Mega chapter! At least, for me:)
Here's the start of a new drawing. I plan to color it and make it look cool, so it'll take a while.

I'm sorry for those who are looking for more Sasusaku interaction, but I'm taking it slowly here. I don't want to rush their relationship, if they're really going to be sincere about it:)

Thanks to all the people who have taken the time to read my story:)

Kakashi's POV

Tsunade sat back against her chair. "That was an interesting story."

"I never spoke about the incident to anyone. I just said that I got attacked by an enemy ninja. When they asked about the eye, I wouldn't talk about it."

"Why? Why wouldn't you tell anyone?" Tsunade asked. "Is there a reason?"

" I promised Obito I wouldn't," Kakashi murmured. "I felt like I owed him. For not being able to save him."

"You couldn't have saved him," Tsunade spoke. "From the way you described it, he wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. But, the important thing is that I know the story now. So for the boy, Sasuke...what do you suggest we do with him? Lock him up?"

"No, I don't think so. He's hostile, but he hasn't done anything drastic yet. I don't think he's with those white-winged ninja. This is kind of a far-fetched guess, but Obito had black wings, as does Sasuke. Sasuke and Obito both have the last name Uchiha. They might be related. It may be that the black-winged ninja are enemies of the other kind. Plus, Sasuke recognized the Sharingan when he saw it, so he probably has it or knows about it."

Tsunade shook her head. "That is quite a far-fetched guess, Kakashi. Not much to go on if you ask me."

"Well, let's just play this out for now. The boy can't do much with chakra restraints. Although, he is quite skilled with taijutsu. He beat Naruto, Sakura, and Sai without breaking a sweat. I'd probably have a tough time holding him off if he came at me."

"Then are you sure you can handle him?" Tsunade asked.

"Of course! I can handle anything!" Kakashi said cheerfully.

"Good. Because I'm assigning your team their first mission. It's a B-rank."

Kakashi stared at her. "B?"

"Yes. You said yourself that you could handle anything. And the boy seems like he can take care of himself, considering what you've told me. But--" she leaned in closer. "If he attempts anything, like to escape, don't stop him right away. Tail him and figure out his intentions."

"Understood." Kakashi said seriously.

"Right then. Ummm...would you mind covering for me? You know, while I go--"

"Nope," Kakashi said, grinning. "Sorry Tsunade, you're not using me to get out of doing paperwork like you did last time." He shuddered at the memory. "Gotta go!"

With that, he turned and jumped out an open window.

Sakura's POV

Briiiiiiiiing!!!! Briiiiiiiiing!!!! Briiiiiiiiing!!!!

Sakura yawned, reaching over to her alarm clock. She groped around for a few moments before grabbing it and shutting it off.

6:30. Kakashi told them he wanted to meet at the bridge by seven. He had also told her that she was to pick up Sasuke on her way. She'd better get a move on if she wanted to make it in time.

She quickly got dressed, pulling on her usual red tank-top, skirt, and shorts. After brushing her teeth and hair, she grabbed a couple ongiri, or rice balls, to eat on the way.

She jogged to the apartment she knew Sasuke was staying in. Peering around, she noticed several ANBU black ops perched at strategic places around the small house; the window, roof, door. One of them nodded to her. "Here for the boy?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes."

Knocking on the door, she waited a couple moments before knocking again.

Sakura was just about to knock for a third time, when the door suddenly opened. Sasuke stood there, glowering down at her.

She immediately lowered her hand. "Um, we're supposed to meet at the bridge today, and since you don't know where that is, I came to show you." She said nervously.

He nodded and stepped outside, blatantly ignoring the intruding presence of the ANBU. They began walking to the bridge. A tense silence filled the air between them. Sakura couldn't bear it. "Would you like a rice ball?" She blurted out.

He glanced at her in surprise before slowly shaking his head. "I already ate," he told her. He glanced away again. "Thank you," he added as an afterthought.

It was Sakura's turn to be surprised. Had he thanked her? Was he trying to be more friendly? It was a bit odd, she noted, seeing how cold he'd been yesterday.

They'd reached the bridge by then, and Sakura squinted at it. "Kakashi-sensei? Is that you? You're actually on time today? No, it's probably Naruto fooling us with a doppelganger. Kakashi-sensei is never on time!"

"Nope, really me, Sakura," Kakashi said lazily, reading his orange book. "We're having our first mission with Sasuke today. It's a B-rank. You should be excited."

"A mission!" Naruto shouted happily. And a higher level one too! Yeah, we haven't had one of those in a while!"

