A lot of people have really wanted HitsuSaku to happen in ROT, so I thought I'd write a oneshot for it. I'm not hot on the pairing but I did it anyway. Warnings? OOC'ness. You'll have to read why there is OOC (as there is a reason).

Like all my other ones, if an extra chapter is desired, I'll look into it.

Now, please enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach

—THE ROGUE—

Her whole body ached. Her feet were blistering and rubbing against her black boots as she sprinted. Each step against the solid white ice was a painful spasm through her leg to her brain, making her want to just stop, sit down and breathe. She couldn't though.

The light sheet of snow caressed her exposed toes as she ran, her caramel coloured cloak fluttering from around her neck, the hood falling from her head to expose her blue-tinged nose and cheeks. It was getting harder to breathe, and whenever she looked up, she was faced with falling snow slowly getting heavier, reminding her that she was running out of time.

And her predator certainly wasn't giving up.

She had lost sight of him moments ago. His clothes were properly suited for the type of weather and environment around her but hers weren't. Her Konoha cloak and black shorts and boots stuck out like a sore thumb. He'd find her easily. She was in his territory, in his zone. She wouldn't be surprised if his eyes were trained on her even then, just waiting for any sort of slip she might make to expose her. After all, her predator was a ninja from Snow, and so of course he'd be able to manipulate the ice around her. Her very life was in the balance just running across it.

It was the only way though.

White surrounded her. It was getting harder to see as she searched frantically for some sort of safety. Her heat pumped faster like a countdown to her death, and slowly the sound of her heavy breaths grew nonexistent to her ears as she concentrated on finding him—if she could.

Sakura skidded to a halt suddenly, her cloak billowing before her at the momentum as a white-painted kunai shot passed her nose, grazing the bridge. She felt blood seep from the cut, slipping to her lips, the smell of it just barely reaching her nostrils. In the same breath, her heart now loud in her ears, she back-flipped, avoiding a rain of camouflaged kunai and shuriken and landing back shakily without the use of chakra to steady her balance.

She forced her breathing to stabilise as she swept her green eyes across the white terrain. Snow wisped across her smooth cheeks, catching in her pink hair and short eyelashes. She crouched, minimising the size of the target—aka, she. Her gloved fingertips were pressed against the ice, the cold chilling her to the core like a thousand needles jabbing into the one place even with the protection.

A soft voice in the air, chanting, caught her attention and her breath hitched instantly. Looking around frantically for the source was difficult; his voice was being thrown around the area, echoing across the icy plain.

The ground below suddenly cracked; a spider-web thin coursing towards her from metres before her. Gathering what little chakra she had to her feet, Sakura jumped back from the creeping split. Her feet skidded across the flat surface, the snow spitting from her heels as she tried to stop herself but the rip in the ice was fast, spreading to her feet just as she righted herself. With hardly a second free to think, she gathered chakra to her fist and slammed it to the ground.

A resonating boom deafened the field as the white glass caved in from the point of impact. Shrapnel's shot from the centre as slabs of frozen water suddenly rose from either side of her, towering over her like pillars and locking her in a would-be cage of ice. She was bathed in shadows, freezing water flicking from the ice and catching on her face.

Damn, she cursed, eyes wide and flinching. Her attempt to stow off the inevitable cage of ice was naught.

The white columns slowly started to cave in around her and she shook her gloved hand to remind herself that it was still there. The cold was getting to her, freezing her blood. She had been in Snow for far too long without the proper provisions, and now it was costing her.

Gritting her teeth in determination, she curled the hand into a fist and ushered chakra to the end, swinging her arm back and delivering a punch to a slab of ice before her. A fist went through, creating a hole and spraying shards of ice across the ice either side. A web of cracks spread across the ice from the centre and just as quickly it seemed to heal, the rip closing together in reverse until the column of ice merely looked as though a hole was drilled through it—but Sakura's fist was still in it, her knuckles bleating in pain.

