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The Canalized River	By : susanna Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 944 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
A/N at the end of the chapter

Chapter
Twenty: Finally you Care!

Karin
had easily found the chakra signatures of the Konoha team, and they
were following their trail when suddenly, just when they were near
enough for Sasuke also to sense their chakra, Karin made them stop.

“What's
the matter?” Sasuke asked her.

“I
can now tell their different chakra signatures apart”, she
said. “And the kyuubi boy is not with them.”

“He
is not? Why?”

“I
cannot tell. This is not part of my talent.”

Sasuke
felt panic creeping up in him: “He is not dead I hope?”

“There's
no reason why he should be”, she answered. “He might just
have left them.”

“He
cannot have done that! They cannot have let him do that with Akatsuki
pursuing him!”

He
was terrified, but there also was another feeling: Some strange
satisfaction that he had been right in his judgement that Naruto was
not safe with his team.

His
teammates did not know what do with this sudden outburst, and soon he
felt embarrassed as well, also because he had no idea why he had
suddenly reacted so emotionally to Karin's announcement. It was not
very reasonable, was it?

“So
what do we do now?” Suigetsu finally broke the silence.

“Can
you sense his chakra anywhere?” Sasuke asked Karin.

“I
would have told you if I did.”

He
thought for some minutes: They could of course go in some random
direction hoping that it would be the right one and that Karin would
finally pick up Naruto's chakra. It would be better however to look
for some information first.

“I
want to know what has happened”, he said. “Whether he has
left the team, and if he has, then why, and if he is on his own, and
whether they know where he has gone.”

“What
do you mean?” Suigetsu asked. “We go to their camp, say:
Hi, nice to meet you, do you have any idea where Naruto might be?”

“Yes”,
Sasuke answered.

Of
course he had no such intention. An encounter with Kakashi was
something he wanted to avoid, be it for fighting or for talking. It
was just that he was beginning to get the hang of the way Suigetsu
talked and how to answer him. He hoped that at one point the Konoha
team would split up so that he could talk to only one of them. He
already had an idea whom he wanted to talk to...

So
far they had been unlucky. The Konoha team were going fast and
straight into one direction without lingering around or splitting up
as they had done before. Sasuke and his team had to see that they
could reduce the distance to them, and only when it got dark and the
Leaf ninjas had entered a village they finally caught up. They
watched them entering an inn – they did not have to care about
money or about being noticed, Sasuke thought with envy. There were
times when he was fed up with camping in the wilderness.

“And
now?” Suigetsu asked.

“We
will wait a bit. A quarter of an hour maybe, and then check in
ourselves, so that we won't run into them in the reception office.”

“I
thought we wanted to meet them”, Suigetsu said. “So that
we could ask them why they abandoned pursuing us, and what they had
done to Naruto.”

“We
will see that we meet them at the right moment, and on our terms”,
Sasuke replied.

It
was one of those hostels where they have rooms with any number of
beds, one, two, four, six and ten, and where guests are placed into
these rooms without caring whether they are male or female. Kakashi
and Yamato were of course conscious of their responsibilities as
senseis of groups of teenagers and saw that at least the two girls
would get a room of their own with no extra beds and no danger of
some strange men being put together with them.

Sasuke
and his team however had no need for such delicacies, or rather, as
Suigetsu put it, the three men of the team had to protect each other
against Karin, and also they had to have an eye on her to keep all
the other men in the world safe from her. Sasuke's reasons for having
all his team stay in one room were of course simpler: Like this they
could protect each of if need be, and besides, he wanted to have an
eye on them so that they could not do anything foolish. (Suigetsu
would have added that he also needed his team to have an eye on him
so that he could not do anything foolish.) Also it was cheaper.

He
left the talking to Suigetsu as it looked more natural if not the
youngest of the team was in charge. Suigetsu also asked for their
meal to be brought to their room, and when they had settled down and
eaten, they discussed what to do to get the information they wanted
from the Konoha team.

“Can
you locate their chakra signatures?” Sasuke asked Karin.

“No
problem. Two of them are on their own in their rooms on the ground
floor while the rest of them are assembled in one large room on the
same floor as ours.”

“That
must be the young people.” Sasuke was thinking about a plan.
“They will have to use the same bathrooms as we do.”

“What's
that?” Suigetsu said. “There are moments when everyone
wants to be alone. You don't attack in such a moment.”

“I
don't intend to attack, and I don't intend to disturb them in one of
these moments. I am talking about contacting one of them while she
is on her own in the corridor.”

“She?
I have always thought that you are not interested in girls.”

“I
am not!” Sasuke snapped back, then he gasped and felt the blood
rushing to his head. For some time now Suigetsu had been teasing him
about being gay because of his utter lack of response to Karin's
advances, and Sasuke had learnt to answer automatically to this,
saying “I am not”, only that this time it had been the
wrong answer.

“Ah,
now we get closer to the truth”, Suigetsu said.

“I
am not interested in Karin, and I am not interested in that
particular kunoichi, at least not in that way, and...”

