Eye for an Eye

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters and make no money from this.

Chapter Fourteen:

Walking with the guy she could pratically call her captor was excruciating to say the least. His strides were much wider than hers, hunger and thirst seemed non-existant to him and the dive the in the temperature didn't seem to affect him. His long sleeved shirt, which he had finally attached closed, and his long pants certainly kept him warmer than her puny shorts and t-shirt. They had been in such a haste to leave that the poor girl hadn't taken the time to gather more than the clothes she had worn the previous night.

Sakura had spent the morning mentally kicking herself for forgetting that winter was creeping up on them. The first day of cold had finally reached them, causing a drop of about ten degrees without much warning. It certainly wasn't freezing but chilly was a good word. Being chilly for a few minutes while you went to the store across the street was one thing. Being chilly a whole night and then some, that was too much. Her arms wrapped around her small torso, rubbing up and down at her ribs. A shaky breath escaped her lips as she clinged harder to herself, desperately trying to warm herself up.

"I can't believe you were so stupid. Can't you even keep up with the seasons?" Sasuke sighed, halting his walk and turning to look at her. She'd fallen a few feet behind him. Her eyes squinted at him in an angry glare.

"Shut up. You weren't naked when we were ambushed." She spat at him. Her cheeks flared up as soon as she realized what she had said. Damn it. To her surprise, he didn't react much. No smirk, no snarky comment. He just stared at her.

"You are using some sort of contraception, right?" His voice was cool, as if the subject they were talking about was in no way a sensitive or embarrassing one.

"Are you insane or what?!" She barked and gripped her shirt tightly in her hands in frustration. "Of course we are! I'm not a medic for nothing, there's no way I'm going to be stuck like Hinata in this crap!" She had to admit she felt a little guilt at making such a comment against her best friend's girlfriend. It's not like they had meant for it to happen. It was probably his fault anyway, he was too brash.

"Didn't you just agree to that yesterday?" He remarked, his thin eyebrow arching in annoyance. Her lips pursed as she glared at him once more. How could he. That wasn't the same. That was entirely different. That was... That was disgusting. But at least she could offer that child a stable home since they would take Konoha back.

"You're an asshole." She muttered. Her legs moved forward against her own will. Anything to get him to shut up and leave her alone. She heard his footsteps follow closely behind her, until he caught up to her and matched her pace.

Their destination was vague. She knew Kakashi and Naruto had spoken about heading towards a particular lake to meet up at should anything happen. It hadn't been official, but she strongly hoped that was where they were heading. If they didn't, she had no idea how they would find each other. Her heat clenched as she envisionned the possibility of being seperated from her lover for the upcoming year or more. It had taken them that long to find their friends, after all... What if it took that long to reunite again?

They stopped for the third time that day once the sun had set and the sky was nearly entirely black, only a glimmer of orange in the horizon and the soft light of the moon to illuminate their private spot between the trees. This forest felt like it would never end. Sakura had been impatient for dusk to come so she could rest, but now that it had finally come, she wasn't so glad. The temperature went down with the sun, dropping another nearly ten degrees she assumed. If her assumptions were correct, it must've been close to zero celsius by then.

Her frozen body lay on the ground, shaking profusely. She had noticed even Sasuke had started shivering. At the least she wouldn't be the only one suffering now. Her teeth chattered one time to many to his liking and he scooted closer to her, his eyes boring holes in the back of her skull. She wished so badly that they could just light a fire or something. Sadly, that would be risking attracting attention with the smoke and light. They needed to stay discreet. After a long sigh, his arm wrapped around her mid-section and pulled her against him. Her body struggled against him, flailing about, when she felt him fumble with his shirt, pulling it open.

"Sasuke, leave me alone!" She growled, renewing her efforts the get away from him she felt him falter.

"Idiot! You're gonna freeze to death. I don't want to wake up a block of ice either, so just stay still, for Kami's sake. I'm not raping you or whatever." He roared, his voice hurting her ear since he was so close to her. The girl stopped her movements and she let him turn her around so she would be facing him. He lifted the top side of his over-sized shirt and wrapped her in it, crushing her body against his. A freezing hand slipped under her shirt to rub her back up down, making her hiss.

"Your hands are cold! Don't touch me!" Her little rant didn't affect him and he continued his movement, trying to warm both of them up a little. He didn't even bother responding. An exasperated sigh left his lips and wrapped his legs around hers. This position definitely made the kunoichi unhappy, but his warmth was quite the opposite. Her will crumbled to nothing and she leaned against him, pressing her cheek against his skin, breathing out in relief at the extra heat she received.

"Not that bad when you stop bitching."He remarked while his second hand nestled into her hair, pressing her cheek harder against him. She huffed against him, lacking the energy to put up more of a fight. She wasn't ready to leave his warmth anyway.

"Could be better if you just shut the hell up." She threw back, pressing her hands against his abdomen. The hiss he emitted when her hand came into contact with his skin caused a satisfied smile to stretch her lips. Not as much fun when you're the one having icy hands touching you.