"Let's go meet our client. I'll brief you on the mission details when we see her. And behave yourselves, you hear?" He gave Sasuke a pointed look.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. He was standing stiffly, glaring at Kakashi. She wasn't sure why. Did he have a grudge against him or something? Maybe it had to do with yesterday when Kakashi had pulled him behind the tree. She wondered what had happened between them then.

"Ok guys, let's move. We need to make a good first impression." Kakashi snapped his book shut. "Can't have our client hating us before we even see her."

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke eyed Kakashi angrily as he began walking away. He shouldn't have left yesterday with the ANBU guards. He should have stayed and demanded some answers.

But since he hadn't, he intended on getting them now.

Sasuke picked up the pace until he walked beside him. "What--" he began, but Kakashi cut him off.

"Not now, Sasuke."

"But--" he tried again.

"I said later."

Sasuke began to feel his face get red from anger. "If you're not going to explain, then why would you show me!?!"

"Let's not make a scene, okay? Calm down. I wanted you to trust me. But honestly, now is not a good time. Later, when we're alone. Remember, you're on probation." Kakashi said firmly.

Sasuke sighed, irritated. "I want some answers."

"So do we."

Sasuke glared at him. "I told you, I don't remem--"

"You think I buy that for a second? You obviously know more than you're letting on, Sasuke. I know that in your mind, you don't have much reason to trust us, although Sakura saved your life. But that also means we don't have much cause to trust you yet. Of course, if you speak, and give us a plausible story, maybe we'll answer some of your questions."

Rolling his eyes frustratedly, Sasuke fell back again with the others, who were busy arguing with Sai.

"Look Sai! I don't care what you say, I don't--"

"Naruto please, just calm down okay, Sai doesn't mean what he says."

"Yes, listen to Ugly, Naruto." Sai smiled.

Sakura's eyes widened. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOU LITTLE--"

"Please, Sakura-chan, follow your own advice!!!" Naruto pleaded, struggling to restrain her from pulverizing Sai.

Sasuke studied Sakura. He didn't know what Sai meant. She didn't seem ugly to him. She wasn't as stunningly beautiful as the women of his Angel clan had been, but she looked good for a human. Her shoulder-length pink locks framed her heart shaped face cutely, and her large apple green eyes glinted when she blinked. Not that he cared or anything. Simply making an observation.

"Ok you three, cool it," Kakashi said from the front to the bickering trio. "Our client is right behind this door. Compose yourselves, okay?"

Sai immediately painted a pleasant smile on his face, Naruto straightened up, and Sakura put on a serious air.

Kakashi opened the door to the Hokage's office, from which a shrill voice could heard speaking loudly.

Tsunade sat at her desk, her hand pressed against her forehead as if she were trying to suppress a headache. A young woman dressed in finery stood inside next to an older man dressed similarly. She glared at them as they filed inside.

"It's about time you ninja got here! You're one minute later than you should have been! One minute could mean the difference between life and death for a beautiful princess like me!"

Her eyes travelled over the group. "Forget it! I demand a different group! Obviously you aren't capable enough to--" she cut her sentence short when her focus landed on Sasuke. "Actually, this squad will do just fine. Thank you so much for your kindness Hokage-sama, I hope I haven't inconvenienced you." She smiled sweetly.

"No, no, not at all," Tsunade said, forcing a smile.

The young lady turned to the squad of ninja with a large welcoming grin now. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine! My name is Hana Nishimura! I am the daughter of the feudal lord Kazoku Nishimura of the sand country. I came here for a month to visit my auntie, and the time has come for me to head back. Of course, a beautiful, delicate flower like myself cannot make the journey back alone, so I chose to have the most talented--" she batted her lashes at Sasuke "--group of ninja escort me."

"I see..." Kakashi trailed off, obviously at loss for words. "I...guess we should go get packed! We'll meet you by the east gates in an hour."

"Yes, of course!" She squealed. "This trip will be so much fun!"

She skipped out of the office, escorted by the man, who was likely her butler.

Sasuke sighed. Another annoying fangirl. "How long is it to the sand country?"

"It takes about three days moving at a fast pace," Sakura informed him. "But traveling with the princess will slow us down considerably. I'd say about five days to a week, depending on the weather."

Sasuke mentally face palmed. A whole week with a girl who was already infatuated with him. Resentment began to eat at him again. Why! Why was he stuck here, when he should be tracking down Itachi and the Mizuno? Perhaps he should tell them the truth. But that could wind up with him being imprisoned and interrogated further for withholding information in the first place.