“...and
you are not interested in any particular woman in that way, and not
even in women in general.”

“I
am”, Sasuke answered now correctly, even though he was not sure
how it should be possible to be interested in women in general –
you could only be in love with one at a time, could you?

“Anyway,
I want to discuss with you how we might get some information from the
Leaf ninjas... There's one particular kunoichi I want to talk to if
she's in their team, and I guess that she is, or at least was,
because she has always been pursuing me together with Naruto.”

“His
sweetheart?”

“No.
The third member of our team.”

This
time Suigetsu did not answer, he just looked as if he knew
everything, or at least thought that he knew everything, and this was
enough to make Sasuke burst out: “I don't intend to discuss my
love life with you, all the more because I have none. I want to tell
you my plans about how to get some information about Naruto.”

“Shhh”,
Karin said. “The walls are thin here.”

Sasuke
turned to her: “Can you keep track of the young leaf ninjas'
movements, and when one of them goes to the ladies', go out into the
corridor and see if it's the one I want to talk to, and make her come
to our room?”

“You
mean abduct her?”

“Not necessarily. The less
violence and the less noise and uproar the better. I am not
interested in hurting her, I just want some information. Do you think
you can do it?”

“Of
course. I am not the idiot Suigetsu thinks I am.”

“Oh,
sorry”, Suigetsu said. “I have never thought of you as an
idiot. Idiots at least have some intelligence.”

Sasuke
saw that Karin wanted to attack but then thought better of it.

“How
do I recognize the girl?” she asked, forcing herself to ignore
Suigetsu.

Sasuke
actually had to think a bit before he could describe Sakura in a way
that would allow Karin to recognize her.

“She
has pink hair”, he finally said. “Really pink. Not
something between ash-blond and red, but pink as a baby girl's
clothes.”

“Does
she dye them like that?”

“I
don't think so. It looks absolutely artificial, but it's a whim of
nature.”

“That
should be enough to recognize her”, Karin said.

For
some minutes they waited silently, allowing Karin to concentrate,
then she got up and went outside. The three men held their breath,
trying to hear what was going on outside, but there was nothing, and
Karin returned alone.

“Not
the one”, she said. “This one had black hair and violet
eyes without a pupil. Quite creepy actually.”

“No
need to worry. That must be Hinata. She's harmless, useless and
hopelessly in love with Naruto. Well, she was when I left. Everyone
knew about it, only Naruto himself did not seem to notice. If we
cannot get Sakura, we will take her.”

He
met Suigetsu's eyes and realized that he had better avoided them.

“And
this Sakura? Is she any dangerous?” Suigetsu asked.

“No.
Harmless, useless. In fights the only thing she would do was to ask
Naruto or me to protect each other, or herself for that matter. As if
we were not able to do that without being told. Besides that, she was
heartless and insensitive, cruel to Naruto and not taking notice of
the fact that I was not in love with her.”

“You
will like her”, Suigetsu said to Karin.

She
ignored him. “There's another one of them going to the
Ladies'”, she said. “I will check her out.”

She
left the room while the men were silent again and listened.

“Hi!”
they heard Karin say casually, as one greets a stranger in a public
place.

“Hi!”
Sakura answered, sounding a bit irritated, as a corridor in a hostel
is usually not considered a public place where people greet each
other.

Her
voice has not changed, Sasuke thought.

“You
are Sakura-san, aren't you”, Karin addressed her directly.

“I
am. Why? Who are you? What do you want of me?”

“I
have a message for you”, Karin answered, and then added with
some stress: “From a former teammate of yours.”

“From
Naruto? How is he? Where is he? He's fine, I hope...”

“Not
here”, Karin said. “Come to my room, there I'll tell
you.”

A
few seconds later the door opened and Sakura entered, followed by
Karin who blocked the door to make sure that Sakura would not be able
to leave again.

Sasuke
saw her freeze in shock at his sight.

“Take
a seat”, he said. “I don't want you to collapse.”

When
she did not move, Karin pushed a chair over to her and made her sit.
Sasuke, who was sitting on a table, could now look down on her.

“I
thought this was about Naruto”, Sakura said when she was
finally able to speak.

“It
is”, Sasuke replied. “Though we don't have any message
for you, I'm afraid. But I am content that you have learnt to care
for him at last.”

“I
have always cared.”

“Oh,
sorry, I have not noticed.”

She
did not answer to this reproach. She looked, in fact, absolutely
scared, though at the same time it was obvious that she was trying to
appear calm and composed and determined, and that she was desperately
trying to come up with a way to get out of this situation.

“What
do you want of me?” she asked. “Why did you lure me to
your room?”

“I
thought you'd be happy to find me at last. Were you not looking for
me?”

“Not
like this. Why would you take me prisoner?”

“You
are not my prisoner. You are our guest.”

“Guests
are free to leave.”

He
could see why she would say this: The door was now blocked by Juugo,
who looked frightening indeed. She should watch him caressing his
birds, Sasuke thought, and realize that he would hurt her as little
as them. Though Sasuke was happy that she did not realize.

