iv.

Sakura felt the memories rushing back the minute they crossed into Rice territory. Her initial awe of Jiraiya, the eventual disgust, and finally her disregarding his behavior because Sasuke was too important for her to care about whether Jiraiya was a pervert or not.

She could recall running from a gang of thugs because the legendary Sannin had to stop in a sketchy bar to get "information," but not before she and Naruto were assaulted by a strange masked ninja. And in the next town over, one more bustling and full of life, Sakura and Naruto met the girl again, treating her wound with a salve and promising to bring back her cousin as well as Sasuke. As the team approached the entrance to the hideout, Sakura thought of Gamakichi and the prickling sensation she felt as she watched the frog talk.

Genma's sharp voice dragged her back to the present. "Any traps we should know of, Uchiha?" Sasuke stood a few feet in front of them, having led them to the space they currently occupied. "Not here. Further in." His shoulders slouched in a relaxed sort of way, and Sakura felt more at ease just looking at him. If Sasuke-kun wasn't worried, why should she be? Genma motioned them forward, and they took the steps down two at a time. When they reached the bottom, he shot a look at Iwashi and Raido. "You two stay here. Check your radios?" Both men took turns tapping the small microphones attached to their faces, and Genma, after a moment of concentrating on his earpiece, nodded his approval. "Good. Uchiha, Haruno - with me."

The hideout had a damp air to it. The stones lining the walls were cracked and faded with age, and it felt more unkempt than the last time Sakura had visited. It only took a minute for them to reach a familiar landmark. Three doorways loomed in front of them, and Sakura noticed the one on the right was slightly caved in. Sasuke paused then, as if he couldn't quite remember the way, and before she could help herself, Sakura pointed straight ahead. "That one."

His eyes snapped to meet hers, and she just shrugged.

"I've been here before."

This answer didn't seem to satisfy Sasuke, but he let it go and continued down the hallway Sakura had pointed at. The traps that had foiled her and Naruto's progress were all either disabled or broken.

They jumped across the same bamboo-filled gap she had almost impaled herself in, with Sakura barely suppressing a shudder. A few minutes later they made their way into the large hall, columns looming over them likes trees in a forest. Sakura could barely breathe. The feelings came back full force. Her heart clenched as Kabuto's voice echoed back to her.

Ball-and-chain. The pit in her stomach as she acknowledged how true it was, and how inevitable and easy death seemed in that moment. These notions were nothing compared to how she felt when Naruto had been hurting, though. Sakura had never experienced that degree of helplessness before, and the idea of not being able to do anything frightened her beyond reason. The sense of dread she had felt contributed heavily to her success in training. When she felt herself fading, she would remind herself of the night Sasuke left, the day Naruto returned unsuccessful, and the ensuing mission to find their missing piece. Her whole body felt tight, and as they proceeded further into the room, her breath was short and measured.

Genma glanced at her. "You okay?" Sakura swallowed. There it was again - the idea that she was something to be looked after, a damsel in distress living in a world tailor-made to terrify people like her. "I'm fine," she bit out. The rest of the way was a blur as she forced herself to concentrate only on her feet. They passed through a pair of double doors and while the walls were the same bricks and the lighting was still dim, it was a different atmosphere.

"We're close," Sasuke informed them, gesturing down a dark hall. The smell became less mildewy and more like antiseptic, and when they pushed through the next door, Sakura was staring at a cluttered laboratory. Books and scrolls were scattered over desks, test tubes and strange specimens lined the walls. The corners of the room were pitch black, and Sakura couldn't help but shy away from those areas. She wandered around the tables, brushing thick layers of dust off the various items and instruments. About halfway around the room, she stopped short and looked at her teammates, who lingered in the doorway almost uncomfortably.

"Someone has been here." Genma's brow furrowed. "What?" Sakura motioned him over. "Look," she said, picking up a journal as if to demonstrate. "No dust." "What's in the book?" She pried it open carefully, examining the yellowed pages apprehensively. Sketched out diagrams were on most of the pages, with meticulously written notes filling out the empty spaces. The room became silent as she flipped through the pages, squinting to read the text. It became clear to her that the focus of the book was on Orochimaru's infamous cursed seal, though what he was trying to implement with it she couldn't specifically tell. It all looked a little sickening. "I'm...not sure," Sakura said finally. It was only half a lie - she didn't want to divulge too much in front of Sasuke, seeing as the cursed seal had always been something that stood between the two of them.