The best possibility would be escape. He would make his move during this mission. And he would exact his revenge, no matter what.

*************************************

They had been walking for a couple of hours now, and Sasuke was already at his wits end. The princess had been talking nonstop, made several unsuccessful attempts to strike up a conversation with him, and complained that her feet hurt.

"I'm not accustomed to walking for so long," she whined. "I want to sit. Can we take a rest now?"

"You'd better get used to this," Sasuke snapped impatiently. "You'll be doing it for the next six days." Sadly, they'd calculated that it would take a week to make it to the sand village.

Hana frowned at him. "Don't be so mean," she pouted. "You shouldn't treat a princess like that."

"Princess? More like a stuck up brat." Naruto muttered. "Man, I thought this mission was gonna be fun! Why do we have to escort someone so annoying!"

"Say that again and I'll doc your pay for this job," Hana threatened. "You should be honored to protect someone like me."

Behind her, her butler rolled his eyes.

Sasuke sighed. This was going to be a long three days.

Three days, not six. He planned to be gone by the third night.

He'd figured it all out already. By the time they'd gotten three days into it, they'd be about halfway to the sand village. When he left, his teammates had the option of pursuing him or completing their mission, though it wasn't much of an option. They couldn't abandon the princess to go chase after him, so they could either finish taking her to the sand or return to the leaf. Either way, he'd have a four day lead.

The likelihood was that they'd send maybe one or two after him while the others completed the mission, but he was positive he could take them. It was just Kakashi he was worried about.

Kakashi was obviously the strongest asset of the team. Plus, for some unknown reason, he possessed the Sharingan, the kekkai genkai that was inherited by members of his clan alone. He'd ruled out the idea that Kakashi was an Uchiha. He didn't have the wings that their clan, the Angels of the Night, all had. And Sasuke would have most certainly recognized him if he had been a part of the clan.

So that meant he'd stolen it somehow, which was practically impossible. Unless...the incident ten years ago...

Of course not, he scoffed. There was no way Kakashi could have been involved in that.

But then again, they'd never found his body...

His clan had suspected the Mizuno were responsible for Obito's death. Obito was one of the Uchihas' best warriors. He also possessed a special sort of Sharingan. Sasuke didn't know much about it, except that Itachi said it could be "transformed into something even more powerful than the mangekyo." However, Obito hadn't quite mastered it yet.

They had worried for days after he'd gone missing. If the Angels of the Day had gotten a hold of Obito's eye...well, it wouldn't have been good. But after time passed, they started to worry less. The Mizuno showed no sign of having the special eye, so it was safe to assume that Obito had destroyed it himself before they'd gotten it.

His death also made the Uchiha acutely aware of how strong the Mizuno were. Obito's skills had been practically unrivaled, except for maybe Itachi.

So, he thought to himself, that mess is way too complicated for Kakashi to have played a part in all that. But he's still got a Sharingan. I want to confront him about that before I leave.

Now, the next order of business was to get rid of the chakra restraints. Sasuke planned to return to his home in the sky, to see if he could find any clues about what had happened to Itachi. But first, however, he'd need the chakra chains removed.

The Void, or the portal to the earth plane, was almost a one way ticket. Once you went down, it was pretty difficult to get back up, unless there was someone managing from above. But Sasuke doubted anyone was alive to do that for him. However, by offering it a large portion of his chakra,(the Void thrived on the Night Angels' chakra) he could go back through.

So the first thing he needed to do was remove the cuffs. Maybe with a pair of chain-cutters? He almost laughed. To think that the great Sasuke Uchiha, one of the most renowned ninja of the Uchiha clan, was being reduced to this level. His father would be ashamed. He couldn't use his chakra, and was practically being held captive by a pair of bracelets.

It doesn't matter, he told himself. In three days, you'll be free.

They walked for a few more hours, before finally stopping, only because Hana was practically on the verge of tears.

"My feet! My poor feet!" She wailed. "They ache so bad. Hachiro, rub them for me."

Her butler sighed, but complied. "Of course, my lady."

Sasuke sat down and closed his eyes, trying to relax. He listened to the sound of the stream nearby, the water rushing, the birds chirping...

His eyes snapped open. The birds. They had been singing and chirping the whole time they'd been walking. Now everything was quiet. Unnaturally quiet. He glanced over at his teammates. Kakashi also seemed alert, as did Sai. Sakura and Naruto were too busy bickering over something trivial again to notice anything.

