return by now with backup, i don't like this one bit. Let's pull back Sakura-chan"

"i can't pull back now. i'm goin after them" and with that Sakura sped off behind them. Making sure to keep a good distance between herself and them. Leaving the nin dog far behind her. She had no time to sit back and twidle her thumbs.Now was the time for action

She looked back only to notice that he wasn't following her. _He must be waiting for backup..._

Her face was flushed and her blood began to boil...she was close...easily she closed the distance between her and them...

She was a still far away from them when she pulled out her binoculars to see just how far ahead they were. She noted they were ahead by a few hundred metres. The three men were up ahead whilst the girl was trailing them..

All of a sudden the woman turned around and looked in her direction as if she could see her. Sakura's heart skipped a beat as she lowered her binoculars..

_No she can't see me! i'm too far off...Even the byakugan wound't be able to see me this far off._

Having calmed herself down with that thought she made her way after them.

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_**NIn dog Pov ( i named him Al)**_

_What the hell was this girl thinking? Goin after those shinobi by herslf? all tht's goona do is get her killed! _

Al decided against going after Sakura. He would wait here for backup.

Afterall all he had to do was follow Sakura's scent. _God i hope she's alrite._

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**Sasuke's Pov**

In town...

Suigetsu managed to get a room at one of the nearby hotels. They were quite relieved that they came accross no enemies making their way over there.Afterall Akatsuki were after them and vice versa.

Even though he was badly hurt Sasuke couldn't stop thinking about Itachi. Whilst the rest of his team just crowded around him as he tried to recover. He inquired about what his team found out about Itachi. He needed to know where he was.

Karin wasn't any help much since she hadn't found out anything..._another stupid useles woman...just like Sakura_...Sasuke thought as he turned to face Suigetsu.

He in turn found out alot on Akatsuki but not anything specific on Itachi. Except that they were after people with special kinds of Chakra.

Lastly he turned towards Juugo. He had found out about several of Akatsuki bases and that the animals were distured about the unpleasant chakra that seems to emanate from those places. At that Suigetsu made some stupid comment to Karin, she in turn attacked him. _Not again...i'm tired with these two fighting...imbeciles..._

Somehow the commotion made Juugo go into a frenzy...as the seal started to spread all over his body..."kill i wanna kill someone"

_Dammit! didn't those two realise its not good to fight especially infront of Juugo?_

_My eyelids were getting heavy...i can't deal with this now..._Sasuke thought

"settle down Juugo"

At that the seal started to disappear as Juugo returned to normal...

_My eyelids are getting heavier...heavier..._

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**Karin's Pov**

Karin watched as Sasuke drifted away. She grinned evilly to herself as she remembered the elixir in her pocket that she bought from the old woman earlier that day. She remembered that the woman told her that this mixture could get any man instantly aroused. It helps to relax muscles and increases blood flow to _**particular parts of the body. **_The only problem is that it takes about half an hour to an hour take effect.

_which means if i slip it to him now in an hour he'll be ready and willing...but first things first...i need to get rid of Suigetsu and Juugo._

"how about you boys go dig up some more information on Akatsuki?"

Suigetsu was eyeing her suspiciously...she needed to come up with an excuse and fast...

"ummm...welll Sasuke Kun will be pleased if you found out additional information about Akatsuki you no!!?"

_They were sooo not buying it...especially Suigetsu..._

Karin was about to say something else when she sensed that same particular chakra...she closed her eyes briefly..._so she did follow us here? is she alone?...yess she's alone...stupid girl..._

Karin slowly opened her eyes...she looked over to Juugo..._maybe she should tempt him with a sweet kill...no not yet..._

First she'll make the girl feel secure that she had infiltrated them then she'll capture her and torture her to see what she knows about Akatsuki...

_Sasuke is goin to be so proud of me...i'm goin to help him find and kill his brother...well after we make sweet love tonite...again and again..._

Karin then walked over to the tray that was lying next to Sasuke..she peered over her shoulders to make sure that Suigetsu and Juugo wasn't looking at her...when she was sure they weren't looking..she leaned over and emptied the bottle's contents into Sasuke's drinking water.

There that should do it she thought as she walked silently out of the room...she checked her watch..._its now 8:00 so by 9:30 he should be uP..._

As she walked out the doors of the hotel she glanced sideways at the building next to it..._I know you're there girl...just wait..._

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_**Sakura's Pov**_

Sakura watched from the nearby building as she saw the girl leaving the hotel..the girl was checking her watch as if she had somewhere to be. Sakura then turned her attention back towards the hotel. She could see the girls two other companions by the window to their room. She couldn't see the third guy.The supposed leader.

She had to wait for the other two to leave so she can slip in and interrogate the man...

She checked her watch..._8:00 huh? guess its gonna be awhile before the other two leave..._

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Suigetsu was gettin restless...he had to leave this damm room...he hated confined spaces...he looked over to Juugo...He was afraid to leave him alone with Sasuke least he kill him in his weakened state...But he wanted to leave...he checked the clock...it was already nine...Sasuke had woken up earlier and had his dinner that was in his tray and had immediately fallen back to sleep. he wont be waking up anytime soon..

He decided to duck out for a 15mins with Juggo in tow...he definitely wasn;t leaving him alone with Sasuke.

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Sakura was gettin tired. She had already eaten but she had such a long day she needed her rest. She was about to drift away when she noticed the other two men leave the hotel and was walking down the street. She immediately snapped awake...She grabbed her kunai sack and jumped out of the window...

_this is it...its now or never._

Sakura approached the window of the room and quietly let herself him..._thank god those two left the window open..._she thought to herself as she eased herself into the room. she looked around to notice the dark figure laying peacefully on the floor._...ahhhh he's asleep_

She tiptooed accross the room to where he lay...pulling out a kunai she leaned towards the sleeping figure as she place the sharp tip to the back of his neck.

Almost as soon as she'd done this she found herself on the cold floor with the mysterious man on top of her straddling her hips...he had already disarmed her and was leaning in closely to her...

She couldn't see his face...it was obscurred by the darkness in the room...a cold hand reached out towards her neck and threatened to take the life from her.

As he leaned in towards her she saw a flash of red in his eyes...sakura immediatley recognised it..._**Sharingan...**_

"_Sasuke"_ she managed to choke out as he leaned in closer and crushed his lips to hers...

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	3. that feeling

Omigod i can't believe how many hits i have so far 504!!!...that's great and all but no one's really reviewing!! So to start this chapter off i would like to thank those three who reviewed the other two chapters.

Gemineye88,miroku girl15 and you.broke.a.promise...thanks alot you guys...u are the reason i haven't removed this story...this chap is for you...

I would really like to know if you guys like my story or not or if i should just crawl in a hole and never come out and never again subject those poor souls at fanfiction to another of my stories...so here's another chapter i hope that someone out ther will like or hate it... review it. plz...if u wanna criticise it be my guest...i'll luv ya for it...

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_**Recap**_

_As he leaned in towards her she saw a flash of red in his eyes...sakura immediatley recognised it...__**Sharingan...**_

_"Sasuke" she managed to choke out as he leaned in closer and crushed his lips to hers..._

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_**Sasuke's pov**_

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes...it was late and the room was dark..._everyone must of slipped out huh?_

He made a move to get up when he realised that his hands were trembling..._what's going on? _he looked down at his hands they were visibly shaking, his body felt cold...almost numb...he noted that his clothes were wet and he was perspiring heavily..._was i poisoned? _Sasuke grabbed on to the front of his shirt...his heart was beating at an abnormally fast rate..._this is not good...where the hell's the rest of my team??_

He layed back on the ground...he had to catch his breath...slowly he started to breathe in...and out...he continued his breathing exercises until he felt that his heart slowed to its normal rhythmic pace...he was about to try to get up again when he sensed someone was nearby...he stiffened himself as he heard the window to his room slid open...he heard them enter the room and tiptoe accross the floor...suddenly he felt the cold shark tip of a kunai at the back of his neck. He mustered up all the strength in his body as he turned around to face his attacker...grabbing the kunai at the hilt he threw his attacker off his feet and onto the floor. Judging by the bodywieght and how easily he managed to throw off the attacker he guessed it was a woman as he felt her smooth legs underneath him...almost immediatly he was hit by the sweet aroma that was escaping her body..._god she smelled like sweet cherry blossoms..._

He brought up his cold calloused hand to her as he encircled her neck...he was choking her now...squeezing the very life from her

her body glistened in the moonlight as she struggled to break free...Then he bent down slowly trying to assess his attacker...activating his sharingan...

before he knew what was happening he felt his body move as if on its own accord as he leaned in and claimed her lips as if they were his own...

"_Sasuke" _

Hearing his name he instantly pulled away from her...as looked at her for the very first time

He first saw her pink hair all tousled and in her face...then he noted her green emerald eyes...they were wide with fright as she looked at him with real fear in her eyes...

He got up pulling her with him as he threw her against the wall. He saw her ragged body hit the wall as it slumped almost lifeless to the ground.

"Sakura, what are you doin here?" he asked her almost casually

when he didn't hear her reply he shifted in her direction. In the blink of an eye he was in front of her as he leaned down and pulled her to a standing position. She looked at him dead in his eye...her fear was gone...all that was left was rage...he saw a fire burning in her eyes...he smirked...this was not the Sakura he knew...he was about to say something when he felt his hand that was holding on to her tremble...he let go of her and turned his back to her..._not again..._he thought

This time he felt a burning sensation start at the pit of his stomach as it worked its way down...there was a slight sensation as he felt his blood rush to his manhood as he felt himself slowly rise. _ i've...i've never felt like this before...what's goin on here?..wat is this?_

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_**Sakura's pov**_

Sakura stared at his back as he slowly moved away from her. She watched as he grabbed his wrist with his right hand. His hand was shaking._ was he scared? no...sauke's afraid of no one...then what's goin on?_

She was no longer afraid...she was ready to fight if she had to. She was about ready to punch him in his face and send him flying when he had suddenly let her go and turned away from her. Worry marked her face as she saw him stumble to his side. He was clutching his stomach as he fell to his knees.

Sakura was immediately alarmed...was he injured? the medic nin in her took over as she stepped over to him. Leaning down she rested her hand on his shoulder.

"sasuke-kun are you alrite?"

He immediately slapped her hand away.

"go away!" he shouted at her "LEAVE!"

"no! i'm not leaving you like this!" she told him as she stooped down. She grabbed him by his chin roughly as she tried to assess what was wrong with him. His pupils were dilated but he no longer felt cold but incredibly warm to her touch. She lifted up her other hand to his face and was about to place her hand onto his cheek in an attempt to heal him when he suddenly grabbed her hand.

She looked at him rather surprised. She noted that he was staring at her rather strangely. Her cheeks flushed. She turned away from him trying to regain her composure

"sa..sasuke-kun..i..wasn't goin to hurt you" she told him..she said it so softly that she was't sure that he heard her.

"I know"

She turned to face him once again. Surprised to find that she was only inches away from his face

"tell me Sakura, is there anything wrong with me?"

" I don't know yet Sasuke-kun, something's definitely wrong but i need to examine you to make sur..."

she was cut off by Sasuke as he once again claimed her mouth with his. She was shocked at this gesture..._twice in one night?_

His lips were soft and warm, he wrapped his hands around her as he pulled her deeper into the kiss. She wanted to resist but couldnt. She felt so weak yet she was elated that he had finally kissed her. He was the one who instigated the kiss not her..

His tongue licked her bottom lip as he moved to nibble on it. She in turn wrapped her hands around him as she felt his body press itself against hers. His body felt heated under her touch yet his clothes were all sticky...possibly from sweat.

"oucH!" she cried pulling away from him. He had bitten her lip as she felt the warm blood in her mouth. She brought her hand up to her face as she wiped it away. Shocked that he had bitten her...bitten her hard enough to draw blood... she looked over to him as he licked away her blood that was on his lips...he seemed to have enjoyed that.

He leaned in again towards her...

Sakura pulled herself back...still shocked that he had bitten her during a very intimate moment

She quickly got to her feet and backed away from him. He in turn did not like this. He stood up as well towering over her. She stepped backwards not knowing what his intentions were. She backed up a few feet until she felt herself pressed against the wall..._no where to go..._

Now he was practically on top of her as he grabbed her waist and pushed her rougly against the wall

"sa..sasuke..what are you doin?" she didnt need to ask him that. She sensed what his intentions were the second he bit her. She became absolutely dumbfounded at his reply.

"you know what i want Sakura, give it to me" with that he grabbed the back of head and pulled her into another deep kiss. His hand that was on her hips slid down her side as he gripped her thigh and lifted it to fit around his waist as he pressed himself harder against her. He groaned when he did this.

Sakura wanted to push him away yet she wanted this too...conflicting thoughts ran through her mind one after the other.

Sakura gasped as she felt his hardened manhood rub against her._ Oh god..._...she felt the heat that was emanating from his body as he deepened the kiss even more.

_Just give me this one moment_...she thought as she slowly brought her hands to either side of his face..this only encouraged him more...and for the moment...she relished every minute of it.

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_**Sasuke's pov**_

Sasuke was enjoying himself. Never had he felt this sensation before. He liked it..._she seemed to enjoy this as well_

Feeling more bold he brought his hand to rest on her right breast as he gently squeezed it...at that she squirmed against him.

He found his way to her zipper of her tank as he yanked it down in one swift movement. He let his fingers run alongside the soft exposed flesh...he felt her shudder at her touch...as he ran his fingers along the outline of her bra he realised that the hook to her bra was in the front...he like that...easy access...with a flick of his finger he quickly unhooked her bra as moved his attention away from her mouth to her breast..._god she smelled soo good.._

he first ran his tongue along her neck. He cupped her left breast as he slowly started kissing her...she in turn groaned as he ran his tongue along the tip of her nipple as he felt it harden against his tongue._..good.._he then started to nibble on it..._god he loved how that made him feel..._

A pain in the back of his neck made him stop what he was doing.He tried to ignore it but the pain only became more intense.He tried kissing her again in the hope that it would go away but it didnt. The pain was now traveling down his neck. It was too intense. He let out a sharp cry as he backed away from her.

Falling to his knee once more he grabbed his shirt as he felt a heaviness in his chest..._this was badd_..._wat's happenning to me?_

He then felt strong hands grab him behind. He turned his head slighlty as he saw Sakura behind him. She turned him around and laid him on the floor. By now he was already convulsing from the pain. She rested her head against his chest. He saw her emerald open wide as he saw her mumble an expletive. She ripped off her gloves and placed her hands against his chest. He felt another sharp pain...her hands were glowing green with chakra as she slowly tried to heal him. For a minute he felt no different then slowly but gradually he felt the pain slowly slipping away. He was relieved.

He brought his head up slightly as he watched Sakura. She was concentrating on her task at hand. Little by little he felt better. Then Sakura got up and went over to where he had his tray. She picked up the plate with the leftovers and looked at it. Putting it down she then turned her attention towards his drinking glass. She frowned the second she picked it up. He watched as she brought her nose up to the cup. _So that's the source of the posion.._he thought..._did someone from his platoon tried to poison him?_

Sakura then came over to him. She placed her head onto his chest once more. Satisfied that he was goin to be alrite she stood back up. He saw her zip back up her tank...she then bent down and grab her gloves...without looking at him

"I'm leaving" was all she said as she turned her back to Sasuke.

Sasuke cringed at the way she said it. Her words were dripping in disdain.

He sat himself up as he watched her grab her kunai from the floor as she proceeded towards the door..

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_**Sakura's pov**_

Sakura was reeling...she knew the source of the poison...no it wasn't poison...it was...

She didn't want to think about it..she just had to get out of here...tears stinging her eyes she blindly felt her way towards the door.

She opened the door ready to run out but instead her path was blocked by the woman from earlier that day...

"hey bitch!" was all Sakura heard when her world went black...

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**okay so i finished another chapter...i really hope u guys like it...its really late...i'm all tired but i wanted this chapter to come out,,,,i was really excited to write it...**

**PLZ take the time to review...**

**good or bad all is welcome...**


	4. prisoner

**hmmm five reviews...thank you all who took the time to review...i took my time doin this chapter...a few friends of mine read my previous chapter and said the plot was interesting but they absolutely hate the first chapter...yeh well so do i...so i'm trying to make up for the first one...**

**keep in mind that this is my first story...reviews help**

**lord i can't believe what a dumb mistake i made...didn't no Karin's hair was red...major oops**

**n.b. i reallly dont like Karin...dammm stupid girl...always trying to get closer to sasuke...i really hate her...**

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Earlier that night...

After leaving the room Karin made her way to an old tavern where she knew she'd find an old soothsayer. She had heard rumors about him and the things he's seen. She herself didn't believe in such nonsense like the simple minded folks that dwell around these parts. But she was curious, she wanted to ask him something, something that has been on her mind for quite some time. She knew that he was possibly just some old coot out to swindle people's money but she was still in the very end...curious...

Besides she had some time before she went back to the room and kick Juugo and Suigetsu out. She knew that they would be glad to be relieved of their duty of watching over Sasuke. Suigetsu wasn't a patient man and she was counting on that.

She made her way down a lonely sidestreet until she came accross the tavern. "Mings?" _what a weird name for a tavern..._...with that she entered and looked around..._geez how many old dirty men does it have around these parts? _Karin thought as she looked around only to find that every customer there namely men were staring at her. They all seem quite intrigued with her appearance there. Some of them were even licking their lips in anticipation..._ewwwwwww_

She scoffed at them then made her way to the back where she knew she'd find the man.

There was some ugly beaded curtain that was barring her entrance, she pushed it aside only to find that her hand was now covered in something that was sticky..._god how gross can theses people get?.._Karin looked down at her hands and to her horror she realised that it was blood. Somewhat annoyed and disgusted she turned and wiped her hand along the wall.No way was she wiping that on her clothes. Smirking at the ugly dark stain she left on the wall she entered the back room to find an old beared man sitting on the floor conversing with an old couple. Next to them lay a dead goat... its eyes had been gouged out. She saw the old man placed the goats eyes in a saucer and hand it over to the couple.

_how sick...what's wrong with these people. _

The couple then got up and left the room. Karin made her way accross the room careful to avoid the carcus and its bloody mess. She was about to say something when the old man spoke out

"you seem worried child"

Karin only scoffed at his statement. "so that's what you do here? mutilate animals?"

"ahh noo...the animal was already dead when they brought it here, they were worried about their livestock after this one wondered into their pasture and died...but enough about that why are you here?"

Karin looked around unsure of what she had gotten herself into. But since she was here already she decided to go ahead and ask the man...no harm rite?

"I...I want to know about my future...my future with a certain man" she stammered out...she still couldn't believe that she was here asking this old quack something like that.

"ohh...i see...the man whose heart is so filled with hate that's there's no place for even a woman like you"

Karin was listening now. The old man was exactly on target, she needed to know more.

"well what can i do to persuade him.." she asked him eager to know the answer

He warily looked up at her and signed.

"tell me my child, what will he do after he realises that you tried to kill him?"

Karin was shocked... she couldn't believe what he said..._tried to kill Sasuke? what's wrong with him? i would never do such a thing..._

Realization dawned on her as she shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out the empty bottle. Staring at the botlle she realised what she had done..._oh god noo.._

She'd put too much in his drinking water...She remembered the old lady telling her something about only a few drops would do, any more and it would be a lethal dose. How could she forget? she was so busy scheming that she didn't realised that she emptied the whole bottle's content into this glass.

Karin turned heel and fled out of the dark room and out of the tavern. Checking her watch as she ran..._9.00_..._i hope i'm not too late.._

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Suigetsu and Juugo had only left the room for a few minutes when they saw Karin running towards them.

_geez...why did we have to run into that stupid woman.._

Suigetsu turned around half expecting Karin to throw some insults at him like she always do but instead she rushed pass them without even glancing in their direction.

"what's her problem?" he thought as he turned to watch her disappear around the corner,she was headed towards the hotel.

"somethings wrong"

Suigetsu turned to look at his companion..."are you sure? that could just be Karin being Karin"

He really didn't want to be around her. He didn't like her one bit. She was in a sense very _annoying_ and he hated how she always tried to suck up to Sasuke who obviously hated the attention she gave him

" I don't think anything's wrong...Karin possibly just saw us outside and thought this was her chance to be alone with Sasuke, leave her be, Sasuke will just ignore her again and she deserves it. As a matter of fact you know how he hates to be disturbed whilst he's sleeping...maybe he might kill her...that's sure gonna make me a very happy man"

He was liking this idea. Hmm...karin dead that would sure make his day. With that he turned and started walking in the opposite direction of the hotel. He stopped short when he realised that Juugo wasn't by his side. Instead Juugo was making his way back to the hotel.

_What's his problem now?_ "hey Juugo this way!!" he shouted at the man. Juugo didn't stop instead he just kept on walking away from him.

Suigetsu ran to meet up Juugo..."hey man nothing's up let's just keep walking"

"no something's wrong" was all Juugo said as he turned the corner in the direction of the hotel.

Suigetsu knew better than to argue with the man. Instead they made their way quietly back to the hotel.

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Karin ran all the way to the hotel. She stopped just short of the room, she was scared to walk in.

_what if he's already dead? or waht if he's waiting for me...to kill me after what i've done to him?_

Karin didn't like the idea that he might blame her if something was really wrong with him. She had had plans for them tonite, she was going to walk into the room and he would be there waiting for her. He would tell her that she was the one woman who'd ever meant anything to him... that she would be the only woman who's capable of helping him revive his clan..and that tonite would be the nite that would happen.

Yes she had plans and all that had been ruined...she couldn't believe that she made such a dumb mistake.

but...wait...

Wait...the old man could be wrong..nothing could be wrong with Sasuke...he could very well be waiting for her inside rite now.Trembling Karin reached out towards the door...she wasn't sure what to do.

Just as she was about to turn the knob on the door when she was felt another presence besides Sasuke's in the room. Almost immediatley she knew who it was...the pink haired kuniochi from earlier that day.

She couldn't believe that the girl tried to ambush Sasuke.For sure he would of given her a beating well deserved. Carefully turning the door knob she opened the door slightly and peeked in. Hoping to find a bloodied kuniochi on the floor. As she peered through the tiny opening she managed to make out the two figures of Sasuke and the kuniochi...what she saw next she couldn't believe...

_Nooo...this can't be happennig...no it just can't be._

Utterly horrified Karin closed back the room door almost as silently as she had opened it. Clutching her hand to her chest she wretched onto the dirty floorboards as she tried to calm herself.

Images of Sasuke lying on the ground convulsing almost uncontrollably ran through her mind._ oh god i did that to him..._he seemed soo weak. He was clutching his stomach and flopping around. It was a sight she couldn't bear. She knew she should try to help him but she knew she couldn't. She had no medical experience what so ever and she didn't want to reveal to him that she knew the source of his pain...

She also remembering seeing the kuiochi leaning over him her palms resting on his chest...her palms glowing slightly with her chakra...she was trying to heal him...Karin knew she could do nuttin but watch helplessly. She was no fool, she realised that this kuniochi was a medical ninja and that means that she was most likely the key element in the survival of any squad.

She knew what she had to do. Regaining her composure she stood up and went back over to the door. She wouldn't just bust in yet. She'd wait until the girl healed Sasuke first.

Suddenly the door flew open and the kuniochi was standing in the doorway ready to make a bolt for it. Tears were streaming down her face partially obscurring her view

_Perfect.._..

"Hey Bitch" she greeted the young woman as she lunged forward and struck the girl with a deadly blow to the head

As the girl slumped lifelessly to the floor she couldn't help but feel a little satisfied with her self. The girl didn't even put up a fight._weak.._ Karin was too caught up in her victory that she almost forgot about Sasuke.

Looking up she peered rite into the room just in time to see Sasuke rise to his feet his back towards her as he carefully made his way to his feeding tray. She watched him bend over as he examined the contents of it. His hand hovered over the drinkin glass for a minute before he picked it up.

She could feel her heart thumping uncontrollably in her chest...

_oh god he knows.._...she didn't no what to do... flee? _no he would just track me down and kill me._

Rooted in place all she could do was to stare at him. He examined the glass in front of him...turning it round gently in his hands.

He turned around to face her cup in hand. His eyes were dark and he was looking strainght at her..._he knew...he_ was walking towards her now.

_Shitt_...he's coming...she closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable...but it never came

smash

Opening her eyes she saw that Sasuke had hurled the tiny glass accross the room and into the hallway. As it hit the opposite wall it smashed and tiny fragments of the glass laid spewn accoss the floor and partly on the fallen kuniochi. Broken glass surrounded the girl's head and some pieces were already lost admist the pink tresses.

He was now making his way back to the centre of the room. She was safe...at least for now.

Breathing a sign of relief she took a brief moment to look back down at the girl on the floor...reaching down she grabbed the girl by her hair and yanked her to a sitting position...big mistake

No sooner had she done that she felt a strong hand wrap around her throat as she felt her body slowly rise off the ground. Slamming her body against the opposite wall she let out a shriek and clawed at him. Sasuke's grip was getting stronger...he yanked her away from the wall and slammed her rite back onto it,this time more forcibly. Her entire body was hurting now.

_He's goin to kill me...rite...here...rite...now_

He leaned in closer to her...although she was in quite a distressing position she couldn't help feel a little excited about their close proximity.

Closing the distance between them he leaned in towards her ears pressing ever so slightly on it...

_"_where were you?" he growled

"i...i...went out..."she whimpered as she kept clawing at his grip hoping he would realise and let her go

"OUT!? what the fuck were you doin out?" pulling out a kunai he pressed the tip against her throat

"sas...sasuke...can'tt bre..." she managed to stammer out as her body went limp in his hands

Shit he had overdone it. Releasing her he watched her slide to the floor as she now layed in a heap next to Sakura.