So she shoved the book in her bag. "Whatever it is, it's not the focus of this mission," she continued hastily. "I'll study it later, when we have more light." If Genma thought anything of it, he didn't say. He returned to the doorway, and Sakura resumed her perusal of the room. - They made camp a few miles from the hideout. Sakura had found several scrolls of interest in Orochimaru's lab, and while the entire team seemed to have enough energy to travel through the night, she suggested to Genma that they rest instead, so she could begin to go through the materials she had gathered and seal the ones of particular interest. The sealed items would then be delivered to Konoha via summon, so there was no risk of the information falling into the wrong hands. Perched at the edge of the light their small campfire shed on the site, she began to skim through tattered scrolls and loosely bound books.

She was so engrossed in reading that Sakura barely noticed when Sasuke sat down next to her. They had gone years without being near each other, yet when his arm brushed against hers as he settled in, it was as if no time had passed. It was just Sasuke and Sakura, half of Team 7, engaging in silent and casual camaraderie after a long day of traveling. So Sakura wasn't startled when he sat next to her – rather, when she realized she wasn't put off by his presence she felt uncomfortable. Even more so when he was the one to speak first. "Any luck so far?" His voice sent shivers down her spine. "Um, yeah, sort of. Orochimaru spent a lot of time trying to integrate Hashirama's regen with the curse seal. Almost like the Byakugou," she pointed at her own forehead as an example, "but rather than drawing on the user's own chakra, it uses the chakra bestowed by the seal. "That makes the jutsu a lot more unstable," she explained at Sasuke's confused expression. "So how does this help you?"

Sakura pursed her lips. "I don't know." The finality of her words seemed to jar him, and he didn't respond. After a minute of silence, she put the book in her lap aside and shifted her body so she was facing Sasuke. "Are the chakra restraints okay?" Without waiting for a response, she grasped his wrist to examine the seals wrapped around them like a bracelet. "They're not eating up all of your chakra, are they?" Sasuke shrugged, his eyes carefully avoiding hers. "I guess not." His short answer seemed to please Sakura, and she beamed at him, her hand still loosely clasping his arm. He took a deep, audible breath then, and she regarded him curiously as he began to speak. "Sakura, you - "

"Oi, Uchiha!" Both their heads snapped forward at Genma's bark. Without another word, Sasuke gently removed his arm from Sakura's grip, stood up, and walked over to where the other three men were pouring over a map. It was only then that she realized how hard her heart was pounding, and she held a loose fist to her chest, willing it to slow as she watched his retreating figure.

The next morning the team continued north, making for one of Orochimaru's larger compounds. Sasuke described it as a prison where he kept most of his experiments, including Sasuke's old teammate, Juugo. Sakura was relatively unfamiliar with the man, having only seen him from a distance, but she knew him as a large, hulking specimen with surprisingly kind eyes.

It wasn't as long a trip as Sakura expected – nine hours, at most, though she supposed that had to do with the team's overall speed and efficiency. They passed the time in relative silence, only speaking when necessary.

She estimated it was close to midnight when the prison's silhouette surfaced before them. The building was tall and foreboding, though what really caught Sakura off guard was the flickering of lights through barred windows. Everyone else seemed just as taken aback, and they stopped short, heels skidding in the dirt. Genma immediately turned on Sasuke, the deadly look in his eyes foreign and out of place on his normal slack face. "You said this place was empty," he hissed, grasping the front of Sasuke's shirt with some force. "Abandoned, I think, was the word you used."

Sakura fought the urge to combat Genma's force – it's not unwarranted, she reminded herself, and instead fiddled with the straps on her thigh to distract from the scene in front of her.

"I did say that, and I meant it," Sasuke responded, and his face showed no hint of – well, anything. "Anyone who occupies this building does so without my knowledge."

The two men stared at each other for a moment, and then Genma released Sasuke's shirt, shoving him back a bit with the force of his gesture. "Fine. We need to regroup. Iwashi, send a clone to recon. Find out who's up there."

Iwashi nodded, but before he could finish forming the seal, a giant shadow appeared before them and a moment later the ground split with a huge boom.

Sakura's reflexes kicked in and she leaped back, cursing the rocky terrain as her feet hit a ragged boulder rougher than intended. It was too dark to see their assailant well, but when his gaze passed over hers she caught a glimpse of markings across his face. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the curse mark. Sasuke had set the inmates free, but some of them had chosen to keep residence at the prison, it seemed.