A rustle sounded in the trees above them. It was too large to be a squirrel. Sasuke's hand drifted to his weapons pouch. Then he casually stood up. "We should probably get going now."

"Already?" Hana complained. "We just sat down, let's stay a while long--eep!!!" She squealed as Kakashi shoved her aside. A kunai thumped into the tree where she'd been sitting.

Immediately, everyone else was on their feet, scanning the trees for the attacker.

"There!" Sakura cried, pointing to a small fold of clothing that peeked out from behind the foliage.

Well, she was observant, Sasuke had to give her that.

"Sai, Sakura, stay by the princess. Naruto and Sasuke, come with me." Kakashi said calmly. "Let's flush them out."

Naruto darted to the left, and Sasuke to the right. Kakashi ran at them head on. His body was immediately peppered by kunais, before turning into a log.

Substitution, Sasuke thought. Too bad his own chakra was locked. He'd just have to be careful.

Suddenly, he sensed another presence. It was speeding towards Sakura and Sai from behind. He turned back, intent on taking them down. His heart pumped excitedly. It was exhilarating to be in a fight again.

"Go on, Sasuke," Kakashi shouted to him. "We'll get this one."

Sasuke flung a kunai in the direction of the oncoming ninja. He dodged it, but his attention turned towards Sasuke.

The attacking ninja performed a few hand signs. The earth beneath Sasuke suddenly started to cave in. He leapt out of the way into a tree, and unsheathed his katana. Leaping back down onto solid ground, he charged the ninja again.

Sasuke feinted downward, then immediately pulled back and thrust it at his chest. The ninja swiftly blocked with a kunai.

Twisting his sword, he forced the kunai from the enemies' hand. He slashed at him again, but the ninja skillfully evaded him.

"Sorry to disappoint you boy, I'm not easy prey." He snarled.

Sasuke grinned sadistically. "Neither am I."

He threw his katana at him so fast, the enemy only had time to turn away before it pierced his upper arm. The man let out a scream of agony. He yanked the katana out, throwing it a few yards away.

"Get the girl!" His partner shouted, still occupied with Kakashi and Naruto.

Sai and Sakura immediately slid into a defensive stance in front of Hana, who was cowering back in fear.

"Don't let him get me!" She sobbed.

"Don't worry, we won't let him touch you," Sakura reassured her.

Sasuke turned to retrieve his sword. Sakura should be able to defend herself. Besides, he was curious to see her in combat.

Picking up his katana, he slowly wiped the blood off, lazily sheathed it, and watched the fight take place with mild interest in his eyes.

Sai was attacking the ninja with some type of ink tiger. Sakura stood ready, holding a kunai before her.

The ninja grew annoyed. "You pesky brats!" He yelled. "Shadow clone jutsu!!!"

At least fifty or sixty clones poofed into existence. Half of them ran towards Sakura, while the other half worked on overwhelming Sai.

Sakura watched as Sakura charged her fist with powerful green chakra, and raked through the clones with power packed punches. She certainly had amazing chakra control, better that his. However, she failed to notice a clone coming behind her with a kunai aimed at her back.

"Sasuke, help her!" Kakashi yelled.

Sasuke merely ignored him. If she wasn't able to avoid this, she wasn't worth being a ninja.

She could help herself.

Kakashi's POV

Kakashi watched, horrified, as the kunai flew towards Sakura's back.

"Sasuke, help her!" He shouted. Why was Sasuke just standing there?

He wasn't going to help her! Gritting his teeth, Kakashi turned away from his own fight. He winced as a kunai hit him in the leg, but ignored it. He dove, charging his fist with chidori and destroying the attacking clone.

Sai had caught his ninja, and was busily tying him up with an ink snake. Naruto was holding the other down with several shadow clones.

Kakashi rounded on Sasuke. "What. Were. You. THINKING!!!"

Sasuke merely gave him an indifferent glance, which only served to make Kakashi even angrier. "Are you stupid!?! When your comrade is in trouble, you don't just stand there. You help them! Sakura might have died! What is wrong with you? Do you not care?"

"First of all," Sasuke said coolly. "I don't consider any of you to be my comrades. Second of all, if Sakura couldn't defend herself in this fight, what will she do when things get serious? If she's this pathetic, she should just quit being a ninja, or she'll die. And you won't always be there to save her."