"Could be better if we had sex. I can see that warming us up pretty efficiently." She could feel his retort was in no way serious since he made no move to manhandle her whatsoever, but it still flustered her. One of her hands roamed up his ribs to reach for his back, but she stopped herself when he flinched against her touch. Not minding the fact that it seemed painful to him, she glided her fingers over what seemed to be a sensitive spot.

"You've got broken ribs." She stated out loud, more for herself. He was certainly aware of it since he was the one going through the pain.

"Old news." He muttered, taking a hold of her hand and moving it away. She quickly freed her hand from his and sat up as much as she could without removing his shirt from her. The position was certainly awkward but the last thing she wanted was the night's cold air against her skin.

"How come you didn't get this fixed? This is so basic for a medic, you don't need to wait weeks for it to heal." She chastised, immediately putting herself to work. He grunted in pain as her chakra tugged at the area and took a hold of both of her arms to pushing her away from him.

"Leave it, it doesn't hurt. It's going to be fine." He mumbled. She growled and shifted them over before he could react, sitting on his thighs.

"No. If you're going to help us, I need you in top shape. Cut the bullshit." Her voice was stern. Sasuke rolled his eyes and put his hands down, giving up. He knew how stubborn she could be. It was useless to try and change her mind. Plus, it would really be a relief to have this pain gone. His eyelids slid over his eyes as he forced himself to relax and let her work.

Ten minutes passed before she was done. This was really one of the most simple procedures. In the meantime, she had pondered over her relationship with the man she sat on. It was awkward and surely wrong, but he wasn't trying anything on her so she felt fine with it. It made her nostalgic again. She wrestled and sparred with Naruto often. With Kakashi, too. That inevitably led to awkward situations, but they brushed them off easily. Who kicked the other's ass was much more important. For a moment, she remembered how terribly she had missed her ex-teammate. He didn't miss the small shift in her behavior, her tense shoulders and the soft expression in her eyes.

"Sasuke..." The sound was small and meek, filled with sadness and regret. His hand reached up to cup her cheek. She leaned into her, eyes brimming with tears.

"Don't cry." He muttered, looking straight into her eyes. She couldn't decipher his expression. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with a crying girl, maybe he really did wish things had turned out differently for him, for them. It didn't matter right then. Her heart ached for the friend she had lost right then.

"I miss you so much, Sasuke." Her voiced cracked and her tears slid down her cheeks. Her small body molded with his in a tight embrace while she sobbed nearly silently. She felt him tense under her, his arms remaining in the air as if unsure for a few seconds before he returned her gesture. Her words went unanswered though, and that broke her heart even further. After a few minutes, he wiped her tears from her face with his sleeve and buried his fingers in her hair.

"Just try to sleep, will you?" He muttered, looking down at her. She nodded hesitantly and let him roll them over so they could sleep on their side.

The whole thing left the kunoichi confused. She didn't know what to make of Sasuke. One second he was terrying and cruel, the next he was seductive and trying to bed her, and the next again he was nice and seemingly peaceful. What was he really? What did he really feel deep down? The whole ordeal left her wondering what could have happened if he had stayed, if she had been able to convince him she was worth it. Would they have had a nice, happy future together, or would he have broken her heart nonetheless? Maybe he had been destined to become nothing but a cold hearted killer. The setting might be different, but maybe he would only be taking assassination missions and living a lonely life in Konoha instead. Who knew.

The next morning, Sakura woke up feeling lost and disoriented. She felt a warm body against her and heard his slow, steady breathing. As her brain rid itself of the haze it was surrounded in, she remember to who this body belonged. Sasuke. Her head moved up to take a look at his face. He was watching her closely, as if waiting for her to finally wake up. She pushed herself away from his quicly, gasping as her skin came in contact with the crisp grass and cold air. A chuckle came from him. Apparently this was funny.

The next couple of days went by faster, much to Sakura's relief. They had reached their destionation with no trouble, if you didn't count the cold. The temperature had dipped lower every day, little by little. When no trace of their friends was found around the area, Sakura decided to get to work on building a shelter, anything to keep them warmer. With her chakra refilled, it had been easy for her to splinter trees and use the wood to put up something that looked similar to a tent. The fact that they may still be tracked was now thrown out the window in favor of a fire. It was useless if they died of hypothermia just to remain hidden.

"Sakura?" Her head shot up as she heard the familiar voice call her name. She disentangled herself as fast as she could from her companion, tripping over him as she crawled out of their makeshift shelter. Three days. It had taken them three days to reach them, but it had felt like months.

"Kakashi!" She cried out as she threw her arms around his neck, jumping to him and wrapping her legs around his waist with no hesitation.

"Kami, Sakura, your skin feels like ice..." He whispered, his lone eye looking at her worriedly. His arms held her tight against him, his nose nuzzling into her neck.

