And, after a brief period of laziness, I have returned to bring you the third chapter of Five. It would've taken longer but lately I've noticed a severe decline in the number of reviews I've been getting (as well as Alerts and Favorites). The little voice in the back of my head told me that this was due to lack of new chapters/stories and that I should get off my butt and write some fanfiction! However, I disagreed with the voice...I have to be sitting down to write, after all.

Does anyone read the Author's Notes? I always do. Enjoy the chapter! I don't own Naruto...just Sasuke.

The Fifth Member

Chapter Three

A week had passed since Sakura had joined Team Hebi. Sasuke seemed quite intent on killing Itachi by the end of the month and Sakura was not one to argue with that idea. She wanted Itachi dead just as much as her former teammate did. It was Itachi's fault that Sasuke had left her on a bench two and a half years ago. It was Itachi's fault that Sasuke's childhood had been ripped away at the tender age of eight. It was Itachi's fault that the most powerful family in Konoha was destroyed.

And, in a round-a-bout way, it was Itachi's fault that Karin had just fallen face-first into a nearby ditch.

Said redhead stood up, an angry look upon her face. Sakura had seen this look many times in the past seven days. It was the famous Suigetsu-I'm-going-to-feed-you-to-a-pack-of-rabid-cannibals look. The snowy-haired teen simply grinned in reply.

"Third time today..." an annoyed mumble came from a few feet away. Sasuke was obviously quite sick of stopping on these little breaks.

Sakura, in contrast, was not sick of stopping at all. She, too, was eager to kill Itachi, but she still enjoyed stopping to spend time with the boy she loved. "Don't be mad Sasuke," she whispered to him as the fight grew louder. "We're arriving in a village soon and they might be able to tell us something about the Akatsuki's whereabouts."

Remembering this information only caused the sixteen-year-old to twitch. The girl next to him followed his eyes, eventually leading to the fighting couple about 20 feet away. Understanding flooded Sakura's mind.

Suigetsu and Karin should not be going into another village.

Last week, when they'd gone to get healed, everything had gone fine at first. Sakura had taken care of all of Sasuke's wounds and they were out gathering supplies. Of course an argument had to erupt between Suigetsu and Karin. And over something as pathetic as shoes, no less!

The shopkeeper had stopped yelling when they agreed to pay the fine.

But still, Sasuke was not willing to repeat the scene. Even Uchiha's have a limited amount of money, and they most definately have a limited amount of patience. "Shut up!" the youngest of the clan yelled, demonstrating this limit.

The screaming couple turned to face him, surprised looks on their faces. The looks quickly vanished when they saw Sasuke's glare. "We won't all be going later..." Sasuke said, staring across the rough, rocky road to the other three. "There will be no arguments."

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Uchiha Sasuke was beginning to regret his former 'no arguments' command. He strongly disagreed with his choice of accompaniment into the village. Strongly, strongly disagreed.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, look at that!" Sakura yelled from his right. The 'safe side' he had dubbed it. Sakura was at least able to keep herself from trying to rape him while he slept. Karin on the other hand...

"No, Sasuke, look over there!" the redhead giggled. Apparently the puppy was cute. Sasuke didn't care. He was much to occupied with the fact that both of the two women had wrapped an arm through his, giving everyone around him the impression that he was some type of pimp, walking down the street with two of his-

Well, he really didn't want to go into it.

The point was, that he wasn't used to this type of contact. He didn't even want to be used to this type of contact! He had much more important things to deal with, like- wait a minute. Sakura was taking away her arm. She was walking away! She was leaving him with- with- Sasuke turned his head to the side and saw Karin grinning up at him.

And Sasuke prayed for pimp-hood.

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It wasn't something that either of them had seen coming. One moment Naruto had stomped off in a desperate search attempt for his pink-haired teammate, the next he was lost in a sea of green leaves, and brown dirt, along with the Hyuuga heiress. Luckily, the fall hadn't been too painful.

Naruto stood, taking in his surroundings quickly. "Hey, Hinata," he began to ask, rubbing the back of his blonde-spiked head. "You, okay?"

The white-eyed girl nodded in return, looking around her. She hadn't been paying attention when she'd run after her long-time crush. If she had she may have seen the obvious trap lying on the forest floor. A pit, covered by leaves and a bit of fake grass. A simple genin technique.

"Naruto-kun, I think we can climb out," she stated, looking up to the leaf-covered sky. "It's a bit too high to jump."

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "Sweet, little Hinata," he seemed scolding in a way. This made the girl feel a bit weird. "Your forgetting about my shadow clones."

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Sasuke sighed in relief. Karin had finally let go of his arm in order to look at something being sold in a booth on the next street over. Her clingyness was becoming quite a bother and he didn't want anyone thinking they were together. It would only cause problems. Luckily, Sakura didn't suspect anything, and as a result, no wars had started between the two women.

"Which do you like better, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, holding up two sets of kunai. The design of the sets differed only slightly but Sakura wouldn't buy anything without Sasuke's consent. She knew he was picky about these things.

"That one," he said pointing to the one on the right, ignoring a blue-haired woman's glances in his direction. She was probably just another fangirl. Sasuke scoffed.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, sharply. It wasn't her normal, happy voice. There was something wrong and Sasuke knew it immediately. Following her gaze, it landed on the previously mentioned woman.

She was a member of the Akatsuki. And by the way she was staring, she recognized Sasuke.

Her look didn't seem sure though, and she wasn't saying anything about it to the man next to her. Maybe he still had a chance to prevent her from figuring out his identity. "Sakura," he said simply, waiting for her response of a glance in his direction.

Quickly, grabbing her hand, he pinned her against a wall. The girl could only gasp. Her childhood dream had come true.

She was kissing Uchiha Sasuke.

xteenuh102593- All the chapters? Wow. Thanks! It's fine that you didn't review the first chapter. I promise not to hold it against you!

kattylin- Tada! Update complete.

xkawaiichix- Yes. I hate the stories where Sakura and Karin hate eachother. They just seem like they should be getting along. Not completely. Just kind of a Sakura/Ino type of relationship.

cherrilatina- I'm glad you think so! I was a bit worried that people wouldn't approve of their friendship but I guess they do!

Ishallruletheworld- First of all: No, dear. I shall rule the world. And second, I'm glad! I hope you keep lovin' it!

PrincessLazyPants- Yes, I just love Jiraiya. I can't help but smile when he says things like that.