Suigetsu and Juugo rounded the corner in time to see karin hit the floor.

Suigetsu was a tad bit happy at seeing Karin laying on the floor. Frowing he turned towards the other woman lying next to her.

Narrowing his eyes he pointed to the woman "who's that?" he didnt want to ask why they were both out cold on the floor. Now didn't look like the rite time to be bothering Sasuke about such trivial things. Besides the konoha forehead band had him a little worried.

"doesn't matter"

was all he heard Sasuke say before he turned and went back into the room.

Suigetsu was dumbstruck. Following Sasuke into the room he looked around nervously at Juugo who was now eyeing both woman.

Sasuke bent over and grabbed his things.

"we're leaving...now"

Walking out of the room he headed down the hallway. Stopping just short of the two limp bodies Sasuke looked down and frowned before looking back up to Suigetsu

"pick them up..they're coming with us"

Suigetsu kneeled over... he didn't like Karin so no way was he goin to hold her. Instead he turned his sights towards the pink haired girl..._hmm she's kinda cute...i'll take her_

Bending over he grabbed the kuniochi threw her over his back. Looking over he saw Juugo do the same with Karin.

walking out of the building all five of them left the building that nite...and that town.

Konoha shinobi would be headed that way...and they were sure to be there by morning.

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Sakura opened her eyes slowly..she felt weak

Her body was being carried by someone..._naruto?_ she thought

no it wasn't naruto.

She was now aware of her surroundings. She was being carrried by someone back through the forested areas moving away from the town.

She was now within enemy territory. Tryin not to move too much lest she make the man no she was awake she tried to assess the number of potential enemies she had to fight if the need arised.

Looking to her right she made out the big man from yesterday carrying the woman she had met in town.

_what the hell's goin on here?_ she thought frowning

Looking forward she noticed that ever so familiar symbol of a fan...that symbol she knew all too well

_Uchiha Sasuke..._she was now a prisoner or his..

No way could she escape now.

he'd make sure of it...

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**Chapter 4 done...yay...took long.**

**so hope ya like it...plz review**


	5. illusion

**Just a few things i wanna point out in case you guys figured wrong..**

**Firstly Sasuke doesn't no it was karin that slipped him the little 'luv' drug. He attacked her because he was pissed that someone had indeed poisoned him and he felt weak...he doesn't like feeling weak. He was just venting...it could also be because she grabbed Sakura...u decide**

**Um the effects of the drugs had him horny so das y he kissed her...if it was indeed Karin instead of Sakura he possibly might have done the same...(dont kill me)...but he got more horny just because it was Sakura...lol...if it was karin she possibly would hav only gotten the kiss and not the groping...lol**

**Oh yeh and sasuke thinks its poison not some viagara substitute...ohhh wait till he finds out...**

**and lastly sasuke hasn't developed any romantic feelings towards sakura beacuse of their little encounter...at least not yet...need to make it a little more realistic...oh and he knows perfectly well what he did to her...**

**thnk a mill for the reviews...sob...i'm so grateful**

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Sasuke and his team 'hebi' was leaving the town with a little addition to their team...Sakura...

He had thought about leaving her passed out in the hallway but decided against it. He realised that she had become a medical ninja and that might prove useful if his team was in need of emergency first aid. Also she could help him find the culprit who poisoned him...he clenched his fist as this thought crossed his mind. To think that someone from his own team could do such a thing. But who?...who would be brave enough to do that? too bad they failed in their attempt..cause when he finds out who it is...there would be no mercy...

Glancing backwards towards Suigetsu he saw that his old teammate was still passed out.Memories of last nite flooded his mind as he tried to push back the visual images of him and Sakura...the things he did to her...he couldn't believe that he'd done that...and that she responded...

He could still smell her on him..it was rather sweet and intoxicating...god he needed a shower, he had to get her scent off of him.

He still couldn't believed he acted that way. Sure enough he knew what a woman's touch was like but he had never enjoyed it as much as he did last nite. Orochimaru was a dog in the sense that he sniffed around many women in the days when he was alive. So much so that he even took over the body of one...one of his favorite concubines. That was the body he was occupying when he killed the sandaime hokage. He of course tried to pawn some of them on Sasuke...but sasuke wasn't having it...but of course Orochimaru had to have his way.

_**Flashback**_

One nite a year ago just for the heck of it Orochimaru sneaked one of his concubines into Sasuke's quarters whilst he was taking a bath. He had just finished his training and he was beat...also very hungry...he was planning to take a bath then look for something to eat. No sooner had he come out of his shower he spied the half naked woman sitting on his bed...Very irritated he moved towards the bed grabbing the woman by her forearm and proceeded to drag her out of the room. He managed to get her out and locked the door behind him.Deeply disturbed and ignoring the grumblings coming from his stomach he proceeded to take a nap...

He awoke with a start when he realised that there was something or someone pressing heavily onto his chest. Glancing down and to his horror he saw that it was the same woman from earlier on him. She was straddling his hips and was diggin her long fingernails along his chest stopping just short of his pants. She was about to pull on the band when he immediately threw her off of him and onto the ground reversing their position. He was downrite pissed now. Letting the cursed seal take over his body he dragged the woman to her feet and shoved her back onto the bed...he was gonna make her pay...

climbing onto her

With one hand he grabbed her hair and yanked it back then grabbing her by the sholuders he leaned down and bit her hard on the neck. Nothing was sexual about the way he did it... letting go of her hair he reached down and pulled a kunai out from under his pillow...whilst holding her down with one hand..somehow...in the midst of it she managed to get out of his grip and raised off the bed stealing a kiss from him...

Sasuke wasn't sure what happened next. All he could remember was blood all over his hands and a very angry Orochimaru. Never again had a woman dared to come within five feet of him.

But last nite one woman did...and for a second he didn't regret it.

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Naruto was getting restless. He had already met up with everyone from his team..everyone that is besides Sakura.

_where on earth could she be?_

He couldn't believe that Sakura had been so stupid and followed the enemy team on her own and without the protection from Kakashi's nin dogs.Usually she was the level headed person on the team. He had to find her no matter what. If he lost her too he wouldn't no what he would do.

Looking around at the worried faces he knew that all were thinking the exact same thing.

Hinata was more worried about naruto. She knew that he had strong feelings toward Sakura and she knew deep down that Naruto would never love her as much as he loved Sakura.

And if they didn't find her who knew what he would do.

They had to find her as soon as possible.

Naruto was a bit relieved earlier when kiba told him that he found Sasuke...but was a little worried when Kiba also told him that he think Sakura might be with him. This worried Naruto because the last time they saw Sasuke he tried to drive his kusanagi through Sakura...and almost did...

That wasn't the Sasuke he knew. There was a time long ago that Sasuke would risk his own life for Naruto and Sakura's safety but that wasn't the case now. Now he would kill them without a moment's notice. Sakura wasn't safe with him anymore...

_Damm u Sasuke if you lay a hand on her.._

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Almost as soon as Naruto had that thought Sasuke stopped. Turning around he looked back towards his team as they too stopped.

Turning towards Suigetsu he glanced momentarily at Sakura

"give her to me" he said as he reached a hand out towards Suigetsu.

"what? how come?"

Sasuke glared at the man before he bent down and plucked Sakura from off his back.With a little help he got her on his back and they were on the move again.

Gripping her tightly Sasuke moved a few paces ahead of the rest of the team, he wanted to put some distance between them. When he was sure that he was far enough he turned his head ever so slightly and looked at the "unconscious" figure on his back.

"Sakura, i no you're awake"

He felt the girl stiffen slightly but she gave no other sign that she was awake. Sasuke wasn't in a mood for playing around, reaching back with one hand he gently poked her in the side. He knew that she was ticklish and that the slight poke would be enough to jeer her from her somewhat unconscious state, and he was right. She immediately jerked her head up in respnse.

Smirking he took the same hand he poked her with and pushed her head back down to his neck. She didn't seem to like this, she wrapped her hand around his neck and held him there in a choke hold. Irritated he reached up to pull her hand away from his neck. To his surprise her hand didn't budge even though he was pulling at it rather roughly.

_When did she get so strong?_

_"_Sakura let go, now" his voice dropping to a whisper. He didn't want anyone else to know that she was awake. But with her rather rude display he wouldn't be surprised that the two behind him had noticed.

"why did you kidnap me?" she growled into his ear making her grip on his neck tighter.

Sasuke scowled at her before he let go of her hand.

"you stupid girl, dont' you get it?"

"get what?"

He had no time to explain anything to her. As a matter of fact he didn't feel inclined to tell her anything. She was _his prisoner_ and that meant that he didn't have to explain anything to her in the first place.

They were no longer team seven so he no longer had to pretend he gave a shit about her...but something inside him told him different...pushing the thought aside he decided he needed to tell her something to make her feel a little more at ease and release her hold of him

"don't you think if i left you there your life might be in danger?"

Releasing him a little she frowned

"since when did you decide to gave a damm about me Sasuke-kun?" she spat at him. She was getting mad now. How dare he pretend to care about her when he tried to kill her the last time he saw her. If it wasn't for Yamato-sensei she might have been dead.

Still this was Sasuke-kun...would he really do anything to hurt her? Maybe he was just trying to scare her back then...maybe he had hoped that she would back off...perhaps he hasn't changed at all...that he was still the same old sasuke-kun she knew and loved...afterall didn't he just tell her in his own way that he cared for her? well sorta...him not wanting to leaving her passed out on the cold harsh floor was definitely a sign that he cared...rite?

Releasing her grip from him just a little more she whispered onto his neck

"let me go sasuke-kun...let me go and come home with me.."

"No" he spat out. Almost as soon as he said that he felt the hot wet tears running down his neck. She was crying now and it was making a trail down his neck and onto his exposed chest as it made its way further down. Now that's the Sakura he knew...

"please Sasuke...come bb..ack...we need you...i..i..need you" she sobbed onto his shoulders. He could feel her entire body shaking, she had completely let go of his neck and was grabbing onto his shirt as she sobbed silently onto his clothes.

He was about to say something when Suigetsu yelled out to him. He stopped and turned around, Suigetsu and Juugo had stopped and he could see that Karin was awake now as Juugo set her silently onto the tree branch next to him. He noted that she looked rather pale. Maybe he had overdone it the night before, but the woman did piss him off.

Realising that he could no longer hide the fact that Sakura was awake he decided to let her down as well.

Wiping the tears from her eyes she stood silently next to Sasuke. Her eyes were all puffy but she knew she had to forget about him coming home peacefully.

She took a sidewards glance at Sasuke then at the other three members of his team, they were all staring at her. She was sure they wanted to know who she was. ANd by the way the woman was glaring at her she was sure that the she wanted her dead.

They all stared long and hard at her before the skinny man pointed at her

"hey sasuke, what's the deal with her?

She noted all of them was straing at her now...she didn't like that

"she's coming with us, that's all you need to know"

shocked Sakura looked at sasuke, _going with them? is he out of his mind? NO WAY am i goin with them. _She thought that he might of let her go. She would of gone off and find Naruto and they would all come back and take him to konoha. She sure can't do it alone. Or can she? heck since he wanted her there maybe she can convice him to come back...no...he never listened to her...why would he start now?...still she could try..

Looking at him with new found hope she heard Inner Sakura yell out...SHANNARO we're going to bring Sasuke-kun back

"WHAT? what do you mean she's coming with us?" Karin screamed at him...forgetting for a moment that she should stay low especially because of the attempted murder last nite.

"what about her forehead protector? she's from the leaf..we can't trust her!!" she yelled at him again.

Shaking his head Suigetsu silently agreed.

"U don't have to trust her" Sasuke said and with that he reached over to Sakura and pulled off her headband and threw it to the forest floor. Sakura gasped when he did this. She watched as her forehead protector fall hitting some branches on its descent.

He then turned and grabbed her by the upper arm. Sakura instantly stiffened in his arms. She didn't like this but she would play along for now. He was about to continue on when he felt a hand grab him from behind. Turning around he glared ar Karin.

"what do you want? you're making us waste precious time" he growled at her

Offended Karin pulled her hand away from him. Crossing her hand over her chest she turned to face Sakura

"i just thought you would like to know that there are more leaf nin heading this way...and...they're close"

"what!? why didn't you say this sooner? he yelled at her

pouting she turned away from Sakura and she faced him

"i'm sorry you were just too busy with little miss thing over there...anyways what do you want to do?"

"we don't bother with the leaf" he said looking off into the distance.

"our main priority is Itachi, don't forget that and in worst case scenario you three would have to deal with the leaf"

Still holding onto Sakura he turned and continued on pulling her with him.

All that was left was for the other three to follow him.

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Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo just stared at Sasuke as he made his way through the forest.

Turning towards Juugo Karin asked him if he could help her out with something. She knew that they were tracking them by scent so all they had to do was split it up. But there was one problem..the pink haired girl. Even though the konoha shinobi were following Sasuke's scent she was sure that they were also most likely tracking the girl's as well.

Looking down at the forest ground where the kuniochi forehead protector had fallen she went down and managed to retrieve it.Tearing off the cloth that was holding it together she threw back the metalic piece that had the konoha symbol on it back on to the ground.

All the while Juugo was eyeing her carfully.

"think you could get a few of those birds to do one more job?" she asked him

"what? what do you want?

"these clothes that Sasuke wore..the ones drenched from his sweat..."

"why are you hanging onto Sasuke's torn up clothes?"

Mumbling under her breath she handed it to him along with the piece of cloth she teared away from the kuniochi head band.

"Look, the leaf's got some shinobi with heightened senses on their tracking squad. And they tend to make good use of ninja hounds, we can use these to send them in the wrong direction...but...make sure that the ones with the girls' scent on it go a totally opposite way from that of Sasuke's that way they might get confused.

Juugo wasn't one to argue so he took it from her and did what she told him.

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Something was wrong...the scent's were splitting up in different directions...this was bad

"what's wrong kiba?"

"sasuke's and Sakura's scent just split up!! it's goin all over the place in alot of differnet directions!!"

"but how could they have?"

"they must have noticed us coming and came up with a plan to fool our senses!!" Kaashi didn't like this to think that they were able to detect them coming from so far away.

"if we split up too far our radios can't work...and i'm the only one who can track him. Which one do i go with?"

Naruto had already made up his mind. He knew what he had to do to bring back Sakura and Sasuke.He had to act fast.

"our only shot is to look everywhere at once, there's no time to think" and with that he peformed his kage bunshin technique and created a huge amount of clones and seperated from his comrades in all possible directions.

"damm that naruto..."

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Sasuke had already let go of her...he knew she wouldn't risk running away. She was only a pace behind him but he needed her there, for his own resons. His team was far behind them but he wasn't worried because they had already decided on a meeting place lest they had split up.

Careully reaching into her weapons pouch she pulled out a small kunai and when she was sure that Sasuke wasn't looking she quickly made a deep cut in the plam of her hand and dropped the kunai to the ground.

She was going to make sure that her team found them no matter what, and the scent of blood was stronger than anything. She was sure that kiba would instantly pick up on it..

Fisting her palm she squeezed her hand tightly so that every few feet they move she was sure that she was leaving a nice bloody trail behind them.

There was no way she'd let this opportunity pass her. She was going to bring Sasuke home...and at any cost...

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**okay so i'm done...**

**to be honest i dont' know yet if i'm goin to work in Itachi cause if i put him in there and i say he beat sasuke and that didnt happen it would be badd and if its the other way...still bad**

**anyways i still have to work in sasuke finding out about the drug and hopefully next chapter sasuke would end up fighting...i'm not saying who...and let me just say its gonna be tragic with a few unexpected twists...**

**i'm gonna drag it out a a bit but not much...hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter**

**Plz review...it helps alot**

**oh and thanks to my no1 reviewer miroku girl 15...thnx alot for the comments...dont worry there's gonna be some fluff in the upcoming chapters...hold out for it**


	6. i'm not weak

**Oh wow let me just say thank you for all the reviews...its really nice to know that people out there like my story...and also thanks for all the critiques...its most welcome**

**So to my following reviewers:**

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and only:**

yeh I no I steal a lot from the manga...hehe...I'm trying to move away from it though or its going to seem that I'm taking everything from them...anyways lovely review...thnx alot

**Freederth: **thank you so much for all your reviews...it awesome...and I absolutely agree with you that writing sasusaku lemons are very hard. Because I really don't see Sasuke as the type to say 'I love you' or any other mushy stuff...I will try to break him down a bit without trying to alter his whole character...let's see how that comes out..

Sorry about my bad spelling and all that...but I write my stories late at night and I usually pm my friends a lot which results in a lot of short hand...I'll try to check my spelling and stuff for this chapter...at least my grammar isn't all that bad right? its just that as soon as I finish a chapter I upload it right away cause I feel bad for those who are looking out for an update quickly...I hate waiting long for updates...so I try not to do the same

I loove the lemons too...hehe

**Mirokugirl 15: **hahah you read my mind!! Cause after I uploaded it I realized that I should of done exactly as you suggested!! i'm such an a cause its definitely easier to track them especially with them togther...i'll fix that in this chapter hopefully. But keep in mind Sasuke doesn't no what Karin did with the whole splitting up the scents and so all...so naturally he took sakura with him...maybe that makes sense don't know...I'm still prone to mistakes...

**-Shinobi-Of-Sound-: **To be honest I think that Sakura has gotten over Sasuke but in my story they had a very intimate moment and that would make any woman vulnerable...kind of rekindling those old feelings in her. he sort of dashed her hopes by telling her he wont let her go and saying no to her about going back to konoha...which ended up in her outburst...lol...luv yur comment though

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Sasuke and Sakura arrived at the spot where his teams suppose to rendezvous. Looking around he realized that that they were the first ones there. Deciding it was time to take a little break. Walking over to the nearest tree stump, he sat down..._might as well wait for everyone else to arrive_

He took this opportunity to take a good look at his former teammate. One look and he could tell that she lacked the combat experienced he had. Her body was almost flawless with no visible battle scars, but she was well toned and he could tell that she had been training rather vigorous for the last few years. The muscles in her upper arms were more defined (but not in a bad way...they weren't huge or anything) and her legs were long and slender...she looked like a true kuniochi...back then she was way too skinny possibly from all that dieting she used to do and she had lacked any strength at all not to mention she was flat...both sides. Looking at her now he realized that Sakura had grown up to be a fine young woman...not only had she developed as a shinobi he noted that she also became more of a woman.

He let his eyes wander a bit before it settled on her breasts for a few breathless seconds before he tore his eyes away. Remembering the events of last night he recalled how he had became so enthralled by them. He could still feel her against him, her touch, her smell, and the way _they_ tasted when he had brought his mouth to them. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he looked past her.

He acted like a fool last night, what could have possessed him to do such a thing. After all, he was a man and was prone to such things, but he always had control...he only concentrated on his mission, his duty, his own personal goals. He always thought with his mind and never with penis. Last night it took control leaving him in the backlight and did what it wanted ignoring his strict control, transgressing against his censor. Never again would he be duped by it.

Nevertheless, he could not ignore the fact that Sakura interested him. In many ways. Apparently, she had been studying under that Godaime because of her exceptional healing abilities.

_What else has she learned? What new jutsu has she developed?_

He was eager to know. In addition, why was she alone? Why wasn't that dobe Naruto with her?

Turning back to face her he noted that she was looking far off into the distance. Since they had reached their destination, he realised that she had not bothered to bombard him with questions as she used to nor had she looked at him since they stopped. She was purposely avoiding his gaze.

_Was she embarrassed by what happened to them last night? Alternatively, was she just playing games?_

He watched intently as she strode over to the nearest boulder and sat down, her back to him.

_So...she is avoiding me._

Smirking he turned his head sideways as he watched a centipede strode peacefully across the ground.

_Hn she's embarrassed.._

Reaching down to remove the creature his eye caught sight of Sakura, he saw her lift her right hand, it was glowing with chakra. It looked the same as last night when she was trying to heal him. Watching her carefully lest she pull something underhanded he saw that her left hand was bleeding rather profusely. Apparently, she had gotten a rather deep gash on her hand and was attempting to heal it. It looked bad.

Removing himself from the tree stump, he reached over and grabbed her hand before she could heal the wound. She gasped when he did this, tightening his grip he reached over and grabbed the wrist of the hand that was injured.

She immediately tried to pull her hand away from his. Her eyes betrayed her...he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes when he grabbed her hand.

Yanking her injured hand closer to him, he took a long hard look at her wound. He was no fool...she did not get this wound whilst they were moving about the forest. Noo this was a self-inflicted wound...

_Stupid girl_

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Sakura was surprised when he grabbed her hand. She knew almost instantly that she had been caught and there was no way she could lie about it. Sasuke was a very skilled shinobi and at a single glance, she was sure that he would know the nature of her wound.

Stiffening in his grip, she looked at him straight on, wondering what his next move would be. She half expected him to pummel her after what she has done, but instead he just let her hand go and turned his back to her.

Taking this opportunity, she quickly healed her wound and turned to him.

He was silent, he made no move to say or do anything to her...which worried her a bit.

"Why do you have to be so god damm annoying?" she heard him whisper harshly as he turned to face her. His eyes boring into hers...they were so cold, lifeless even...they no longer held any warmth, she no longer recognised those eyes. It was if he was a completely different person. She had dared to come between him and his lifelong mission by threatening to cause him problems in the end, and he was pissed.

His eyes immediately shot to her injured hand, noting this she quickly hid the hand behind her back. She had no reason to do this since the wound had already been healed but she did so nevertheless. He then tilted his head sideways and looked at her mockingly as his eyes drifted up and to her eyes

With his eyes still on her, he made a step towards her closing the distance between them.

Almost on instinct, she reached into her kunai sack, pulled out her gloves, and held them in her hand. She was prepared, she was not going to flee...she was not going to cry and beg or plead with him. Now she would let her fists do the talking.

Slipping on the gloves she stood rooted in place. She made no move to adopt a defensive stance, she was not afraid...she would never be afraid anymore...

Crossing her hands over her chest, she looked the Uchiha dead in the eye. As if calling him out.

He didn't seem too pleased by her sudden lack of emotion towards him, normally this is where she would break down and run and hide behind Naruto or Kakashi or even his back.

Now she had no one to come and save her...no one to cling too. She was all alone, and she was playing it brave..._stupid girl_

_Run ...Run and hide..._

_if you know what's good for you_...

In an instant, he raced forward grabbing her by her collar catching her off guard and lifted her off the ground by a few feet before he hurled her against the stump he was sitting on.

He watched as she burst into a cloud of smoke as she collided with the stump head first

..._replacement technique...how typical..._

He already knew which direction she was coming from... turning slightly to the left he saw her rush towards him fist in the air ready to deliver a harsh blow. Reminscent of the time when she tried to intervene in his fight when they had met so many months ago

_what a waste of my time_...he thought as he just looked at the girl racing towards him...then...she disappeared

_what the fuc..._he then felt a shark pain in his solar plexus as she appeared in front of him. Her hands drove into him as he felt his body being pushed backwards as he flew into a nearby tree uprooting it.

Getting up almost instantly, he winced at the pain in his chest. She had knocked the wind out of him...taijutsu...she had been studying taijutsu..her speed was incredible. It almost rivaled his own. However, he had been too cocky and let her get the first hit. Either way she was not going to get a second.

Looking at her she didn't seem fazed...her emotions were in check and she meant business.

"tell me...sasuke...if you can't defeat me...how do you ever expect to defeat your brother" she bit out harshly. It was if her personality had changed. That woman standing in front of him wasn't Haruno Sakura...no it was someone else.

She had hit a raw nerve and she knew it...she had to play the 'brother' card so he would get serious. She wanted him to feel threatened by her; she wanted him to know that she was not that stupid little girl anymore. She wanted to be acknowledged...

He still had not used his sharingan , which meant he didn't see her as a threat, or as an equal.

Balling up her fist she attacked him again, he was prepared this time. He knew exactly where she was aiming at...tensing up a bit he lunged forward as well.

Reaching forward he grabbed her fist that was aiming for his jaw. Holding her fast.

Reaching out with her left hand, she grabbed the wrist of his left hand so he would not attack. Letting go she then dropped to the ground as she swung her leg in a sweeping motion as she tried to make him lose his balance, but instead he leapt into the air right before she connected. His hand still holding on tightly to her right fist.

As he landed back on the ground, he spun her around and pulled her hand taut behind her back. Twisting her wrist in the process as she let out a little whimper.

With his free hand, he reached out and pulled her backwards onto him as he held her fast around her neck.

Twisting her wrist even harder he smirked when she let out a scream as he kept on her.

Leaning down to her ear he brushed it with his lips as he whispered into her ear..."weak..'"

her entire body then lurched forward pulling him with her as she balled up her fist pushing chakra into it. Leaning over she smashed her fist into the ground as everything around her shattered. Forcing him to release his grip of her as he jumped back and landed on a tree branch of one of the trees that thankfully didn't get fallen by her earth shattering punch.

Looking down at her, he couldn't believe his eyes. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. It was real.

As the dust cleared, he noted that she left an oversized crater and she was standing in the middle of it. She looked up and spotted him in the tree. He could see the veins around neck...they were bluish against her fair skin. It crisscrossed all the way down the side of her neck and disappeared into her tank. It was almost as if he was watching the flow of her chakra seep through her veins. Slowly they faded away as she began healing the wrist that he almost broke all the while keeping her eye on him.

She hadn't even used any of her brute strength whilst fighting him. Her last punch to the ground was the first one she threw that had her chakra behind it. She wanted to test herself against him. To see how much of her abilities she would actually have to show him.

Looking at him now she realized that they both held back during this fight. Well mostly him... Gritting her teeth she was ready to show him her true strength. She had been training under tsunade for this very moment. She had even enlisted the help of Gai and lee to help improve her taijutsu skills. Which was the reason why she was able to move so quickly. She remembered all those years ago during the chuunin exams when Lee challenged Sasuke to a fight...and lee left him stupefied...