He banged on the ground with his fists like a child throwing a deadly tantrum, and the impact rippled, a sight familiar to Sakura. The only difference between the two of them, it seemed, was that while Sakura used chakra to cause destruction, this man – monster – didn't seem to need to. As the dust settled, she caught a glimpse of her teammates jumping out of range. Their assailant focused on her – no doubt distracted by her brightly colored hair – and was surprisingly swift as he barreled towards her, fist prepared for another massive punch. Sakura could only dash backwards, dodging and weaving as he took stabs at her. Finally, he relented his assault and she halted in response, heels digging into the dirt just as the man regained his composure and sent another fist flying her way. Time slowed to a crawl as Sakura measured her options. Too late to jump out of the way, she figured, not enough space to roll. To Sakura, that left only one other choice.

She pumped chakra into her knuckles as her hand curled into a ball, bracing her body for the likelihood of utter failure.

Time to see who's stronger.

Their fists collided, and she could feel the impact move through her body like a wave, crashing against her bones and muscles with unsurprising force. Despite that, she held her own, pressing her fist so he rocked backwards, balance compromised by Sakura's unyielding strike. After a moment, they simultaneously pushed off each other, sliding back a number of feet each way. Before he could step towards her again, there was a hint of movement behind him and a moment of silence, and he collapsed with the force of an earthquake. Raido stood behind him, his darkened katana dripping with a mix of blood and poison.

Sakura let out a breath of relief, quickly followed by an annoyed huff. "What took you so long?"

Raido rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, there was another one. Genma should be finishing up with him about now." He gestured behind him, sheathing Kokuto with ease before continuing, "are you okay?"

She nodded. "A couple of fractures. Nothing I can't fix." As if to demonstrate, Sakura wiped a green-lit hand over a nasty bruise on her arm, and watched it fade as if it was more than a few days old. "Iwashi and Sasuke-kun?"

"We're here!" Iwashi's voice echoed out before Raido could respond, and two blurs appeared from behind a boulder. Almost on cue, Genma stepped into view as well, looking less like he had just come from a fight and more like he had just woken up.

"Chances are that was a patrol," he said, skipping the formalities. "Which means that it won't be long until their friends realize something is wrong," Iwashi said with a sigh. "Exactly. So we need to move this along. Do you know the place well enough to draw us a map?" The last part was directed at Sasuke, who stood casually off to the side, completely unmarred from the conflict they had just engaged in. "I can give you a rough perimeter, but I never spent much time here."

Sakura hated how his voice gave her butterflies.

"Fine. Every little bit helps." Next, Genma turned to her. "You, Uchiha, and Iwashi will stay out here." At her sounds of protest, he explained, "the fewer of us in there, the better. Raido and I have a rough idea of what to look for, and if we're not sure, we'll grab it anyway. Good?"

"Good, I guess," Sakura replied hesitantly. He nodded and pulled out a small roll of parchment and a pencil to have Sasuke draw out the map. Ten minutes later, Raido and Genma departed, silent and practically invisible.

Sakura sat, back against a rock, and set to work healing the rest of her wounds. After a moment, she looked up from her work to see Sasuke watching her, face visible only through the flicker of green light her chakra created. "Can I help you?"

She didn't expect a response as she lowered her gaze back down to her injured wrist.

"How did you know where to go? Back in Rice, I mean."

She smiled sadly at the memory. "One of our numerous rescue missions, of course." The tone of her voice was colder than she intended, and her eyes flicked back up to see his reaction. There was none.

"Right after Naruto pursued you and those ninja from Sound," she explained. "I was going to go – on my own – but Naruto knows me too well. He insisted on going with me, and then Jiraiya caught us both. So it became an actual mission, I guess. Not that you care," she added hastily, and bit her lip to keep from rambling further. Sasuke didn't say anything as he shifted his weight, moving to sit next to her. There was silence as she resumed her healing process, the familiar kind that they had often settled into when they were younger, and for a while neither of them said anything.

Eventually, as Sakura leaned her head against the rock and closed her eyes, she heard him say something, very quietly.

"I do care."

a/n: oh my god wow I am so sorry I haven't updated, my grandmother died about a week after I published chapter 3 and that, along with crazy shifts at work and horses to take care of, has just sapped all my energy up. it's SS month, though, and that helped a lot with the perpetual writer's block.

anyway, i was so intent on getting a chapter out that i'm afraid this chapter is a little rough around the edges (and a bit on the short side). still, i hope you enjoy, and i look forward to some reviews.