AN: Sorry for the long wait, though we feel like we're ripping you guys off here. We love this chapter, but maybe because only we know what's going to happen next. Hehe.

Orange Peel
Coke and Soi

Chapter 3: The Grave Mistake

—

And before she knew it, the words were out.

"Sasuke," she said, causing him to lift his bowed head,

"…I'm coming with you to Itachi."

—

Silence met her words, save for the uncomfortable shuffle of Juugo's feet. Though it had not been her intention to do so, it seemed as though she had stunned the Sound nins into speechlessness.

Sakura ignored the scrutiny of the gazes being directed at her, and focused on Sasuke instead. However, unlike the others, Sasuke stood with his back to her as he stared out into the mountaintops that protruded into the horizon. He had stood there motionless since Itachi had made his departure, and did not offer any means of acknowledgement now.

As always, Suigetsu was the first to speak up from his place on the ground. "Pfft, what do you think you can do?" he snorted. "You'll only burden us. Joke's over, Pinky." He winced a little in pain and put a hand gingerly on his still-bleeding chest, appearing to lose interest in the current situation as he nursed his wounds.

But Karin quickly followed suit, joining the attack at the strange proposal. "Hate to break it to you, but for once the asshole is right. Who knows if you're just using this as a cover-up to spy on us and tattle to your precious Hokage—you can't expect us to trust you."

Sakura's emerald eyes narrowed at their taunting; nevertheless, she kept them fixed solely on the man before her.

"I… can't just let them take him. I know you don't understand, but…" Her voice was hardly audible in the carrying breeze, nothing more than a soft whisper. But the resolve in her tone seemed to punctuate her words clearly in Sasuke's ears.

Finally, he turned, chin over shoulder with his face so painfully impassive that Sakura almost wanted to reach out and give him a good shake. Still, she held herself. He had always been like that before – it wasn't as if she could change anything.

Everyone waited in anticipation for his response, knowing that it was his alone that would be the final decision.

"Sakura…" he began. The glow of the sunset behind him illuminated his usually pale features, and the shadows of his bangs hung over his eyes.

"Stop," she interrupted suddenly. "Before you say anything, I want you to know that if I don't go with you, I'll still go by myself. And be reasonable—the more of us there are, the harder it'll be for them to stop us."

Sasuke continued as though Sakura had not spoken, "…You cannot… You will not survive. This is far beyond your level."

Offended, Sakura clenched her fists, all stirrings of plea gone from her tone as she snapped at him, "I will get him back. I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to him. I wouldn't be able live with myself if the ones I loved were harmed. Whether or not you believe me, I will get him back."

Turning around abruptly, he swept past her without sparing her a single glance, and stopped above the heap of limbs that was Suigetsu.

"Stop looking so pathetic and pick yourself up. We're going," he said with his usual tone of authority. "Karin, sweep a 5 kilometer radius for large concentrations of chakra."

Karin nodded briskly.

"Anything I can do, Sasuke-sama?" Juugo spoke up, still looking slightly shaken.

"No, just stay close."

Deflated, Juugo sighed as he turned away. "You never let me do anything, Sasuke-sama…" he mumbled without looking up.

"Sasuke-kun!" Karin pointed at a sparse grouping of trees that grew slightly apart from the clumped forest behind them. "Over there! Let's go right now—it'll be harder to travel through these dense grounds after nightfall."

Sasuke's gaze followed her finger, and he nodded in approval. "Aa. We will leave immediately."

Sakura saw a trace of a smirk on Karin that seemed to be directed at her, as the redhead leapt to join the team formation. She watched in silence as the Sound Team organized themselves with Sasuke in front and Juugo close behind him; Suigetsu came next with some effort, Karin bringing up the rear.

"Take it easy for now, Suigetsu. But as soon as we reach the next village and treat your wounds—we depart at top speed."

Karin reluctantly allowed Suigetsu to drape a limp arm around her shoulders. He groaned in exaggerated pain at her rough grip, and swore insults under his breath.

"Argh. Bitch! Watch it!" he snarled when she jostled him forcefully to 'make him more comfortable'.

Dismissing Sakura's presence completely now, the group took off at a slower pace than usual. Sakura glared at Sasuke's retreating back, growing smaller and smaller with each step they took.

Damnit! He's leaving again! She dragged herself slowly to her feet, pink hair falling over her face to add to her menacing aura.

Again!

…It's always the same.

Again!

Her fists clenched, her chin lifted further to reveal her hardened eyes as she fully straightened. The group was almost out of sight, and Sakura felt her rage grow to an unbearable point.

…"This is way beyond your level."

