Okay, first off let me say that I've had this idea for well over a year, I just never got around to posting it. Further more, before anyone says anything about hating Sakura you have to let me say one thing. You can't hate the Saukra in my fic, after all, this is the turning point in her ninja career and probably as a person. Yes I know she was an evil little kid, but seriously folks, she was twelve for goodness sakes. She grew up a lot in this moment and I have to give her her props.
Anyhow, I got the idea for this fic when I was watching this episode for like, the fifth time and I was wondering: 'Now self, what in the world would our poor Sakura have done if Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru hadn't come to save the day?' and a little voice inside me replied: 'Well self, I have a feeling that she would have saved them or died trying.'
Which of course got me to thinking that Sakura is stubborn in her own way (I mean look at her crush on Sasuke, any other girl would've given up by now.) and that I don't think she would've let them do anything to her boys. Of course she's not strong enough to do it with chakra and strength alone, and yeah, she's beat up, desperate, and it's one against three. So I thought: 'Well self, I gues it's going to be died trying kinda thing.', and that is how this came to be. Anyway, if you've listened to me blabbing on this long then just read the next few sentences and then you can be done with me and on to the story.
NOTICE: AM IN NEED OF A BETA for a Sasu/Naru fic. Actually, it has very little Sasu/Naru but it's the pro-lougue for the the one where they actually start a relationship. See, I'm hoping for two or three beta's (yes I'm a greedy person to want so many MUHAHAHA!) so I can have well rounded opinions and a very thoroughly checked fanfic because I know that it's easy to let one or two mistakes slip through sometimes. Anyhow, e-mail me if you're interested and I'll send you more details, noe ENJOY!
Ino has always felt that the turning point of her ninja career was that one day, in the Forest of Death during the chuunin exam, when she spurred her team into action and saved Sakura from those three Sound ninja (she leaves out the fact that while she was shaking like a leaf it was actually Shikamaru who spurred her to spur the team into action). Yes, if anything that was the day she threw caution to the wind for the first time and risked her life for a fellow comrade of the Leaf.
Of course, she had doubts that day. Could she beat the Sound nin, even with the help of Shikamaru and Chouji? Should she have jumped in earlier? Did the Sound nin really plan on killing anybody or was that just a threat? Was it too late to save Sasuke-kun? Was it too late to save Sakura? And most importantly, would their combined efforts even make a difference? She had every reason to worry of course, if it hadn't been for Sasuke's recovery then Ino has a feeling that they all would be dead right now. Yes, looking back on it now, with the experience and expertise she has now, it really had been a stupid move to jump in like that.
She doesn't know she saved her own life that day.
She doesn't know what Sakura's last resort would've been.
She
just
doesn't
didn't
know.
Sakura wonders what she would say now if she knew, what face she would make, what response would she make, now that, more then ever, they were close again.
o O o
As Sakura is thrown off of Zaku in a great show of strength (or maybe weakness) she knows that today is the day she will die.
But she is determined that Lee, Naruto, and especially Sasuke do not follow her.
She has prepared for this situation of course; she had planned her last resort all through the night preparing herself mentally and emotionally for the aftermath. She knew that she couldn't hesitate in her finishing move for even one second because she would have to beat these enemies to the punch… or death in this case.
She knew she could do this, thinking of Sasuke, and even Naruto, and yes, even Lee, she knew she could do this.
She also knows that she cannot beat these three no matter how hard she tries. Yes, if she continues fighting like this then perhaps she could take them all out, but really, if she actually became a threat, then what makes her think that Zaku's comrades will stand idly by as she finally defeats him. And if she even does that, then what makes her think that the two of them will then only take her one on one? This is not a tournament; this isn't even a competition any more, this is survival.
So, it is up until this moment that Sakura keeps the sixty-three explosive tags under her dress a secret. But not for long.
It is at this moment that Ino makes the wrong choice, that she whispers to her teammates, hidden by green foliage, that they should leave and try to find someone who can help, maybe, find a teacher or adult to take pity on them. Shikamaru makes a disapproving noise in the back of his throat, and Chouji glances towards Naruto's and Sasuke's unconscious bodies and Sakura's bloodied face worriedly, but neither says anything, if Ino will not go then neither will they. Shikamaru is no fool and Chouji will go no where without Shikamaru.
They leave then.
Sakura decides her next course of action the moment they leave.
If it hadn't been for Lee Sakura would have made her move right then, but his body lies unprotected right now, and he would need a barrier to protect him, like the one she put around Naruto's and Sasuke's tree last night. She calculates the geometry problem and decides that a warped triangle would be the best she could do. She only knew how to put up barriers with barrier tags, which meant she would have to place them in three places and protect his body from harm. She thinks that she can place two in one tumble past him.
All of this thinking and fleeing is done in the moment while Sakura is suspended in air, when she finally hits the ground, and as she gets up.
Kin has sat down on a boulder nearby, probably resigned to waiting until Zaku is done playing with her. Dosu is staring at the sky.
Good, she can do this, she has time.
Inhale.