"I'm freezing." She admitted, shivering profusely against him. He didn't feel incredibly warm, but it sure beat having nothing. He was wearing cotton long-sleeved shirt with a undershirt, she assumed. He always wore an undershirt.

"Here." He offered, after he let her go and removed his sweater. She didn't hesitate to slip in it, pratically moaning as it instantly warmed her up a few degrees. The fact that it went down to her knees was a great bonus. Sasuke came out of their shelter at the moment. He just stood there, watching was a bit strange. When Kakashi noticed his presence, all hell broke loose.

"You bastard!" He shouted, rushing to Sasuke and landing a good punch to the younger nin's nose. The Uchiha grunted in pain and his hand shot up to cradle his nose. Blood was spilling generously from it, but it didn't stop the Copy Nin's assault. He slammed his enemy into a tree, pinning him there by the neck.

"You did this on purpose, you little piece of shit!" He roared and punched him again with little restraint. Sakura watched in shock a few feet behind, gasping as she heard a bone break.

"Kakashi, stop it!" She cried, catching his arm in her pale, nearly blue hands. Sasuke remained still, as if unaffected by the situation. Why he never defended himself was beyond the couple's comprehension.

"Don't you dare protect him, he seperated us on purpose! I don't give a fuck if he's got info, I'll kill him!" The older man shouted. She flinched in surprise at his menacing tone.

"Kakashi, no! You can't! W-We need him!" She retorted, pulling harder on his arm when he raised it for another punch. It didn't seem to phase him. Noticing this, she pushed herself between the two men, closing her eyes as Kakashi's fist nearly collided with her forehead.

"Move." His tone terrified her. He reminded her of how he was in the fight with Zabuza right then. His expression had chilled her to the core when he had threatened his team's life. He looked downright demonic.

"I can't let you, I'm sorry. He's our only hope to take Konoha back." She whispered brokenly, unable to make eye contact with her partner. His eye travelled down her body, taking in the fact that she was trembling. He assumed it was the cold, but in reality, it was out of fear. The famous Copy Ninja was not one to mess with when he was enraged. He scoffed and dropped his ex-student to the ground. Sakura made no move to help Sasuke, who coughed on the ground for a little while. She remained still, staring at her feet.

"What did he tell you?" His voice was so cold it felt like a knife to her. He felt betrayed. How could she protect the man that had snatched her away from him?

"He told me everything about Danzo's means to become Hokage, h-how to take him down..." She explained, continuing on in the details the sharingan boy had shared with her. It had cooled his temper down, but certainly not changed his mood. She had spent nearly a week alone with him.

"What did he ask in exchange?" The question took her by surprise. There was no way she could tell him about their deal. He would kill him on the spot. Or be killed.

"N-Nothing." She lied through her teeth, hoping he wouldn't insist on it.

"Don't mess with me, Sakura." He growled, placing a hand on each side of her head on the tree she was now standing against. He had lowered his head to her so their eyes would be at the same level.

"I'm not, I swear. He asked nothing!" She nearly pleaded, turning her head to the side to avoid his murderous gaze. He turned to Sasuke, hoping for a better answer.

"You heard her, nothing." Sasuke replied as he stood up, dusting himself. Kakashi glared one last time at his girlfriend before dropping his hands to his side and moving away from her. Whatever it was they were hiding, he had to figure it out. Surely Sasuke's help wouldn't come cheap.

"Where are Naruto and Sai?" Sakura asked, her voice small and timid.

"We seperated to find you faster. They'll be waiting for us north of the lake at noon. Let's get going." He replied, keeping his explanation short and simple. He lost no time to get a move on and the other two followed closely behind. Having found his girlfriend tangled with Sasuke had done nothing to help his sour mood. He could understand, really. They might have frozen to death otherwise, but jealousy still tugged at his heart.

She was walking several feet behind him now. She didn't dare get any closer to him. His ears picked up on the sound of his ex-teammate's footsteps close the distance between him and the pink-haired girl, matching her pace.

"It's going to be fine." Sasuke murmured to the girl at his side. Their leader missed the glare she threw her companion's way. He squinted his eye in pure anger. Why wasn't she pushing him away? If he had turned their way, he might have caught a glimpse of the kunai that the Uchiha was holding onto.

Sakura eyed the weapon warily, not missing the dangerous way he looked at her lover. It was a silent threat. If she said anything or tried to wriggle out of their deal, he would attempt to Kakashi's life. It didn't matter to her right then what possibilities there were. If they fought, Kakashi wouldn't escape unscathed, that much she was certain of. Sasuke would strike when he was alone. Even if he did win, in what kind of state would he come out of it?

She swallowed her pride and kept her eyes glued to the ground as they all walked in silence. She bit her lower lip as Sasuke's fingers ghosted over her throat, sliding down her neck to her shoulder in a way that made her cringe, but she swallowed the whimper of protest that threatened to escape her. Sasuke had her wrapped around his finger. The smirk on his face told her that much.


Chapter Fifteen: Click Here