She didn't have enough time after that. The ice suddenly grew towards her forearm, locking around her limb in a secure prison that made her body freeze at the mere touch. It was like the needles were now swimming in her blood, coursing throughout her body and stabbing every part of her insides they could. She tugged, trying to withdraw her limb from the frozen ice but it remained tight in there. Her arm was going completely numb.

Slamming her other hand on the surface, she pulled again, grinding her teeth as she pushed chakra into the attack to hopefully make it easier. It didn't. The tug caused the ice to crack only slightly around her arm, but instantly it healed again, covering more of her skin.

It should hurt. She knew it should, but she was so cold that she honestly couldn't tell. And now she knew she was caught.

"Having a little trouble, are we?" the mocking voice of her predator filled her ears. At least out of the snowy wind—though surrounded by pillars of ice—allowed her to hear him properly. He was just on the outside, and if she could peer between her prison 'bars', she was able to see his black eyes leer back at her.

"No!" she screamed back hotly.

He chuckled. "You must be cold, Leaf-nin," he taunted. His white hood fluttered to show strands of black hair, as well as his hitai-ate that had the symbol of Snow engraved into its gleaming metal.

Sakura scowled. "You won't get away with this." It was a threat, but it was completely empty.

Tossing his head back, the nin laughed loudly. It echoed around in her little prison, fuelling her anger for the situation. She couldn't feel either hand now.

"I won't have to," he said, and knocked on the ice. "You'll be dead." The pinkette growled.

"And what makes you say that?"

Both nin faulted, expressions of surprise mirrored in each other's eyes. The voice was new, male, and judging from the Snow-nin's reaction, he was taken completely by surprise on his own turf. This Sakura couldn't help feeling smug for, but she knew the situation was far too dire for her to cheer. Escape was her main priority.

The free nin whirled around, the whiteness of his clock almost unseen to Sakura's eyes. He blended in so well.

"Who's there?"

"What? Can't find him?" Sakura taunted.

The nin glared at her, raising a hand and making a sign. The ground beneath her feet shook and she whipped her eyes back to the pillars around her, catching them inch further over her to box her. She couldn't stop it, not with her hands. Still desperate, Sakura lifted a foot in the cramped space and slammed her sole against one of the side ice slabs.

Again, it burst, and she quickly withdrew her leg, already anticipating the rebuilding of it.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," the Snow-nin goaded, his face twisted into a feral grin.

"I know I can." Again the voice came. The male ninja froze for a second before slipping out a kunai and tossing it in what seemed to Sakura to be a random direction. She didn't even hear it land.

"Come out, coward!" he screamed.

"As opposed to picking the young woman off while you hid?"

He growled. "Everything goes in a battle between ninja, fool!"

"Hm. It seems I have a bit more to learn about you ninja, because where I come from..." a figure suddenly seemed to melt from the blowing wind. He was about her height, a little taller. His clothes and cloak were shifting and twisting in the gust, the shadow of his hair spiky and unkempt as it played. There seemed to be a massive weapon slung over his back, its handle protruding from behind his head at an angle. "...it is considered bad manners not to face your foe head on."

The newcomer stopped metres from the stoic battle, and Sakura found herself looking into eyes of green that were staring right at her. Maybe. She couldn't tell. The numb feeling had crawled to the rest of her body, making her light-headed and weary. All she saw before her vision blurred was him unsheathing his weapon and brandishing it confidently before him.

Curse the gods. She blacked out then.

It was dark. Vaguely she wondered if this was some sort of heaven or hell—or perhaps a place in between—but the fact that she could feel pain in her right leg and both arms and was still very cold, she shot that idea down quickly. Her face felt strangely heated though, and as she shifted her body, she could feel the scratchy sensation of a badly knitted or continuously used blanket rub against her skin. It created friction, conjuring more natural heat to warm her body.