Suigetsu
was sitting on one of the beds, leaning back, idly playing with his
sword, which he was holding between his legs – he always did
this when he was bored, but Sakura of course did not know.

Karin
sat on the other bed, polishing her nails and not missing one word of
the conversation. She looked grim and determined, even though she was
much better at fighting with words than with anything else.

“Sasuke”,
Suigetsu now said, “I thought we wanted to get this over as
smoothly as possible.”

“Smoothly?”
Sakura replied. “Get it over? You are not planning to kill me,
are you?” She looked at Sasuke.

“Don't
be foolish”, Karin said. “Why should we kill you?”

“There's
no need to be afraid”, Suigetsu said. “He's still a Leaf
ninja, abiding to the self-proclaimed ideals of your village. He has
forbidden us to kill anyone. Though I would never kill such a
beautiful woman.”

His
words frightened her even more, and at the same time she prepared
herself to fight.

“So
why have you made me come here?” she asked, her eyes wandering
between Sasuke and Suigetsu.

“I
will speak, if you don't mind”, Suigetsu said. “As you
don't seem to know how to talk to a young lady.”

“She
is not a young lady”, Sasuke said. “She is an annoying
bitch.”

“You
see my point.” Suigetsu turned again to Sakura. “Now, if
you will excuse him. This meeting with you is quite an emotional
affair for him, and he does not know how to deal with it, as he is
only fifteen.”

Sakura
did not answer but spoke to Sasuke: “I thought that you were in
charge.”

“I
am. Suigetsu, do the talking, please, if you think that you are
better at it than I am.”

“Thanks.
So, as I said, Sakura-san, there is no need for you to be afraid. We
have no intention to harm you in any way. We just have some questions
about Naruto.”

“Naruto?”

“Indeed.
We would like to know why he is not with you any more and where he
has gone and if there is anyone with him.”

“Why
do you want to know all this?”

“Because
if he is on his own he is not safe. We suppose you know that he is
targeted by Akatsuki.”

Sakura
turned to Sasuke: “Suddenly you care for him.”

“I
always have.”

“I
see. So this is why he was barely alive when he returned from your
fight in the Valley of the End.”

Sasuke
did not answer. The memory still hurt, and besides, he had not known
before how badly Naruto had been wounded.

“We
ask the questions, remember?” Karin said.

“Hush!
Be nice! - You see, we don't know what happened then, but now we are
concerned. So if you now could be so kind to answer our
questions...”, Suigetsu said.

“And
why, if you don't mind asking me, should I do this?”

“Because
we do care”, Juugo suddenly said. “And yesterday Sasuke
saved his life.”

Sakura
was surprised. “You did?” she asked, her voice much
softer than before.

“Yeah”,
Sasuke answered and lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

She
was silent, obviously thinking hard and trying to make sense of the
new information. He still did not dare to look at her, feeling that
she was keeping her eyes on him. He did not even look up when she
finally answered.

“He
went to look for you. We were ordered to abandon our search for you
and go to Amegakure as a backup for Jiraya, and he left us for your
sake.”

“And
you let him go? You know it's too dangerous with Akatsuki after him.”

“How
should I have stopped him?”

Finally
they looked at each other. For some minutes they were silent –
the memories were too painful.

“Do
you know which direction he chose?”

“No.
Probably South, as this is where he suspected you to be. Are you
going to look for him?”

“Yes.”

“You
should be able to meet him. Just make sure that he can find you.”

“That
I could have worked out by myself. Do you have any other
information?”

“No.
That's all.”

She
got up, ready to go, and he got down from the table he was sitting
on, realizing that it would be very impolite not to, and not only
impolite but more – finally he was convinced that she did care
for Naruto, and he felt the need to acknowledge this.

He
knew that she was going to leave now, having said all she had to say,
but there was still one favor he had to ask of her:

“If
you could, please, be silent, and not tell Kakashi, or the rest of
your team that you've met us and that we are going to look for
Naruto.”

“I
won't. Good luck, Sasuke! Find him quickly, and protect him well!”

He
embraced her, very carefully, very lightly, just touching her
shoulders. It felt awkward, but not embracing her would have felt
even more awkward. Also he did not remember her being so much smaller
than him, and that was weird as well – her hair brushed his
chin, barely noticeable, a light tickle...

She
broke the embrace and left the room without another word.

Sasuke
looked at his team. “We are leaving now – I don't want to
risk running into Kakashi. We go South.”

“What
a pity”, Suigetsu said. “I was really looking forward to
a night in a real bed.”

Spoon:
Thanks again for your comments! For answers to your questions just
read the next chapters.

LadyRonin:
Thanks to you as well, and thanks for putting such a lot of thoughts
into my story and speculating what might happen. Just wait for the
next chapters!

Halskr:
Thanks for your encouragement! I think I won't rewrite the story –
I will rather write a new one. (I wrote this one within a few months,
and I am quite pleased how it turned out.)

Also
thanks for reading and thinking about my story!
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The Canalized River