Zaku's arms outstretch in front of him.
Exhale.
"You ….!"
Go.
Sakura bolts towards Lee's body, her legs and spine protesting at the sudden and harsh movement. She pulls out her barrier tags and crumples them to hide them in her fist.
She isn't fast enough.
Zaku shouts something (she is too focused on the task at mind to really hear what's going on around her), but the only thing she can hear in the mantra she is shouting in her head.
'I must protect them. I must protect them. I must protect them. I must protect them!'
A blast of air and pressure hits her full force and knocks her to her side, she cringes and spits blood out of her mouth, but as she falls and slides she thinks it's better this way. If it weren't for the pain she'd smile.
Sakura slides right past Lee's feet, and as she does, she slaps down two barrier tags just outside of his body at the exact degrees that make it possible to make a triangular barrier with one tag above his head.
'I must protect them. I must protect them. I must protect them.'
One mile away Ino stops in mid-sprint.
Without a word to either of her two confused team-mates she turns around.
Neither Shikamaru nor Chouji realize that Ino has sealed her fate with this one last decision, and neither of them know that Ino is sobbing up ahead of them.
Ino has a feeling that she has; Ino has a feeling that by leaving in the first place she's doomed them all to death.
Sakura doesn't know this.
Sakura doesn't know anything, she doesn't register that she has rolled fifteen feet away from Lee's body. She no longer registers the pain shooting up her spine, left leg, right ankle, left wrist, and head. She doesn't even register that the skirt of her dress has been ripped off in the process of tumbling and skidding across the ground, leaving her with only a shirt and shorts on.
The only things that register with Sakura is the need to protect her precious people, the one barrier tag, and the release of the sixty-three explosive tags littering her torso.
And maybe Zaku, who missed her putting down the barrier tags, but is still stalking towards her with a look of sadistic amusement.
"Air pressure 90," is all the warning she gets before she is once again flung by his awesome control over sound and air.
This time she definitely registers the pain, and she even registers the ripping of what's left of her dress. Her back hits a fallen log and tears spring to her eyes and she realizes that she will probably die before she can get that last barrier tag above Lee's head.
No.
Her eyes open slightly,
No.
if she doesn't move now, then Zaku might see the tags under what's left of her shirt.
NO.
Sakura runs.
She hears another shout from Zaku, again past the point where she can comprehend what he's saying, but doesn't falter. She's close, so close.
Fifteen feet.
She hears the sound of wind behind her.
Ten feet.
But it isn't wind, as she can tell when her ears pop from oncoming pressure.
Five feet.
She's almost there, and she knows it'll be close, her or the air.
…
As Sakura slaps her last barrier tag down right above Lee's head she feels an enormous pressure in her lower back.
Then all she can register is this great pain, a pain so great she has never felt it before, she's not sure if she's been entirely split in two or not by Oh Go…
And then there is only her side hitting a big tree, and the pain is gone.
'Oak…' is what she thinks, feeling the rough bark under her face, and she smirks that at a time like this she would be classifying trees.
A part of her realizes she can't feel anything from the waist down.
That part of her tells her not to look at her legs; she probably doesn't want to know. She does however turn, just barely, so that her torso and head is facing where the Sound ninjas are all standing.
As she watches them (neither Kin nor Dosu are paying any attention to the battle at this point, and Zaku seems to have seen her barrier tag this time and is instead looking in the direction of Lee.), she shakily brings her hands up (if she had survived this they would always have had small raised scars covering them) and says the magic words to activate her barrier tags.
She feels her self slip into and out of consciousness suddenly, but she pulls herself back to stare at the beautiful geometric shapes she has created around her precious people. They are specially designed to allow people to enter or leave them, but never anything non-living (like explosions and fires). People would eventually come rescue her boys, if they didn't wake up first.
Zaku jumps back in surprise, and looks up quickly to meet his eyes with hers, and Sakura realizes that he thought that he had killed her, and feels a little pleased with herself that she survived something he obviously thought was fatal. His expression soon turns furious… before the panic finally sets in, when he finally realizes what exactly is covering her torso so entirely if not for the rags of her long lost dress.
Kin and Dosu finally look over themselves, and they too are terrified by the sight of what she has attached to her chest.
And Sakura finally,
finally,
finally smirks, because even if she dies here she knows that she has won.
"Leave." is the only thing she can manage to get past the hot stone in her throat, the one that warns her that she is going to cry. Her throat hurts and holding back the sobs isn't helping.
'I'll protect them, or I'll die trying.'
"Leave." she says louder, because maybe they didn't hear the first time or maybe just because.
"I'll blow everything within a half mile radius of here," she croaks out, and prays that she won't really have to do it. Sure, she was probably paralyzed from the waist down, and yeah, she may never be beautiful again with all the scars, but maybe, just maybe… life would be okay anyway. Maybe Sasuke might one day love her anyway. Maybe Kakashi might be proud of her, just this once, for saving the ones she loved. Maybe Naruto and her could get better acquainted and… maybe the same thing for Lee and her too.
Maybe...