She had been so worried about him then, but now the memory made her laugh a bit...the great Uchiha Sasuke had been defeated by a ninja whose only skills were taijutsu...bare hand to hand combat...

She finished healing her wrist and prepared herself for another onslaught.

Concentrating chakra to her feet she took off in the direction of the tree that he had took refuge in.

Just as she was about to strike him with a deadly blow...when... she felt someone grab her by her fist and pull her backwards.

She spun around and was about to strike the intruder with her other hand when she came face to face with those ever so familiar wide blue eyes..

"naruto..."

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" Sakura-chan...i've found you..."

Naruto couldn't believe that he had found her. Relief spread all over him at the sight of her...

Looking past her he saw what...or who she was aiming at...

"Sasuke..."

Before Naruto managed to get another word out Sasuke leapt forward and grabbed Sakura by the back of her shirt and yanked her away from him shoving her in the direction of another tree branch as she hit it with a thud

Unsheathing his kusanagi he attacked Naruto head on as he drove the kusanagi through naruto's heart.

Just as Sakura did earlier on, he too disappeared into a cloud of smoke. _Kage Bunshin..._

"Thought you could get rid of me so easily...hn sasuke"

Sasuke looked up to see another bunshin eyeing him from the branch ahead.

One Naruto was annoying enough. Imagine it times 100...very annoying

The clone eyed him for only a moment before his eyes drifted to where Sakura sat rubbing her bruised head. She did not look hurt beside for the little bump on her head. Turning his gaze back to Sasuke he brought his hand up and performed a seal and disappeared..

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Sakura sat up rubbing her bruised head...she couldn't believe that Naruto found her...thank god

Now they could resume their mission...their mission to bring Sasuke back to Konoha...together

She was a little disappointed though when she found out that it was indeed a kage bunshin and not the real deal.

Turning from her position on the tree branch, she saw that Sasuke had sheathed his kusanagi. Turning to face her he leapt onto the branch she was on...he still looked mad...now he just looked downright pissed...since Naruto had discovered their location

Turning away from her for just a moment he looked distracted...as if lost in his own thought...

If there were ever a good time to attack...now would be it

Clenching her fist she raised from her sitting position...she was never one to sucker punch someone...but in this case, she would make an exception

She felt a little uneasy about doing that to him but she knew that she had to.

Pushing chakra into her fist, she aimed at him only to have someone stop her again...

Whirling around for the second time she faced the man named Suigetsu...only this time he didn't look so skinny

The entire left side of his body had somehow grown to five times its size and it was his gigantic left hand that was holding her back now. He had needed all that strength to hold her back. She was strong. He had not expected her to be this strong...especially for a woman...

"what the hell you think you're doing" he shouted at her...damm if he had been a second to late in stopping her fist would of done alot of damage to the Uchiha

_and what the hell happened here??_ he thought as he surveyed the scene around him

Sasuke turned around to face them...his face void of any emotions

"let her go, she can't hurt me" he said as he looked her deep in her eyes as if taunting her...telling her she was weak

Heck she wasn't weak...she screamed inwardly at him..._didn't I like busted your ass just a few minutes ago??? And you call me weak?? Ass_

Yanking her hand away from the man, she glared right back at Sasuke...

He did not seem bothered by her anymore as he quickly leapt off the branch and onto the forest floor motioning for the rest to follow suit.

Juugo and Karin followed suit, Suigetsu turned to Sakura and grabbed her roughly be her upper arm and proceeded to drag her off the branch with him.

Pulling her hand away from him she looked into his freakish face and gave him a look that could kill as she jumped off the branch and next to Karin.

The woman flinched when Sakura's elbow brushed hers' and moved away from her and edged her way over to Sasuke...

Thinking of this as an opportunity for her she turned towards Sasuke

"Sasuke...don't worry about the threat..i eliminated our little problem. I realized that they were using scent to track us so I lead them in a different direction...using both her and your scent...I split it up" she managed to slur out in the sweetest voice she could muster as she saddled over to him and wrapped her hands around his triumphantly

Sasuke looked down to her as she continued speaking

"but don't worry I separated both scents so they would find it difficult to track you"

Scowling at her, he pulled away from her vise grip

"that was very stupid of you..." he deadpanned

"what..what do you mean?"

Annoyed he turned to face her "don't you think it would be easier for them to find us especially since both of our scents are together? And splitting them up made no sense at all since they are possibly tracking Sakura and _**My **_scents together?"

Moving past her he grabbed both Sakura's and his bag and her's and threw to her.

"they already found us...we need to get moving" he stated as he turned his back towards them.

Nodding Karin rushed to his side like the poor little fangirl she is. Sakura could not help but smirk as she remembered herself being the exact same way around him. Feeling a pang in her heart she couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke remembered what had transpired between them the night before. If he remebered he would just deny it...or look at her as if she was a total crack pot.

Yet she couldn't help wonder if it was all a dream...yes she remembered every detail about what happened...the memory has been etched in her mind forever...but it was all for nothing...Sasuke wasn't himself he merely acted on impulse as any other man would of when having that particular drug in his system.

Looking at her feet she wondered if he had remembered anything at all. Sure enough he knew it was her because he said her name more than once during their encounter...

Lifting her head up she glared at Karin...she knew that it was her who slipped Sasuke the drug...who else would it be? Certainly not Juugo...or Suigetsu...although the man did look like a freak who was up for anything...shaking the disturbing mental image out of her head she eyed Karin from a distance...she had to keep an eye on her….. especially around Sasuke...she almost killed him last night because of her overdose...damm if you want to seduce someone please go about it sensibly...and not try to get them killed in the process...geez

Lost in her thought she hadn't realized that everyone had stopped as she ran smack into Juugo. It felt as if she had hit a brick wall.

Peeking out from behind him, she saw Sasuke turn around. Wondering what was up she walked out from behind Sasuke

"here is where we split up.." he stated

"what split up why..?" she found herself asking ...with a tinge of nervousness in her voice

"Naruto knows where we are now and he'll definitely be coming for you..."

Sakura was surprised that he had replied

"Juugo you're with me...Suigetsu, Karin you take Sakura...we'll meet up at the place we discussed earlier...if you meet any problems deal with it"

Turning to face Sakura he added " keep an eye on her, if she tries anything...kill her"

Sakura shuddered at the cold harsh tone in his voice...turning around he leapt onto the nearest tree as he and Juugo disappeared into the forest.

There was no way she was going to allow herself to be taken by them...but then again maybe she should...at least until help arrives or unless she get them to tell her where they were headed so she'd know where Sasuke would be.

Karin wasn't happy about the little arrangement Sasuke had made. She hated to be around this girl, she just disliked her very much. She still couldn't believe that Sasuke brought her along...and for what reason?

Cursing under her breath she moved in the opposite direction from Sasuke. Sakura followed behind her whilst Suigetsu trailed...he needed to make sure she was behaving and not to mention he like the view from the back.

He couldn't care less about Karin but ever so often he glimpsed her fat ass and cringed a little.

Looking forward he noted that Karin had stopped and was looking around.

Halting to a stop himself he and Sakura looked at her before he spoke out

"what happen?" somehow hurling an insult at her right now didn't see like it was the right time so he bit it back.

Turning she glared viciously at them before stating

"Akatsuki...two of them..and they're headed for Sasuke.."

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**ahhh finally done...to be honest I had no idea what to write for this chapter...**

**I just sat down and this is what came out…okay so I lied about the whole I'm not stealing from the manga thing again but to be honest I thought about the bunshin b4 it showed up in the manga.**

**Somehow I don't think I managed to fix the little mistake I made in the previous chapter but what the hell…with the scents thing**

**I know where I want my story to go really…I have a few ideas…the problem is I don't know how on earth to get there…**

**So tell me what you think about this chapter and if I'm making any sense at all..**

**Hopefully my spelling in this chapter is a little better….**

**Plz review…I love reviews**

**oh and if you guys love sasusaku as much as i do check out my profiel pic...its hottttt...sadly i didn't draw it but credits to the artist riku44 from **


	7. Fight

**Okay so here is chapter 7...**

**Special thanks to all those who took time to review...thanks allot...its really inspiring**

**I don't own Naruto blahblahblah...**

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_**Flashback**_

_Turning she glared viciously at them before stating_

_"Akatsuki...two of them..and they're headed for Sasuke.."_

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"what?! are you sure" Suigetsu yelled a t her. Dammit a problem already? how could this happen...

"well who is it? are you sure its akatsuki?" after all she could be wrong...but then again Karin's never wrong...shit

Turning to glare at him Karin shot him her most deathly glare and began to survey the surroundings...one...no...two...shit four???

Whirling around she turned to yell at him "WE have to get out of here Quickly!! Others... Sasuk..." before she could finish what she was saying she was interrupted...as her, heart slowly sank when she realized the peril that they had gotten themselves into

"If I were you I'd be more worried about myself than Sasuke..."

Turning to face the person who said those words, she swallowed hard as her eyes encountered deep cerulean eyes.

She had sensed him...them... too late...somehow, she did not see them coming until a few seconds before they arrived...But how could they have? there was no way they could mask their chakra from her...she was after all an expert at what she did..but how??? how could they have tricked her senses...

It was too late to muse over these things...

She didn't recognise this man...but he glared at her with the intent to kill...

Tearing his eyes away from her, he looked at the pink haired kuniochi and mouthed her name..._sakura..._just as she screamed out his "Naruto!!

Then there was a sharp cry as Karin heard a muffled sound and a thud as she can hear the Kuniochi fall as she whispered out the name of the man in front of her..

Hearing the sudden commotion behind her, she slowly took a step back and turned a bit to see what it was all about...still keeping her eyes on the man and his companions. They hadn't made a move to attack yet...but she could suddenly sense a very dangerous aura emitting from the man in front of her...

She could see that the pink haired kuniochi had fallen to her knees and was gasping for air...Suigetsu had a hold on her upper arm and with the other, she noted that he was holding something...a parchment of some kind.

He seemed rather calm as he faced his new enemies. Lifting his hand up he revealed what he was holding for all to see.

_Is that what I think it is?_

"Stay Back!!" Suigetsu called to the young man and his companions.

"Get you fucking dirty hands off of her you bastard!!" Naruto yelled at him before attempting to rush the man and take her back violently. Only to be blocked by Yamato-Sensei.

"Matte!! Naruto"

"But he's hurting Sakura-Chan" clenching his fist and glaring at the man he could feel the rage burning inside him. _That bastard...he'll fucking pay for touching her.._

"what are we waiting for??"

He could hear the man snickering as he turned to glare at him...he watched in horror as the man bent down to Sakura and roughly spun her around so that her back was to them. It took him all the strength he could muster to not rush forward and snap his little scrawny neck in two.

On her back was a square piece of parchment and on it he could see that a blood seal was drawn on it. He noted that the markings snaked its way from the parchment and onto her back...sort of like a parasite that was holding onto her.

"what the hell...Yamato-Sensei?"

He could see that the man looked troubled and it only made him angrier as he stared at him. He felt a movement and looked back towards Hinata. He had almost forgotten about her.

"that's ...that's a blood seal that suppresses a persons chakra and weakens them by constricting their muscles so they would have difficulty moving...its a form of paralysis but it gets worst.."

"worst?" Hinata enquired as her eyes opened wide with fear. She didn't know what made her speak out but she needed to know if Sakura would be okay. After all they had grown closer after the past couple of years and it was nice having a girl to talk too since she already spend most of her time around Kiba and Shino...and well Shino's never around or hardly talks to her...

"yes...Hinata it gets worse. If her uses that other half of the seal he can bring her within one inch death...and eventually kill her within hours..."

"Oh god.." she whispered before clamping a hand around her mouth. She could feel the tears welling up.

Yamato didn't know how this man knew how to create the seal because after all it was forbidden. Only the person whose blood has made the seal can stop it once the second half is attached to her and looking at him, he knew that this man didn't create the seal. He looked like a brute that would kill his opponent with one swift movement and not so intelligent enough to understand how to create the seal. It was an olden practice not more than a few hundred years ago and no one of this time knew how to make it. It was deemed dangerous and sealed away so knowledge of it was rare.

_So who made it...that woman?...no she seemed just as surprised when he used it so it couldn't be her...then who...Sasuke??_

He could see that she was getting weaker by the minute and that the only thing that was holding her up was that man.

Beside him, Naruto was getting more and more frustrated as he slowly let some the nine tails chakra leak out. His eyes had already changed from its usual serene blue to a bloody crimson as he growled low in his breath. Almost immediately, the nine tails chakra began, taking over as it slowly formed its first tail.

Yamato turned to face Naruto just as the second tail began making its appearance.

Shit he had to stop him now before Naruto lost all control and end up on a rampage not being able to distinguish friend from foe.

Performing his sealing jutsu he faced Naruto in time to see the third tail form.

"Hokage shiki jijun jutsu!!Kaku an...arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Before Yamato could finish the sealing jutsu Naruto attacked him head on with a bone crushing punch to the face instantly knocking the man out and his only hope of returning to normal.

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He was slowly losing his mind as he became engulfed by the kyuubi's chakra. Looking around for his next victim his eyes fell on Hinata barely able to recognize her. Baring his teeth he lurched forward to attack the trembling girl.

There was a huge roaring noise as his fist encountered something. Akamaru had taken the hit for Hinata, the injury wasn't a life threatening one to the dog but it did make him angry. Growling he sideswiped Naruto as his body spun and hit the nearest tree snapping it in two.

Unfazed Naruto leapt up as his fourth tail began to form. Hinata and Kiba looked on with utmost horror as they tried to contemplate their next move. Not only had their

comrade freaked out but something strange and what felt evil was taking over his entire body. They didn't know what to do as they kept a watchful eye on Naruto and their enemies.

Inwardly Naruto was fighting his own battle as both he and the Kyubbi was fighting for dominance. One that the Kyubbi was winning almost effortlessly.

With only a little of his sanity left Naruto tried to suppress the fourth tail from sprouting forward. Without thinking, he attacked two of his teammates already. It was like looking through a foggy glass, he could barely distinguish friend from foe. The Kyubbi's power drove him mad, he could feel him trying to take him over and slowly ebbing away at his sanity.

He felt himself slipping deeper and deeper as the fourth tail was trying to make its way out. He had to stop it forming lest he lose himself all together.

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Watching the commotion Karin easily slipped beside Suigetsu and grabbed the other half of the seal away from him before he had a chance to react. Looking down at the parchment in her hand, she couldn't help but smile triumphantly as she moved to press it onto the kuniochi chest.

Suigetsu sensed her intention the second she grabbed it away from him, grabbing her by the hand, he instantly stopped her as she moved to place the other half onto the girl. Twisting her wrist he glared at her, he couldn't make a move to grab it away from her since his other hand was already preoccupied. So instead, he yanked her forward and whispered harshly into her ears.

"you stupid bitch!! do you want to lose the only leverage we have?"

Karin was disgusted at the fact that she was now close to this damm man. Returning his stare, she swallowed some bile that had come up before she spoke

"they're distracted!! let's end it now and not burden ourselves with her anymore. Think about it Suigetsu, its easier for us to escape without her."

Glaring down at her, he knew she was right. Yet Sasuke had warned him before they left that Suigetsu was to make sure that Sakura was with them when they meet again. He was only to dispose of her as a last resort. That's what Sasuke told him before he handed him the seal, with explicit instructions on how to use them and in what situation. She was to be used as an advantage to escape an enemy ambush or it was to be used if she tried to escape.

If he knew what was good for him he would stick to Sasuke's orders. Letting the girl go for a second he watched as she collapsed head first as he forcefully yanked open Karin's hand and took the seal back.

Then grabbing the girl around her waist he lifted her up off the ground and decided it was due time they get out of there before.

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Kiba noticed that the other two was trying to escape with Sakura but he was torn between saving Sakura and Naruto. Grabbing Hinata by her hand, he motioned for the both of them to proceed with the plan and save Sakura and leave Naruto to Akamaru.

He was troubled though that Naruto was able to knock out the ANBU with just one punch. He didn't understand how Naruto could just attack his own comrades. He sensed the dangerous aura surrounding the man but he had no choice but to leave him to Akamaru. The dog could fend on his own and he was more of a challenge to the raging Naruto than he or Hinata could ever be. He knew that he and Akamaru together could both possibly take on Naruto and restrain him but that would leave Sakura vulnerable and there was no way in hell he was going to leave Hinata alone to fend off the other two.

Growling Naruto and Akamaru clashed as they tore through each other as only two animals can.

Hinata was torn, she didn't want to leave Naruto alone. She didn't understand what had made her friend act like this. He was more of a threat to them now that the other two. But in order to save him she had to help Kiba retrieve Sakura.

Turning her back to Naruto, she raced behind Kiba in the opposite direction.

They didn't reach far before they caught up with the man and his woman.

They were going into this blindly, no plan, and no backup no nothing.

Kiba stopped short as she landed next to him on the tree branch. Looking forward she noted that their enemies had stopped too. She sensed the tension in the air. There was going to be a fight...tensing up she performed a seal and brought it up to her face before saying "Byakugan!"

"let her go!" Kiba shouted to the man...

He watched as the man drop Sakura carelessly onto the branch next to him. She didn't fall off altogether a miracle. She was dangling preciously on the branch, she was trying to get a grip but she was too weak to even do that.

Turning around to face his pursuers Suigetsu Kneeled down over Sakura..licking his lips, he watched as the man in front of him pull out a weapon from his pouch as he slowly ran his fingers through Sakura's hair.

"are you going to freak out too like your friend did back there?" he taunted as he continued to stroke her hair. She tried to push herself away from him but it only resulted in her almost falling off the branch. Mustering all the strength she could she dragged her self up and to the trunk of the tree. It was only a feet away and she needed to get away from that man.

Suigetsu watched her try to move away from him as he smirked and stood up. Just how far did she think she was going to go?

He could tell that Karin was getting restless as she peered at the two.

"let's get this over with!"

Bending over slightly he smiled as his body slowly went through a transformation.

_Now's the chance to attack! _Kiba threw Hinata a look..she knew what she had to do. Crouching over Kiba felt Hinata's weight on his back for a moment before she went soaring through the air and towards the man. Pulling out a few kunai from her pouch she held then between her fingers eight in all as she spun her body around mimicking Neji's move during the Chuunin exam so many years ago.

She aimed the kunai's carefully as she released them. They avoided the kunai's easily as each missed their mark.

_damm this girl's reall bad..._

Keeping careful watch on the situation Kiba couldn't help but smile..._well-done Hinata_

Landing on a branch at a safe distance Hinata smiled...and with a flick of her wrist, she activated the barrier she created with her Kunai's. She never intended for the Kunai's to hit them, she was just strategically putting them in position so she'd be able to trap them. Somehow, they didn't notice the tags that were wrapped around the hilt of each Kunai and she was glad.

With a flick of her wrist she activated the seals.

"AARGHhh.."...they both screamed in unison as they collapsed onto the forest floor

"good job Hinata!! Now its my turn!"

Turning to face the two who had fallen prey she watched as Kiba went into battle mode as he prepared himself to attack. The barrier worked as an electric shock to incapacitate their enemies if only for a little while but before they were to pull themselves together that's where Kiba would finish them off. Quick...and painful...

Hinata quickly surveyed the surroundings for a brief second...she thought maybe it was wrong of them to leave Naruto alone, she was worried.

"GAROUGA!!"

Suddenly snapped out of her trance she quickly turned her attention towards the battle at hand.

Something was wrong...looking at the two bodies on the ground she noticed something was amidst.

Just before Kiba's blow was to be landed, she noticed something strange about their eyes...it was black and they were laming..._that's not right_

_OH god!! _"KIBA!!" she yelled surprised by the sound of her own voice as she raced off in his direction...

_oh god oh god...noooo_

She had to make it in time,...she didn't...

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Watching as the dog slumped to the ground lifeless the Kyubbi grinned evilly at his accomplishment.

He was controlling Naruto now...not yet fully but he was getting there. He just had to stay in this form awhile longer. Somehow Naruto had managed to suppress the fourth tail from coming out and that disturbed him a bit.

Naruto was already on the brink of insanity and wasn't able to recognize anyone...but somehow when his body willed him to attack that woman earlier on he somehow snapped out of his death mode and with all the strength he had fought off the Kyubbi's influence as hard as he could resulting in the fourth tail not being able to come out fully.

Nevertheless, the longer he stayed in this form the more lost he'd become.

Deep down in the Kyuubi's lair Naruto was being held as he was slowly becoming engulfed by the Kyuubi's chakra. Slowly it wrapped around him trying to take him over..he tried to fight it back he was losing this battle.

Images flashed through mind...he tried as hard as he could but he couldn't recognize any of the faces...

_come on think...who...who...are...they...my family...friends...??_

_what's...what's...my name?? what's happening to me??_

"you are Kyuubi..."

_what... where...where did that voice come from?? what's going on?_

"kill...kill..." the voice was incessant as it kept repeating it self over and over...

Covering his ears with his hands, he tried to drown the voice out but this only made it louder...

"they are all your victims...every last one of them...yessss they were all such sweet kills..."

_NOoo it can't be...I couldn't have killed all these people...there's no way..._

"YOU'RE LYING!!!"

He could hear snickering as she tried pulling at his ears in attempt to make it stop...make it all stop...

There was a flash and he saw for a brief second what looked like a picture and in it stood a beautiful young girl with large emerald eyes and pink hair..next to her stood a young man with a grim expression on his face and his eyes were as black as night, on her other side he saw someone...someone that looked familiar...yet he couldn't place the face..._is that?? is that??_

He could hear crying as if from a distance...it started low at first and gradually it became louder and louder.

_where is that coming from?_

Looking around he saw a girl appear out of nowhere and she was sobbing uncontrollably.

Clutching her chest as she wept, her head bent low so he couldn't see her face. Her entire body was trembling violently as he heard her whisper...

"Naruto...this is the only favor I will ever ask of you...bring...bring...Sasuke-kun back"

He knew that voice...it was one he heard many times before...still...

"I couldn't convince him...I couldn't stop him...I'm sure the only person who can stop him...the only person who can save him is only you...Naruto"

_...Sakura??...SASUKE!! I remember now..._

Summoning the last of his strength he fought back his inner demon...willing himself to break free he continued to look at the girl in front of him...his only motivation...Sakura...and Sasuke...they were his family and he had to save them...

Trying to free himself from the demon Kyubbi's hold he watched as she continued sobbing in front of him... ..his heart broke...he had to make her stop crying...

"ARGGGGGGGGhhhhh" he screamed as he tore through the demon's hold and raced forward where the girl was standing...stopping just short of her he reached out a hand to her and gently brushed her hair aside before smiling...

"you really love him..huh? I can understand very well the pain that you're going through"

looking up with tearful eyes she hugged herself and wept silently..

"naruto...thank you.." she whispered softly

"I will bring Sasuke back for sure. This is a promise of a lifetime"

she smiled through tearful eyes and disappeared...

"sakura..." he found himself whispering to himself as he watched her disappear.

Now he had to take charge...he felt weak but he couldn't allow the Kyubbi to take him over. The seal was weakening bit by bit every second as he stood there.

Sitting himself down he performed a seal and began concentrating his chakra. He could feel the blue energy swirling around him...

Its now or never...

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Hinata watched in horror as Kiba first attacked the man, almost as soon as he did the man's body contorted into a funny shape and held him down...his body was melting onto Kiba, the sticky goo he turned into was slowly constricting her team mate. Snickering the girl jumped onto him as her body started to dissolve as well further constricting the man.

Kiba screamed out as Hinata rushed forward to help him. Feeling a sharp pain she collapsed in a heap as she slowly brought her hands up to her neck...someone had attacked her from behind!

Turning herself on her back, she saw both their enemies walk out from behind a tree. What they attacked before wasn't them, it was mere replications of them but these were more like clones...this must be their technique.

Smiling Karin looked down at the girl by her feet

"Muffication replacement technique..." it was her technique and she was proud of it. Not only does this technique stop a potential attack it kills the person once they're caught in it. It was good especially when they needed a quick escape.

Hinata's eyes darted over to Kiba as she watched her friend being smothered to death. She hated to see him like that.

Jumping to her feet she lunged at the woman with her gentle fist attack. She managed to hit her and cut off her flow of chakra in her right hand, _I'm not done yet!!_, spinning around she went for the girls neck this time. She needed to make it a killer blow maybe that would stop her technique from killing Kiba.

Hand raised to deliver the final attack she suddenly felt her head jerk back and her body being thrown backwards and onto the tree where Sakura was. She felt her body hit it and it instantly went numb on impact.

She had landed in an awkward position, and she couldn't feel anything under her neck..she was scared...what if he had snapped her spinal column!!

Almost as soon as she had the thought, the pain hit her like a freight train as she screamed out in agony.

Sakura watched helplessly as her friends was being attacked. She tried to get up but found that she couldn't do it. She saw the Hyugga heir fight bravely against these two and was almost blown away by the girl's determination to help her friend. They were doing all this for her and she couldn't even help them. Hinata was crying out in pain from the blow she had gotten from Suigetsu, her heart almost gave out when she was the girl hit the tree and slumped onto the floor. She was sure that she had broken a few ribs not to mention some limbs as well. She had to help her.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion and out of the corner of her eye she saw the spark and felt the tremor. It shook the entire tree and Sakura was soon finding herself falling onto the ground. Trying to brace herself for the impact she landed roughly on all fours as she felt her limbs tingle sharply from the pain. Starting slowly at her palms of her hands and feet and worked its way up to her shoulders and knees. The pain was unbearable. Keeling over from the pain, she blacked out.