Naruto had walked over by then, his clones keeping watch over the ninja. Sakura stood by his side, looking hurt and confused. "You are a complete jerk!" He said furiously. "So you would have just let Sakura-chan die? I don't care what you've been through, you have no right to treat others that way! Don't act so above everyone else! All we've done is make you feel welcome, and this is how you repay us? What kind of person are you?" Naruto's cerulean eyes stared fiercely into Sasuke's onyx orbs.

"You know, you were right about the first one," Sasuke spat. "You don't have any idea what I've been through. So quit trying to assume."

"Then why don't you tell us, Sasuke." Kakashi's voice was quiet.

Sasuke glared "Maybe when you tell me, Kakashi."

Kakashi thought for a moment. Perhaps, if he did tell Sasuke the story behind his Sharingan, the boy would work with them. He sighed. "Very well."

"Ummm..." Hana's voice broke through the silence. "What are we going to do with these two ninja?"

Kakashi turned toward her. "Later Sasuke, okay?" He could hear Sasuke let out an irritated huff behind him, but ignored it.

"Well, it seems these ninja are from the hidden cloud, considering the symbol on their forehead protector. Do they bear a grudge against you?" He questioned.

Hana shook her head. "Not that I know of," she replied. "But my father is a very wealthy man. Perhaps they wanted to take me hostage and ask for ransom."

"That's the most likely possibility," Kakshi mused. "Anyway, you don't have to worry. My squad is highly skilled, and won't fail to keep you safe."

Hana glanced quickly at Sasuke. "Yes, of course..."

Kakashi sighed. Looks like we'll be having trust issues, he thought. Then he grimaced. He'd almost forgotten about the kunai wound.

"Here, sensei," Sakura said. "Let me take care of that for you." She molded her hands with healing chakra, and pressed them to the wound, which instantly began to close.

"Thanks, Sakura," he said as she finished.

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

Sakura's POV

She finished healing Kakashi's wound, and snuck a peek at Sasuke. He was looking on, emotionless and blank.

He had left her to die.

Sakura blinked, upset and bewildered. That thank you he'd said to her that morning...had it meant nothing?

She'd thought he was opening up a bit more, making an effort to be better, but now, after what had happened...

He confused her. One minute he was sullen and hostile, the next, talking and open, and now, hard and cold, not a trace of emotion in sight, or a single speck of remorse.

She didn't trust him now. She couldn't. She had completely lost all faith in him after he said what he did. Because even if he hadn't worded it that exact way, she knew what he meant. That she didn't deserve to live.

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke watched as Sakura expertly healed Kakashi's wounds. Huh, so she was a skilled medic. Too bad she obviously lacked decent fighting skills.

He noticed her glance up at him, but quickly look back down, avoiding his gaze. He turned his eyes away also, ignoring her. She annoyed him, for some reason. Sakura hadn't done anything wrong, but he just felt irritated every time he saw her. Or maybe he was irritated with himself.

Never mind. Feelings were irrelevant. They would only slow him down.

They grabbed all of their gear and started moving again, after disposing of the two cloud nin. The trip was quite uneventful after that. Hana was unusually quiet, not speaking even once. He wondered what was wrong with her, but quickly dismissed it. It was better for him that she wasn't keeping up her continuous chatter.

Sasuke noticed that the rest of the group had been staying quite a distance away from him. They probably didn't trust him anymore. He smirked. But it would be better to play it safe, try to get them to let down their guard around him. He would definitely have to change his attitude. As much as he hated them, he needed to stop doing everything he possibly could to drive them away.

Close to nightfall, they reached a small town. They checked into the best inn they could find(Hana wouldn't have it any other way), and slowly went up to their rooms.

Hana would be sleeping in her own room, while Kakashi's team shared one big space on the floor in another.

As he lay down his futon for the night, Sasuke waited for the right moment to snag Kakashi. He still wanted to question him. When Kakashi said he was going outside for a bit, Sasuke waited a couple minutes before excusing himself as well. His team barely looked at him as he left.

Walking out of the inn, Sasuke found Kakashi leaning on the front of the building, reading a book in the fading light. He silently approached him.

Kakashi spoke. "Figured you'd come here."

"I want answers," Sasuke said bluntly. "How do you have a Sharingan? That ocular jutsu belongs only to my clan."

Kakashi sighed. "It's quite a long story."

"I have time."

Kakashi sat quietly for a long moment. "Alright then. I suppose you have the right to know."

End of chapter 11! Hope you all enjoyed it, it took me a while to write!

Tell me, should I keep doing longer chapters like this? It will take me longer to update though.

Please vote, comment, or share!