He was just leaving her grasp, and she couldn't let it happen again…

No! Not again!

She gritted her teeth. I can't let him leave this time!

"SHANNAAAARO!"Sakura roared, voice shaking, "You don't know what I'm capable of!"

SMASH!

The rock underneath splintered around her fist, sending a shockwave throughout the battered terrain of the cliff. Gathering speed as the earth gave away and cracked in a massive expanse, large craters burst from the ground and collided into each other with the force of the blow. Billowing dust in great clouds of debris fogged her vision.

Sakura felt the ground slide beneath her feet, and her step faltered. At first she thought it was simply an aftereffect of her punch— but the swooping sensation in her stomach continued, her footing not regained.

Suddenly, her sight cleared to a startling blur of reddened sky and large chunks of rock tumbling down with her. She had sunken below the dust clouds—and realized in a sudden pang of regret that she had made a grave mistake.

The cliff was collapsing, shattering into an avalanche of dirt, dust, and gravel.

Crap…I must've over shot my punch a bit…

The thought was disrupted by a sudden thud on Sakura's chest as another flailing chunk of rock hit her, nearly knocking her into unconsciousness. Although momentarily winded by its weight crushing her chest, her determination kept her alert, and her trained body instantaneously knew what to do.

Grabbing onto the biggest rocks only, Sakura secured firm holds on either side of the jagged ends, heaving upwards with all her strength to pull herself safely on top. Not stopping for a moment's pause, she had already tightened her grip on the next rock slightly above her. And with a grunt and an almighty swing, she had made it to its surface as well.

Though desperate, Sakura could tell that she was not making progress. The rocks were falling much faster than her upward climb, and at most, her effort had only allowed her to stay in the same spot.

Her arms now ached, but still, she persisted. To cease her attempts would result in death, and Sakura wanted to avoid that until every last opportunity had left her. Strengthening from new resolve, her hand reached for the incoming stepping stone with increased power, and as soon as it fell to eye level, Sakura lifted herself onto it. She was just reaching for another one when her gaze landed on something by her feet – something black and hairy.

Sakura froze, her arms still stretched before her as the caterpillar inched forward, leaving a trail of slime behind it. The movement caused her eyes to widen with the sight of the large bug crawling towards her, and Sakura instinctively screamed.

Hesitation was her second mistake, and she noticed too late that a yucky bug was nothing compared to her life. A little too late, Sakura reached out for the incoming rock. Slipping at the sudden tilt of her

Faster than she could even contemplate what was going on, the rock tilted as it continued falling down, bringing her with it. Hesitation had been her second mistake, and she noticed too late that a yucky bug was nothing compared to her life. A little too late, Sakura reached out for the incoming rock with frantic fingers, barely registering her terror before she was flung backwards.

The ground below looming ever closer from the long drop, Sakura began the hurl to her death.

Is…this…the end?

No…I don't want to go yet…

Her vision blurred, and she raised her arm with increasing difficulty against the resistance of sinking wind. She felt frozen in midair, as though suspended in timeless grace and flight with a welcoming lightness spreading to her toes. It was almost surreal; the fall caused strands of pink hair to flow after her body, and it blew away most of her senses with it.

I still have so much I want to see…

…So much I wanted to do…

To marry before Ino...

Tell Mother I love her…

…and Tsunade-shissou, thank her…

In the silence of her frozen lapse in air, a single tear was barely squeezed out from her fluttering eyelids before the speed of the wind whipped it away. So shallow were her breaths, they could have faded into nothing.

I wish…

I wish I could've seen Naruto become Hokage…

And then she really couldn't breathe.

I wish…I wish I could've seen Sasuke in Konoha…one more time…

Sakura closed her eyes as she waited for her seemingly inevitable end. Feeling herself fall into the rhythm of the smooth wind, her ears pricked at once to the abrupt sound that disrupted the sync.

She found it too effortful to snap open her eyes as her sharp instincts were telling her, and instead let the grip of a rough hand tighten around her slim wrist. Not alarmed at all, she let Sasuke's heavy panting breach the air around her as he pulled her up and held her waist firmly from behind, his strong arms sure and secure.

A sigh of relief was not necessary.

It wasn't any more than common sense. This thought had long since been planted into her mind, and it would take much more than a few years of summoned determination and intense training to scrap it all away. She couldn't die then, and she knew it.

Never, not when he was right there.

—

AN: BAM! Short chapter but we love it (wow we're modest). Constructive crit please, but nicer than you usually would. Coke-chan here has a hard time with it...-coughsodoi-

Thanks for reading, please review. They're what keeps us going! We're getting a bunch of story alerts instead, but those don't inspire us much… -.-