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Kiba lay in heap as he tried to catch his breath. he had used an exploding tag to get rid of the slime that was holding him down. If he had waited any longer he would of been dead. He saw what had happened to Hinata, and for a second after she had hit that tree he thought she was dead from the impact. But when he heard her cry out he felt relief sweep over his entire body. That's when he had come up with the idea of using the exploding tag. he had nothing to lose.

Gathering all his strength to his feet he ran towards Hinata and Knelt down beside her. Just then he noticed Sakura just a few feet from Hinata, she wasn't moving. God what was he supposed to do now!!

Just then, he felt a shark pain in his chest..._was i attacked??nooo..._then what is it...looking off into the direction they had come from he suddenly had a feeling of regret...he shouldn't of left Akamaru alone...something was wrong and he knew it...

He adjusted Hinata until she was in a more comfortable position and whispered a comforting word into her ears before he rushed off towards Sakura. Kneeling down next to her he noticed that she had twisted her ankle and her wrist looked like it was broken. He pressed two of his fingers to her neck...he felt a pulse but it was weak...she was alive. Turning her around on her stomach, he looked at the seal that was attached to her. If what yamato sensei said was true then he had to remove it now before the second half was placed onto her body. Reaching down he tugged at the parchment but it didn't budge. Grunting he tried using both hands as he managed to lift up an edge before he saw some movement behind him. Spinning around he collected a sharp uppercut to his jaw from the woman with the glasses.

Gagging from the blood that had suddenly sprouted from a cut inside his mouth he abandoned his task and turned towards his enemies. He was now the only person who could save them all.

Looking down at the bodies of the two fallen kuniochi he swore under his breath and attacked.

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Wary Karin looked around at the bodies of all three Shinobi. Those two had put up a good fight but in the end they lost. The boy fought bravely against them but he put too much emotion into this fight and was brought down hard. He now lay in a pool of his own blood, nothing could save him now.

Turning around she saw that Suigetsu had seated himself on a tree stump and was nursing the wound on his hand. The boy had ripped away at the tendons in his right hand leaving it almost useless. He had gone out with a bang.

Laughing to herself she was rather proud that she got the least bit injured.

Turning around she walked towards the dark haired girl, the girl was slipping in and out of consciousness as she tried to prevent herself from falling asleep lest she suffer a concussion or worse slip into a coma. Ignoring her she went straight towards the pink haired Kuniochi, she would kill her now. Pulling out the other half of her seal from her pouch she congratulated herself on stealing it away from Suigetsu.

Frowning she noticed that part of the seal had been ripped away. But nevertheless it should still work. Crouching down she grabbed the girl roughly and spun her around and pressed the seal onto the girls chest.

No sooner had she done this she turned around to see Suigetsu glaring daggers at her. He had sensed her intention but was too late in stopping the woman from completing her task.

Slapping her aside he managed to knock her glasses to the side. Grabbing her cheek she felt it sting as the area around it started to turn red and swell. Shocked that he had done this to her she couldn't help but smile...she had managed to complete her task.

Suigetsu kneeled down and cursed inwardly as he moved to pick the girl up. Grunting from the pain he managed to hoist her up to his shoulders before throwing Karin a glare and ran off into the woods.

Karin took a moment to look back before she proceeded after him.

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Suigetsu was overcome by the pain in his right hand, he couldn't carry this girl any longer. She was getting heavier by the second...there was no where they'd make it in time for Sasuke to remove the seal. Damm that Karin and her insolence.

Feeling he could carry her no further he stopped to rest for a second. Putting her down he looked over at Karin before saying

"you have to carry her now...i can't do it anymore"

Karin looked at him like she'd been slapped in the face (hehehe) _is he serious? what the fuck? you have to be kidding me!!_

"NO!" she cried out before folding her arms across her chest.

"Sasuke's going to be mad if we come back without her!! Just do IT!!"

"Look she's almost dead by now...we're leaving her here...no sense in burdening ourselves with her anymore!"

Looking down at his feet Suigetsu realized that she was right. They had to leave her, he couldn't carry her in his condition.

"Fine" he said before gathering himself up. Throwing a weary glance towards the girl, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry.

Signing he ran behind Karin as they left the girl alone in the woods...its best to just let her die...

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**yay finally done this chapter...it took waaayy longer than i had thought and its a very long chapter. I hope you guys dont' get bored halfway through.**

**In my defense i have no clue how to do fight scenes...i though hard about it and this is how it came out...**

**i no it may seem shitty with the seal thing on her back but i was like i have to knock her out somehow if i want my story go in the direction i want it too... next chapter will be real short and sweet and you'll see sasuke again!! hip hip hooray!!!**

**OH god does anyone know where shino went!!!! dammm**

**oh well...sorry for the unrealistic kiba and akamaru splitting up thing but i thought it was best that way...**

**so think anyone's dead?? soonnn they'll all die...muahhahaha...i might be lying**

**PLLZZZ i really want to know what u think of this one...its not my fav chapter but hopefully its a good one..**

**Sorry FREEDERTH but Naruto's in this chapter!! dont't worry you'll have yur evil ideas put to work soon enough!!!**

**READ AND REVIEW**


	8. lost

**WOW...thank you soo much all of you who have reviewed my story..and I see that some of you actually liked my fight scenes!!! oh golly!! I could not believe that ppl liked it...it was soo amazing...**

**But sadly many of you haven't reviewed...yes you...many of you have added my story to yur story alert list or favorite story list and haven't sent me a single review!!! come on..if you added the story there must b something that you liked rite?? maybe the pairing...or the plot?? i doubt its for my splendid writing...hahahah**

**so plz be kind and drop me a review...it helps alot and i'll update alot faster...**

**love you guys lots...so onto chapter 8 of ANTIDOTE...**

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The horror and that feeling of nothing will be right again came with the waking. His body broken, his mind in turmoil unable to cope with the heavy strain.

It was eerily quite but somewhat deafening as he slowly tried to lull away the darkness. The more he pushed towards consciousness, the greater the pain became. His eyes were heavy as he slowly slipped away from the empty chasm of his mind and was greeted by the twilight.

The harsh rays of the evening sun were hidden by the lofty trees as it gallantly concealed him from its emission.

_what?? where am I??_

_OH god!! what? what? happened to me? what's going on...I...I...can't remember anything..._

_My body...my body...it hurts...why?...am I...am I alive? where are they?? where are they? am I...am I...alone??_

He was too afraid to move, too afraid to wake up lest he find out they're all dead. He couldn't handle that...he didn't want to know...the answer itself scared him..maybe..just maybe if he lay here a while longer it'll all go away...

closing his eyes for a moment he tried to will the pain away...his body was burning...he could feel his life slowly slipping away..._why..why does it hurt so much.._

_its not going away...why isn't it going away..._

slowly he brought a trembling hand to his chest as he gripped the taut material of his jacket. Opening his eyes he realized that he'd been crying as he tried to blink the tears away...but to no avail as new ones had sprung.

Looking down at the hand that was now gripping his chest he realized that it was covered in blood. It was fresh as he could smell that ever so familiar metallic scent as it assaulted his keen nose.

_OH GOD!!_

He tried to move but found it difficult...his body won't let him..it was like it had given up on him...gritting his teeth he somehow managed to pull himself in a sitting position...the pain was unbearable...but he managed the feat as he quickly surveyed the scene ignoring the blinding pain.

"no..no..NONONONONONONO...nooooooo"

this can't be happening...it cant be...

There was blood everywhere...deep...dark. pools of blood...

To his right he noticed the source...it had stained the animals snow colored fur making it a disgusting crimson as it lay there immoveable.

Tearing his eyes away from the animal he saw a man laying with his back towards him clad in a jounin's vest.

This was too much for him to handle...the tears were flowing freely now as he dragged himself to his feet as he lumbered over to the fallen animal. Unable to hold his own weight from the pain and from his grief he fell onto his knees as he lay a trembling hand on the fallen animal.

Carefully he felt around for a pulse and when he couldn't find any he started crying uncontrollably as he gripped the animals fur and pressed his face against it trying to stifle the sobs from coming out.

He was a shinobi dammit...but this was too much...even for a shinobi

Dragging himself to his feet he did not dare go near the man as he feared that he too may have suffered the same fate as Akamaru. He didn't want to know the answer.

HE failed...he failed again...he lost Sasuke...he lost Sakura...now Akamaru lay dead at his feet...and Yamato Sensei...he couldn't take it anymore...he was meant to fail...meant to be alone...meant to lose every bond he had made...

Dragging his body away from the scene he turned and fled into the woods as fast as his broken body could carry him.

He didn't want to be there he didn't want to see anymore bodies...he just...he just wanted to save everyone and this time...

he couldn't protect them...couldn't save them...and now they were lost...

he failed...he failed miserably..

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, he could feel his body shutting down as he willed himself forward. He had to get away...

Tearing off his jacket that had been stained with the animals blood he threw it to the forest floor. He didn't want that on him...it represented something that he couldn't bear to think about.

"sakura-chan..." he heard himself whisper as he tried to fought back the onslaught of tears that came with the very mention of her name.

"weak..."

Turning around he tried to confront the bearer only to realize that he was alone. Knowing full well the source he tried to drown him out but it wasn't working...

"stupid brat...couldn't save them...could you? you're weaker than _him_...how can you save him when you're still this frail and pitiable...and Sakura ne? you killed her...and he'll kill you...(snickers)...the toad shall conquer the snail only in turn to be crushed by the snake...(more snickering)

"That's not...true. ...I..will save him..." he whispered as he collapsed against the trunk of the tree barely able catch his breath as he felt the darkness consuming him again...Collapsing against the tree he tried to wipe away the tears as he slowly felt himself slip back into the shadows.

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Sasuke moved through the forest at lightning speed as he kept a tight hold on the man next to him. Juugo had been hurt badly in the fight earlier as they had clashed with two akatsuki members.

Itachi and Kisame had pulled a nasty trick on him as he swore under his breath. They had played him for a fool...toyed with his emotions...

He did feel something was wrong the second he encountered them but he hadn't expected them to be so damm selfish.

He had foolishly let Juugo release his seal and kill 'kisame' only to realise that it wasn't really the scaly shark man but instead some jounin from the hidden village of rain. It was then that he realized that they weren't the real Itachi and Kisame. They were merely using them to assess his skill level. Trying to see how far he had reached, if he had attained the level that Itachi wanted him to be at.

Almost as soon as Juugo killed the fake kisame he was put under a genjutsu with a flick of Itachi's hands.

Stupid man didn't even listen to a word sasuke said and dove right into a trap. He reminded him of Naruto...always jumping into things head first without stopping to think for a moment. That's what usually gets them all into trouble leaving Sasuke to clean up the mess he made.

He was wearing Sasuke down...the man was huge burden ro him right now. If they were ambushed Juugo wouldn't stand a chance, and Sasuke wasn't in the mood for a fight. Using the sharingan against the fake Itachi wore him out. He didn't know when it started but now every time he used the sharingan he would feel his body weaken. He usually only needed a few seconds to recuperate after using it but now it took several minutes. This worried him a bit, he needed to be at his peak to fight Itcahi.

But he guessed that Itachi possibly suffered the same effects...it could be more pronounced though in Itachi since he developed the mangekayou sharingan at a much earlier age and since revenge was the primary goal in Sasuke's life he wasn't going to mess it up by going into the fight alone. He needed his team...no matter how stupid some of them could be.

Taking a tighter grip on the man he quickened his pace.

He couldn't believe that it took five minutes to finish off the clones. Normally it would take him seconds. Itachi was playing with him, pushing him around just as a cat would with his ball of yarn.

His grip was cold and he could feel the anger seething inside of him...lost in thought he almost slammed both he and Juugo into an old oak but quickly avoided it at the last second.

_"foolish little brother..you've had all this time and you still haven't gotten stronger?? how dare you...how dare you come before me without these eyes..." Itachi bit out as the mangekayou sharingan swirled in full view of him and Juugo._

_Spinning around he noted that Juugo had become caught in Itachi's genjutsu as the man grabbed his mentally unstable mind and shrieked like a maniac. However, before he could intervene and stop Itachi he felt him grab him by his upper arm._

_Spinning around he noted Itachi was just a feet away and the urge to eradicate him filled his entire being as he whipped out Kusanagi and plunged it deep within his gut. He knew it wasn't really him but it satisfied him for a brief second before he realized that the man was chuckling._

_Retracting the sword he watched as the man in front of him made no move to stop the flow of blood that was pouring out from his wound. He instead began to laugh like a five year old who had just been tickeled by the wandering finger of his mother._

_"sasuke...my dear sasuke don't you see? you can't beat me...instead...you've become me..."_

_Falling to his knees he left out a little whimper before continuing_

_"you've disappointed father...you've become a traitor...you've never heeded his words of following a different path..instead you chose my path...the path he hated most...just think of how he must be spinning in his grave at your treachery..."_

_he took a moment to spit out some blood before continuing " you've no idea what you've become...you ended the only bonds that could of saved you...my masterpiece...yet unfinished.."_

_"don't you see? i'll always be there with you ...you've become me...become that which you hated most...you'll never win..." he managed to croak out before he finally keeled over._

_Sasuke just stood there watching as Itachi's face faded from his view and was instead replaced by the face of a man not worth knowing. It bothered him in a bit what he said. But shrugged it off and went over to dispel the jutsu on Juugo.That's when he noted that familiar chakra signature and immediately recognised it. He wasn't as good as Karin but he knew what it was. He had to get out of there fast in case they arrived._

_Picking up Juugo he made his way through the forest._

It hadn't bothered him much back then what Itachi said but it was bothering him now. What did he mean by when he said _"you ended the only bonds that could of saved you?"_

could he be talking about Naruto and Sakura? They were both useless...how could they have saved him?

Shaking the thought from his mind he reached safely at the meeting place and without any more interference. Setting Juugo down on the nearest patch of grass he proceeded to take a seat opposite from him.

Taking out his sword and resting it down he leaned his head back onto the tree as he waited patiently on the others to arrive.

No sooner had he done this the conversation with Itachi began to replay in his mind as he started to doubt himself. _No this was just Itachi playing his mind games with me again...but...what if..._

shaking the thought once more he closed his eyes as he tried to push it out of his mind. Hearing some rustling he immediately snapped out of his trance and looked towards the area from which it came from.

He first saw Suigetsu, all battered. His right hand was bleeding badly and was held up by a makeshift band...he'd live...

Moving his gaze from Suigetsu he took a brief moment to look a t Karin, she didn't look as banged up like Suigetsu but she was twitching around nervously. Deciding to ignore it he turned to face Sak...

_Where is she?? _ he suddenly could feel all that pent up rage ready to burst as he leapt to his feet and grabbed Kusanagi off the ground

Turning to Suigetsu he confronted the man "Where is she?"

Instead of answering him he saw that Suigetsu shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Grabbing the man's collar he brought his face up close to him

"don't make me ask you twice!!"

"dead..." he heard him say..it was barely an audible sound but he heard it anyway and it was enough to send him over the edge. Tightening his grip on the man he used his free hand to do a seal before the chakra burst out from his hands in the form of chidori. Bringing it up to his face he held it threateningly out to Suigetsu

"dead? what do you mean dead? i gave you explicit instructions!"

"well she should be dead by now..." suigetsu choked out. He was scared, never had he seen sasuke so upset. Out of the corner of his eye he noted Karin shifting away from them and more towards Juugo.

He sensed that Sasuke was getting more upset by the second. He saw the chakra from his hands got visibly brighter as Sasuke amped up the chidori ready to strike him but instead he pulled back a little

"Explain...NOW!" Sasuke roared at him

"we...we came up against enemies...four of them...three shinobi's and one nin dog...they were from Konoha" he managed to choke out

"I..I used the seal you gave me on the girl as a warning to them...that's when the blond...Naruto? I think his name was...went all crazy and attacked his teammates...we used this opportuinty to run but were chased by two of them."

"Two? you were defeated by two konoha shinobi?? apparently I assembled a crack team!" Sasuke yelled at him. He was getting tired of this...he was just rambling and still didn't tell him about Sakura being dead. Pushing more chakra into the chidori be brought his hand closer to the man.

"No...we defeated them...and with ease..but I managed to get injured whilst fighting against one of them due to lack of help from Karin..."

That's when Suigetsu turned his gaze to face the female member of team hebi. Following his gaze Sasuke turned to look at Karin. She looked scared...

"Karin stole the other half of the seal...and placed it on the girl...I couldn't carry her all the way here that's whe..." he was cut off by Sasuke

"i dont want to hear anymore" Sasuke had heard enough to figure out what happened. Releasing Suigetsu he made his way over to Karin...if she wasn't scared before she was scared shitless now as the Uchiha neared her.

Stepping backwards, she managed to trip over a fallen log. Feeling a shadow looming over her she hesitantly looked up knowing what she would find and there glaring down at her was an enraged Sasuke. She watched as he bent over and pried her off the ground shrieking as he did so.

"sasuke...please stop..." she sobbed out

Sasuke was never one to hit a woman but the urge to do it now was too strong. He somehow suppressed the urge to do so...instead he shoved her up against a tree...he could hear the sickening crack as her head collided with the trunk. Her glasses fell off and onto the ground in front of him. Stepping forward he crushed it with his foot as he leaned into her with his Sharingan already activated.

"you better hope I find her alive...if she's dead...you'd better make yourself scarce because if I find you I'm going to make your death a slow and painful one.." he whispered harshly into her ears.

Releasing her, he turned around and went back to where he left Suigetsu. After getting, the exact coordinates of where they may have left her he took a moment to shoot Karin a warning glare before he disappeared into the forest.

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A howling wind brushed past her as she slowly opened her eyes. Her heart was pounding and she didn't know why,it was as if she had been awakened from death, her body had grown rigid and she could feel the very essence of her life leaving her. She could barely move and she could feel her hand trembling beneath her as she tried to pull herself to a seating position.

Looking down she noted her body was adorned with filth from the hard surface of the forest floor, her clothes was awfully wrinkled and were stained crimson with blood. Fearing that she had been injured she painfully reached over and lifted up her tank to reveal that she had not been injured. It _must of been someone else's blood_...she thought.

Feeling her body let go she easily lay back down and brought a hand up to her face. That's when she notice something on her chest, looking down she noticed the seal.Now she knew why she felt so horrible, she immediately remembered what happened earlier on.

_There she was staring straight into those beautiful blue eyes and she felt her heart quicken a bit as she realised that he came for her. He never gave up on her...or Sasuke. She felt her body move forward only to be stopped by this searing pain in her legs as they instantly wobbled beneath her and giving away as she fell helplessly onto her knees. _

_That was when she felt someone grip her by her arms, looking up she noted it was the man Suigetsu. He was telling Naruto about some seal...before she realized what was happening she felt him spin her around...that was when she realised what he was talking about. He had somehow managed to place it on her...that was why she felt so weak._

Bur now looking down at her chest she reaslised that the seal he had placed was on her back..so how was it that now it was on her chest...

Fear gripped her when she remembered that she heard Yamato-Sensei telling them that there was two parts to the seal...so that must mean she had the second one on her chest.

Feeling the tears sting her eyes she reached down and tried to yank it away. But she was too weak to even do so.

Pulling her hands away in defeat she brought her hands around to her sides and slowly lifted herself up again to a sitting position. Realizing that she was near death she decided that she had to make sure that Kiba and Hinata were safe. She guessed that they were possibly the closest to her now and she needed to know before she died that they were alright. Her mind then drifted to Naruto...he had become consumed by the Kyuubi and she couldn't help him...he was too far off to be saved by her now...but she could at least help her other fallen comrade.

She remembered how Hinata's body had fallen limp against the tree. She knew by now the girl must be in severe pain...she had to help her...

Reaching towards the nearest tree she tried to pull herself...but to no avail. It was as if they had given up on her.

Trying once more to get up she fell right back down and landed harshly on her butt. She tried to suppress the tears that was threatening to fall she slumped back on the ground and pulled her legs up to her chest and began to cry silently.

Lifting her head up silently she brushed the tears away...she could sense that someone was nearby...

Perhaps one of her comrades or maybe one of Sasuke's men...either way she had to find out who it was...

Trying once more to get up she realised she couldn't...nothing had changed for the last few minutes except for the fact that she felt weaker.

Gritting her teeth she used her hands to maneuver threw the rough patches of the forest as she made her way towards the area where she felt the presence.

She had been dragging her limp body for only a few minutes before she realized that the sun was setting...it was goin to be dark soon...and then that was when she would be most vulnerable...

Looking around she suddenly saw the area in front of her distort that was when she realized that she may be blacking out...and for good this time..

Trying to pick up the pace she could feel the shadows engulfing her.

Reaching forward to grab the closest thing to steady her she felt her hand graze something..trying to grab onto it her hand slipped and she fell face first onto the ground crying out as she did so.

Pulling herself back up she wiped away the dirt that now powdered her face...bringing her hands up to wipe her eyes she noted there was something in front of her...

Rubbing at her eyes harshly she tried to make out what it was...she first noted the orange and black pants...bringing her eyes up she noted the black shirt and then her eyes fell on the face of her most beloved friend. His eyes were closed and he was covered in blood.

He had that serene look that people had when they were laid into their casket ready to be greeted by loved ones as they were gently lowered into the dark abyss.

Feeling her heart cry out in pain she dragged herself over to him as fast as she can falling along the way a few times.

When she finally reached over to him she pulled herself up between his legs as she brought her body closer to his. Leaning against his chest she listened for a heartbeat. Almost instantly she became overwhelmed when she heard that faint pitter patter of his heart slowly pumping blood to the rest of his body.

With her head still rested upon his chest she felt her body crumble as it slowly gave away...

Closing her eyes she felt herself slip away into nothingness...

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He had been searching for ten minutes before he came upon the spot where Suigetsu told him they left Sakura.

But instead of finding Sakura he found nothing...looking around wildly he began cursing Suigetsu and Karin...even though they weren't there it made him feel good if only for a brief moment..

Before he knew it his fist came to impact with the nearest tree splitting the wood with the force he threw behind it. Pulling his hand away he noted a few splinters had imbedded itself in his knuckles and it was already turning bluish from the impact.

Swearing he tried to pry out the splinters, as he grunted from the pain that was now shooting up and down his hands.

He let his eyes fall to the forest floor when he noted that someone had been there. The way the grass bent oddly suggested that someone lay there, bending down he let his fingers brush over the area.

Straightening himself up he realised he knew which direction she may have went.

Hurrying through the woods he looked up to see the sun enveloped by the darkness. Shit..nightfall had reached and he still hadn't found her...She didn't have long to live..he guessed that right now she was possibly passed out..prone to any sort of threat that came her way.

He became angry with himself ... he was the reason that she was in this peril...if he had just left her there back in the hotel all passed out her life wouldn't of been in any danger...he swore at himself for giving Suigetsu that damm seal...he should of known that the stupid man would mess it up...and karin...he would deal with her later...

But he had foolishly took her along with him...some part of him didn't want to let her go after seeing her...after they had...

Gripping his sword in one hand he saw his knuckles were turning white from how tight he held it...

Somehow the prospect of Sakura being in danger always got him all worked up...he had to save her..afterall she was..

She was...

He stopped cold in his tracks barely able to finish his thoughts...the scene in front of him came into full view as he tried to figure out if it was all an illusion or if it was real...if it was real then it was a cruel joke..

Only ten feet in front of him lay Sakura all beaten and torn...her fragile body lay limp against the man he once thought of his best friend.

He felt that sudden burst of anger as he took a step forward hoping that the scene before him hoping it would disappear...but it didn't

There she lay in the arms of another man...crouched in the fetal position as her head lay peacefully against his chest.

Resisting the urge to kill Naruto then and there he leant forward and pressed two of his fingers against her neck to feel for a pulse...satisfied that he felt one he leaned forward and placed his palm over the seal on her chest...

He saw the smoke emitted from the seal before he gently peeled it away from her. Reaching forward he gently spun her around taking off the other seal.

He then proceeded to pull her away from Naruto's grasp...reaching out towards her again she suddenly shifted and crouched closer to Naruto.

He did all he could to suppress his rage...leaning forward he pulled her out of his grasp and gently lifted her up bridal style before proceeding to turn his back away from Naruto.

"sakura-chan..." naruto whispered...

hearing him whisper her name made Sasuke grip her even tighter as he proceeded to walk away with Sakura in his arms. Releasing chakra to his feet he jumped onto the nearest branch. Turning around he whispered something onto the air before he turned back around and disappeared into the night...

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**special thanks to darkpetaltaki for her help in this chapter...she gave alot of insight on this chapter.**

**So here you go hope you guys like...**

**READ AND REVIEW **


	9. i've never stopped to think of you

Antidote chapter 9

**17 reviews for my last chapter!! how awesome is that!! sorry i took so long to do this chapter but i really didn't know how to do it! I had so many idea but when it comes to writing it down...that's where the problem start.**

**well so many of u liked that last chapter hopefully this one will not disappoint.**

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There were three of them, all creatures of the night as they moved stealthy through the forested areas. The last few rays of the evening sun lay veiled against the thick undergrowth of the forest as the clouds that were looming overhead now threatened a heavy downpour.

The night air was cold and eerily quiet but he could feel a heavy presence cloaking the areas around him as he quickened the pace whilst giving the signal for the others to follow suit. He felt the air condense around him as he came to an abrupt halt.

He had been to late...

Looking up at the night sky, he realized that he did not have long before the rains came and washed away everything that they had tried to achieve.

Removing himself from his perch, he landed quietly on the ground surveying the scene that lay before him.

Therein lay a gruesome battle ground...the ground was still damp from the freshly spilled blood not to mention the bodies that lay weren't even in a state of rigor yet which meant that they weren't killed too long ago. The murderer...or murderers could still be nearby.

