Lost
Twilight was quickly coming over a forest. Within its reaches, a great battle is coming to an unexpected close. The Konoha ninja were in a desperate fight against the notorious Madara, and they were losing. Konoha was losing their best ninjas, and they would have to stop fighting sooner rather than later. Tsunade stares out at the medics before, albeit reluctantly, nodding to Shizune. Shizune bows, hiding her worried expression.
"Bring her back," Tsunade orders.
With that, Shizune disappears, racing across the battlefields. Then, in the distance, she sees Sakura in the distance. She was in a direct confrontation with Madara, but she, thankfully, wasn't on her own. Shizune sighs in relief and speeds up. Sakura was needed back at the medical tent urgently. Every single fraction of a second counted.
Sakura hesitates in her attack as Shizune comes into view. Kakashi signals for her to go, and she meets Shizune half-way.
"Sakura-san," Shizune gasps, out of breath. "You're needed back at the medic tent now."
"You can go," Kakashi tells her, smiling beneath his mask with pride.
Sakura nods, and darts away. As a highly trained medic, she knew better than to wait around. She carefully skirts around her comrades being attended to by other medics, and the constant hail of kunai, shuriken and other weaponry. With all the battles going on around her, she has to think back to the meeting at the tent earlier that day. They were given strict schedules of when to heal, and when to fight, with very few breaks in between. It couldn't be helped though; they all had chosen to be medics. Then, the tent comes into view and she breathes a soft sigh of relief. Being on the battle field wasn't exactly a comfortable place to be, and even the most experienced ninja would tell you battlefields are unnerving and disconcerting.
Suddenly, a hand covers her mouth, and pulls her back. She struggles against the strong grip, but fails to escape. That's when she notices how silent the battlefield has become. At first, she wonders if Sasuke used his Sharingan, but she knows everyone is staring at her. Each and every single one of her trusted comrades looks horrified. A low chuckle draws her attention back to her personal predicament.
"Hand over the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki," the voice chuckles again. "Or this young medic won't live to see today's sun set."
Glancing at the sky, Sakura can tell that only leaves a few fleeting seconds for her to be saved. Or rather, she could save herself. Sakura had adamantly refused to be the damsel in distress the moment she found out that Sasuke had left the village. This is the perfect opportunity to prove that fact to everyone. She glances over to Naruto, currently being held back by Anko and Asuma. A comforting feeling rises in her; Naruto always seemed to have a calming effect on her. She manages to nod to Naruto, trying to communicate that she's really alright.
With her free hand, she draws a kunai as discreetly as possible. Then, with as much force as she can muster, she stabs at Madara. However, the weapon passes through him, as if he were a ghost. Madara chortles as the last few seconds begin to slip away. Sakura looks over to Naruto again, but he's still in no position to help her. He does look desperate to help all the same. Inside, Sakura's relieved, he definitely won't get hurt this way.
Madara laughs, smirking. "So, you'll leave your friend to die? How very courageous of you… Ja…"
Slowly, Madara begins to disappear. The ninja fighting for Madara suddenly appear in a circle around Sakura. With no time left to spare, she raises her empty hand; with the other still gripping the kunai. As fast as she can, she races through the different signs.
Monkey.. Ox. Tiger… Boar. Dog.*
Instantly, electricity explodes from her left hand. It travels down the metal kunai, and strikes Madara. Instantly, both Sakura and Madara cry out. She tries to pull back, and let the weapon go, but the electricity is of a highly dangerous voltage. She can barely think, let alone let the kunai go.
"Nngh…" Sakura groans.
"Oh good, you're up," Toki says; one hand on her hip and the other holding a ladle.
"Where am I?" Sakura asks.
"This is Iron Town!" Toki exclaims, waving the ladle around. "We're the number one supplier of iron in the region. Say, why haven't you heard of it?"
With lightning speed, Sakura grabs the ladles handle and stands up. "I was passing through, and I lost my way… On a map, where would we be exactly?"
"A map? Hmm, I don't think we're listed on a map," Toki replies, deep in thought.
Irritated, Sakura drops the ladle and storms out. She darts past the surprised villagers, and soon finds herself standing before the entrance gates. She stares out at the rolling mountains and the lush, vivid grassy landscape that flows seamlessly from the edges of the forest. The gate slowly groans and begins lowering. Alarmed, she races out. She races across the bridge and out. Ahead of her is a vivid ocean of swaying grass. She stops dead in her tracks, staring at the scenery in shock. However, the noise from behind her, and her highly trained senses, causes her to flee.
Adrenaline rushes through her veins as she vanishes at the first line of trees and undergrowth. All around her are rustles that seem to follow her. Then, from out of nowhere, brilliant white flashes through the undergrowth. Instantly, she leaps back and turns on her heel, but the white keeps moving with her. She suddenly spins around, and veers to her left. The white flies past her in the previous direction she was going in. Sensing no one near her, she speeds up, becoming nothing more than a blur.
It was special training all ninjas were subjected to, to try and outrun the speed Sasuke's Sharingan could discern.
"What about the baboons?" San asks, glowering.
"The area was cleared," Ashitaka replies. "We didn't know they were there."
Suddenly, a large tree collapses, and one of San's brothers stalks in. His muzzle is pulled back, revealing his razor sharp teeth and his tail smashes through tree trunks.
"What's wrong?" San asks; defensive.
"There's a human in the forest," he replies. "She's not like the others… She's too strong, and fast."
"Take me to her," San snaps.
Instantly, Ashitaka grabs her wrist. "It wasn't us," he says, adamant. "It's someone else coming here. We're not all bad, San."
"I know," she replies, and races off with her brother.
Ashitaka sighs, and decides to go back to Iron Town. He's sure the village isn't involved, but a nagging feeling at the back of his mind says differently. He knows that Lady Eboshi definitely learned her lesson from the last time; so it couldn't have been her doing.
San stops, a strange smell permeating from various places in the forest. It smells like humans, but something isn't quite right about the scent. Then, suddenly, she darts away and hides in the bushes. Around the corner, Sakura walks out. Her eyes scan the forest for any signs of movement that shouldn't be there. Seeing nothing wrong, she tries to leave, but by then, San has had enough of idly watching from the side-lines.
"Who are you?" San growls. "Why are you here?"
"It seems I lost my way," Sakura replies. "I wouldn't be in your forest, would I?"
"You're not welcome here," San snaps. "Go."
"I've been getting that," Sakura murmurs. "Oh, while you're still here, how do I leave the forest exactly?"
"Just go," San growls, and walks away.
"Nice meeting you too," Sakura grumbles, sarcastically.
She casts a wary glance around, to see if the white creature is still around. Seeing nothing but green and brown, she wanders off.
Author's Note: Hello, this is for xxsakuraxloverxx. I'm so sorry a thousand, million, billion times over infinity for keeping you waiting so long.
*. The dots represent the time taken for her to move from one hand sign to the next.