She still wore her clothes, probably because there weren't any spares. They were slightly damp and clinging to her body. Sakura felt some relief then. Wherever she was and whoever was taking care of her knew how to preserve life. They thought it best to wring her clothes of water as well as they could, and wrap her up, from head to toe, in blankets and distance her from the fire but not too much.

Had she been a little younger, she would have blushed at the thought of someone seeing her body, but as a medic nin, she was more than used to it.

Exhaling, Sakura opened her eyes at last, tilting her head towards a fire and watching the red flames and their shadows dance against the wall of a cave. She inspected the cave, noting that the rock was slightly dried, hinting at the continuous use of a fire. Somewhere further in the cave she could hear the rhythmic dripping of icy water.

"You're awake."

Startled, Sakura snapped her eyes in the other direction, soaking in the form of the man who had appeared before—she had no idea how long ago it was now. His hair was white, still very messy as though he hadn't taken a shower in days. It shagged slightly in one direction, and a full lock draped over his green eyes that were gazing down at her. Faded black cloth was draped over his body like a sleeveless robe, the ends fraying. Grey track pants were beneath the robe, and a torn white sash was wrapped around his waist haphazardly. He was holding a bowl.

"Yes," the pink-haired medic croaked. She groaned and swallowed.

The man settled the bowl down near the fire and then sat down beside it, crossing his legs. He was hunching, his green eyes staring into the crackling fire. One thing she couldn't help but notice, though, was that he had no sleeves and she could easily tell they were still somewhere in Snow.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked, frowning. Only then did she recognise one of the cloths covering her was his cloak that she had seen on his body when he saved her. How... nice.

He grabbed a nearby dry stick and prodded the coals. "I don't feel the cold easily."

"I can tell." She moved more of her body. It was slightly stiff and her head was throbbing like mad but on the whole, she was relieved that she was relatively fine. Still, there was a long way to go before she's fully healed. "Thanks, by the way," she muttered, grabbing more of the blanket and tucking it under her chin.

"It may be the way you ninja fight, but I honestly think it's immoral," he said, changing the subject slightly. His voice gave her chills, something that she really didn't need.

"'You ninja'," she quoted. "Why do you say that? Aren't you one? How else would you have got me out of there?"

"That ninja is dead," he said, answering an unasked question. "And no, I'm not a ninja, but that does not mean I have no skill with a blade."

"Well, yeah, that much I got. Your katana was as long as your body and you were able to wield it effortlessly. Besides, that guy had no idea where you were." Sakura groaned. "And you're not going to tell me, are you?"

"It doesn't exactly concern you. I saved your life, shouldn't that be enough?" he responded calmly. Sakura watched him as he picked through the bowl he brought in and took out a long piece of meat. She felt disgust gurgle in her throat when she recognised it as a skinned rabbit. He was clearly good at catching fast animals then, and was also used to surviving in the wilderness. But how far did he have to travel to find these snow rabbit?

She turned away when he skewered it and set it over the fire. It wasn't long before the scent of cooking flesh filled the medium-sized cave.

"I thanked you. We're passed that," she said. "There aren't many samurai in the ninja regions, much less ones that could take on a fully-trained ninja who was in his own terrain and therefore had the advantage."

"Obviously you cannot see that I seem to have a good residence right here."

She bit her lip, frowning. Smart-arse. "Of course I got that but—" He lifted his head and matched her gaze. "Fine. I digress. Be anti-social."

He chuckled. "Here in my home for barely five minutes and already I am insulted by a damsel in distress that I rescued." He smirked an, oh so, familiar smirk.

"I'm not a damsel! And I wasn't in distress," she protested. "I was... prolonged—I would have kicked his ass!"

"Not from where I was standing you couldn't."

"Maybe you should have gotten a better angle," she mumbled. "Who are you anyway?" She saw him raise an eyebrow and she tried to adopt an almost sultry look. "What? Can't a dear damsel in distress ask the name of her rescuer?"