Looking more closely at the bodies he noticed that they were clad in the notorious black cloak decorated with the trademark red and white clouds...which signified...akatsuki.

Kakashi didn't like the situation that presented itself...it deeply disturbed him to his core as he looked helplessly at the two broken bodies that lay before him. Feeling a movement behind him he turned his head slightly to see Sai looking suspiciously at the body that lay before him.

Walking up to stand to Sai's side he looked down at the body and gasped at what he saw..

He didn't recognize the person...but that wasn't really the problem...

The problem was that this person was barely distinguishable.

He was so badly torn apart...he lay in pieces as parts of his body lay spewn all over the lush evergreen...

Only an animal could of done this..

Barely able to look at it anymore Kakashi turned around and walked over to look at the other body. This one didn't look as bad as the previous. All he bore was a single stab wound that gored him straight through his heart.

Kneeling down he took a closer look at the man.

He didn't no much about the secret alliance but he did know enough to figure out these weren't akatsuki. He had come across this technique before...this was Uchiha Itachi's and Kisame's jutsu.

But what were they doing here?

"Naruto!" he whispered to himself

That's why they were here...had they come to take him once again?

Looking back down to the body he realised that there was scorch marks on the body as well. How had he missed that? That could only be one thing...only one thing that would cause an injury like that...

Chidori...

...there was only one person who could perform that same technique...and that person was...

_Sasuke..._

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Gripping Sakura tightly Sasuke moved effortlessly through the forest as he made his way back to his camp.

They hadn't gone far before Sasuke realized that Sakura was trembling violently in his arms, knowing fully well that he shouldn't move about with Sakura in that condition he decided to rest for the night.

They both needed it...

Looking down at the frail woman in his arms he felt a slight pang as he realised that maybe he shouldn't of removed her from her perch when he now found her. Sure enough he knew the dangers of moving someone when they had been physically traumatized. It only risked further injury, but something inside him didn't like the way she was curled up in the arms of Naruto.

There she lay against his chest...his arm resting on her waist whilst the other propped up against his leg.

...they looked so peaceful...It was if they had done that before

He knew Naruto held unrequited love for Sakura all those years ago...

But he had been gone so long...what if Naruto and Sakura??

Gripping the tiny girl until his knuckles were white he took a moment to glance at her...

Judging from what he saw he realised that Sakura no longer hated Naruto's touch...she used to hit him and yell obscenities every time he would enter her personal space.

Now she seemed to revel in his presence...the way her eyes had lit up when she saw his bunshin earlier...it was one he couldn't mistake

It was the look she used to give him all those years ago.

Shaking away the mental image, he quickly surveyed the areas around him trying to find a good spot to rest for the night. The heavens would sure be opening up soon and he needed a place where they could shelter even for a little while.

His eyes fell upon a tree that had its roots extending out of the ground, which provided a shelter underneath. It reminded him of the tree he woke up under in the chuunin exam after Orochimaru had bitten him. Sakura had taken care of him then...it was his turn now

Carefully edging his way towards the entrance he had to stoop a little to enter..he was after all too tall to just walk straight in.

He carefully set her on the ground as a low whimper barely escaped her lips. She was still unconscious but her body was still trembling. This concerned him deeply because he half expected her trembling to stop as he laid her down.

Taking a quick scan of her body he noted that a few visible scars marred her perfectly sculpted body but they were all superficial...looking over to her chest where the seal were he now noticed that there was a hole right in the centre of her tank where the seal were. Its edges were scorched; he figured she must have gotten it when he had removed the seal.

Reaching over he let the tip of his fingers graze at the edge of the burnt cloth before he peered down towards the flesh that lay beneath.

Furrowing his brows he noted that she suffered some slight second degree burns on her chest. Taking his hand away he shifted her to the side and noticed the same problem at the back. But this time when he touched the wound she screamed out...startled he almost dropped her...

Laying her back down he notice that she hadn't come to yet but she obviously felt the pain when he touched her. This meant that the seal on her back was the first one that was placed.

Looking down towards her shin guards he removed them one by one revealing a harsh red abrasion that surrounded her left ankle, the area around it was already starting to swell. She had somehow managed to twist it.

_Fuck...what did they do to you? Those fucking imbeciles!! ...what were they trying to accomplish by doing this to you? _

Carefully resting the palm of his hand on her swollen ankle he passed his hand over her injury as he let his hand travel further up her smooth creamy skin before it rested on her thigh. Her skin felt akin to petals as he glided his hand absently along her thighs before he realised what he had been doing and jerked his hand away.

Bringing himself to look at her once more, he swallowed hard before he proceeded to remove her tank. He needed to take a good look at her injures if he were to dress them. If he waited any longer, she could develop an infection.

Carefully pulling down the zipper of the tank, he soon freed her of it before he looked back at her scrutinizing the wound. .he felt his cheeks tinge slightly with that pinkish hue if only for a moment as an intense fervor coursed through his entire being...taking his eyes off of her quickly he tried averting his attention back to the task at hand

Turning around he reached into his sack before pulling out a tiny jar that held some ointment...his own special blend...

Opening up the tiny jar he rested it down next to him before turning his attention back to Sakura...

_Please Sakura...dont hate me for this..._

He remembered the clasp of her bra was to the front...yes...he remembered...how could he forget?

Reaching down he skillfully unclasped it with a flick of his experienced fingers as the tiny fabric fell loosely to the sides revealing her to him.

A little flustered he turned his head away briefly whilst using his hand to carefully cover her godly mounds with the wispy fabric leaving the clasp unhooked and only revealing her wound...

Satisfied that she was covered up even if just barely he turned back to face her as he carefully dipped his hand into the jar and began applying it to the wound on her chest careful not to press too hard.

After he finished applying it he tried to clip her bra back again...this he found to be a difficult. After trying unsuccessfully for at least a minute while using one hand he quickly became agitated and tried both hands...

_what the fuck? what the hell is this contraption?? god...it was easier to take the damm thing off...why is it so fucking hard to put it back o..._crack

Looking down helplessly at his hand he realised that he had unintentionally snapped the hook in two...half of it now lay in the palm of his hand...

_shit...I broke it...what now? _

Looking around for an alternative he spied his backpack...pulling it towards him he rummaged through the compartments before pulling out an old haori of his. It was the one he was wearing when he first came to Orochimaru. It didn't fit him anymore but he still carried it with him, he didn't no why he did that...but he still felt a certain attachment to it...it represented something he once was...something he had a hard time letting go of...

Looking down at his hands he realised that he was still holding on to the broken clasp. Throwing it aside, he took the shirt and covered her up with it before bending over and picking her up as gently as he could and turned her over on her stomach to rest on his lap.

Looking down at the half naked woman that now lay in his arms he couldn't help but feel...dirty...sure enough he had seen her this way before but the way her body made him feel had him in stitches...

He felt an intense heat coursing through him as he felt her womanly curves squeeze against his thigh through the thin fabric of his old haori...Swallowing the emotion he reached down and dipping his hand into the jar he moved closer to apply to ointment onto the wound...remembering how she reacted earlier when he touched her he hesitated for a second before his hand came to contact with her wound...

_Please...don't' wake up..._

Then as his hand became exposed to the wound her head pitched back as she let out a bloodcurdling scream. She began trashing around and he did all he could to stop her movement. The precarious position she was in scared her more than the pain she felt, terrified she grabbed onto the only piece of clothing that was covering her chest as she tried to get away from her attacker...

_Is he...Is he trying to rape me?..._

She didn't no who it was that was holding her down...her body felt weak as she continued trashing around. Looking around the area she noted her tank and..._gasp..._her bra...

"let me go...please let go of me...please..." she half sobbed out through her tears

"Sakura! Stop that...you're only making your injuries worse!"

..._Sasuke?..._

Turning her head round slightly her eyes came in contact with his...

Blinking through the tears she noted that he looked just as uncomfortable as she felt. His brows were furrowed...and.. he was a little red in the face..

Pushing herself up off him she felt a strong hand push her back down on his lap.

"sasuke...what are you...doi..."

"Sakura...your wounds need attending to...don't move yet.." he spoke out trying to reassure her...making her understand that he wasn't going to hurt or violate her.

"Sasuke...I can heal it myself...all i need is some rest..." she stated before trying to get up a second time only to have him push her back down again.

Somewhat irritated he spoke our "Sakura...you're way to weak to even heal a flesh wound. I'm not going to hurt you just lay still until I'm done"

Defeated she laid back down shifting uncomfortably in his lap. She knew that he was only trying to help her...if it was some other man who'd found her she wouldn't be as lucky.

But something was bothering her...should she ask him?? It felt strange asking him something like this but she needed to know.

"Um...Sasuke-kun..."

"what?" he spoke in that monotone voice of his

"um...what happened to my bra?"

_Shit..._

he had that coming...he was kind of hoping she wasn't going to inquire about it...dammit didn't she know that he...OBVIOUSLY...had to take it out to attend to her?

"It was bothersome..."

_Oh fuck? did I just say that? _

..."bothersome?" he heard her whisper

"I'm done..." he spoke out interrupting her train of thought.

Then as gently as he could he assisted her in removing her off of his lap...she was clutching tightly onto his old haori that he almost smiled at her attempt to cover up herself.

Sitting just a foot away from him Sakura looked around as she noted the clip to her bra on the grass next to her. Picking it up she examined it before giving him a questioning look.

This time he just looked at her without saying anything. She knew asking him about the broken clasp was going to get her nowhere.

"Um sasuke kun...can you turn around? She said as she looked down at the ground around him trying to avert her eyes away from his

"Why?" lifting her head up to face him her entire face turned beet red as she stammered out

"cause...i'm...I...have to...um...change..that's why..?

Still looking at him she noted the corners of his mouth twist upwards slightly before it went back to the usual grim expression.

Turning around he spoke out loud enough for her to hear..."its not like I've never seen it before."

When his back was turned to her she quickly pulled the haori up over her head before she turned her attention back to him.

_what does he mean by that?...does he remember..._

She felt her heart beat quicken a bit before he turned back around to face her. Pulling out a sandwich from his pack, he handed it to her and told her to eat.

Gripping the sandwich, she tore at the wrapping paper before sinking her teeth down into it. She didn't even realize that she was so hungry.

Just then she heard the pitter patter of the rain drops as it evened out to a heavy downpour. Looking out from her safe haven, she saw the onslaught getting heavier and heavier before she could no longer see much of the outside.

Shivering a little she turned her attention to Sasuke...should she say something? Fumbling with her thoughts she hadn't even realized that he was now staring at her rather intensely.

"how did you get that scar on your stomach?" startled she looked up at him. His eyes were burning into hers as she just stared at him dumbfounded..._did he just?.._

"well? where did you get it?" he spoke out irritated..._why is she looking at me like that?_

Breaking out from her trance her hand instinctively came to cover the part of her stomach where Sasori had stabbed her. She was surprised that he noticed the wound. It was almost completely healed...

"Sasori..from Akatsuki..when we fought..he he.."

"Akatsuki?" She heard him whisper through clenched teeth. Maybe she shouldn't of mentioned it..she knew the slightest mention of anything that had to do with Uchiha Itachi usually sent him into a rage.

Scooting closer to her he looked her into those sparkling emeralds before he spoke out.

"Show me...I want to see it.."

Before she knew what she was doing her hand made its way to the bottom of her shirt as she lifted it up revealing her toned stomach to him.

Reaching over instinctively he let his fingers touch the almost faded scar as he traced the mark that made its ways two and a half inches across her stomach.

_How could he let this happen to you?...he said he would always protect you...dammit...if only...i..._

Looking back up to her he said "where was Naruto? or Kakashi? how did they let this happen to you?"

"Why are you asking me that? Its not like you care about the answer...you dont' deserve to know it...you gave up that right a long time ago..." She bit out before she realised what she had said.

Shocked at her answer he removed his hand from her stomach and looked ar her...only now noticing that he was merely inches away from her...

Somehow against his better judgment his hand came around and gripping her at the back of her head pulled her closer and whispered harshly against her heated cheeks

"don't make me ask you twice...Sakura.."

With what little strength she had she pressed both of her hands against his chest and tried tp push him away only to realise the attempt was futile

"...why Sasuke? why do you want to know?"

Releasing his hold of her he brought his hand up to his face and with his thumb and forefinger he began massaging the space between his brows...

After a few minutes of him not saying anything Sakura shifted uncomfortably before speaking out

"Sasuke...kun?"

**"Looking back at me I see that I never really got it right I never stopped to think of you...I'm always wrapped up in things I cannot win..."**

He didn't know why it came out but it just did... when he looked into those eyes he couldn't help but _almost_ feel...r_egre_t...for everything he had done...

_Almost..._

But something inside of him yearned for the old Sakura...the one who yearned for him...the one who always annoyed him with her pesky advances...he could easily push that Sakura aside and wholeheartly ignore her...but the Sakura who sat in front of him right now was a different girl...a different woman...one who looked at him with pain in her eyes...a woman who pitied the man he has become...this woman made him feel..

Then before he knew it, his hand was resting at the back of her head once more before he pulled her into a deep kiss as he ravished her mouth with his own. He could feel the growing need in him suddenly burst through as he roughly pulled her closer dragging her deeper into the kiss.

He never needed someone as he needed her now. Drowning in her bliss only made him feel more aroused as he pulled away from her and began attacking her neck as he nibbled at the soft exposed flesh. Both need and want ebbing away at him as his hand slid away from her head to rest on the lower part of her back in an attempt to pull her closer.

The cold night air had her shivering against him as he felt her hardened nipples pressed up against his exposed flesh through the fabric of his haori. God...he loved how those made him feel.

Sakura couldn't believe that she was back in the same situation again. Not that she minded...but she always wanted Sasuke to kiss her because he wanted to...and not because of some...foreign influence

But she couldn't help but fall into him...he was an addiction...

_I have to be sure...that this time...this time..._

Pulling away from him slightly she looked him deep into those midnight orbs trying to figure out if this was really...him...

She noticed the frown on his handsome features when she pulled away. Her heart ached for ruining the perfect moment but she needed to be sure.

She first felt the stinging in her eyes before she realised that she allowed herself to tear up...pushing back the tears she lifted her head up to take a good look at man in front of her...

His handsome features were marred with a pinkish hue that seemed to cris-cross its way across his cheeks. Then looking down at his hand she noticed it tremble slightly before it moved to grip at his haori.

Her heart sank at this gesture...she knew what would happen next.

Unlike the trembling he felt before or the harsh chest pains all he felt was...a slight tingling feeling in his stomach as his heart started to accelerate..he knew this feeling and knew it well...it was excitement...the anticipation of something good to come

But first he needed to calm himself down...gripping at his shirt just over his heart he tried to lower the pace of heart rate...when he did this he noted that Sakura's face fell as her entire body began trembling...she looked almost..._broken.._

Stifling back all the emotion inside of her she realised that she needed to tell him everything

_..all this...is not real...what he's was doing right now isn't a result of how he feels...all this is because of..._

The tears were flowing freely now as her entire body rocked with emotion as she crumpled into her self as she pressed both hands over her face in an attempt to prevent him from seeing her this way as she wallowed in her grief.

She first felt the warmth against her cold flesh as she realised that his hand was brushed up against hers. Daring not to look at him, she kept her face covered.

Looking down at the frail woman he instinctively reached down and removed one of her hands that was now covering her face.

"Sakura...what's wrong? did I do something? Something that I shouldn't of done?" He inquired...looking into those hypnotic emerald orbs of hers

Then carefully bringing a hand to her face he cupped it with his right hand and gave her a questioning look.

Looking at her tear stained face made him feel guilty. He had no idea that she would of reacted this way. Releasing her from his hold he watched as she carefully wiped it all away.

"sak.."

"Sasuke-kun...i need to tell you something.." she whispered

"No...you need your rest..you can tell me later" he told her before releasing his hold of her.

"But..Sasuke-kun..It's about last"

"No Sakura! whatever it is can wait till morning. Don't be so annoying go to sleep" somehow he didn't want her to bring up the events of the past night. It would only stir up dormant feelings within him..and he knew he couldn't deal with all of that right now. So he took the easy way out and went back to being cold to her...

Shifting to his side he laid down and rested his head on his arm as he lay facing the entrance to their little 'haven' choosing to ignore the woman next to him. Sensing movement next to him he realised that she had given up and decided to rest up for the night.

Turning around to face her he realised that she lay with her back to him. Staring at the familiar red and white Uchiha symbol at the back of the shirt she was wearing gave him a feeling of nostalgia. Absently reaching out to touch the symbol he realised that she was shivering from the cold as her entire body bore goose bumps. Sitting up he took a quick scan of her scantily clad body before wondering why all female ninjas wear so little at all.

Realising that he didn't have a sleeping bag he thought of the next best thing. Shifting himself closer he laid back down and using one of his hands he wrapped it around her and pulled her up against his chest.

She struggled a bit at his brazen move but soon settled down after he whispered into her neck in an attempt to calm her nerves.

This seemed to warm her up a bit before her trembling stopped and she slipped into a deep slumber.

Laying there listening to rain and the heavy clasp of thunder only made him clutch at the tiny woman. It wasn't that he was afraid..but somehow holding her made him feel that he was needed once more by someone. To think that if he hadn't found her when he did she would be dead right now..her corpse would be lying there for someone to find. It enraged him that he allowed things to get this far. Tomorrow he would deal with that...but there was one thing he didn't understand...what could of possessed him to kiss her the way he did...he knew he wanted to but he could never admit it too himself...

Soon enough the rains drowned out his thoughts and all that was left was for him to succumb to sleep as he felt his eyelids grow heavy as he too slipped away into a deep sleep.

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Deep in the forest three figures remained cloaked under a makeshift tent...the rains had come down unexpectedly forcing them to retire to their campsite but not without that which they came for.

Looking around the smallest of the three glanced at the at the five bodies that lay immovable at the back.

"well...what are we going to do now?" she whispered to the other two.

"all we can do is wait..."

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**The part of the chapter in bold is from the song cold by crossfade…its such an awesome song….its what inspired me to write this story ..to me the song really describes Sasuke and sakura's relationship…go check it out if you never heard of it before.**

**I plan to incorporate more verses of the song in my upcoming chapters.**

**before i do my nxt chapter i think that i'm going to look at my previous chapters and redo a a bit of one and seven...before i write chapter ten...**

**this chap was supposed to be longer but i'm getting some serious conflict so i decided to post what i have so far.**

**chapter nine finished...**

**READ AND REVIEW...its well appreciated!!**


	10. confrontation

**YAY chapter 10 is finally here..Sorry it took so long but I had exams and I got a new job that requires at least some attention...don't' want to be fired!**

**So onto chapter 10...**

**Hope u like it plz review...and I'm really glad the last chappie wasn't a disappointment..it took real long to write...i hope this one will fare just as well...**

**ENJOY!!!**

* * *

**IN KONOHA...yesterday...**

"Tsunade...Tsunade-same...are you alright? you haven't even touched your sake..." Shizune inquired...she's never seen her this way before. Something was definitely wrong..

There wasn't much that disturbed the current Hokage but whatever the situation was it was bad enough for her to neglect her evening ritual. Tsunade sat with her back to her most trusted assistant...looking out towards the village that lay before her..a blank expression on her face. She didn't even hear her come in...

Shizune shifted uncomfortably back and forth before taking a step towards her desk. Looking down at the wooden stand she gasped at what she saw. There were no papers that lay strewn...by some miracle Tusnade had completed her paperwork and they were all neatly piled in one heap beside her desk.

_Did she clean up in here???_

Looking around she took in the surroundings...everything had been wiped clean...down to the dusty windows that Tsunade had refused to let her do a few days ago. Everything was in order...the way things were supposed to be...in a Hokage's office...But Tsunade was no ordinary Hokage...she was functionally disorganised...and that's what made her unique...she needed her mess she needed her evening sake...she needed to have Shizune yell at her for not doing her paperwork...

"..Tsunade...same?"

Snapping out of her trance the Hokage brought both hands up to her head before gently massaging her temples.

"What is it...shizune?" it was barely audible but her assistant caught it anyway.

Turning to face her assistant she noted the worried expression on her face...it was no use...she couldn't hide it anymore...

Looking down at her hands she noticed that they had become white...a result of her..._fear_...she had been silently been gripping onto the fabric that lay in her lap.

"He's in trouble Shizune...I know it...I shouldn't of let him go...I knew the risk...but I still let him go..."

Looking down at the shirt in Tsunade's hands she gasped "you couldn't mean..."

"I..i've been having a bad feeling...Shizune...something isn't right..."

Walking over to her Shizune bent forward and plucked the shirt from her hands. She couldn't bear to see her this way.

"then you know what you have to do...Hokage-sama" she replied...giving herself a stern demeanor...

Looking up at her assistant she realized that she was right...she was the Hokage dammit!! She had no time to wallow...she had to act...and fast...

Getting up from her seat she quickly jumped up and ran out the door...she knew what she had to do.

"you understand your orders?" she asked the group of skilled shinobi who stood before her.

"Hai...Hokage-sama"

"Good...you leave now"

* * *

**Present...**

He laid on his back in perfect darkness and listened to the rhythmic beating of his cold heart. His body had been drained and he needed his rest in order to recuperate... but his mind stayed alert and refused to give him rest. Signing he turned his head round to gaze at the sleeping woman next to him.

It had been a long night...he wasn't able to get much sleep...every time he closed his eyes he felt himself slowly retreating to the darkest corners of his mind...that dark abyss that awaits him and slowly ebbs away at his humanity...dragging him deeper and deeper into the cavernous pit...he knew not of how long he felt this way...even after so long Itachi's words still haunted him...taunting him day and night. he could not rest until his lifelong mission has been completed...

Itachi was the reason for his madness...

But somehow this woman lying next to him made him feel not as bitter as he used to... she's somehow made him retreat from his own personal hell and back into the light...even if the rays were still too harsh...

She enthused him...even if just barely...

Looking at her now he could finally admit at least to himself his reasons for leaving Konoha wasn't solely based on him wanting power...

He left for many reasons...

...silently...for a very long time he had hoped that he would never see her again...with her came the baggage he had left behind...suddenly weighing him down...

He didn't like what he had become but he preferred it this way...at least this way he can attain his goal...he knew what he would be giving up when he left Konoha but it was a price to pay and he paid it gladly...or so he thought...

She had brought with her his past...and stirred within him emotions that lay dormant for many years...

...something that he hoped would never awaken again...it was what made him _**weak**_...

...looking at her he realized that the years had been kind...she had blossomed into..._a beautiful woman..._

There was only two paths to his life...one was Konoha and team seven the other was his revenge...he knew from the beginning he only had one choice and he made that decision with a heavy heart...but he held no regrets...

Then there was..._Sakura..._

...she's the promise of new life...one beyond Itachi...

A possible path that he could of chosen...she gave him that option the night he left when she expressed herself to him...

At that time he really couldn't comprehend his feelings towards her or Naruto...so he thought it best to severe those bonds...

Knowing he couldn't explain himself to her he left that night with only a few parting words...

Somehow..looking at her was a painful reminder of his clan...she would never know it but a single cherry blossom once held a lot of meaning to his slain clan. Their clan was the protectors of Konoha...the elite force...so to them the blossom signified the life of a warrior...the transience of their lives. He never did like that when he finally understood what it was...he wanted to be someone in life...he wanted to leave a mark on this world...become a great man...but then that fateful day came when he had lost all his hopes and his dreams...and turned him into the man he is today...just like the blossom he would only bloom for a short time...

It was only now that he realized why so many ninja's in his clan would carry a single fallen cherry blossom with them...tucked neatly into their vest before a mission.

The memory was vague but he did remember his grandmother mentioning it to him one day after he saw her gave a single blossom to his grandfather.

_**Flashback**_

_"...why did you just gave grandpa a pink sakura blossom?" the inquisitive little boy asked his grandmother as he looked fixedly at her with those wide onyx eyes eagerly awaiting the answer._

_Smiling at her little grandson, she couldn't help but laugh a bit before leaning over and cupping his chin with her hand. The little ones are always curious.._

_"It symbolizes the beauty and ephemerality of nature my dear sasuke...we believe that the souls of downed warriors are reincarnated in the blossoms..."_

_**End of Flashback**_

Shoving the memory aside, he removed the hand that was protectively covering Sakura to stifle a yawn before sitting up. Looking around he noted that it was still dark out yet...he had only slept for a few hours or so he guessed. He entire body felt numb...he needed to find his way to the nearest town..maybe then he might be able to get some rest...and get both Itachi and Sakura out of his mind.

He sat there for about an hour before he reached over and shook Sakura awake. He could of easily woken her up earlier but it was just too hard to wake her up...For the past hour that he was awake he saw that every couple of minutes she would stir and whisper onto the cold mornings air.. He listened carefully and only caught a few of her sleepy mumblings...but it was enough to know that for the past years that he had been gone she had been through a lot...

...also...there was one constant in her mumblings...Naruto...

It struck a cord in him at the way she whispered Naruto' name and the way her lips would curl into a soft smile as she giggled softly in her sleep. He also heard her mention his name...he didn't catch much of what she was saying about himself but the way her bottom lip quivered at the mention of his name surely wasn't a good sign.

Feeling her stir under his hand he quickly removed it as she slowly opened her eyes.

Blinking awake everything was a blur as she half expected to wake up in her room cuddled quite snug in her plush blanket her mom had bought her for her last birthday. Instead she found herself on a cold harsh ground with nothing covering her except a haori. It was then that everything hit her...looking up at those cold eyes brought her back...looking at him she understood his meaning for waking her.

Sitting up quietly she couldn't help but wince at the pain...her entire body was throbbing as she tired to will it away..