But that was only… only if she got these three to leave, and only if she survived through the blood loss until someone found her, and if she just…
No.
She has to focus now on saving them, she has to focus now on activating her explosive tags at only a moments notice, everything else comes secondary.
Even her life.
Dosu gives her a long and calculating look.
"She won't do it; even if she has the guts to try she's probably out of chakra, strength, and common sense. Come on, let's get this over with." he says, dismissing her like she didn't just win, like she doesn't have explosive tags pasted onto her body, and she isn't ready to commit suicide if only to save the people she loves, if only to protect them.
She coughs, and blood drips down her chin onto her clasped hands that hold the sign that will set off her explosive tags. She feels white hot trails of something descending past her cheek bones and she realizes they're tears. She won't… she'll never…
"…Please, don't make me do this… don't make me throw everything away… I will, if I have to… but… I-I…"
Kin looks over to the girl covered in explosive tags, her body thin and broken, eyes squeezed shut… how could so much liquid come from such small openings… and she feels something akin to compassion stir in her chest. But she stomps it down with all the will she has, because she must care for Zaku and Dosu, and she can't put some broken girl before that.
And through Sakura's despair, a small part of her is angry. She is angry at Sasuke and Naruto and even Lee for getting hurt, angry at Kakashi for not teaching her enough, and angry at herself, for not preparing herself for her last resort fully enough, for not locking away these emotions that ninjas must be so wary of. That part of her cannot forgive herself or anyone else.
But it is the part that finally,
finally,
finally, when Kin and Dosu and Zaku are only a few feet away from Sasuke and Naruto, sets off the explosive tags. She closes her eyes, but not before she sees the horrified looks and shouts of the three Sound nin.
The angry part of her takes its last moment to celebrate a hard earned victory.
The rest of her cries.
-o–o-
Ino's team arrives four seconds before Sakura finally ignites herself in flames.
The first second Ino only has a chance to comprehend that that thing by the tree over there is Sakura. She didn't recognize her as human at first… her lower body being twisted in positions unnatural for any living thing, her face bloody and her dress totally gone.
The second second Ino realizes that Sasuke, Naruto, and Lee are covered by barriers and Sakura is covered in explosive tags.
The third second and Ino fully comprehends Sakura's plan, and half a second later she silently gives Sakura her props.
The fourth second she spends hoping that Shikamaru and Chouji are well enough away to not get hurt by the explosion that is no doubt about to take place.
There is no fifth second.
-o-o-
Neji does not attempt to save Sakura when he looks ahead with his Byakugan. He can see the barrier around Lee, and really, as long as his teammate is out of harms way he has no business there anyway.
He doesn't think he could have made it in time anyway.
He'll regret it later.
-o-o-
Tenten isn't told that one girl is about to commit suicide to save Lee and that another has become an unfortunate casualty.
Several weeks later she still isn't talking to Neji, but she does glare a lot.
-o-o-
Sasuke wakes up thirty one seconds too late.
He is met with fire and craters and he thinks he hears screams in the background. The needy want for bloodshed is blurred out by the thunderous roaring and crackling, and he knows that no matter how powerful he may feel now, it could never help him control this fire. He may feel powerful, but suddenly he feels that maybe this isn't the power he's looking for.
He wakes Naruto up next to him and worries over where Sakura is.
Later, Kakashi tells him that Sakura is dead.
-o-o-
Sasuke wakes Naruto up forty six seconds after the explosion, and a part of Naruto knows exactly what's happened.
That part stays silent.
Later, he splits the cost of Sakura's gravestone with Sasuke.
It takes him three and a half month's to pay Sasuke back for his half, but after cutting back on his ramen he is able to save more money quicker.
A brave kunoichi and a valuable friend
Who was treasured by so many.
You will always be in our hearts.
Nobody knew Naruto to be so poetic.
-o-o-
Kakashi appears in the clearing after the fire is put out, as part of a search and rescue squad.
Kakashi finds and secures Sasuke, Naruto, and Lee.
Kurenai finds a very beat up Shikamaru and Chouji; both are crying and mumbling about Ino.
Asuma finds Ino, or… what's left of her.
But nobody finds Sakura.
Later, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Neji manage to piece together what happened and report it to Kakashi.
And Kakashi… he's not sure whether he's proud of Sakura or not, he just knows he's a failure.
o O o
So, no, Ino doesn't know that by spurring her team into saving Sakura she saved not only Sakura's life but her own. She doesn't know all the grief she could have caused if she had left that day and all the people who would thank her for doing what she did if they knew.
And Sakura plans to keep it that way.
Ok, to make up for the very long commentary at the top I'll only explain some quick things that may or may not be clear in the story. First, the reason Ino got killed and Shikamaru and Chouji didn't was because she was closer to Sakura because she was running faster than Shikamaru and Chouji and she had turned around before they did. Also, I know that Sakura's parents would probably have made a grave-stone for her themselves, but as far as I can tell she's the only ninja in the family so I thought it would be right for Naruto and Sasuke to make her a ninja memorial/grave-stone.
Okay, I'm done, please review!