He furrowed his brow. "You acknowledge the fact that you needed help. Impressive. I thought all ninja were arrogant and cocky."

"Let's just say I had a lot of practice," she muttered. "Answer my question. If I can't know what you are, then what about your name?"

"Not going to take the whole 'samurai' deal, right?" She shook her head and could practically hear his eyes roll "My name's Tōshirō Hitsugaya. I'm a... rogue," he half-explained.

"Rogue?"

Hitsugaya looked at her for what seemed like minutes before he turned away, not answering her question. Sakura got the hint and fell silent. The only sound was the crackling of the fire and the distant howling wind outside. At some point, she must have fallen asleep again.

Sakura cringed as she pushed herself off of the rocky floor. Her entire back was aching but aside from her ravenous hunger for proper food, she was actually feeling okay. Sort of. Hitsugaya—he stressed that she call him by his last name—was quite hospitable, and had actually persuaded her to stay another day to make sure she was healthy. She used the word 'persuaded' loosely, as he was as good with his diplomacy skills as Lee—not the loud, part, however.

He was very blunt. Very. He also had the tendency to exaggerate; one example being the effects of not eating his food (which she didn't like the look of) and how she'd die a horrible death because her stomach's acidic lining would eat her from the inside. He skipped the obvious fact that it'd take weeks for that to happen but she couldn't find the energy to correct him (especially because she knew he was just saying that).

His appearance therefore matched his personality; rundown, messy, dirty, brusque but still alarmingly attractive. She groaned when she realised what she was thinking; now was not the time to be thinking about that.

Still... she glanced over at his sleeping form, the red burn of the coals reflecting against his tanned face... she shook her head roughly, stretching her back and tossing the blankets off her body. When it was obvious she was out of the woods, Hitsugaya had her change her clothes with some of his old ones; a large white coat and another set of black robes that had blood covering them. She didn't ask what it was about, she just took them.

Sakura slowly and quietly climbed out of her makeshift bed, continuously glancing at him to make sure she wasn't disturbing him.

Nope. He hadn't moved.

She sighed in relief. After all, she was intending to leave, regardless of the weather. Hitsugaya had given her a brief idea of where the nearest green forest would be, and from there she figured it wouldn't be too hard to find her way home, or at least a neighbouring village.

Stealing her way to her dried bundle of clothes near the rock wall, she quietly grabbed them and started tiptoeing her way to the entrance but at the last moment, when she was at the mouth and was able to see the exit if she looked right, Sakura stopped and glanced over her shoulder.

Really she shouldn't leave so quickly, especially in this manner. He had spent three days taking care of her and she was seriously considering leaving without saying thanks... but... Sakura furrowed her brow. She also didn't want to disturb him.

At that moment he let out a soft moan and shuffled around in his bed. Sakura fought the urge to giggle and instantly clapped a hand over her mouth. His white bang tickled his eyes and he seemed to unconsciously swat at it with a free hand. Her cheeks went red. In the back of her mind she wondered how old the guy even was. She did not want to be a cradle snatcher because he did look pretty damn young.

And now she was reminded of her curiosity of his past. How exactly did he start living here? How did he kill that ninja that had almost killed her? How was he so used to the bloody cold?

Somehow her curiosity had forced her over to him, and with bated breath she leaned over his rustic face. She analysed him. There were tiny cuts littering his face, something that she would have only noticed had she been right up to him. There was a particularly large scar from his ear to the tip of his jaw.

The pink-haired ninja sighed, breath hitching instantly when her pant moved his white bang. His nose scrunched.

Wow, he must be a deep sleeper, she mused with a goofy grin. Cute!

Lying down on her stomach (and cringing at her taut muscles that were being stretched), she nestled her chin into a propped hand and gazed at his pleasant face. It was amusing watching his facial expressions. Still, there she thought; how to thank him?