Sasuke watched as Sakura tried to get up...he could see that it was a difficult task for her...he knew that her body would still be weak after her ordeal...after all she was within inches from her death...

Her left hand that she was using for support trembled violently beneath her as she pushed herself to a sitting position. He found himself staring at her as he made no attempt to help her...

Satisfied that she was up he removed himself from his position and mentioned to her that he was going to get something for them to eat...and she should stay there..

Shaking her head she motioned to him that she understood as she saw him disappear into the darkness.

Somehow being alone right now frightened her more than anything did. She didn't like the idea sitting here all vulnerable...she knew the feeling and knew it well... it was one emotion that she could do without..

She wrapped her arms protectively around herself as she tried to warm herself up...it was still dark out so she peered around nervously trying to catch a hint of Sasuke when he returned.

It was then she noticed her fallen piece of garment that still lay haphazardly on the cold mossy floor.

Seeing her bra lying there served as a reminder as to what happened last night...she couldn't believe that it happened again...and that this time was no different...that the girl had drugged him _**again**_ and once _**again**_ she was the one that had to have her heart broken once more..

Reaching out she let her fingers graze the wispy fabric as she gingerly picked it up and the broken clasp before she shoved it into Sasuke's pack. She felt slightly embarrassed over the whole situation, but she was after all grateful for what he had done for her..if he hadn't done what he did she would of been dead.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes she looked out towards the area he disappeared too.

_What's taking him so long?..._

Still clutching his bag she instinctively ran her fingers along the Uchiha symbol that was neatly sewn onto the bag. Then before she knew, she was soon emptying the contents onto the floor before examining each item that fell out.

There was nothing special that she found..._kunais...exploding notes...rope...wait what's that??_

Something had fallen out onto the grass below her and was now neatly embedded between two stones. Reaching down she pulled it out...folded neatly in her hand was a tiny envelope... with a quick survey of her surroundings to make sure she was alone...having Sasuke catch her going through his personal stuff wasn't going to be pretty.

Satisfied she quickly opened up the envelope and peered inside.

In It lay a tiny wallet sized photograph of a young beautiful woman...she was a captivating beauty and sakura could help it but stare in awe at the picture...

Sensing movement behind her she quickly shoved all the items back into his pack...before pocketing the tiny photograph.

Whirling around to face Sasuke she gasped at what she saw...

Staring into the eyes of the man who faced her she couldn't help but swallow hard as realization hit her...

_oh god_...she was in trouble now...

* * *

Sakura crouched back as she held onto the bag with a trembling hand. She knew that no matter what happened she couldn't fight. Her body was still almost completely drained of Chakra and her movements were limited because of it.

Even though she had put some distance between him and herself he still managed to reach out and grab the bag that she was holding onto so dearly.

Realizing that she was caught she reached out and quickly grabbed onto his wrist and held on fast with what little strength she had.

She knew it was her only option as she saw daggers in his eyes

Shrugging her off easily he reached inside her hideout and yanked her out and with one swift motion and dropped her onto the wet floor as she shrieked out as she landed.

Using her hands she quickly fought back the blinding pain as she pushed herself off the ground and swung at him connecting him in his jaw as it made a sickening crack.

Stumbling forward she made another attempt, only to have her efforts blocked as he quickly recovered and stopped her strike in mid air.

Fear gripped her as she stared into those malicious empty holes grimacing at the way they had sunken into his head.

.."Aw come on Suigetsu...you can't have all the fun.."

Without even realizing that someone else was present, she turned towards the direction it came from.

Sakura could not help but feel the rage burning inside her as her eyes landed on the source of her newfound hatred.

Karin..

Sauntering over to him Karin couldn't help but smile as she looked at the woman in front of her. Sure enough she was disappointed that she was still alive...but it gave her the opportunity to finish what she had started..she wanted her death to be a painful one...and she was sure to get away with it...especially with Sasuke not being around

to see her do it.

Then to her disappointment, she saw Suigetsu release the girl as he nervously ran a hand through his hair.

"Suigetsu? What the fuck!? Why did you let her go?"

It was too early to be dealing with him and his foolishness...god she had already spent four freaking hours huddled under a makeshift tent with these two losers trying to wait out the heavy rains.

And to make matters worse was that she was afraid to fall asleep lest one of the two psycho's with her decided to slit her throat..she wouldn't put anything pass Suigetsu...and well Juugo...you never know what might trip him off...

Right now she was running on pure adrenaline...she was lucky enough to pick up the trail of both Sasuke and the girl...granted how tired she was.

She knew that he had found her after she sensed both of their chakra signatures...but she waited until the opportune time to strike because she knew that Saskue lad left her alone and vulnerable.

Glancing at the two in front of her she made her way over to Sakura as she went in for the kill. She could no longer see fear in her eyes..it was now replaced by something sinister as she saw a flicker in the girls eyes and she could of sworn she saw a shadow move across the girl's round jade orbs...

The hairs on the back of her neck started to prickle as she felt a cold sensation suddenly wash over her...

Shaking it away, she stopped abruptly a few mere feet away from her. …trying to survey her opponent.

The girl was facing her now and she could see her clenching and unclenching her fists...she was ready to fight...

Taking a quick one over of the girl she noted that there was something strange with her...she could of sworn that every time the girl clenched her fists she saw a faint blue shock wave emanating from the veins on her hands...and when she unclenched it would disappear...It was a little unnerving for Karin but she knew that she had the upper hand.

Shrugging the feeling off Karin faced her opponent.

The two women stepped forward ready to engage in battle...

"What's going on here?"

Stopping halfway both women snapped their heads around to see Sasuke...the source of both their lust standing next to Juugo with arms crossed.

He seemed none too pleased...

Relaxing a bit Sakura breathed in a sign of relief as she stared at the man in front of her...half expecting to see Karin run up to him and throw herself at him she was surprised to see that the woman stayed rooted in place as she mumbled out 'nothing'.

Then before she knew it her legs gave away beneath her as she collapsed onto her knees on the cold floor. The pain was instant as she clenched her teeth and tried to hold it all back. Leaning forward she placed both hands onto the ground and took in a deep breath as she felt the pain slowly subside.

Suddenly feeling a presence she turned her head slightly as she noted that Sasuke was now next to her. Turning in his direction she let her eyes fall on his feet before she let them travel up and settle on his face. Her eyes came in contact with his as she watched him slowly stoop to her side...all the while his eyes never leaving her own.

Now comfortably resting on both feet he extended out a hand towards her...both locked in a never ending trance.

She felt her cheeks tinge with color as she reached out him...only to realize that he was not offering a helping hand. Looking down at his outstretched hand she saw in it he held a few berries.

"Eat.." he demanded as he held it out to her...breaking their moment.

But instead of taking it from him all all she did was stare at the fruit in his hands as she made no attempt to take it.

Irritated Sasuke repeated himself…… then after a couple of seconds without her making a move one way or the other he instinctively reached out and took her hand and placed the berries in it...it was little but is was all he could find...

Not wanting the other three to think he'd gotten soft he quickly stood up and walked away from the girl.

Sakura looked down at the berries in her hand before she brought it up to her nose and took a quick whiff at it before devouring them all in one gulp. Its not like she didn't trust Sasuke but she still needed to know if the berries were contaminated...

It did nothing to satisfy her hunger but it did help her a bit as she felt some of her strength returning to her as she pushed herself up off the ground...and dusted off some of the dried caked up mud that was on her leg.

Karin looked on as the situation unfolded right before her eyes...when she saw the girl fall to her knees she felt a moment of victory before her eyes landed on that familiar family crest that was neatly embroidered onto the back of the girls clothing. At first she thought that her mind was playing tricks on her but when she took a second look it was clear. It was indeed the Uchiha insignia...

Upon closer inspection of the haori she realized that it was Sasuke's...his old haori the one he used to wear all those years ago...

_oh god...is the little whore not wearing a bra??_

She couldn't believe it...she had to make sure...stepping closer Karin took another look...as the girl before her stood up and straightened herself out she saw the haori press itself momentarily against her chest...pulling itself taut against her revealing her constricted hardened nipples as it pressed itself up against the haori.

Gasping loudly Karin quickly covered her mouth before turning away from the girl. She could suddenly hear the sound of her heart beat loudly as it pounded harshly against her ears in an attempt to drown out her thoughts of what might have happened last night.

_Only a few hours...I was gone only a few hours...he couldn't have...they couldn't have..how?how?...arghhhhhhhh_

Turning around slowly she caught Suigetsu looking at her suspiciously, as she quickly avoided his glare lest he make some sadistic remark to her. She decided to keep quiet for now...but that doesn't mean she's going to let this girl get away from her...

Keeping her eye on the girl she watched as the she lumbered over to Sasuke and spoke a few words to him before turning her back to him and disappearing into the woods. Confused she watched as the girl slip away into the woods. …Alone...

Gathering as much courage as she could Karin walked over to Sasuke

"what's going on here? did you let her go?" she inquired whilst trying not to sound too hopeful.

"No"

"What? Then where did she go?" she shrieked out before realizing the tone in her voice

Ignoring her Sasuke moved to walk away only to realize that she was now holding on to his arm. Pulling away from her he shot her an angry glare then walked away.

Insulted Karin looked in the direction Sakura went and followed her without a word to anyone else. If she wanted to know what was going on she needed to ask the girl herself...sakura was is it? yes...she needed to have a little talk with Sakura...

* * *

She had been walking for about five minutes before she stopped to rest by a large oak that was brilliantly hovering above her seeming to stretch out far beyond what she could see at this early hour.

Leaning against the tree, she rested her head back before letting out a brief sigh. She had gotten herself into a lot of trouble from the moment she decided to leave everyone behind to pursue Sasuke. She was glad that she did find him...but he was not the boy she once knew.

The one who stood before her now was only a mere mask of _former _love. The years had changed him immensely...even though she could still sense that a few fragments of his former self were alive she could see that his passion for murder had taken control and was now driving him towards his lifelong ambition. If she let this happen then he would be lost to her altogether...because in the end if he do succeed...then what? There would be no more meaning to his life...

Would he come back to Konoha then??no...she already knew the answer...In her heart she never saw him returning...

Looking down at the haori she was wearing she gripped the front of it tightly right over her heart. She could feel it beating through the fabric.._whump whump whump..._even now she could still smell him on the haori and on herself...

He had that natural musky scent that instantly grabbed her in a fierce clench never wanting to let go. She hungered still for him but she knew that he didn't feel the same way about her. Pulling the shirt up a bit to her nose she took in a deep breath before she melted away and slipped away into her world where his hot savory mouth would come crashing down on her's again.

The sound of running water snapped her out of her trance before she realized that she didn't have long before she had to return. She'd promised him that she would be back in a few minutes. All she had to do was find a place to wash herself off a bit...she had remembered that she had seen a waterhole not too far away from where they were. Even though she had been pretty much out of it she was getting back bits and pieces of her memory of what happened after she had passed out the first time.

Dragging herself up and away from the tree, she quickly made her way to the spot stumbling every few feet. Reaching the spot, she quickly dropped to her knees and instantly reached out and splashed some of it on her face. The cold water stung her face harshly as she felt refreshed and... clean for the first time in awhile...she couldn't quite remember the last time she took a bath..

Sensing someone behind her, she got up as fast as she could but before she could turn around, she felt someone press against her back before her entire body lunged forward into the cold icy water.

* * *

Karin huffed her way through the woods right behind the pink haired wonder...staying a good distance away from her to make sure that the girl did not sense her presence. All the while, she could not help but wonder what Sasuke saw in her.

She had pink hair and the ugliest pair of eyes she had ever seen...they were ghoulish to her and seem to stick out even more so than her bright pink locks.

If Sasuke wanted a real woman who didn't look like some made up chi doll he would definitely choose her over...sakura...

She of course had the skin as soft as silk and her skin was the pale creamy shade of a true redhead...she was what a real woman was.

Almost lost in her rant she almost made herself known to the girl who was now resting beside a tree. Quickly concealing herself she watched the girl huddle herself deeper into Sasuke's' shirt.

Watching her closely she tried to gather what might of happened last night..and by the way the girl was acting she was sure that something had occured.

Just then, the girl moved away from the tree and made her way to a waterhole.

Not being able to hide her feelings towards her anymore Karin made a beeline towards the girl and before she knew it...

All her skills as a ninja was just thrown aside as she resorted to mere school yard violence...reaching out with both hands...Karin pushed her...

The sound of the water making a splash was like music to her ears as she watched the girl catch herself halfway down her descent into the water. Buried up to her knees the girl straightened herself out before she slowly turned around to face Karin.

"Bitch" was all Karin heard her whisper before she brought her eyes up to meet Karin's.

"Now now...you are not in the condition to be calling people names, now are we?"

Straightening herself out Sakura faced Karin on...stepping out of the water and right up to Karin she stood a mere feet away from her before crossing her arms over her chest.

"hmm...then how about whore?" Sakura snapped back at her

Shocked at Sakura's brazen move Karin took a brief moment to make her reply.

"you of all people shouldn't be calling other people whores...after all, we know who is the true whore between us" Karin said before gesturing to Sakura's bosom.

Instinctively Sakura's hand went to her bosom area..she hadn't realized that the shirt was so thin...but she now understood the meaning behind Karin bloodlust this morning. Wanting to taunt her a bit Sakura let her hand linger over her breast a bit before frowning a bit

"oh..this??...hmm Sasuke's so into _i__**t**_ that he forgets his own strength sometimes...i mean with ripping off my bra and all that."

Smirking a little Sakura watched as the smile on Karin's face melted away as her jaw dropped in astonishment at Sakura's words.

"You're...lying.." she stammered

Visibly noting Karin's disappointment Sakura decided to kick it up a notch.

Pouting a little she brought a hand up to her chin "hmm...wonder where it went?? I woke up this morning and had no idea where that darn thing disappeared too...think Sasuke took it?"

Karin shifted uncomfortably before taking off her glasses and wiping it on the edge of her shirt before putting them back on.

"stop lying you dirty whore...as if Sasuke would ever touch you of his own will"

Sakura couldn't believe what she said...storming forward she in turn shoved Karin with all her strength as the girl stumbled backwards and landed square on her butt.

Scrambling to get up Sakura watched on as the girl rose to her feet...pulling out a Kunai she held it threateningly towards Sakura.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Sakura told the girl

"What? are you scared? You can't tell me what to do"

"Scared? of you?? a pathetic woman who has to resort to drugging a man so that he can sleep with you?"

Shocked Karin lowered her Kunai...

"what??..I would never.."

"Save it...I no what _you_ did Karin...don't even try to lie your way through this. You're lucky I haven't told Sasuke about it yet..but don't have your hopes up cause i will tell him..and soon.."

"what makes you think he's going to believe you?"

"Cause no matter what Sasuke will trust whatever I say to him..why do you think he brought me along?"

"you..you don't belong here...with us...with hebi...leave now...I will just tell Sasuke that you escaped...GO!!"

It was all Sakura could do but laugh...

Walking up to Karin she sidestepped her before stopping abruptly at Karin's side...

"No Karin I'm not going anywhere...you leave...if you want to live...cause when he finds out...I'd hate to be you"

Turning her head slightly towards Sakura's direction Karin spoke through clenched teeth

"What makes you think I won't kill you now?...Sakura.."

"Cause we both know...if you do that..your death will come sooner.." and with those final parting words Sakura walked away from Karin.

* * *

Karin stood there for a few seconds that seemed to drag on forever...trying her best to weigh her options...

Finally deciding about what course to take she turned heel and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

* * *

Almost reaching the clearing where Sasuke and the others were Sakura paused for a brief moment before turning around. There standing right behind her was Karin with her arms crossed across her chest.

"I'm not going anywhere.." she spoke through clenched teeth

"If you were going to tell him your lies you would have already...and my guess is that he's not going to believe you..cause face it...you're the only one who's been alone with him..and the only one who would of gotten the opportunity to...drug him...so go ahead, tell him...it'll save me the time to kill you."

And with that Karin shoved her way past Sakura...stopping just a moment to whisper

"This...is war"

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* * *

**YAY..CHAPTER 10 **

**I know its been so long since i updated...2 months? crap...somehow i haven't been getting the time...but I'm gonna start working on the next chapter right away...**

**So question: Do you think Sasuke should find out about Karin's dirty little deed next chapter? And what should his reaction be??? **

**I really want your input..i'm wondering how to put it in..i have a few ideas how to write it but I will still like to know what you guys think...also any juicy ideas for me??**

**Next chapter: A Sasuke sakura confrontation...its hopefully gonna be worth it...**

**READ AND REVIEW...ITS THE BEST PART TO ANY FANFIC!!! **


	11. revelation

**Please if you notice any errors or there are areas in this chappie that had you going WTF let me no **

**chapter 11**

* * *

The wind picked up and was now whistling harshly against her ears as she drew the cloak over her head. Gripping it a little over her lips she sought to conceal her identity as was instructed as she made her way through the little town. Even though it was roughly six in the morning there were many villagers scurrying about the village as they ever so often bumped into her and her companions. 

Peering out from under her cloak she kept her eye trained on Karin as they blended in with the crowd.

They had only just fifteen minutes ago reached the outskirts of the village.

Falling into line with Suigetsu she made her way along the street with her head low as they finally reached their destination point.

Looking up she noted that this was undoubtly the most luxiourous inn in the village. She couldn't help but wonder why Sasuke had chosen such a place to stay. Not that she was complaining afterall this place looked better than anywhere she had ever been.

Reaching out with her right hand she quickly tugged back a piece of telltale pink hair that had made its way out from under her cloak. Struggling against the wind she quickly tucked it behind her ear but to no avail as it came loose once more.

"Leave it alone, sakura"

With her hand frozen in mid -air she quickly looked up to see Sasuke staring at her.

Almost immediately she felt her cheeks sting as she knew that familiar pink color was now making its way accross her cheeks. Even now she still blushed everytime he said her name.

"but, i thought you said.." she whisperd questioningly as she tilted her head slightly to the side

"never mind that, you wouldn't need to hide your identity in here" he said as he quickly turned his back to her and walked inside.

Follwing him she stepped inside hesitantly, stopping just short of the door.

"what's the matter?"

Peering over her shoulder her eyes came in contact with Suigetsu.

"nothing" she said as she stepped in behind him.

Stepping inside she let her eyes wander to where Sasuke was. Locating him she noted him leaning slightly over the welcome desk counter as he spoke to one of the attendants in a hushed tone. She watched as the attendant handed him something...taking it he gestured to Suigetsu who came over and took the item from his hand.

With her eyes still on him she noted that Suigetsu was now making a beeline towards her.

Stretching his hand out towards her she noted the key in his hand and gave him a questioning look before reaching over and taking it from him

"you get your own room...we all do..." and with that he walked away from her and down the hall in the direction of his own room.

Looking at the key in her hand she saw the number seven. Fisting it she closed her eyes briefly as all the memories associated with that particular number came flooding back to her. Oh how she craved for things to be as they were back then. She even longed for Naruto's constant bickering. She had been gone for two days now and she only now realised how much she missed him.

Instinctively reaching down to her weapons pouch she let her fingers dwell idly at the clip,somehow she hadn't thought about _it_ for the last couple of days...she had completely forgotten about its existence until now.

She had to make a decision and she needed to make it soon. He wasn't going to wait for her forever...

Feeling someone brush past her she quickly jerked her and away from the pouch...lifting her head up she saw Sasuke walk down the hallway with Karin following closely behind.

Watching them closely she too made her way down the hallway...she had to tell Sasuke about Karin and soon...but not right away...right now she was in desperate need of a bath...

Stopping just short of her door she realised that she was further away from Sasuke's room than Karin. Karin was just a few doors down from her's.

_Shit..._

She was hoping that she would of been closer to him...keeping her eye trained on him she watched him proceed up a stairwell and out of her sight. At least Karin wasn't in the room next to him.

Sighing she turned the key in the lock and slid the door open. Stepping inside she was just about to close the door...she had it almost all the way before she heard a faint voice call out to her.

Stopping short she slid the door halfway open and looked out...there on the other end stood a girl no older than herself.

"yes?"

"Miss...here...this..this is for you" the girl replied as she handed her a neat pile of clothes.

Opeing the door wider she looked questionly at the girl then at the clothing.

Shifting her weight around the girl did everything she could to avoid her eyes. Upon closer inspection she could see that the girl seemed to be a bit embarassed.

"for me?..are you sure?"

"Sasuke...he...he told us to get these for you..I...I hope its you size..."

"oh...arigato" she said as she gratefully accepted the clothes from the girl.

Bowing the girl took here leave as she scurried away down the hall and out of view. Turning around sakura quickly shut her door.

Hurrying over to her bed she sat down and looked over each piece. Included in the set was a tiny silk navy blue robe with the cutest pink flowers that ran its way along the side of a baby pink border.

Gasping she held it close to her as she marveled at the intricate working. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Putting it aside she pulled out a tiny navy blue pair of undies and bra to match.

_Oh this is embarassing...no wonder the girl seemed a little uncomfortable..._

...she thought as she imagined Sasuke instructing the girl to get them for her..That must of been awkard for both parties...Giggling she set it down next to the robe.

Last but not least the last item of clothing was a tank. Frowing she put it aside...she was kind of hoping that he was going to let her keep the haori she was wearing..

She loved the way the material felt against her skin...and somehow having it made her feel closer to him.

Getting up she proceeded to the bathroom pulling off each piece of clothing in the process. When she finally did reach the shower she was completetly naked as she stepped inside and pulled the shower curtain.

Turning the tap she let the water beat down hard against her body, somehow it did not dull the physical pain she was feeling. The more the water assaulted her body the more pain she felt. Gritting her teeth she took on the onslaught...

She knew not of how long she stayed in the shower but when she was finally done she felt more refreshed than she had ever been in her entire life.

Wrapping herself in her towel she made her way over to her bed, sitting down on the edge she quickly toweled off her hair.

_Now should be a good time to have a talk with Sasuke_...she thought as she quickly threw on some clothing..

Getting up she made her way over to the door, sliding it open she peeked out. Satisfied that no one was in the hallway and Karin's door was closed she quickly stepped out and made her way quietly down the hallway and up the staircase.

* * *

Karin was now wearing a hole in the floor, she had been pacing back and forth for the past twenty minutes now. That damm girl was going to be the death of her if she did not think fast. 

She ran through every possible scenario in her mind...and none seemed favorable to her. Maybe, maybe she should try and talk to Sasuke...maybe he would listen to what she had to say...yes she needed to get him over to her side...before that little tramp get her claws into him.

Yes she would talk to him...afterall Sasuke was a reasonable man...

Walking up to her door she stopped...putting her head against it she took a few long drawn breaths. She could feel her entire body trembling.

_slow...just breathe...slowly...calm yourself down Karin...just breathe.._

Sasuke would easily be able to spot her lying...

Moving away from the door she turned her back to it and made her way to the bathroom. Walking over to the sink she took off her glasses and rested it on the ledge then

opening the valve with one hand she let the water run a bit before leaning down and with both hands she gathered the liquid and splashed it over her face.

_what the??_

Jerking her head up she felt the pain before she heard the crash.

Shaking she held her hand up to her face...all she could see was a crimson blur as it dripped generously from her hand.

Feeling around with her other hand she quickly grabbed her glasses...and stepping through the shards of broken glass she made her way to the door.

...grabbing it she flung it open and marched out.

_You BITCH!! you motherfucking bitch!! I'm gonna kill you_

She knew it...that damm girl wasn't going to give her piece of mind...

Grabbing the jagged piece of glass that was now deeply embedded in her hand she ripped it out...

She had to kill her...and now...before she reaches her destination point...

* * *

Upon reaching the landing on the third floor she could hear her heart pounding the way it does whenever his name echoes in her most inner thoughts. Resting her hand on the opposite wall she stopped for a second to control her breathing. She was nervous...she had no idea what she should say to him...all she knew was that he needed to know..he had the right to know. 

Letting go she walked down the corridor, she didn't no what room he was in. Looking around she can tell that in this floor had only two doors.

Stepping up to the first door she nervously wrung both hands together...they had suddenly gone cold as she anticipated his reaction. She knew he would undoubtly punish Karin for her deeds, but what about her? would he forgive her for keeping it so long from him?

She had even contemplated not telling him and dealing with the situation on her own..but she knew better..

Raising her hand to knock she stopped cold...

turning around slightly she caught a glispse of the horrid creature that threatened her existence.

Never had she seen of felt such an intense abhorrance as it overcame the tiny hallway.

Their eyes met and for a brief second she saw the woman waver...her hands trembling violenty as she held onto the jagged piece of glass that was now stained with her virgin blood.

Her frail skin had lost its color as she looked upon her enemy with murder in her eyes.

Stepping back a bit Sakura was unsure of what her next move should be..She knew she wasn't at her peak..to fight someone right now in a life and death battle would not end well for her...unless she uses..._that..._

But that was a last resort...

Karin watched in amazement as her opponenent tried to weigh her options. Soon...soon it would be all worth it the moment she gets her hands on Sakura and choked the life out of her. She imagined the look of surprise on her face,how she would struggle.Then it would be all over as she would enjoy watching the light fade from her eyes.

Yes it would all be worth it.

Licking her lips Karin savored the moment..

Shrieking Karin raced forward and pounced on the woman as she tore into her shoulder with the jagged piece of glass.

Grunting Sakura held on tightly to the girls' hand tightly trying to pull the glass out that had sunken into her. The pain was something she could bear...

The glass hadn't penetrated her deeply but the more force Karin pushed into it the deeper it went.

Struggling against her she knew Karin had aimed for her neck but missed her target when Sakura went on the defensive and shifted her weight a bit to the side.

But she misjudged Karin's movements and had still gotten struck.

