Night, Day and Sunrise

Chapter 16 - A Kage's Orders



Four days later they still had not found any sign of their quarry, and Sakura saw that the others were beginning to loose hope. She had not yet fallen prey to such notions, and chalked it all up to the same determination that had kept her going through the years of Sasuke's absence. Naruto was not dead. He would come back. Sakura knew this as surely as she knew the grass was green. It simply wasn't possible for him to be gone and her not to know, at least on some level.



That evening, they once again met back at the site of the abduction, all camping near each other and Sasuke moving between groups to collect their mission reports before they settled for the night. The two of them were about to retire when they heard the sentry hail someone's approach.



Heading back out, Sakura was relieved to see Neji, Tenten and Lee. Another Byakugan user would be extremely helpful, and Lee would hunt almost as determedly as she and Sasuke. He simply didn't know how to do things halfway.



Her pleasure was short-lived, however, as Neji's eyes came to rest upon her. Leaving his teammates to continue explaining their presence to the Kazekage, he approached them immediately. "Sakura-san," the greeting was stiff, formal, "I have a message from the Godaime-sama. She says to tell you she knows, and you should have cleaned up after yourself better. You are to return to Konohagakure forthwith. Your status will be decided then."



Sakura could feel her knees starting to give as soon as she heard her mentor's title, but that last galvanized what strength she had left, and she glared hard at the Hyuuga prodigy. "You can tell shishou, when next you see her, that my answer is 'Hell, no.' Please quote me properly."



"Sakura," Sasuke was unsure where he stood on this issue, but he did not want to see her hurt, and that worry outweighed everything at the moment, "maybe you shouldn't argue with the Hokage, especially in your condition."



Neji did not miss the slight fluttering of her hands across her abdomen, and he invoked his bloodline limit without warning either of them, staring at her intently. Just as he'd feared, the chakra in her womb was distinct, though in it's early stages of development.



"I am perfectly capable of judging my own abilities," she informed both the males standing by her, disregarding their concern. "If I feel at all unwell, I will rest and catch up to my team shortly. We're having to move at a slow enough pace at the moment, anyway. Besides, we are going to need all the medical help we can get once we find him. I know more medical jutsus than any three mednins, from Konoha or Iwagakure, and I am not letting you guys try to pack me off home in a chauvinistic maneuver to remove unknown variables."



It was the wrong thing to have said, she knew the instant the words left her mouth, but she wasn't going to back down. "Excuse me, but I'm going to bed."



Not giving either of them the chance to retaliate, she turned on her heel and stormed off to her tent, changing for the night quickly and climbing into her blankets. When Sasuke finally joined her nearly an hour later, she pretended to be asleep, though she knew he wasn't fooled in the slightest.



He moved about the tent, readying himself for bed, then climbed under the covers and attempted to put an arm around her, but she pushed him away.



"Sakura, why are you doing this?" he was obviously frustrated, and not just by her lack of desire to cuddle. When she didn't answer, he raised himself up on his elbow, leaning over her to peer at her face, which she tried to keep relaxed in parody of sleep.



"We're worried about Naruto, all of us," he continued after several moments spent studying her. "And now, we're worried about you. If something happened to you, to the baby..." he trailed of, trying to find a suitable ending for the sentence, "I don't know what I'd do. I can't loose you, too. I can't."



This was, by fair, the most open he'd ever been about his emotions, and she could hear his voice choking in his throat. Relenting, she turned over to face him and froze, shocked by the salty wetness coursing down his cheeks.



Anger forgotten, Sakura pulled him against her shoulder, holding him tightly. "Nothing's going to happen to me, Sasuke. I promise."



"You can't promise that," his voice was muffled by her night shirt, but she could still hear the tears he was trying so hard to deny. "They have Naruto, they could take you, too."



"Doubtful," she reasoned. "First off, I'm not alone. Second, I'm not a tempting enough target. And third, I know better than to give them the chance. If my team does come across someone, I've been designated as runner, to inform the rest of the squads. I'll be the furthest one from harm. And I am not going back to Konoha."



"You should go home," he pled. "The Hokage ordered it."



"The Hokage ordered me back to Konoha, but Konoha isn't home."



He pulled up, looking at her in confusion. As far as he knew, she'd never lived anywhere but Konoha, and her longest mission ever had still been less than a month. What did she mean by saying it wasn't home?



Taking pity, since he obviously wasn't making the connection, she explained. "Konoha isn't my home. This is. Wherever you and Naruto are, that's home. Until we know what's happened to him, I can't bear the thought of being apart from you any longer than I absolutely have to. Don't try to send me away, because I won't go. You need me here."



Brushing his tears away lightly, she smiled at him and he had to admit, she was right. Her presence and constant reassurance was all that was keeping him together. He'd only broken down a few minutes ago when he thought she didn't want him anymore. If he tried to send her away, his own heart would be going, too, and he couldn't afford that right now.



"Tsunade-sama is going to kill me," he quipped.



Laughing, she ruffled his hair lightly, amused by the pout he gave her in response to her frivolous action. "She's going to kill you anyway, once she finds out you're the father."



"Point," he had to concede before she got him to agree to more than he intended. "Now, let's get some sleep, and we'll worry about the rest of it when we have Naruto back."



"Promise you won't try to ship me back?" Her question revealed the depths of her need for him at this strenuous time, and he couldn't deny her.



"Promise. My word as Uchiha." It was the one oath he could not break, no matter what, and she knew it. Mutually reassured, they settled down for the night, holding each other tightly in an effort to make up for the absence of another pair of arms.



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Yes, another short chapter. Longer ones are on the way, I swear, but for the moment, this is where I feel comfortable breaking off (the chapter, not the story; I would never leave you hanging like that). Besides, there's nothing wrong with short chapters. Just look at Jane Austin; classic literature, with chapters that sometimes don't even merit a full page.

My thanks to Tonboku for catching that error. It is so embarrassing to have missed something like that, and I am intensely grateful to you for pointing it out so I can fix it. I really do need a beta-reader. If anyone's interested, let me know. I'm more than willing to do a swap (fair warning: I'm a grammar nazi).

And yes, we will find out who took Naruto, probably within the next few chapters.

I'll keep this short, as it's almost 5:30 in the morning, and I have work in a few hours. I should have thought that out better. Ah, well.

Have a great day and good reading!



Crimson Iris