The chances of finding him again were slim to none, since he easily had the upper hand in this sort of terrain, so she couldn't exactly leave, buy a gift and return. Well, she guessed she could and start screaming out his name when she was in Snow, or attract some overpowered Snow nin so that he could rescue her again. But that would demean her abilities as a ninja. True, she lost before, but there wasn't much she could do if her opponent had the type advantage.

Maybe she could cook breakfast (lunch?) for him when he awoke... but she'd have to find food for that, and the rabbit he had caught the day was lying, rotten, in its basket in the corner of the cave. She wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole.

Ideas would pass her mind but instantly she'd find some reason why she couldn't do it. Eventually she was fresh out of ideas and found herself staring blankly at his tensed face. She could see his eyes shifting rapidly beneath his lids, his lashes quivering slightly.

He was having a nightmare.

Sakura panicked, hoping that her looming presence wasn't the cause of this. Instinctively, she put a hand on his shoulder (he was on his side) and squeezed it gently. He relaxed a little, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"Hmm," he moaned. The medic wore she heard more than just that syllable, so she perked her ears, waiting for him to repeat himself. He buried his nose slightly into the pile of cloths acting as a pillow. "Mo...mo..."

Sakura reeled her head back in surprise. Momo? Who was she? A girlfriend? She fought a blush. She had just been crushing on a taken man... but then... where was this Momo? Quickly her face fell. Was she... dead?

Her heart went out to Hitsugaya.

Without thinking, she leaned in lightly pressed her lips against his dry ones. She waited for a moment, her mind whirring; what am I doing? Air lodged in her throat and she prepared to pull back when she was taken by surprise. He had pushed back, just as gently as she had.

Fear and excitement consumed her at once. She hadn't been with a man in years, hadn't had someone who she loved or could call a lover. But she wasn't worried. She was only twenty six and thought positively that one day it would happen, and now she had just stepped into a predicament.

Sakura feverishly hoped it was only in his dreams and tentatively she pulled back, refusing to open her eyes. A warm breath washed against her face and she hesitantly exhaled.

"That's your thanks?"

She could have died in embarrassment just then. Instead, she dropped her head into her arms, stubbornly refusing to meet his eyes.

So the prude was awake. Cheeky git.

"How long were you awake?" she mumbled, her words barely coherent.

Hitsugaya had leaned closer to her to catch them but he did. "Long enough. Thinking of leaving without a goodbye? It's fine. It's happened plenty of times to me before."

Sakura lifted her head in a second, taking him in. He wasn't looking at her, but rather at his knees now that he was sitting up. An expression of forlorn could be seen in his eyes, and she realised that he looked quite older, like he had seen too much that what needed to be before his age.

"I'm not going to leave," she said hastily.

He scoffed. "Oh? Then what were you planning to do? Build a snow man?"

She snapped her mouth shut. "Fine. I was. But I stayed because I wanted to give my thanks."

He raised an eyebrow as he stared at her. She could practically read his next question through his eyes.

"The kiss was accidental. I—I, felt sorry for you," she blurted out.

Hitsugaya frowned. "Sorry? And why would you feel that?"

"Well, I—wait, what?" She scrambled to her knees. "How could you not know?"

"I only woke up when you—"

"Okay!" she cut in. "Then how'd you know I was... you know... leaving?" She gestured to the cave exit.

The white-haired man grimaced. "Every woman does in the end."

"Woah." Sakura fell silent. He said a lot with so few words, and its meaning just tugged at her heart strings. Just what exactly happened to him? And while she was so torn to ask, Sakura knew it was not her place at all. But she did, hesitantly. "Who is Momo?"

His expression made her blood chill. She expected him to be angry, as almost every other guy she knew would have a look of absolute fury on his face if asked something personal you weren't supposed to know. If not angry, she thought it would have been confused for how she knew, or perhaps fear of some secret being known, but not at all, did she think she would have seen sadness.