_Dammit..._

Gritting her teeth she she managed to pull the glass out from its place within her shoulder. The sudden release of pressure allowed her to breathe a sign of relief as she now grabbed onto Karin's 'knife' weilding hand and using her own strength against her pushed her off of her and to the side.

Landing forcefully on her back Karin immediately shot up to give it another go again but this time Sakura was ready for her.

Fisting her palm Sakura ripped into Karin with a shark upper cut that allowed Karin's head to suddenly jerk upward in an unnatural way.

She was sure that if she had used more force behind that hit she would be sure that Karin's head would of easily detached from the rest of her body.

Karin hit the floor hard and struggled to get up as she slipped on the bloody trail she had created.

Finally regaining her balance and her composure she dropped the piece of glass that she had held onto so dearly as it hit the floor and shattered immediately.

Hearing a sudden creaking noise they both turned around to see that their fight had drawn the curiousity of a small child no older than four.

Using this as an opportunity Karin reached out and grabbed her by the hair and pulled her onto the hallway.

Sakura watched in horror as Karin dropped the child on the floor between them.

Her eyes suddenly drifted between Karin and the youngster..unsure of what her next move should be. This complicated things...having the child here was only going to be disaster and she couldn't imagine Karin harming the child just to get to her. But judging by the way Karin was acting she wouldn't put it past her.

Seizing the moment Karin easily slippped a blade from her booth...she knew that Sakura would be easily distracted the moment she inserted a new player into the field. Especially a young helpless one...typical of a konoha shinobi..

Gripping the blade firmly in hand she pushed chakra to her feet and launched herself off the floor and straight at the cowering child...and just as she expected Sakura dove in and used her body as a shield to protect the child...

Nearing her target Karin screamed in glee as she imagined the blade piercing into Sakura.

Then just as she neared her something entered her field of vision and she could no longer see her mark but instead the cold piercing eyes of one Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

The sound of a child's scream was enough to make his blood run cold. 

Reaching out with both hands he grabbed Karin by the neck and with the other he wrapped it around her wrist and using her momentum he swerved her away from Sakura and the child.

Sakura looked on as Sasuke pinned Karin against the wall. If he hadn't intervened she wasn't sure what would have happened.

"what the FUCK is going on here?"

Sasuke yelled as he looked back and forth at both women.

In a instant cold sweat coated Karin's forehead as she looked around with wild eyes. Never had she been so scared in her entire life.

Taking the weapon out of Karin's clammy palms he released her before giving her a once over.

"you look like shit" was all he said as he walked away from her. Now standing firmly between both woman he watched as the child scurried down the hallway and out of sight.

Crossing his hands accorss his chest he waited for someone to answer him.

No one did...instead they took the time to glare daggers at each other...Ignoring the man between them.

"i'm not going to wait forever" he said as he surveyed the damage in the hallway.

_what the fuck? is that blood?_ he thought as he followed the trail to Karin and noted the deep gash at the back of her hand.

Standing up Sakura was about to explain all to Sasuke before Karin interrupted her.

"Sasuke..WE need to talk..NOW"

Karin said as she gestured towards his open door sending the signal that their talk should be private.

Ignoring her Sasuke walked to his door then stopped and turned around.

"Both of you...now" he said with a bitter tone as he gestured for both women to enter his room.

Not wanting to upset him Karin made her way through the door first. Throwing a glance over her shoulder she watched as Sakura grimaced before walking in behind her.

Closing the door Sasuke leaned against it and crossed his hands accross his chest.

"Go ahead explain yourself, Karin" he said as his eyes burned into her's searching for the smallest hint that she may be lying to him.

Averting his gaze she moved away a little from Sakura and said to him

"I came here to warn you of a traitorous snake in our den." She said as she shot Sakura a glare.

Not wanting to retaliate Sakura kept her mouth shut. She knew saying something like ' that's not true' was just going to make Karin spout more lies.

"Sasuke the other night...when you fell ill...it was all because of _her_"

Gritting her teeth Sakura's hand wavered a bit as she contemplated slamming her fist one more time into her.

"It was all a ploy Saskue..for you to bring her onto our team...she used her medical talent as a way to gain your trust and to infiltrate our team. As we spaek leaf nin could be heading our way."

"Why don't you tell Sasuke what type of _**poison**_ you used...Karin" Sakura shot at her breakig her silence. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Sasuke had removed his weight from the door and was now standing upright as he listened to the exchanges between the two.

"me?? See Sasuke...she's pinning it against me..Look at me..she attacked me in my room not five minutes ago." she said as she turned her attention back to him.

That almost made Sakura laugh..how could Karin think that Sasuke would believe her? there was no way she could of attacked Karin especially in her state.

Keeping her eyes trained on Sasuke she picked up on the sudden change in his breathing. He was getting mad...good.

"Sasuke...what Karin doesn't want you to know. Is that she used a drug that help with bokki kinou no teika. But apparently the stupid girl gave you a little too much."

(_bokki kinou no teika - erectile disfunction...i think)_

"she was hoping tha..."

"that's not true!!" Karin shouted.

"Sasuke please..don't believe anything she says!! just think about it!! things started to go wrong the second she showed up!!"

"Sasuke..please" Karin pleaded with him.

"Get out.." it was quiet at first. Se wasn't sure who said it. Turning her attention towards him she realised that the words had escaped from his lips.

"Get out" he said again this time a bit louder as his hands began to twitch. She could sense his rage as the air suddenly began to seem to grow thicker.

Smiling inwardly she watched as Sasuke glared at Sakura.

"Get OUT!!! SAKURA!"

"What!? Sasuke kun..you can't...you can't believe a word she says" Sakura cried out in exaperation when she realised what was going on.

With eyes on him she watched as he walked up to her and grabbed her by the upper arm, but she jerkerd away.

His face was dead white now, his eyes bitter..never had she seen him like this. Reaching out he made another attempt to grab at her...this time he managed to successfully grab onto her. Steering her towards the door she fought back...

...he said nothing more as he reached for the handle.

Pulling back a little she tried to prevent him from pushing her out.

Opening the door he pulled her towards its entrance

"Sasuke..you..you can't.." she said as she felt him suddenly release her as she landed with a thud outside his door.

...the force of it made her hands and knees both sting as she collided with the floor

Trembling she brought both hands up slowly to her face as she tried to stop the barrage of tears that was now cascading down her reddened cheeks.

Hearing the door slam behind her only made them seem endless as she suddenly felt herself drenched in their sticky onslaught.

_how could he? how could he do this to me?_

he had broken her...and for the last time...

The scream that ripped through her mind came through as a soft whimper as she suddenly realised that he had made her into that pathetic woman she once was..

Pulling on unseen strings her body moved on its own as she slowly rose to her feet...then everything went black.

* * *

Even though she had won victory wasn't as sweet as she expected it to be. No sooner had he shoved the Haruno girl out the door and closed it he rested his head upon the door seemingly ignoring the woman who was behind him. 

Shifting uncomfortably Karin searched for the right words to approach him with.

"It was for the best, sasuke" she found her saying

"She had to go. You know that" she continued on as the words slipped out smoothly.

She had gotten what she wanted but yet...why was he ignoring her?

Stepping forward she reached out and let her hand brush against his back momentarily

"sasuke?"

No sooner had she done that he turned around to face her.

Realization sunk it and now held her in its cold embrace as she suddenly realised his intention

Stumbling backwards fear gripped her entire being.

A scream bubbled up to her lips, the panic that had suddenly crept up her demanded that she run, escape.

Turning around she fled, only to realise she was trapped. Searching for an exit her eyes roamed round wildly.

She hadn't heard him make a move...she envisioned him standing there waiting for her to realise that she had been caught.

The sweat that beaded on her skin began to run rivers as she raced up to the door that lead to his personal balcony.

Grabbing onto the latch she jiggled it wildly...feeling it give away she pressed against it as she let herself out into the cold air.

But freedom didn't last long as she felt her body being dragged back into the room. She twisted one way then the other eager to get away from his vise like grip, hissing from the pain.

Screaming she clawed at the nearest possible thing unable to get a hold on anything.

"Sasuke!! Please stop" she screamed as he turned her around to face him.

His eyes had already turned to blood as he looked into her own devoring her soul.

"No.." she whimpered...but it was too late..her vision was already wearing...her mind already probed...nothing..nothing could save her now..

* * *

It was a dream...In dreams you don't really feel anything..She had to open her eyes...she had to wake up. 

Pushing herself towards consciousness she felt the cold liquid as it beat down on her. Lifting her heavy lids the harsh light made her jump as she suddenly realised where she was.

Getting up she tried lifting her weighted limbs. Getting up she gripped the shower door as she pulled herself up and out of the stall.

Her clothes were drenched and her body was eerily cold and numb...

_how long have I been out?_

Steering herself back to the room she stumbled a few times before collapsing on the bed.

Lying there for a few seconds she tried to piece together everything that had happened earlier. The memory only served her more grief as she laid there and sobbed silently and to herself.

She may have very well been lying there for a couple of hours because when she finally did get up it was almost dark.

Finally tearing herself away from the lush bedding she walked over to the window and opened it.

Immediately the cold air blasted in as she breathed in deeply trying to calm her sorrows.

The rains had come earlier that day and veiled the tiny village washing away the sins leaving a clean slate.

The sky was a ghaslty shade of gray that seemed to grow darker by the second as if someone had pulled a curtain over the sky. She could hear the distant rumble of thunder as she shivered against the gusts of wind that blew past her making her damp clothes cling to her more.

Pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes she rocked forward on her toes as she tried to block out the memory that haunted her.

Calmer now she gripped onto her clothing as she slipped it gently off one peice at a time until she was standing completey void. Turning away she walked back into the shower and grabbed a short towel as she stepped into the shower...for a third time that day.

It was funny how the weather seemed to reflect your innermost thoughts and feelings..somehow it complimented her mood she thought as she quickly toweled off and slipped into the undergarments that was brought to her earlier that day.

Slipping the silk robe around her she tied the ribbon neatly around her waist as she steeped back into the living room.

Searching with her eyes she spotted her weapons pouch as she made her way over and picked it up. Opening it she reached inside and grabbed the tiny item before discarding her pouch to its original spot.

Making her way to the window she perched herself on the sill before opening the box in her hand.

In it lay a tiny but beautiful ring in an intricate gold setting with a yellow diamond in the centre. Its simple design was what she loved most about it. Yet she hadn't been able to bring herself to wear it..even though she had it for the past two months.

The day he had given it to her was the day he came back from his two year absense from Konoha. That day he professesd his undying love for her and with tears in his eyes, he told her of his fears, his dreams, his hopes and asked that one day she share those with him.

He didn't want her to answer him then...he told her to take the all the time she needed...that he was going to wait..forever if he had to.

And when she had made her decision...all she had to do was slip it on...that's all he asked of her...

Turning the ring around in her hand she smiled as the stone caught her eye. Yellow? wonder why he chose that colour? To remind her of him she guessed...no matter what the reason it still made her think of him...

_Naruto..._she whispered into the air...hoping her words would reach its destination

Carefully she took the ring in her right hand and held it there between her thumb and her forefinger before slipping it onto the ring finger of her left hand.

_Perfect Fit.._

Hearing the creak and groan of the door she turned her attention away from the ring and guided it towards the unwelcome interruption.

Her heart skipped a beat as the door to her room slid open and at her doorway he stood...

Panic came first, quick and instinctive. Pressing both hands to her heart, heart thudding...

...unable to believe what her eyes told her.

Leveling her rounded jade orbs to meet his own her fear instantly died.

"Sakura..."

* * *

**Who could our mystery guest be??**

**Somehow I did not enjoy writng this chapter hopefully it didn't reflect badly.**

**So thank you all for the input...majority ruled and Sasuke found out in this chapter...I hope that none of you is disappointed with the outcome..**

**PLEASE REVIEW:)**


	12. His Apology?

**CHAPTER 12...**

* * *

_Midst the trees little light filtered through the undergrowth unable to reach the man who lay broken at the feet of a giant oak. Time was the enemy as he was slowly slipping away, left alone to die. His comrades were no where in sight, his only warmth removed from his bosom leaving him bare. He might not survive the night._

_Up above stood the man who could have been his savior yet he only thought of himself and maybe for the first time in this new life he thought of the woman in his arms. But only one, he chose to save…_

_Only one…._

_It was at the twilight hour when the wind gradually picked up its pace whistling loudly, a formidable warning to the army that trespassed into their abode. Loudly now it sounded its warning. The man above took heed as it threatened to knock him off his perch as the branch rocked precariously under him. He couldn't stay here any longer. Maybe he should have never gone looking for her, maybe he should have just left her to her fate and carry on with his. _

_Looking up he knew of what was to come, swearing he turned his attention away from the threat above and once again to the man who lay on the forest floor. He never expected their next meeting to be like this. It was a vast reminder of the time they fought. Only this time he was leaving with something of his. Something that never should have been Naruto's to begin with._

_He almost regretted leaving him behind but he had no choice..He was a nuisance..one he couldn't afford to bear._

_Strangely yet, he could bend her to his will...he was sure of it..._

_"Koume...Naruto, but right now I need her more...than you need her" and with those final parting words he turned around and vanished into the woods._

* * *

She could see the dark silhouette of his body as he stepped into her room. Their eyes finally met and in that moment she felt her fear subside only to be replaced by anger.

Turning away from him she gripped the sill with both hands as she fought to keep her emotions in check. Having him show up at her door like this was unexpected and she was unprepared to face him. She couldn't deal with this now.

Tightly she held onto the tiny ledge hoping it would give her the support she needed but it did nothing to steady her trembling arms. Slowly, arching her fingers she dragged her nails along the smooth finish of the wood allowing small pieces of chipped paint to fall haphazardly onto the floor as she maneuvered her fingers back and forth in an effort to calm herself...but it did nothing and it was no comfort to her as he stood silent at her now closed door.

"Go away Sasuke...I don't want you here" she stated hoping he would turn around and leave. But she knew in the end he wouldn't. Maybe he didn't get the idea that she was upset with him, god he had to be an ass not to know, and showing up like this unannounced in her room was crossing the line.

Releasing her hold on the tiny wooden structure she turned around and leveled her jade orbs to meet his midnight ones.

Somehow he seemed unfazed by her as he leaned back against the door and crossed his arms over his chest. The girl standing in front of him widened her eyes at his move, her breath instantly quickened as her lower jaw unhinged just the slightest causing the tiniest crack that parted her rosy lips from each other. Her reaction was expected but in all honesty he was surprised that she was still here. He had come expecting to find an empty room and was prepared to gather his men to go search for her. She had in the end saved him the trouble...but now he was faced with the task of convincing her to stay...despite what happened earlier.

"Sakura"

"There's something we need to discuss" He found himself saying.

Silence followed as she stood at the open window, she could feel the icy brush of the wind as it easily filtered through her thin night robe caressing her every curve. Her pores instantly rose in response as she breathed in slowly, attempting to fight off the cold. Not wanting him to see her quiver, not even in the slightest.

"Why Sasuke?" she whispered as her courage left her

Why was he here? He himself didn't know the answer to that simple question. He had been up in his room for hours, unable to sleep, it disturbed him how he left things between them. He knew he shouldn't be concerned with such trivial things. But, in the end against his own will he found himself here.

"Karin's gone" he suddenly found himself saying

What she heard was beyond her ability to comprehend. She didn't want to, even now as she replayed the events of the past few hours nothing to her made sense to what he was telling her now.

Maybe she was still on her bathroom floor; she was tempted to take a look in afraid that she might see herself there and that this here; what was happening now was all a lie. Perhaps a figment of her imagination and proof; that maybe her decline would come all too soon.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"Just like I said...Gone" was all he said as he leaned off the door. He pretended for a moment that he hadn't seen her breath quicken, or that she wasn't wearing anything at all. And just for a moment longer he pretended that he hadn't noticed the full curve of her breast as it pushed against the thin fabric as she slowly inhaled allowing him the opportunity to view that tiny part of her body that gave him great arousal as it lay restrained.

Turning his attention away from her he paused for a moment before continuing on.

"I no longer need her here, so from now on you will be taking her place on my platoon"

He said as he drew his focus back onto her just in time to notice her reaction to his words

She stared at him with something akin to surprise. Not knowing how to react to his sudden proposal. Actually it felt more like an order.

"No" she said "I'm going back to Konoha tomorrow, I'm not staying here any longer"

"Don't be a fool Sakura. You're not going anywhere" he stated as he took a step in her direction in hopes that it may intimidate her even in the slightest

It didn't seem to work as the girl simply turned her gaze away from him to let it rest on the night stand that stood out awkwardly with its knobby legs and unusual cherry burgundy color that made it stand out from the room's simple lavender décor.

"I only stayed because I thought you could be saved. I see now that I'm wrong and that there's no saving you. You no longer recognize friend from foe, you've proven that to me earlier. All you see is your vengeance. I cannot be a part of this" she stated as she allowed her gaze to travel back to him

"Like I said, you're not going anywhere." he stated

"Are you fucking deaf? Do you not hear me?" She shouted as she stepped menacingly towards him.

"How can I trust you Sasuke? After what happened earlier you're lucky that I'm still here. I can't believe you took that wench's words over mine." drunk on emotions she pressed the heels of her hands against her temples and slowly pushed them back allowing her fingers to rake through her hair as she tried to reason with the cold man in front of her.

Stepping away from the window she walked to the centre of her room and leaned forward against the railing of her bed with her back to him. All the whilst he stood there watching her every move then slowly he made his way over to the now vacant window and with one hand he gently rested it on the left of the sill leveled to his face.

"I had no doubts that it was Karin who drugged me" he spoke into the wind. His words barely drifted back into the room but Sakura was able to catch every last syllable.

"Then why? Why Sasuke, why did you do that me?" she spoke through unshed tears

"You would not have been able to handle what was about to happen, that's why I made you leave"

Turning around to face him now she realized that their roles was reversed and it was he who had his back to her.

"I made a mistake with Karin, I had no idea she was capable of such a thing. But then again.." he stopped insentience unsure of what to say next. Dropping his hand to his side he quickly shoved it in his pocket and spun around to face her

"But then again.." he continued "she was just like the old Sakura I once knew"

Sakura was trembling as she reached down and gripped the cold bars that formed the frame of her bed

"Don't you dare compare me to her you..."she was suddenly cut off mid-sentence as he held out his hand to gesture that he wasn't done speaking

"Her endearment towards me, I took it to be as harmless as yours" he stated.

Mouthing his words she in a way understood what he meant but it was no consolation for the way he made her feel earlier.

"Go to bed Sakura, you've got a long day ahead of you" he said as he made his way to her door.

Within seconds she was in front of him barring him from his exit "like I said Sasuke, I'm leaving for Konoha tomorrow" she spoke through clenched teeth

Smirking, he slowly lifted his hand and rested it at the back of his neck whilst eyeing the woman in front of him. _Did she really think that she was going to have her own way? That she could possibly stop him?_

"Get out of my way, Sakura"

"No, not until you get it through that thick skull of yours that I'm leaving"

"Is that what you really believe?"

"Believe? I'm a big girl Sasuke I do what I want"

"So you want to leave hn?" He said as he contemplated what his next words should be

"Running back to Naruto I see"

Stepping back a bit she stared at the man in front of her "what does that mean?"

"You know what it means..you can't hide behind my back anymore, so you're hiding behind his"

Sakura suddenly felt her control shatter as she lashed out at him with her fist only to have him grab her by the wrist and yank her closer

"Touched a nerve?" he said as he pulled her closer to him allowing her to take in his musky scent

Reaching up with her free hand she attempted to push herself away from him but the more she resisted the harder he held onto her.

"Let me go" she said as she tried to force him back and away from her.

The sudden close proximity made her nervous as the robe gently slipped off her shoulders to reveal the navy blue strap of her bra.

He seemed none to concern about the way she was dressed and if he did he gave no inclination of the fact.

"Come on Sakura. I thought you wer..." stopping mid-sentence he narrowed his eyes at the girl in his arms

It was late...his eyes were playing tricks on him..he was sure of it…but that unmistakable yellow glint was something worth denying. Could it be? No..not possible..Not him….definitely not him_._

Tightening his grip on her she suddenly cried out as his nails dug deeply into her wrists.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded

"What?" she asked dumfounded

"The ring, Sakura, where did you get it?" he asked her again this time gesturing to the gem on her left hand.

Following his gaze she gasped suddenly as she realized that she had inadvertently forgotten about it. One of the most important decisions in her life and she had forgotten that she had even made it.

Sasuke didn't like her silence as he suddenly shook the woman in his arms hoping for a response. And when he didn't get any it only fueled his rage as he pulled her closer to him demanding answers.

She could now feel his hot breath on her cheek as she turned her head away careful to avoid his eyes. She couldn't think of anything to say, maybe it was guilt. No couldn't be, she had no reason to feel any semblance of it but yet she did and she hated herself for it.

Inside she screamed at him to leave…to turn around and walk away.

Then gathering as much courage as she could she turn to face him.

"Its none of you business, now let me go"

It was impossible to predict what happened next, but as the words slipped out suddenly the hands that held her against her will unwrapped itself from around her wrists only to find itself back in the pockets of its rightful owner.

She took her new found freedom and stepped backwards away from him. But her taste of freedom was overdue as he instantly closed the barrier between them.

"Leave Sasuke, now" she said as she turned around and away from him, but even now as her back faced him she could feel his eyes burning through her.

_Please don't…don't.._

"you're…betrothed?" he said suddenly as his words ripped through her thoughts. It sounded to her more like an accusation than a question.

Slowly she brought her hands up to her chest and immediately placed her right hand over the left one to conceal the ring.

"Yes" she whispered and in that moment he was in front of her and he was grabbing her by both wrists this time and yanking her to him

Holding both of her hands almost leveled to his face his eyes burned into hers' as he struggled to let the next word slip out

"who? who is it?"

Shaking her head she no longer tried to push him away. She only wanted him to stop asking questions

"Please leave Sasuke" she pleaded with him

"Tell me who! Now!" he shouted at her

Sakura suddenly swung her head down to one side then she looked back up at him. She didn't have to say anything. He already knew.

"Its Naruto isn't it? Isn't it!?" he shouted at her

"Yes"

Releasing her he stepped back and turned away from her and walked up to the edge of her bed.

When?" he found himself asking

Still shocked from his outburst she just stood there not saying anything. Realizing that he wasn't going to get an answer out of her he turned to face her

"Why are you doing this?" he said.

"wh..what?" she stammered

Making his way back to her he grabbed her by the wrist once more and pulled her to him.

"Tell me the truth"

Looking to the floor she struggled to find the words to say "because..he loves me and I him" she said careful to avoid his eyes

"Lies" he said as he jerked her

"Look me in the eyes and say that again"

Lifting her head she looked right at him and said "I love him"

Love? Many people hide behind it to justify their actions, using it as reasoning for their attachment to worldly possessions. He knew the consequences of this, he lived it. He sacrificed his life for it and yet they'll never know….never would they be able to see it.

This girl didn't know what love was. All she knew was the comfort of her mother's arms. She never learned the true meaning of the word. To have her utter it here, before him was blasphemous. But she'll learn…eventually she'll learn.

"love"

"somehow…I remember you uttering those same words to me not so long ago" he said as he looked at her searching for a reaction,

A small smile crept its way across her features. Almost immediately she saw his sour as he looked upon her with distrust. How could she not smile? He remembered...all those bloody years and he remembered. The bloody bastard remembered.

"Naïve..wasn't I?" she said as he backed her up to the nearest wall

Pressing her against it he leaned down and spoke harshly into her ears.

"Naïve? So last night…are you going to blame that too on being naïve?"

The smile that earlier played across her lips vanished as her breathing slowed to a rhythmic pace.

"I let myself be deceived" she said as her hand snaked its way up to his chest. He was distracted, she was sure that with the little chakra she was able to restore she would be able to knock him out.

"Deceived?" he said followed by what sounded like mock laughter

"Deceit? Sakura…what a thing to hide behind. You knew the situation yet.." he said as he stepped closer to her backing her into the wall so that she was pressed against it. No where to go.

Then grabbing her hand that she was using as a barrier he leaned forward and brushed his lips against her ear.

"yet..you took advantage of it. Now you want to talk about who's deceiving who?" he said as his lips parted allowing his tongue to gently slip out and touch her earlobe. The sudden contact made her jump as she turned her head sideways allowing her hair to fall over the side of her face.

"what are you doing?" she whispered as she realized that he was still holding on to her hand. She didn't expect him to realize what she intended to do. He disturbed her, he knew it…breaking the flow of chakra by making her lose her concentration.

"Now…a woman's who's promised herself to someone wouldn't have acted in the way you did. Now would they?" he said as he moved in closer

Releasing her hand he reached over and pulled her hair back away from her face. Almost instantly her hand shot up in response and grabbed his.

Turning her head around her faced him. Before she could respond he added

"Take the ring off"

Smirking she looked into his eyes before she responded

"Do I sense jealousy? Sasuke?"

"hn" he said as he buried his face into her hair. Almost instantly she felt his hand on her thigh as it slowly sneaked its way up her leg tugging on her already short robe.

Sakura popped open her eyes. They were shiny emerald green gems that and they looked like priceless jewels that were only bestowed to the strongest of warriors.

She could feel his breath it was sweet and warm against her neck. She breathlessly said his name as his lips found her as he nuzzled the side of her neck. The unwanted touch sent a jolt of longing all the way down to her toes.

"Stop" she whispered. Even she wasn't sure she meant it

"Stop" she said again as his kisses became more insistent. She could feel her tender flesh becoming bruised. He was voracious as he explored her with his mouth until even that wasn't enough.

The hand that was holding on to his gripped him tightly as she struggled for her next breath. She couldn't….why couldn't she? Why couldn't she stop him?

She felt him pull away slightly, his lips adjacent to her ear. She could hear his slow shallow breathing. Neither said a word to the other as precious seconds passed

Letting go of his hand she tried pulling away.

He didn't let her, instead he held onto her. Reaching down she lightly grazed his hand that was rested on her thigh. It was a signal, he knew it. But he wasn't paying attention anymore. The boundary had already been crossed.

He moved into her, instinctively she rested her hand above his. Barring him from entrance, asking him not to make her choose…

"Sasuke…kun…yamate" she whispered

"why?" he said as his hand slid over hers stopping briefly as he gently stroked her fingers with his. _Seeking her consent……_

"You know why" she said as she pulled her hand out from under his

"Not the answer I was looking for, Sakura" he said as his hand slipped under her robe. No sooner had he done that she was reaching for his hand again.

"Sasuk.." she managed to choke out before his lips found its way to her and as gently as he could he placed a kiss alongside her lips. Her eyelids immediately fluttered close as he began to trail kisses along her cheeks making a beeline to her jaw.

The tremors came and instantly consumed her without further warning, starting deep within her womanhood, radiating outwards and through her, coursing through the very core of her being. She bit her lips suddenly as the moan escaped out into the cold night's air.

_Permission granted. _

Her next breath came accompanied by his lips as it met hers with unbridled exploration and vigor. His intensity consumed her as her lips parted in response to his advance. This new sensation enveloped her with avid ferocity as she reached up with both hands to steady herself. She was falling she knew it…but she couldn't stop...

Her arms had wrapped themselves around him as she pulled him inexorably closer. With one hand she ran it through his hair. It was thick and smelled forest clean, like balsam. What she didn't expect was for him to reciprocate as his hand reached out to trace the gentle curve of her cherry bangs that had fallen over her face; he lingered there momentarily before tracing the small curve of her ear, down her cheek and from there to the small opening in her robe. Touching the area right above her breast she moaned in response as he continued his descent halting abruptly at the lone but sturdy knot that kept her robe from slipping off her shoulders onto the wooden floor.

She gasped in anticipation as his fingers skillfully undid the troublesome knot allowing the robe to part in the middle to reveal the matching lingerie that lay hidden beneath. He inhaled sharply as his eyes traveled downwards from the line of her neck and onto her abdomen. Reaching over he grazed her perfectly sculptured stomach with his knuckles welcoming the shudder and moan that accompanied his action.

The swelling in his pants only increased with every sound that escaped her luscious lips. He felt it pushing against his slacks wanting to be freed of its prison. He felt her hands as they slipped down his neck to his chest gradually making it descent into his one pleasure zone.

Grabbing her hands he stopped her just as her fingers grazed against the waist of his pants. Holding onto both wrists he engaged her in a passionate kiss. His tongue gradually explored her as she opened up to him. Never breaking the kiss he let go of her and wrapped both of his hands around her waist before lifting her up off the floor and guided her towards the centre piece of her small room.

Placing her on the floor next to the bed he tugged slightly on her silken robe as it gently slipped off her shoulders and landed silently on the floor. Stepping backwards from her he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head before throwing it on the floor to accompany her fallen robe. Her eyes following his every movement as she allowed herself to look upon him chiseled features that were no doubt the work of grueling training over the last few years. Sadness returned to her eyes as she leveled her eyes to meet his. He somewhat sensed her thoughts as he quickly moved into her again and before she had a chance to react he was already laying her down on the lush pillows. His kisses cascaded down her creamy neck as his hands roamed around freely caressing her every curve. His touch gave her comfort as her memories of yesteryear became a fleeing thought as she melted in his arms.

Leaning down he kissed her once again before climbing onto the bed to join her. He was leaning into her now as his muscled body bridged the last few inches that separated them. Slowly he ran his fingers up along the side of her leg, over her curvaceous hips and up the sides of her abdomen and came to rest at the soft mound of her right breast. Then with his thumb he traced the under wire of her bra before slipping his hand under to grasp his dark obsession. He bit her lip as he did this, his need was growing deeper within him and the need to control it became almost a priority. She signed in pleasure by his touch as he used his forefinger to gently trace circles around her nipple. He was still in control…

Pulling his hand away he slipped them over her shoulders and slowly traced a line down her shoulders, to her elbows, her wrists before grabbing them and slowly pulling them up over her head. She arched her back in response as he dipped his head to caress the side of her neck to the soft mound of her breast.

Her senses were so lost in pleasure feeling his tongue, his lips, his skin, the heat of his pulsing manhood that she didn't feel him slowly slipping the ring off her hand. He bit her again as successfully freed her of her gem.

He has accomplished what he wanted yet he didn't stop his assault on her as he released her of her laced bra. Her bra now joined the growing mound of clothes on the floor as he leaned down and with his tongue traced a circle around her nipple. She arched into him as he took her into his mouth sucking greedily at her swollen areola. His hands readily explored her as he quickly hooked his thumbs into the sides of her panties and with one swift movement he was dragging them down her legs. Stopping short of her knees he took the movement to draw attention away from her breast to an area a little more south. Pulling away from her breast he gradually made his descent. Using his tongue he drew a line from her supple breasts, down her stomach and circled around her belly button. Instinctively she clenched her thighs close together forcing him to abandon his mission. Sitting up he grabbed hold of one of her ankle and started kissing his way up the inside of her leg easily nudging her legs apart. Her eyes fluttered open as she watched him. Amazingly enough his eyes were on her as his kisses came closer up to her inner thigh. Her breath quickened as his tongue gently flicked out touching her.

"What are you doing?" her voice was breathy and unsure.

Instead of answering her he pulled her down a few inches bringing her closer to him as he took her into his mouth. He heard her utter a low moan and felt her hips jerk as her muscles clenched around him. Pulling away he saw that her head was turned to one side but he could see her lips parted and her breathing had become raspy. Her cheeks were flushed and her hands were now tangled in her own hair as she tried to control her outburst.

Sakura was overwhelmed with the sensations of what he was doing to her, and as much as she tried to delay it, he putting his mouth on her like that had been her undoing. Propping herself up on one elbow she watched as he pulled away from her genitals to make his way to her. Propping himself on his elbows on either side of her his mouth descended to hers running the tip of his tongue lightly across her bottom lip before deepening the kiss and slipping his tongue between her parted lips.

Her hands lingered at the waist of his pants before she slipped it in and wrapped her hand around his throbbing member. He groaned in response as he pulled away from her slightly. Drawing a shaky breath and trying to slow her hammering heart she dragged his pants down and peered at him as he kicked his pants to the side.

His hands found it way to her neck as she pulled away from her. He wanted to look at her the moment he penetrated her. To see that spark in her eye as he drove himself deep into her…Drawing in a sudden breath he penetrated her in one fluid motion. Her screams came without warning as her head pitched back suddenly. Stopping his movement he grabbed the back of her neck

"Sakura…." He said through his heavy breathing

"You should have told me" he said as he moved to pull out of her

"no…" she whispered "don't…don't" she whispered as her hands moved to grab his shoulder

He reached out slowly, almost tentatively and stroked her lips gently with his thumb watching her eyes flutter closed and her lips part a little more. His fingertips traced her jaw line traveling down to her breast as he leaned down and kissed her full on the lips before pulling out and trusting into her again. He watched her closely as she bit down on her lower lip.

She was intoxicating….he was….welll…

This was it…….he had taken the one thing

The one thing that Naruto, could never…..

* * *

Lighting flickered in the distance, yet, no one seemed to notice…

Again its bright light marked the skies, closer this time….

Someone noticed…..

Pulling the cloak over their head the figure huddled closer to the edge of the window. The unsuspecting couple inside hadn't noticed.

It wouldn't be long now

**damm i really suck at updates!! I have excuses...tons of em...for starters i lost the original chapter 12 so i was pretty upset for awhile...**

**Aside from that i believe that i may have ended the argument a little too suddenly...In all honesty i was totally frustrated with this chapter...but i hope its clear enough for you all to get the whole general pic!!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!! **

* * *


	13. Despair

* * *

**Chapter 13….Despair**

The walls of reality as she knew it were crumbling, and she knew she wasn't enough to stop it from happening. She was barely enough to stop it from devouring herself let alone everyone around her. She feared she just might not be enough…

Daylight was fast approaching….scant minutes away. But every one of those minutes would be a struggle, fighting for his life, his very soul. He would soon be lost…dragged away into the dark abyss that is his mind and soon consumed by the living entity that resided in him. His will to survive became but a mere whisper…

She feared for him…..

Picking up her pace she pushed herself past her limit as she flung her agile body with catlike grace from one branch to another. She tucked her hands in slightly picking up speed as the campsite came into full view, descending low enough to trail her fingers through the tree tops before diving into a gap between the trees.

_Almost there….just a little further…_she thought as she pushed herself, wary that her legs may give away at any moment. Then, flaring her arms out again to slow her decent and stop the dive, she made a graceful arch as she touched down lightly on the forest green. Her landing being nothing less than perfect were marred as her legs buckled propelling her forward onto the sodden earth.

Almost immediately as she came to impact with the surface below she felt the sting of her landing as it reverberated up her fragile arms and traveled its way past her bruised elbows. Her arms dared to quiver with unnerving certainty as one suddenly gave out trusting her forward forcing the other to twist awkwardly beneath her.

Excruciating pain shot though her left arm as she quickly rolled herself over onto her back. The forest floor was soft and spongy, a carpet of pine straw and leaves. But it did nothing to soothe the distress her body had suffered nor did it help when the rain started its new assault on her as she laid there with her eyes closed to world.

She could no longer ignore the growing mass that had sadistically perched itself deep within her throat. If she would give in now to it no one would know. No one would judge her.

A strangled noise suddenly escapes her cracked lips as she gags on the sudden urge to throw up. She swallowed hard, tasted bile, swallowed again, and held herself very still. There was no way, no way that she was going to allow her body to give her the poor excuse to bail.

Pulling herself up on shaky limbs she staggered and weaved her way through the dense shrubbery that surrounded their hideout. It was impossible to even try and move in a straight line, in was ineptly unthinkable in weather like this. Her hair that she had so cruelly neglected, now lay plastered against her porcelain features as she looked forward with half lidded eyes toward the distinct green tarpaulin.

A small smile graced her features as she reached her mark and with outstretched hands she grasped the taut material as if it were life itself,. Her grip is both slippery and sickening, Dirt mixed in clotting blood. The sight was one she'd seen too often….more so in the previous hours.

Pulling the material back she eagerly let herself in. Its occupants gasped as the trembling girl emerged from the shadows. Not even a glance to either male she shrugs her backpack and jacket off, watching as it falls with a soft thump next to her now dirt caked boots that she hadn't yet kicked off. She could feel his eyes on her. She could even tell what he was thinking, but whether he would say them was a different issue.

The slight movement to the side caused her to tilt her head reflexively in its direction, careful not to catch his eye.

"don't.." she whispered as she saw him reaching for her pack. But it was too late. He was already reaching for it, his calloused hand grazing hers slightly as she tried to grab for it instead.

He opened his mouth and was about to give voice to everything that had been in a constant loop in his mind for the last few hours but stopped before he said a single word. She already knew what he was going to say…She already knew…Then why. Why did she do it? Why did she choose to disobey him?

"In.." he started before she brushed past him and made her way over to the other side of the tent.

She didn't have time to think about what she did or listen to any disapproving words from him. He was always one to follow the rules as of late. His status to Jounin came with an unforeseen disclaimer that she soon figured out after she realized that the one paying the price was her. Him having missed one too many marked calendar days, team outings and even family gatherings that had been so strategically planned and built around his schedule. Hell, even his presence at their late sensei's memorial was diminishing. She had figured that maybe his schedule was just too demanding or he just couldn't bear sharing his pain anymore and chose to keep his grief to himself. Heck, she wished that was the reason. She knew for a long time now he was slipping away from her, that he sought solace somewhere else. With _someone _else. It was that, that drove her away from him and to the deep depression that only one man was able to pull her out of. He gave her a reason to continue on.

She owed him her life. It was why she risked everything this fateful night.

Slowly she brings a hand to face and gently pressing a finger to her forehead she traces an invisible line down the bridge of her nose to the tiny chasm above her chapped lips. Her fingers curl upwards as she exhales slowly into the palm of her hand. Her lips are trembling violently; she doesn't want him to see. Even as her back was before him she knows that he can see her. Her shoulders are slightly elevated, her head slightly drawn back; she cannot control the involuntary shudder anymore.

She suddenly bites down on her lips as she turns to face him, her eyes falling on her back pack that he had held onto. Hanging precariously on his index and middle finger as he slowly lifts it out towards her.

She avoids his eyes as she approaches him, her tiny hand reaches out only to grasp the straps of the bag before she slowly pulls it away. Holding the item close she moves to the far end of the tent.

"Ino…" he calls after her

She suddenly stiffens at the sound of her name.

He hesitates for a moment….

"we're…counting on you" he chooses to say instead…

The breath that she had been holding suddenly escapes as she looks over her shoulder to him. Her eyes tracing a line along the floor before she looks up to hold his gaze

"arigato…..shikamaru" she mouths to him

The corner's of her mouth shifts slightly as she attempts to smile at him; he returns the gesture as he slowly runs a hand through his hair. Maybe he should tell her…he thinks…

But it's too late. In his musings she had already broken contact and was now making her way to the other side of the tent. Regret filled his being as his eyes traced her movements as she moved sluggishly towards her intended destination. Mentally berating himself for not telling her…

Slowly his knees buckle voluntarily as he slides to a seating position, his eyes transfixed on the woman before him. His eyes following her closely as she holds a shaking hand over the fallen kyubbi vessel as she proceeds to examine him for the umpteenth time that night.

The slight coughing to the left catches his attention as he shifts slightly to observe his friend.

"you alright, Chouji?" he inquired as he eyed the man who was now coughing vehemently into the palm of his hand.

"I'm…." *coughs*

"I'm..fine" *coughs*

He says as he wipes the bit of drool that made its way to his chin with the back of his hand.

" You should of said something, anything" Chouji says as he swipes at his pants in an attempt to get rid of any and everything that he had only just coughed up

Grimacing slightly at his friend's lack of hygiene he turns his attention to the far end of the tent, not really focusing on anything.

"hu..how could I? This is the most civil she's been to me in months. If I had only mentioned anything about the little stunt she pulled she would have ripped my head right off"

"That's not what I meant"

"I no…..but right now, things are better left unsaid, we've been strangers since…." He trailed off as he allowed his gaze to fall

"She misunderstood, that's all…you shoul.."

"I should wait" he finished for him, even though those weren't the exact words that were meant to be said. Now wasn't the time and place for such talk, they should be concentrating on their mission on hand. Grasping his knees he pulled himself to his feet.

"Come, Chouji. I have some scouting to do; you should take the first watch"

Tilting his head back slightly his brows furrowed as the sides of his lips twitched slightly

"I thought we agreed that I would take scouting duty?" he questioned

Shifting uncomfortably Shikamaru looks over his shoulder to the blonde who now had her back to right hand hovering slightly over Naruto.

Sighing he turned his attention back to Chouji " I won't be gone long, an hour at most. I would prefer it if you stayed here instead. You'd be better able to protect them least anything should happen."

"Alright then…I'll take watch" his best friend replied as he pulled himself to his feet and grabbing hold of his backpack from Shikamaru's outstretched hand he affixed it to his back

"The weather's pretty bad out there…limit your perimeter to thirty feet, no more"

"No Problem" he said before shifting his focus to the other end of the tent once again.

"You going to be back in time for the next shift?"

"I'm not sure, But Yamato Taichou should be feeling well enough before then to relieve you"

"Sounds bout good to me" he said as he shifted his weight and moved to the opening in the tent.

He was never one to linger, especially on a topic that in particular hurt both of his closest friends. He hated being the messenger and sometimes he wished that maybe he would be able to finally force them to address the issue. It's been months and they barely spoke to each other anymore except in times like these when the situation forces their hand.

Sighing he pulled the material back and with one final glance backwards both men disappeared into the cold morning dew.

* * *

_SASUKE_

The darkness had no effect on him anymore, it no longer brought with it painful memories that had plagued him for most of his adolescent life. Instead in its deep clutches it held his dreams of revenge and a sense of finality as he drew one step closer to attaining his final goal.

But like everything else it came with a price. He wouldn't refer to it as something that was dear to his heart, nor did it hold any sentimental value to him. He had given it up many years ago without a backward glance or a faltering step. This thing that was once so easy to discard now lay not more than a mere foot from him. He thought he had mentally prepared himself from the moment he had breathed in her scent, from the moment he had touched her in the only way he could, from the moment his hand brushed against the silk that had coveted her virgin skin. He had ripped her away in that moment from the clutches of the one man he had refused to think of even once since he turned his back on his former home.

Naruto.

His body instantly stiffened at the thought of the name. The ring he had stolen in that moment of bliss dug deeply into his palm nullifying any just he had for his actions. Narrowing his eyes he searched for his sweats, the longer he held onto the ring the more he would contradict himself for the actions he took. A low hiss escaped his lips when he realized that he couldn't locate it. It was right there, he was sure of it. At the edge of the bed, right? Bending over he grabbed the edge of the bedspread and pulled it up. There it was, just like he thought but on the OTHER side. Signing, he pulled himself up.

He hadn't dared to turn around to face her. He could hear her shallow even breaths and knew that she was asleep but even then he couldn't bear to face her. His eyes quickly darted to the open window on the other side of the room.

His hand instantly tightened on the jewel, his knuckles white with the pressure he had exuded. Biting back a growl Sasuke realized that _he_ wanted Sasuke to come to him. It had taken him awhile to notice his presence, but when he did it did not take him long to realize who it was. The rage this man exuded was one not to be mistaken, its black hate had enveloped him and was cascading into the tiny room but he did not dare to enter. It was not out of fear; he realized, otherwise the intruder would have made himself known. He would have made good use out of Sasuke's little distraction. No, this man didn't want sakura to see him, to see what he was capable of. That's why he hid, why he waited patiently for Sasuke to come to him.

But Sasuke was no fool, he knew what he wanted. He knew why he came here looking.

He had planned to make him sit out there, in the freezing rain until perhaps he would give up. But he knew better, he knew he would never leave. Not until he got what he came here for.

Perhaps he had put it off long enough. Sighing he bent over one more time and pulled the sheet up, trying to calculate the distance his pants were from the edge of the bed.

Straightening up he immediately began sifting through his options. Option one he wasn't happy with, he didn't like the idea of getting up and strutting across the room bare assed for all to see. Not that he wasn't proud of his physique, it's just that he didn't like the idea of _him_ getting another look at his ass or other things that would be in plain view. No, he wasn't that secure, that he would allow another man to gape at him. _Again._

That left option two.

Tilting his head to the side he caught sight of Sakura's leg as it stuck out noticeably from under the navy blue sheet. Her leg glowing, against the backdrop of the dim moon light. Focusing momentarily on her ankle he slid closer, tightening his grip on the edge of the blanket that he had used to conceal himself he pulled himself closer to her. It hurt being this close to her. To know what he would have to do now, what he HAD to do. There was no other choice. From the moment he saw her those few nights ago the plan began forming in his mind. There was no stopping it, his taste for blood encrusted with the lust he held for her had incapacitated him. Holding him back until it came to fruition.

Turning away from her he focused elsewhere trying to shove the image of her out of his head. He could still hear her breathy moans as she gasped his name through her ecstasy. He could still feel her shudder against him as he held her in his arms as they came in quick succession of each other. He could still feel her in his arms writhing in pleasure as she bucked under him tightening her hold on him. In that moment he had forgotten himself, all he could see was her, all he could feel was her. And he knew that she too felt that way, her enchanting emerald eyes glistened with unfathomable adoration and love as they moved together as one.

The memory had flooded his senses evoking responses he had hoped would not awaken again. New images assaulted his already wavering self control. He had to close his eyes, shut her out of his world before she took over. But it didn't help, not one damn bit.

It took him a full minute to regain his composure, to open his eyes again. To face her once more. He tilted his head slightly to her, this time testing his limit. His eyes caught the edge of sheet, tracing along the trimmed edges before he came to her. Shutting his eyes briefly he opened them and focused on her least seductive asset.

Sliding closer he shifted his focus from her ankle and did a quick once over of the other side of the bed.

"Fuck" he bit out as he realized that he couldn't see his pants. Now what?

Pulling back he focused again on her ankle, making sure that his movement hadn't awoken her. Satisfied, he scooted a few inches closer and then shifted his focus once more to the floor boards on the other side. To his relief he spied it and with one quick lurch he moved over her and snagged the item up from the floor.

The smile that had played across his lips in that moment of victory instantly vanished when he realized the clothing he held in his hand wasn't exactly the one he wanted. Focusing in the dark he made out the sleeves of his gray sweat shirt. He had mistaken the sleeves for his pant leg.

Grunting he quickly tossed the shirt onto the floor and craned his torso around so that he would be able to get a better view of the opposite side of the room. He couldn't make another stupid mistake like that, what if he had woken her up?

Almost as soon as that thought had crossed his mind he felt her weight shift. Tensing he let his eyes drop back down to her. This time he no longer focused on her ankle, instead his gaze shot straight to her face, half expecting to find her staring up at him. But what he found was that she was still asleep, dreaming it seems as her eyelids twitched slightly every few seconds. Her mouth was just slightly open, forming the tiniest o, and she looked all innocence and light from his vantage point.

Her beauty was enough to make a man forget himself as he found himself leaning closer to her. That perfect floral scent that escaped from her pulled him deeper as he angled his body to get closer. She seemed to wrinkle her tiny sculptured nose in response as he got closer. Pulling back slightly he realized that when she had shifted earlier a few of her cherry bangs had fallen over the side and now brushed up against her nose.

Reaching out he attempted to remove her hindrance, his hand falling short as he stopped a mere breath from her. Something caught his eye and in that moment of weakness it saved him. Leaning over her now he stretched out his arm and quickly plucked his pants up from the floorboards and with one fluid motion he slipped them on snapping the elastic into place.

He moved away from her and got to his feet slinging the cover over her so that she wouldn't be as exposed to the prying eyes of their visitor. Dipping into his pocket with his other hand he quickly dropped his stolen trinket. She would hate him when she woke up. He knew that, was counting in that.

Sighing he turned to face the window, it was still open and the howling wind that had never ceased brought with it the scent of his intruder as it assaulted his nose. He had put it off long enough. He knew exactly what was coming.

Afterall….no man, not even this one would forgive him for what he had done to the woman he loved.

* * *

_NARUTO_

He could feel her working over him and all he wanted was for her to stop. She reminded him too much of what he had lost that night. But he knew if he asked her to she wouldn't. She was just as stubborn and pig-headed as Sakura was. So instead he kept his eyes shut and waited for his pain to go away. When he was sure that he had enough strength he reached up and grabbed her hand.

"Ino, please that's enough" he said as he opened his eyes to look at her

"I'm fine, you should go to Hinata" he pleaded with her as she shook her head in response

"Ino" he called again before she responded

"Naruto, she'll be okay. I've already checked her. Just a few broken bones, don't worry" she said as she pulled her hand away from him

"Ino" he said as he tilted his head away from her

"Hinata's okay, really Naruto she'll be fine. But…is she really the one you're concerned about?"

Instinctively he turned to face her again. His eyes blurry as he tried to hold back the barrage of tears that attempted to break free.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to.." she drifted off

"You were gone" he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. It was not much of a distraction but he was hoping it would be enough for her to switch the topic

"Yes, I was. I needed a few things and he wouldn't let me leave so I had to.." she trailed off

It wasn't something he liked to bring up. He was one of the few people who knew what Ino what going through at the moment. He shouldn't have said anything that would make her feel the way she was feeling now.

Pushing her hand aside he sat up, it was a struggle as she tried to push him back down again.

"I have to go" he said as he grabbed both of her wrists and pulled it to his face

"NO" she shouted, panic laced her words as she struggled against him

"You can't leave you're not strong enough" she shouted as she kept pulling against his hold. But her body had already reached her limit as she knew she didn't have the strength to find him anymore. Oh how she wished she hadn't send Yamato to retrieve Chouji.

Craning her neck around to the opening in the tent she hoped that either one of them would come. Any moment now, someone should be walking through. Her anxiety had her biting down on her lips as she stopped her struggle.

She started to cry, and the muffled sounds coming through her were agonizing. Tears ran down her cheeks as she grabbed hold of his wrist when he let go of her. But her tears weren't enough as he stood now towering over her.

"Please don't cry Ino. I have to go, I have to find her….you can't ask me to stay here and pretend everything's alright when I know she's out there" he said as he turned to glance at her one last time

"I have to stop you Naruto" she whispered as she looked up to face him

"I trust you would try" he said as his lip twitched slightly as he attempted to smile at her.

Turning around he fled the tent and from his comrades as he ran blindly into the night. He didn't know if she was following him or not. He didn't stop; he didn't care to turn around. All that mattered now was that he needed to find her and fast. It only soothed his pain a bit to know that she was with Sasuke. Nothing would happen to her as long as she was with him. He knew enough to know that Sasuke would not hurt her.

She would be safe,

With him.

It was all he could think of as he trashed through the forest. He couldn't stop as his legs willed him forward farther and farther away until he could no longer hear the screams of the blond he left behind.

* * *

_SASUKE._

Gripping the window sill he kept his head down as he gritted his teeth biting back a growl as he refused to look at the man. His eyes already swimming with crimson as the man dared to lean forward to him.

"Sasuke"

* * *

**2009 has not been a good year for me….Alas Recession has hit me and I lost my job and now unable to finish my final year of college. OH JOY**

**On a better note I've discovered the twilight saga and cant get enough of it….my new love….Edward Culler**

**So here's to hoping that Naruto would finally get off its crappy fillers and that my family would be able to bail me from my current predicament….**


End file.