His green eyes had instantly shimmered with unshed tears, and at the same time he looked away, raising a hand to press against his forehead. The cave was filled with an unsettling silence as Sakura watched his Adam's apple bulge as he forced himself to swallow his tears. She could see the trouble he had with breathing, and was about to rest her hand on his shoulder when he unexpectedly spoke.

"She was..." his voice shook, "...a fool." He shook his head mournfully. "A stupid fool."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't... say sorry," he said sharply. "To me. Say sorry to her."

Now she was confused. "Where is she? Why?" He inhaled deeply. "Why is she a fool?"

Seconds passed before she heard the quiet words, "she helped me."

Her heart sounded so loud and it ached so much for this complete stranger. When she met him she didn't think she'd be counselling him, much less him divulging some of his deepest, inner secrets.

"I didn't agree... with some things being done, so I did something foolish and got captured. It wasn't long before she visited me and told me she was going to help me escape."

"Rogue," Sakura whispered, her eyes widening. "You escaped. You're an escaped convict."

Hitsugaya hesitantly nodded. "She helped me escape but was found out in the process. I told her she was a fool for helping but she refused to listen. She wanted... to atone for something that happened years ago, and now..." he let his sentence hang in the air. Sakura understood. She was killed for aiding him.

"My best friend... ever since childhood... was killed because of my beliefs," he ended softly, and with a sharp inhale he buried his head into his hand again. Idly, the medic noticed that he said 'friend' and not anything else to describe the woman.

Sakura pursed her lips, her eyes hard. "She was killed not because of your beliefs but because of her own. She believed you, trusted you, and thought you were worth saving. It's not your fault... it's not—" she stopped herself after she realised that her words were not getting to him. His back shuddered as he withheld silent sobs, and his throat contracted when he tried to breathe but was unable.

Her uncertainty of touching him was thrown away when she moved forward and wrapped her hands around his head, guiding him to her chest. He didn't react, so she tentatively lowered her head over his, his white hair soft and caressing her skin. He shuddered in her grasp, his eyes sealing shut and his teeth tightly clenched as he blindly grasped for her arm. Gasping for breath, small tears leaking from his eyes, his hand clasped the crook of her elbow so tightly that she got the alarming impression that he felt as though he was about to fade away.

Confidently, Sakura started streaming her fingers through his wild hair, tugging at the knots that had worked their way in and catching on dried mud. Honestly, she did wonder why he wasn't more hygienic. Maybe it was because he had been alone for who knows how long and therefore hadn't had the need to look decent for someone.

It made sense. A rogue. It was where his blunt nature had developed, his shaggy, dishevel appearance, his contentment with the scavenging of wild animals and the bad way he undercooked them. Her unasked question about why he hadn't sought out civilisation was answered as well. He was punishing himself, perhaps. Finding a village meant meeting people, and meeting people meant creating bonds, and creating bonds... had the possibility to lead to disaster, but not necessarily.

So that was why he was insistent on her staying. At once, he wanted her to leave, and to stay; it was obvious which side won. He wanted company. Maybe he thought that he had suffered enough and deserved a little something, but now guilt had overcome him.

She so wished she hadn't asked who the woman was.

He was a broken man.

"Hitsugaya," she whispered into his hair. "Where are you known as an outlaw?"

"No... where here," he exhaled.

Sakura frowned slightly but didn't ask. "Do you want a home?"

He was silent.

"You don't have to keep punishing yourself, Hitsugaya. Just... come back with me. I'll show you another way to live," she spoke softly. "Just—"

"No." His grip tightened immensely. "I—"

"Tōshirō, don't make me kiss you," she threatened with a smile.

He hiccupped, a mixture of a quiet sob and a chuckle. "I've heard better threats from Kurosaki," he stated. Sakura looked around the cave in thought, wondering who this other person was. "But I won't refuse the threat."

Sakura snorted. "Where's the joke? A handsome guy like you wants to willingly kiss someone like me?"

"I guess I'll just have to make do. Ow!"